Hochelaga

[Little Bird]

HOCHELAGA
Warm musk with soft leather, a dusting of dry wildflowers and herbs, sweetgrass, sage, shagbark hickory, and Canadian balsam.

Un musc chaud avec une note de cuir souple, saupoudré de fleurs sauvages et d'herbes, de foin d'odeur, de sauge, de caryer ovale, et de baume du Canada.

Hochelaga reminds me of bpal's Fledgling Raptor Moon (but much better) and Harvest Moon 06 (and I now realize that they share notes of sage and shag hickory, so I guess that's the similarity that I was picking up on). This also smells a lot like Arcana's Hate blend on me - all creamy, dry woods and warm spices.

I'm surprised at how spicy this is on me, and it smells very much like a dry, slightly powdery, warm, sweet clove. The balsam has a creamy, dry quality that reminds me of a good sandalwood. And the sage, sweetgrass, hickory, and herbs mix together in a way that's sort of exotic, comforting, and delicious smelling. I don't find this to be bitter or green herbal at all, more spicy, warm, and almost edible.

I can't pick out any of the leather or florals - just wonderful, cozy spice and beautiful, smooth, dry woods with a little extra oomph. This one has amazing throw and staying power on me as well, lasting really strongly for about 8 hours.

[boxinghelena]

I don't know why I bother with leather scents when nine times out of ten, it just doesn't work well with my skin chemistry. Out of the three, Hochelaga is the one I like the least. I should have also known that the shagbark hickory wouldn't work either. Leather & any type of wood...*shudders* not a fan.

 

But if you like leather or wood scents, you'll probably love this.

 

EDIT: Oh wow, it only took eight hours later but the stench of leather & woods have morphed into gorgeous wildflowers. I don't think I can stand waiting that long for the end result but it's really nice now. I keep sniffing my wrist.

~

Edited June 3, 2011 by boxinghelena

[ellebelle]

I'm not a real leather fan, and I like this. This has the softer more feminine leather that I associate with blends like Liz rather than the sharper, more masculine leather that I associate with blends like Paladin v3 and Spanked. This is a pretty herbal blend on me with hints of musk and spice. As it dries down, the balsam/herbal quality backs off and more of the spice comes out. I'm not sure it's love at first sniff, but I can see myself wearing this during the summer time. This is a relatively complex scent, and I like that about it too.

[hkath]

Maybe it's because I'm Quebecoise and so I was just expecting/hoping to find a personal connection with this oil, but I've worn it three days now, and it's been amazing and evocative every time. The leather and herbs are soft and natural, and I get this really familiar scent of blue & purple wildflowers. It reminds me of being a kid in summer and walking alongside the railroad tracks toward a lake we used to visit.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

5mL from Pretty Indulgent.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

Almost everything about this sounds fantastic. The only things that have me concerned are the wildflowers (I hate florals) and possibly the sage, which tends to make me smell like Thanksgiving dinner. I'm wondering if this is going to be similar to Coyote (which I happen to love), but with woods added.

 

First sniff:

 

Soft, warm and herbal. I'm getting the sage, sweetgrass and some woods with a backing of musk in the bottle. It's bordering on cologney, which I don't care for, but I think that this is going to be one of those scents that smells better on me than in the bottle.

 

Wet on skin:

 

This does seem to be a cousin to Coyote. They share a similar base of soft, warm doeskin leather, musk and sweetgrass, but Hochelaga isn't a dupe. In addition to the notes they share, I'm also getting sage and a touch of woods (mostly hickory but also a bit of evergreen from the balsam). The florals haven't shown up yet, which makes me happy, but there's still plenty of time for them to put in an appearance.

 

Dry down:

 

I know this is a scent inspired by Quebec, but it smells like a cowboy to me.

 

Seriously, this is essentially what I wanted Sacrifice to be. Warm but clean musk, soft leather and a backing of sweetgrass and sage. It's not an intense, uber-masculine cowboy scent. Instead, it's comforting, unisex and soft. Thankfully the sage doesn't make me smell like turkey stuffing (it's leaning slightly in that direction, but sage always does on me, it's just a question of how much) and the florals stay invisible.

 

It's still fairly similar to Coyote on me, but with a few extra "old west" accouterments thrown in for good measure.

 

The bottom line:

 

I like this a lot. I think it would smell awesome on a guy, too. If I could get my husband to wear it, I'd try it out on him, but he doesn't like to wear any sort of fragrance, BPAL or otherwise. But, hey, more for me that way.

