Gloomy Day (February)

[Atrous]

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Dry balsams and wind-smooth woods, ambergris-grey clouds, autumn hay.

Gloomy day is, thankfully, as advertised.
I get all the notes listed with none of the notes overpowering the others.
Smells like being outdoors in a rural area on a cloudy, autumn day.
Its close to the skin,cozy, dry, woodsy, kinda hazy, with an underlying warmth.
I'm so glad Gloomy Day turned out to be exactly as I expected.

[Casablanca]

I got to sample this with my friend as one of her decants.

 

The first impression on my skin is a rich but soft ambergris hay, with a faint woodiness behind it. The hay and wood, and somehow even the light saltiness of the ambergris, remind me of the interior of a barn (but without the muck) from my riding days. This blend reminds me of Himalia, without that one’s vanilla honey sweetness and potent vetiver.

 

As Gloomy Day starts to dry, I get more of its balsamic tone coming out, but it fades back again. This is mostly ambergris hay on me. After a half hour, it’s mainly ambergris.

 

The blend fits its description. It’s a soft scent rather than a forward one, but it smells nicely rounded and filled out. I’m not a fan of salty smells, but the ambergris salt here is pretty mellow and I like this. When I sniff Gloomy Day side-by-side with Faunalia, the two smell pretty good together.

[Allumina]

This is my surprise winner of the yules. Soft, elegant, fuzzy warm pretty woods backed up with very smooth ambergris. Something (I think the ambergris?) sort of hints at being minty in the mid dry-down without actually smelling like mint. Lovely!

[freyasfae]

I snatched up a decant of this because of the hay mostly. There's not enough BPAL hay scents imo! Unfortunately, the ambergris just overwhelms, which isn't surprising, the other Yule similar to this one The Forest in Winter at Sunset was also all amber on me.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: I got a decant of this for the ambergris and hay, but wet this is all wood, delving pretty far into pencil shaving territory. Quite sharp and unpleasant. As it warms on my skin, I get some incense and roses, and that's when I realized I just layered it over Gypsy Queen, which I thought had washed off in the shower...

 

Take two: Still pencil shavings, but now I am getting something sour along with it. Just for a second though, and then the whole thing just melds into my skin and I don't know what I am smelling anymore. I may be too tired to test things properly.

 

 

Dry: The balsams come out, and this gets much sweeter - very resinous. Hints of hay. I can't really detect the ambergris at all. It's nice, but I'm not loving it. I will likely test again, I have learned the hard way that decants especially can take some time to settle, but currently, this one is like but not love.

[mrsrevshamwow]

Wet and during the drydown, the is "the incense that they burn at the Zen center," says my husband. "Is that a bad thing?" I ask. "No," he says, "just familiar."

 

The incense really is nice, but it is decidedly incense. I don't get much wind-swept wood on its own. Long after it's dry, the ambergris and wood make a lovely, smooth grounding blend.

 

Definitely really wearable, as long as the association with the Zen center remains positive for the husband.

[VetchVesper]

Gloomy Day is just beautiful. Far from gloomy, this seems glowing and warm. If it's a gloomy winter day, I'm cozy and dry under a blanket by the fire. This is smooth, dry, and subtly spicey skin scent on me with a touch of sweetness. Gender neutral. I love it.

[HerbGirl]

This is very evocative of walking around in the woods on an overcast, 'gloomy' day. I was worried about the balsam (which usually goes horribly sharp in a masculine way on me) but this is lovely. Gloomy Day and Desert Places are two of the best atmospheric scents I've smelled and I cannot stop huffing my wrist. On a side note, when I close my eyes and smell this, I am instantly on a stretch of the Kautz Creek trail near Mt. Rainier (just past the river crossing for anyone who has been on that trail) :-)

 

ETA: After a few months of aging, I get a bit of Autumn mushrooms underneath the leaves and a bit of soil from this, softened out by the ambergris. I love this scent so much.

Edited October 29, 2017 by Herb Girl

[zankoku_zen]

Woods, hay, and a touch of wispy amber. It's a warm, masculine blend on me. Medium throw and wear length.

[Little Bird]

Very dry, warm woods (and after reading previous reviews, I keep thinking pencil shavings now too, lol) and a powdery sandalwood incense type of feel. Drydown has the warm, powdery, slightly spicy, musky-clean-amber scent of the ambergris. The whole thing is rather light, dry and powdery on my skin.

[FeralFae]

Wet, this seems very similar to Alan McMichael. It's very dry and almost.. a bit spicy? As someone mentioned above, it has a sandalwood incense vibe.

On the dry down this gets much sweeter and lasts longer on the than Alan. The finish is a beautiful light amber, followed by woods.

The art is beautiful, and this is the most effortless and "me" skin scent, so I'll be getting a backup before the Yules come down!

[whisperstilled]

In decant: Dry hay and sandalwood

 

Wet: Dry and spicy! I smell the amber, but it's well underneath the spicy woods and a distinct, dead dry hay note.

 

Drying: This is more nutty than I had expected, maybe the hay note layering over the woods. It's a light scent with almost no throw, at least so far.

 

Dry: Warm, dry, spicy woods, as previously recorded. Nice overall, if not wowing me. I'll hang onto my decant and see how we age.

[roseus]

Starts off drier and woodier than I had expected, with how ambergris amps on my skin. There is a needly bite from the balsam. As it dries the ambergris amps and this gets warmer and muskier. The woods and soft hay mingle just beneath.

[doomsday_disco]

Gloomy Day starts off being mostly about the woods, one of which is cedar, and of the pencil variety. Then the musky ambergris and warm hay join in with the wood and balsam and it just because this lovely, warm, hay and wood scent overlaid with ambergris. I was iffy on this at first due to the type of cedar, but I really enjoy the ambergris and hay combo and think I'll keep the decant, although I'm not sure I need to hunt down more of this one.