Vinland

[fairy]

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

 

I tried this one a few days ago but couldn't make up my mind about it so it went back in the "to try" baggie....which is what I'm doing again, tonight.

 

It smells very green to me...like a grassy field. A hint of roses and sunshine. It's a warm, happy smell. That softens as it dries. Keeping the imp but probably not upgrading. Still a lovely scent~

 

edited to add description~

Edited August 13, 2006 by maddi

[blackfelicula]

In the bottle: I smell birch and rose most strongly. It's very floral to my nose.

 

Wet: The mix of birch and floral melds almost to a wintergreen-like scent. I think I've had chewing gum that tastes like this smells... The rose is very close to the surface, which threatens to ruin it for me. Rose oil and I don't get along so well.

 

Drying down: This has sweetened up on me a bit. The rose and birch are still there, battling for supremacy.

 

Dry I do get an impression of a sunny autumn day in rural New England. The birch is less prominent, but I think the other notes have tamed the roses somewhat.

 

Overall, it is floral/herbal. The rose is still doing a number on my sinuses, despite the influence of the other notes. My husband isn't here at the moment, but I wouldn't be surprised if this blend would get him sneezing. It is a very unique scent, and certainly not a bad one overall. It's just not up my alley.

 

ETA: After a couple hours, the rose quieted down some more, the birch faded completely, and the berry piped up. The result at that point was really quite charming. I still hold with the image of a sunny autumn day, a rich harvest just in, a hint of chill in the breeze. If only this scent emerged earlier! It's not so comfy sitting through a few hours of sinus tinglies, even for such a gorgeous, unique scent.

Edited August 24, 2006 by Shollin

[columbus]

Another complicated blend! In the bottle I can’t quite grab any of the individual notes, but sadly, once I put this on, it turns to minty toothpaste. That’s the birch, I’m assuming. My body must vamp it like Woah! And stays that way. Ah well. I really liked the concept of this one, so mebbe I will try it again in a couple of weeks and see if the body chemistry has changed!

[steffanina]

Vinland-

 

In Bottle: Spicy, almost oriental.

 

Wet: A strong aggressive flowery bloom on my skin.

 

Dry: Hmm, too bad, this had a nondescript floral fade, and though I got little hints of it for a couple of hours it was never anything remarkable.

 

Overall: Unremarkable.

[Cariad]

I'm glad I finally got around to trying this one, because the drydown is worth it.

 

In the imp, it smells like germolene! I think it must be the 'crisp northern wind' element that gives it that medicinal tinge...

On my skin, it stays quite medicinal for the first few seconds, but quickly mellows out into a lovely soft floral and berry blend with a bit of wintery sharpness, like roses and loganberries over frosty leaves. Like all the wanderlust scents I've tried so far, it's wonderfully evocative.

 

To me, this seems like a January scent. It's very wintery, but not spicy or indulgent like a festive scent. It's like the cold, bleak but beautiful light of day at the dawn of the new year. I'm definitely saving my imp.

Edited October 19, 2006 by Cariad

[Ohmaude]

Disclaimer: first off I AM a viking. Well, practically.

 

In the bottle this smells like forest berries.

 

On my skin this smells like Midsummer, the cool north, sun-baked summer cabins, green fields, breezes down from the mountains. I feel like I should be at a crayfish party wearing a wreath of flowers. It's fresh and clean and sunny.

 

 

The longer I wear it the more sunny it gets. I never thought about sun having a smell before.

 

I love it. Yum this is a keeper.

[sofiaviolet]

In the imp, I smell grape cough syrup. On my skin, I don't know what I'm smelling. It's nice, though. A bit like grape cough syrup with the medicine and bad connotations taken away.

[PilotKitten]

The wild roses in this are more predominant than I expected. Which is a GREAT thing since I love the roses. The rest smells like the ends of a beautiful meadon just before turning into the forest glen. Wonderful scent... it smells like a forest without being nothing but woods. Lovely lovely... along with the rose I may need a full bottle of this.

[tempestteapot]

I really wanted this one to work for me. I miss home and the snow so much.

 

Unfortuanatly it turned into Vick's Vapor rub. Blech!

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

three of my favourite BPAL scents are House of Mirrors, Spirits of the Dead and the Evening Star. none of the notes listed for any of those are remotely like the notes listed for this, but nonetheless i get a similar scent-feel from it.

i don't get the wintergreen/spearmint/medicinal or the berry/anise that some are....

i get fresh, crisp/cool air, lush grasses and wildflowers and a general sense of this being rather what a wood nymph or sprite might smell like.

 

i really like this.

[theseagrows]

initially this is very green and reminds me of stems or grass, then the loganberry comes through, which smells pretty much like bpal's grape note on me. some of the grapey/berry scents turn to plasticky-scented doll on me, and this one is no different. this is a loganberry-scented doll carrying a basket of fresh flowers this one isnt a keeper for me...in addition to the plasticky smell, the florals are too sharp and make me sneeze.

[oh_the_horror]

First, a warning. The imp I'm trying has an older label on it, so I wonder if it hasn't aged well.

 

In the bottle- Wintergreen bubblegum, something kind of sterile and medicinal like the smell of a hospital, grape, and florals.

 

Wet on skin and drying down- Pretty much the same except more floral and grape, maybe some rose. The florals are kind of pretty, but like usual, my skin is turning them sharper and sharper in a bad way.

 

After 10 minutes- Floral artificial grape with a sterile medicinal smell underneath. I think my skin chemistry did weird things with this.

 

My boyfriend told me I smell like brie cheese, a hospital and grape candy. He thinks brie cheese smells like band aids. ..? Hmph.