[saralaughs]

I dunno much about Quebec, but I bet Hochelaga is where all the gorgeous smelling people go.

 

This is just really warm, sweet smelling leather with a bit of dry spice and woods. It invites gyration; you may want to be picky with who you gyrate with but whatever. As long as you smell like this when you do, who cares?

[zankoku_zen]

Hochelaga is warm, sweet leather with a hint of musk. The leather puts me more in mind to Quincy Morris than DeSade, but definitely masculine. It's like if Coyote had leather in it.

[stellans]

I am a major leather note nut, so this was the Pretty Indulgent scent I was looking forward to the most... but alas. It is more a blend for Mr. Stellans, who doesn't wear scents at all, than for me. And I say this very sorrowfully, trust me. There is something too aftershave-ish about Hochelaga that just does not work with my skin. I'm going to hang onto this bottle in the hopes that it ages or my chemistry changes, though.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

This has a definitely spicy tone to it on me.. the leather is really soft, and the musk is snuggly warm, and overall this reminds me a lot of the leather + spices feel of Spanked. But the key difference with Hochelaga is the plant elements - the wildflowers (dry and mellow rather than floral), the sweetgrass (fresh and slightly sharp), the sage (quite herbal and green), the hickory (a nice spicy/woodsy vibe).. and the main one that stands out in this blend on me - the balsam (fresh and after an initial sharpness quite soft and woodsy kinda like Banshee Beat) - those things combined with the leather and musk make this smell like a warm leather jacket that's been hanging outside on a tree. Which I now realise doesn't sound all that appealing.. but think warm musky leather and organic fresh tree smell and you got it

 

In the end, Hochelaga retains a sharp slightly stinky green-ness that I don't really love - the early stages when it was all warm musky leather were far more my kinda thing. But it changes around a bit - at times it's more leathery, at other times more woodsy, so it's hard to decide whether I really like it or not!! A very interesting, multi-layered perfume that I think will really suit people who like those outdoors-y kinds of BPALs.

[mistressfizz]

Sniff: Fuzzy brown leather!

 

Wet: Soft and velvety, this is supple deerskin in a fresh spring meadow. The leather smells very natural and it's nicely blended with the herbs and flowers. Surprising clean and light, without being airy or soapy.

 

Dry: Doesn't change much when dry. This continues to be furry soft leather mixed with fresh grassy field. I agree that it's very comforting and cozy, a lovely unisex scent. No wonder this one was the first to sell out on PI's website!

[milo]

Leather, spicy woods, musks and a touch of floral. This is kind of sweet, and reminds me a bit of Liz, but without the smoke. It seems like it's the same leather note to me. The sage here is nice as well, sometimes it makes a blend smell too masculine to me, but this gives it a nice, airy freshness. It also reminds me a bit of Western Diamondback. I like this blend, and I will certainly use up the imp.

[khazakant]

It is a lot like Fledgling Raptor Moon, which I didn't like much because a lot of BPAL's scents tend to be a little too dry and musty on me. This one is a little strange to describe, it's like a dry scent that doesn't turn into dust on me, but stays sweet and ... I'm not sure what the word I want to use here is. Not "juicy" or "wet" or anything exactly, more like it maintains depth.

 

It has very little throw on me and there's something kind of vague and haunting about it. It stays on my skin, but it has this quality, as if it's somehow not entirely there and I keep suddenly thinking for some reason that it's disappeared. As someone of NDN ancestry I find it very moving ... the St. Lawrence Iroquoians were completely wiped out by the 17th century and their languages are extinct.

[Dark Alice]

wet: Sage and other herbs

Dry: Warm leather. a little sweet...but leather none the less. Gladd I got to try it...but I won't need anymore after this.

[Invidiana]

I was worried about the combo of leather and sage being a masculine blast but this is beautiful. The leather is most prominent in the wet stage but sweet balsam resin quickly comes out to play followed by the hickory (which thankfully doesn't amp like cedar), and the musk keeps warming up as it dries down. I do have a tendency to amp many resins, especially the sweeter ones, and in this case it's working in my favor. The leather here is a soft and well-worn leather note, true to the description. Finally the soft wildflower and herbal notes emerge, not in a medicinal-herbal way but rather like a golden usmmer field with wildflowers blowing in the wind. I'm really quite surprised at how much I like this one.

[angelamaria]

In decant: floral leather, balsam, green and floral. Tart, and faintly spicy-sweet. The leather and balsam give it a masculine edge, but the florals make it feminine, so it's neither one or the other. Not entirely "neutral" though. I'm confused, I know.

