Vinland

[amaltheagray]

The legendary site of the Viking colony in Newfoundland founded circa 985. Crisp northern wind blowing over loganberry, wild roses, prairie crocus, iris versicolor Linné, mountain avens, yellow birch bark, mayflower and maple leaf.

being able to trace half of my ancestry back to the vikings, i had to try this. i think a lot of you who were excited about this one are going to love it. the loganberry gives it body, roughened by the bark and leaves and... i have no idea what half of these notes even are. it's wonderful and clean and nostalgic. the florals are light, this is like standing in a valley no one has ever been to before, with ice-capped mountains in the distance and a cold wind bringing the scent of flowers and snow and cold water.

it's cold and sweet and strong and somewhat sad. also alcoholic in a sharp distilled kind of way. if that makes any sense at all.

[Jenmaha]

Beth, you truly are an inspired Goddess.

 

Ok, I know this is Vinland, not Finland...but that's what I got when I smelled this. Cold and crisp, but somehow, at the same time, it smelled warm...as though there was a lovely fireplace burning. And over it all, the wonderful, spicy warm scent of cardamom (well, to my untrained nose, at least!)...which spices breads and cookies and pastries there, and is part of the scent experience I remember. I honestly think this is my favorite scent so far...it's beautiful.

[Koumori]

A crisp, cool floral that speaks of spring in cold places. There is a definite "woody" undertone - probably the maple - that keeps it from pushing into the sweet floral territory that I dislike, but it isn't a scent of forests; rather one of rocky fields and wild places. It is on the sweet side for me, but it is so evocative that I don't mind the sweetness at all.

[Caitfish]

Scent Name: Vinland

 

In the bottle:

Dominant notes: The loganberry is apparent, and the rest smells like wildflowers - a sweet scent, but dusty.

Impressions: This is probably one of the most unique perfumes that I've ever smelled, none of the ingredients are common, and that's immediately apparent in the blend.

Initial On:

Dominant notes: This does something very strange for the first two minutes that I put it on. It turns into lemon pinesol, which is strange, because neither pine or lemon are in this blend, and they fade almost immediately. It was a little scary, though. You know how some people describe scents "soaping" or "powdering" on them? That never happens to me, they always become lemon pinesol!

Impressions: I hope that this changes!

After a while:

Persistent notes: Incredible, after a few moments this becomes exactly the scent of a flowery clearing in the middle of a disiduous forest. The loganberry is probably always the strongest scent, so at its base this is sort of tart, with the wildflowers maintaining a sort of dusty, natural undertone and the scent of disiduous trees wafting over everything.

Notes that fade: Thank god, the lemon and pine go away.

Staying power? Unfortunately, this doesn't last more than a couple of hours on me without a reapply. Oh well, all the more reason to by a 10ml!

Summary: As I said, this is such a unique blend. It's a dreamy, nostalgic scent that reminds me mostly of hidden clearings and wildflowers when I was a girl. I love this perfume - it's definitely a 10ml for me.

[VorpalBunny]

I love the name of this one, especially after being in Iceland and going to the museum with Viking sagas and historical information. (According to the museum they were just calling the whole of North America Vinland at one point.)

 

When it first goes on, it almost smells like pineapple floral (I'm not sure what's making me think pineapple since I am sure there is nothing pineappley at all in this one). After a while, it's kind of a sweet, wintery floral, very light but cold. I don't smell loganberry per se but I smell a bit of fruit, and something kind of maple-y (although maybe that's just suggestive thought). It definitely grows into you as you wear it, the scent improves over time. When I first put it on I thought "I like this but I don't LOOVE it, maybe I should swap it." Now that I've been wearing it a while I definitely want to keep the imp, but I don't see myself buying a full bottle of this. After a few hours, the loganberries are more obvious. The sweetness is very light -- it's not syrupy at all -- and I really do smell a snowy prairie somehow.

 

I think it will go into my long list of scents that I like and will wear when I am in a certain mood. However, this is one of those scents that makes me want to keep going back and sniffing my wrist.

Edited November 13, 2004 by VorpalBunny

[LiberAmoris]

Disclaimer: I’m Danish and Norwegian.

 

Review: Vinland on my skin is part berries growing on a hillside, part sunlight flickering through trees, and part stoic Scandinavian homestead spirit. The notes, as Caitfish says above, are somewhat exotic so it’s difficult for me to discern what note is doing exactly what. But the overall effect is lovely.

 

It's got flower notes, but it’s not floral. It's good wood notes, but it’s not woodsy. It’s just clean, like freshly washed hair in Valhalla. Absolutely one-of-a-kind.

[Northernminx]

Gorgeous! Cool and crisp, there's a nice fruity roundness of loganberry and an overlay of light florals and something a little more green, leaves and ivy. This reminds me of a path near one of the beaches near here, where the ivy and trees form a tunnel. Cool and green but there's a ripe abundance to it. Definite keeper.