 

I'd be interested in trying a very fresh imp of this.

Edited November 30, 2006 by oh_the_horror

[QueenFae]

This is really pretty. Beth has really captured the "crisp wind" note; I noticed at first sniff that it was almost effervescent. It's a light scent, somewhere in between being berrilicious and floral. The rose note is bright and predominant. I can detect something that smells a bit like currant as well. This is a lovely blend, it doesn't have a lot of throw or sticking power, but it is nice enough to re-apply.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: I smell the berries and the florals. I really can't tell them apart, as I don't know these florals well enough, but I am well-disposed to it.

 

Wet: This is a nice berry with some bite. After dealing with a lot of berry scents that faded away on my skin rather quickly, I like this. I'm not sure, but I'm going to guess that it's the birch and/or maple leaf that's providing a strong base for this oil.

 

Drydown and wear: This is berry with something else--I think it's the maple leaf, or maybe the bark...or maybe the floral. I don't know, to be honest, but I do like this a lot. It's one of the more unique GCs I've tried in some time.

[Lunaratu]

ok, in the bottle this smelled pretty--very green with the underlying berries. however, when i put this on i couldn't escape from the fact that it strongly reminded me of first berry flavored alcohol and then hairspray. I'm allergic to aerosol so smelling that specific floral combination with the slight hint of berries to it that just reminded me of the stuff they scent hairspray with so it doesn't smell strictly like hairspray made me feel like my throat started to close up just because of the association. It made me very sad. Hope it works better on other people though!

 

Rating: 1/5

Edited October 9, 2007 by Lunaratu

[GlowJob]

This smell reminds me strongly of dryer sheets.It's very fresh but not me at all.

[supremegoddessofall]

Practically non-existent. My arm ate this one. Touch of florals and woody scents, but barely anything.

[keltic]

this is one i wanted to try because, hey, Vikings! the description sounded so perfect. the Lab obviously read my mind because i got a frimp of this in my last order.

 

in the imp - sweet, crisp herbs and just a hint of fruit interesting!

 

wet - the rose and loganberries come right to the front on this, with the rest of the notes giving and herby tangle to the background. the rose is actually kind of nice in this, not too cloying, not too strong but definitely there.

 

dry-down - oh, no, here we go. the rose has taken my skin chemistry and run amok with it, amping up to the sicky cloying thing it does and then suddenly burning out to leave nothing but a sharp and strong soapy scent, lingering and annoying like the fire from a plundered village. the berries and other notes that were starting to come out are nothing but poor victims in this massacre. invade, conquer, destroy. great, maybe i shouldn't get so excited abut Vikings. . .

 

verdict - off to the swap pile

Edited January 8, 2007 by keltic

[Em-]

Intersting. Herbal grape. Must be the loganberry. Very quickly, this amps into almost a rich red-wine-grape-like note that can be a migraine trigger for me. Very very odd. No vinland for me.

[Maia]

Initial on application: Roses. Fresh, damp roses. Quite nice although not what I expected. As the blend dries the scent turns greener - roses with green stems and lush, damp, green leaves. Still very nice.

 

Once dry the scent sweetens and and a weird plasticky note transforms Vinland into the scent of sickly sweet jelly candy - a cheap, not so yummy kind of candy. Obviously it doesn't work with my chemistry and I blame the rose note for this. It's always the roses.

Edited April 17, 2007 by Maia

[labeth]

Another freebie with my last order.

 

In the bottle, it had sort of a soapy smell to it-- well, I guess it wasn't soapy, but it smelled like something that would turn soapy on me (like Shanghai does.)

 

On, however, it took on a watery, astringent undercurrent nearly covered by a light floral scent. As someone normally prone to avoiding florals at all costs, it's surprisingly inoffensive to me. I can pick out the rose, but I'm not familiar enough with the other scents to name them.

 

I don't know that I'll keep it, because it's not really my type, but it's not bad.

[Jilara]

You would think this would like my Nordic bloodlines, but no.

 

In the imp, it's berries and leaves and something sour.

On me, it goes straight to cat piss with berries in the back.

Drying down, it's smelly cheese or stale gym socks more than cat piss, with berries in the back.

 

I can't take the drydown. This is the first I've gone to scrub off before 5 minutes were over. Even Highwayman stayed on me for 20 minutes before I scrubbed it off. Vinland does not like me.

[Mimicake]

A stunning fragrance. Green and sharp, with fresh crisp cut herbs and bitter berries. I imagine I'd like to wear this when it is cold outside. I love it, the man thinks it is a little too sharp and strong but what do they know sometimes? I don't think I will buy a bottle, but I will cherish my imp.

[bryghtrose]

Grassy with a lot of herbage and vegetation. It reminds me too much of a field full of allergen-producing plants.

[eatingthesea]

i ordered vinland because it has all those wonderful flowers and vegetation of which i have absolutely no concept (what is a loganberry? and who's ever smelled crocus or mayflower? not a native los angelean!). i'm so very glad i took a chance on vinland. when i open it, it is all berries and breezes. i definitely imagine some valley in a cool, windy place, populated by delicious vegetation. on my skin, i begin to smell a very peculiar flower, and i'm beginning to think it may be this elusive mayflower. maybe it's just because of the word association, but it reminds me of a discontinued bath & body works scent called may bouquet, which is amazing. it's a greenish floral, but very rich, almost dense. it just smells like the month of may! i think i also pick up the iris, which i am pleased to learn works on my skin. drydown...grasses and roses, but still with that dense floral i cannot pinpoint but would love to believe is mayflower, tempered by the non-floral maple leaf and birch this seems like a wonderful indian summer scent...cool, calming, delicious. 5ml!