A Wonderful Light

[Schmoozy]

Three radiant ambers with honey, linden blossom, bourbon vanilla, and orange zest.

Woah is this a linden blossom single note? It's almost too much until it magically fades off into the background, along with that snowy note others have described. After all the morphing and note fading, this becomes what I am looking for. A honey-heavy amber with orange kicking around in the background.

[Sateki]

Hmmmm, so absolutely no honey. Not even a single drop. Which is too bad, because I was hoping for it.

 

Instead, I get an orange musky smell which is quite pleasing to the nose. Very warm and comforting. Orange with a burning candle right behind it. It feels like I'm eating a navel orange with advent candles lit in front of me. Definitely perfect for a cold, dreary day!

[Gold Dust Kitten]

In the imp, this is all orange zest with a drizzle of orange blossom honey. I don't have much experience with linden, but once applied to my skin I get a fir/pine tree note which must be linden. It's not woody, but more like the needles. I can smell the honey in the background with some fuzzy warm amber and some orange zest. I get no vanilla whatsoever. This is a really Christmas-sy scent. It evokes a "cabin in the woods" feeling at this point. Once dried, the linden/fir note fades more and I'm left with a powdery amber and honey scent, with a touch of orange and vanilla. I really love this after it dries completely and the linden and orange are gone. I'm not terribly sad I didn't get a bottle, but if I see one at a good price down the road I may pick one up.

[holborne]

Wet, this oil is very warm and spicy, although the "spice" could be from the orange zest. As it dries down, it turns into honey -- not a very sweet, light honey like orange blossom, but one of the darker honeys like buckwheat. I actually adore this one and am very sorry I didn't order a bottle when I had the chance; it's one of those scents I feel really pretty when I'm wearing.

[reena1]

In the bottle: beautiful and warm. It has a golden vibe to me

 

Scratch and sniff pizza stickers on my skin. *sob* I hate you body chemistry.

[unlaced]

I really like this one! I get beeswax (that's the honey I guess) and amber, and some overall sweetness. It feels so warm and golden. The vanilla just kinda blends in but I get a little spark of citrus. Just detectable as a highlight to the glowy warm goldeny body of the scent. Glad I grabbed a bottle when I could.

[Withjoy]

This is such a comforting scent! Honey is usually terrible on my skin, but although I can smell it faintly in this, it's just what I've always hoped honey would be!! There is a little spice, but it's so well blended I can't pick out individual notes. I found this on a whim on eBay, and I'm so glad I was the only bidder! It's lovely.

[kaberett]

(My imp's been very thoroughly aged: I got it from a friend in early 2012 -- baby's first BPAL! -- and I'm just now getting around to writing it up...)

 

In the bottle: very rich & creamy honey-vanilla, with highlights of a floral (the linden blossom?) and an edge of orange zest.

 

Wet on skin: beeswax and orange zest - there's a very definite bite to the edge of the scent.

 

As it dries: amber and vanilla start to come through.

 

Dry/after a while: the beeswax turns into honey, and I end up with a lovely deep honey-vanilla-amber with just a hint of orange in the corners. It's very definitely warm and golden.

 

 

This is a very, very warm scent on me; it's got pretty significant throw (not quite noticeable when walking into a room, but definitely noticeable to me when my wrist is nowhere near my nose), and it lasts for ages (24 hours later there's still just a little sweet vanilla lingering on). Unfortunately I seem to be mildly allergic to something in it - probably the linden blossom? I'm about to acquire a pile more amber-based scents so I suppose I'll find out... and in any case I like this enough to keep it around for special occasions, at least for the time being! :-)

[mermaidsdream]

I had been putting off testing this one, for fear I'd find another 'Changing the Shadows' -- a scent I'd fall in love with that I'd have a hard time finding.

 

I was right.

 

In the imp: sweet and a little sultry. I'm not sure what notes I'm getting out of this.

 

Applied: sweet with a bit woodsy. After a few minutes I get the orange blossom, but a little perfume-y. I'm a little hesitant ...

 

Then it dries down into OMG yes. Resiny, sultry, gorgeous vanilla amber that I can't stop sniffing. It's my fear: I've fallen for another scent I'm going to have a hard time finding

Edited April 26, 2013 by mermaidsdream

[Ajila]

In the bottle - A soft warm beeswax with a menthol undertone

 

Wet on me - A clean slightly spiced waxy pine scent

 

Dry on me - A warm spiced resin with a deep waxy background

 

Overall - I love the dry down and I hope a little time will smooth out the pine which is a little sharp for me when wet

[Shadowdawn]

Hmm... when I originally got a decant of this blend I didn't like it much, and so stuffed it away for ageing. Upon taking it out today, it has calmed down and become less astringent... it's much nicer!