[any_old_actress]

FIRST SNIFF: sweet floral

 

WEARING IT: the scent keep changing on me, it goes from sweet florals with a woody undertone, to something a little soapy...then changes back. it's a pretty, yet strong scent. slightly cool. i wish it would stay sweet and floral though, i'm not too fond of the soapy bit.

 

VERDICT: since i've been dying to try this, i'm not giving up on it yet - a few more applications are needed!

[Dianella]

Initial sniff: A fresh green scent

 

Initial wet: Very green and fresh. Definitely a spring in Northern Canada kind of feel.

 

Drying: The scent is shifting on me. The green aspect of it is fading and I'm getting a rose scent, with a hint of soapiness.

 

Dry: The rose has receded to the background, the scent has softened and it's soft fresh floral

 

This is very nice and a real spring time scent. I'm glad I have a bottle

[omly]

I have no idea what loganberry smells like. That having been said, vinland smells clean and fresh like the outdoors. No, not like the fabric softener, like the wind blowing across hillsides of growing things. This was very nice in the bottle and at first. After about 20 minutes it gets decidedly soapy on me though, so I am unlikely to wear it as a personal scent.

[Morrighana]

I'll try to do a full review of this at a later date, but I just had to say that I received my 5mL of Vinland yesterday, and am currently in the midst of a love-at-first-sniff relationship with it. I ordered it scent-unsniffed because it is quasi-Canadiana, and I am so very glad I did!

 

Vinland is crisp and cool and sweet (without being sugary-sweet), and herbal but not astringent. It is atypically floral in that it doesn't really seem floral, but it is, and the woody notes are more well behaved than any other woody notes I've ever encountered. It is so bloody gorgeous, and entirely unlike anything else out there, though it does remind me of Red Devil and Follow Me Boy in its "feel" if not at all in its notes.

 

In short, I Vinland!

[inkstone]

In the vial

Sweet florals tempered by woody notes. I'm assuming the sweetness is coming from the loganberry, but I'm not sure what that smells like. It doesn't smell like the sweetness that comes from flowers to me. Very refreshing.

 

Wet

The birch bark comes out a lot once it hits my skin. There's another note that's making it somewhat musty, almost like musk but not quite. I don't know what it is. But that period only lasts for a couple minutes so it doesn't bother me. I've gotten used to Beth's oils morphing on me.

 

Drydown

I smell the yellow birch bark and maple leaves, tempered by the florals. The florals are definitely in the background though. It's more herbal than anything else. This isn't a woody scent, per se; it doesn't smell like wood. It smells like standing in a deciduous forest on a cold, sunny day with a half-frozen stream bubbling by. Actually, now that I sniff my wrist more closely, the smell has a similarity to the smell of chamomile tea.

 

Final thoughts

This is so pretty. It's love at first smell. Cold, crisp and definitely a keeper. It's immediately gone on the short list for a bottle.

[Faerykin]

Vinland

 

Swiped across wrists and along collarbone.

 

Initial Wet (8-8:30am): This is cool, wispy, fresh, and a bit tangy … lemon?

 

Initial Dry (8:30-10am): The lemon tang goes away and I am left with a cool, crisp, wispy, fresh, sweet field of grass and wildflowers surrounded by thick forest with the mountains in the distance. The fresh breeze blowing over makes this truly enchanting. Individual notes are lost to me – as half of them I wouldn’t even be able to identify if I tried – but that is just fine. This scent is marvelous … very northern.

 

Throughout the Day (10am-on): This calms considerably. I am still surrounded by the scent of nature … the cool, crisp, mildly floral scent of an open field up north. I detect the barest beginning of this turning powdery – I do hope that fades.

 

This has reached close enough to the almost-powdery stage to make me turn my nose (reminds me of Unseelie) … and it smelled so nice in the beginning. Bah! Damn skin chemistry! Oh well, off to the Swap Pile.

[ChupaChup]

I was really curious about Vinland because of all the reviews. It smelled really beautiful at first, kind of a frozen tundra thing going on. But the loganberries are berries (duh), I don't know why but I wasn't suspicious of them, even knowing I don't do well with fruits. And those darn little berries pack a punch and keep on punching, at least on my skin I'm sure it will smell glorious on the right person.

[rhubarbbear]

i was so excited to try vinland!

 

it smells like berries (logan or otherwise) right away. very fruity and sweet. i don't get any of the woody scents, but after a short while the berry fades and the florals come out. and on me they COME OUT. very strong floral. sadly, it started to smell old-ladyish on me at this point, just as my skin decided to amp things up. i started getting a headache.

 

i had to wash it off the first time i've done that with bpal...*sniff*

[Shollin]

First sniff: A cool breeze through a flowering fruit orchard on a day that’s sunny but cold. Vinland is another of those golden scents that I’ve become so enamoured of recently, though it’s definitely the coolest of the bunch.