 

Wet on skin: leather, musk, balsam, florals and greens. Definitely more masculine, maybe about 60%. It's a clean scent, slightly spicy, and pleasingly herbal/green. Not entirely my thing, I can tell right now.

 

Dry: hmm. I'm getting a note that makes me think "patchouli?" although there's nothing in its components that say that. I'm also getting a "bright" herbal scent, but no idea what it is: sweetgrass? sage? And...deep whiffs make my stomach turn. :s Dry, this blend is now decidedly masculine for me, mostly leather and balsam and that sweet/spicy/bright herb; and as it stays longer on my skin, the leather note strengthens with the rest supporting it and acting as a kind of highlight.

 

Verdict: nope, decidedly masculine. I'm not too sure I'd like this on a man either, specially because I love smelling my men and if I can't do deep whiffs that's a definite no-no (...uh that sounded rather wrong...)

[Gateau]

This has the wonderful soft warm leather that I love, but the balsam and leather combination overtakes everything else, so I can't make out the herbs or the flowers. They're all wonderful notes, but they just don't wear well on me. I hung onto it, thinking that summer might just be a bad time for me to want to smell leathery, so I tried it again in the fall and it's still just not working, unfortunately.

[lookingglass]

This scent is a lovely, epic journey across Canadian wilderness. It's very outdoorsey: it smells of a melange of trees and dried flora under the foot of one sexy ranger. I'm slathering it on my man! For all the dry notes it dries down to a slightly spicy, creamy, woody scent. The man likes it when a scent goes on fresh and bracing-ready for WORK!-but then dries down snuggly for after hours. This is one o' them day to nighters.

[midnight_aeval]

You really have to wait about 30 min for this scent to bloom to it's full capacity. I was not a believer until it got to that point. I do smell the similarities to other spicy leather blends, but this one is evocative of something that the others don't represent. If I didn't have my one-true spicy leather love *ahemSPANKEDahem*, I could see hoarding this one. The leather is not in-your-face, but is soft and cozy. The spice is not hot, but more exotic. Very nice blend - I've never been to Canada, but I would have a hard time believing that Beth didn't pin this one down to perfection.

[Velvet Lilly]

Really lovely!

Am I the only one that seems to get a lovely wood smoke note from this? Like smoldering piles of fallen leaves outside, amid a few dried wildflowers..... It's amazing and soft and warm and cozy in the outdoors....

 

This is definitely sweater weather days kind of a scent! I understand how someone said "fuzzy", almost fizzy brown leather.....like a doeskin shirt....

It wears very close to my skin and dissipates pretty fast but that's okay - it's one of those, "get closer" and smell me... and " your skin but better" kind of blends.

 

It's not my normal note profile, but I really really dig it! I love Lookingglass' description of "a lovely epic journey across Canadian wilderness" That's a perfect way to say it!

[porcelina]

i am testing so many leather scents today and i don't mind one bit because i don't think i have met a single bpal leather note that i haven't loved. this is another soft, well-worn leather and i love it combined with the warm, cuddly musk. PLUS there is the sweetgrass note that i adore (reminding me of cd: alley of games v4, one of my favorites). there is just a hint of beautiful wildflower and a gentle touch of balsam. hochelaga is really fantastic... i need to put it into my regular rotation.

[LizziesLuck]

Happy 150th Birthday, Canada!

 

 

Wet: Oh wow, that's gorgeous. Sugary brown musk, smooth balsam. Hints of flowers and herbs. Gorgeous! I worried it would be masculine - it's not. It's perfect. A guy could certainly wear it, but it smells amazing on me also. It's a really warm scent, very comforting. The sweet grassy notes are starting to come out, and I am loving that aspect also. Sometimes grasses go sharp or bitter on me, but the sweet musk and balsam are preventing that. Just gorgeous!

 

 

Dry: This is amazing. The soft leather comes out once it's dry. It's a warm, glowing, inviting sort of leather. Sweetened still by the musk and balsam, it's a smooth, rich scent. The grasses fade in the background and just give a little atmosphere, letting this be all about that musk and the beautiful leather note. Lovers of the type of leather that's in The Arabian Dance and Unicorn and Ram may want to give this a go. Just lovely. It's enough of a skin scent that I feel I can safely wear it to work, which is a huge plus for me. So glad I randomly through this in my cart! Canadian scents for the win!