A wonderful light is spicy, creamy, but still clean. I do not detect much orange at all, but I suspect it has coupled with the linden blossom to become soft and clean. I detect beeswax wrapping up the whole fragrance, and a sweet smokiness which is almost incense-y or resinous (bourbon vanilla?) around the outskirts of this blend. The amber seems to mingle throughout all of the notes, warming and softening the whole. It remains innocent even through the sultry notes. Very pretty, but not for me in the day-to-day and just a hint too smoky/resinous to be a perfect blend for me (I am very adverse to any smoke or resin).

During the drydown though, what there is of smoke and resin fades out and this becomes lighter, creamy and sweet, though also a bit powdery on me -- which would be the Bpal honey. Luckily it isn't loaded with honey, so it doesn't completely overwhelm it all.

Edited March 7, 2014 by Phox

[tinyvulture]

You can just tell this is a Yule blend. It's got that holiday, festive, potpourri vibe. But there's also tons of honey. Like, take a pomander, an orange studded with spices, and then absolutely drench it in honey. Oh BPAL honey, you make me swoon! And then maybe light a beeswax candle, because I could swear there's beeswax in this! Is that what linden blossom smells like? I don't know. Orange blossom is cloying on me, but apparently orange zest is just perfect. Well, anything is perfect if its doused in honey. I'm calling this a holiday version of O.

[AlectoFurious]

Just got this today and slathered the second it settled down for a few hours. It was everything I hoped it would be. In the bottle I get a warm amber with a hint of orange and an almost waxy scent. After application the amber and orange really glow and the waxiness fades and becomes a tad powdery. After about 15 minutes I have to agree with a previous post that this is a holiday version of O. Divine!!

Edited September 25, 2014 by AlectoFurious

[DevilsCandyCane]

I've had this in my sales pile since whatever year it came out, and recently rediscovered that it's aged gorgeously. It used to turn rancid and foul on my skin, but tonight it is *amazing!* I'm really surprised to see the actual notes though, because my guess was totally different. As other people mention, I get a lot of warm, creamy beeswax and almost a hint of smoke, it does smell really candle-y, which I adore, and then there's a hint of something I would've guessed was cranberry but must be orange zest, just a little festive sweetness. It's quite a soft scent, not very strong, but I absolutely love it, so I really hope it's not gonna be temperamental with my skin in future. Either way though, this will be in my scent locket a LOT in December, I'm so glad I never managed to sell it!

 

 

Edit to add: I've tried this in my scent locket and OH MY GOD! It is *amazing!* I think my skin tends to eat it, even when it doesn't corrupt it, so in the locket it has far more strength and throw. Warm and beeswaxy with a tiny hint of orange, it kinda suggests Christmas just in the warmth but it's not so overtly Christmassy to be unwearable at other times. Think this will be vying with Dorian for permanent scent locket residence!

Edited November 5, 2014 by DevilsCandyCane

[LizziesLuck]

I'm iffy on the orange zest, but love the other notes, so here's giving it a go.

 

 

Wet: The orange zest is really bitter initially. Hoping that settles down. It's rather unpleasant right now. I can detect the honey/amber combo just barely underneath. It's really pretty, but is getting stomped on my orange zest.

 

 

Dry: This actually dries quite nice. The bitter orange is all gone, leaving me with sweet amber and honey, with hints of vanilla. Sadly, it's not very strong though. I think I'll stick to O for my amber/honey/vanilla goodness.

[Cali]

Orange zest is always meh on me, but the notes work together well. Rich thick honey. The bourbon vanilla reminds me slightly of Crimson peaks' The waltz. I gotta be honest, as much as I get the wax concept in there as people mentioned before, it reminds me of an ill-spiced watery gluhwein. At least, that's what the notes do on me. Gotta admit I'm not a fan of honey either but damn it I wanted to try this anyway!

[Lucchesa]

I'm not sure about linden, but everything else is a note of bliss on me, and A Wonderful Light does not disappoint. At first it is all amber, that beautiful warm glowing amber that has a bit of an edge to it -- I'd guess at least one of the three is the same amber as in Bast. After about 30 minutes of the amber show, the other notes start to emerge, the honey soaked orange peel, the bourbon vanilla, and then it is sublime. And it lasts -- I applied nearly six hours ago, and there is still a ghost of a scent with its character intact, which is really long wear length for me. I'm really torn -- I have other radiant amber blends I love, but I may need to go in search of a bottle of this one.