 

Wearing: Well, annoyingly, of all the wonderful notes in this scent, my skin grabbed onto the rose and kicked it up about twelve notches so that’s all I could smell. Sigh.

[Gothabillywench]

OOh! It's those lollies i loved as a child!

 

Can't think of the name.

 

This is sherbety orange. That's all I'm getting. In the bottle It was more mellow & sweet, caught a hint of maple 7 gentle flowers. But on my skin it's a super tart orange sherbert & I feel like I'm 4 at a b'day party eating my way to a diabetic coma!

 

Not my kind of scent once on. If it smelled onme how it does in the bottle I'd love it. I love the novelty factor of it smelling like lollies, but not what I'd wear. Especially as it now appears to have given me a nasty rash that stings a wee bit.

[TheDarkMother]

I got Vinland in a swap with the wonderful Chupa!!! (kiss kiss)

 

In the bottle: A delectible rose scent with a foresty scent behind it.

 

On Me: Vinland almost gets a cinnamony scent along with the rose, like a spicy rose. Its heavenly, simply heavenly. Its almost as if having an English Rose Garden in your kitchen while you are baking. This is a scent that I would ADORE in a candle, a spray, a tart, and a bath so that I can constantly smell this scent!

 

Forget the Big Bottle! I want a GALLON!!!!

[tempete]

The Lab threw Vinland in as a freebie with my last order. This is the sharpest green scent that I've ever tried and it evokes an image of windswept tundra. Every so often, a berry note (must be the loganberries) keeps briefly appearing, but the floral components never showed up on me. I think that I would like it better if the fruit and floral notes were a little stronger to temper the sharpness of Vinland, but I'm glad that I got the chance to try this.

[darkling]

In the bottle: Vinland smells a bit sharp with an edge of forests and light flowers.

 

On my skin: It reminds me strongly of something that I have smelled before but I can't place it at all. Vinland is now an amalgam of leaves and delicate flowers with a hint of fruitiness. However, the scent is muted in a delightful way as if it were wafting to me on a breeze.

 

Drydown: Vinland became muted quickly. Although the scent lingers after a few hours, it is very weak.

 

Vinland has a sense of coolness and gentleness about it that reminds me of Spring. I can't imagine myself wearing this in the Autumn or Winter.

[Ishtar]

Rarely have I felt such a deep connection to an oil. You know that feeling when a blend is not only gorgeous, but also exactly like you imagined it, only a bit better? When it does not only smell good but also has something to say to you? That is what Vinland feels like to me.

I love Scandinavian countries and, well, I chose Canada as the country where I wanted to live, so no wonder the concept of Vinland was so appealing to me.

 

On my skin, Vinland was mostly fruity, without a hint of sweetness. It was also very airy, but certainly not in a gentle, breezy way. Think sharp biting wind and raging gales. Yet this is not a chilly scent. It is rugged without being harsh, with an inherent, completely natural and unspoilt beauty.

 

The mix of flowers and berries almost brought tears to my eyes, as it took me back to the scents of the Skansen, a historical neighbourhood built on a hill in Stockholm. Damn Beth, are you on a mission to make me cry with nostalgia? First Yerevan, then this? When will the time machine stop?

 

Needless to say, I will need more (lots more!) Vinland. It is beautiful, in a rather unusual way. The only other oil I could compare it to would be Glasgow, for the airy fruitiness aspect. Utterly wonderful. Thank you BPAL!

[xoe]

Vinland is beautiful. Olfactory sensatiosn of grey and mauve. Wispy, but with an unexpected depth. Sort of a sunset feel, neither light nor dark. Definitely a bit on the sweet side. Whether it's just the name association, I don't know, but I get the feeling of Vikings (I don't know what "teh feeling of Vikings" is, but it's there) and of a northern springtime meadow.

[NoirRosaleen]

...suck. I*m wholly Viking (Swedish/Irish/English/Norse), so I was really hoping...but it*s nothing special on me.

 

At first it was a cool berries and..incense...? on me, but after awhile it had a distinct note of HAIRSPRAY, of all things. Bah!

 

Tears is currently doing the same thing. I*m wondering if hairspray is just my skin today. I*ll hang onto Vinland and try it again later...

[FireInCairo]

I REALLY like this blend. It's very smoothing on me. It's a wave of calm vibes for me. I love the greeness it has. It's like breathing clean..cool..mountain air. I might sound like a cheesy Ricola commercial- but it really is THAT lovely and breezy

[Splendid Molerat]

Vinland is a perfect Winter fragrance.

 

It's the combined scent of a forest clearing during a thaw -- it's cold, but you're out of the wind, and the sun-melt around you gives the illusion of warmth.

 

Little wafts of Vinland made scraping ice from the car an almost pleasant interlude.