puellacaerulea

For some reason I expected a version of the dead leaves with this. This is not that, but it's pretty great. It's bright and grassy, but it's not exactly a "freshly mown grass" sort of a grass note -- maybe that's the herbs alongside it? The hay is pretty subtle, but it's adding a sort of dry sweetness to the scent. Overall, bright, herbaceous, slightly dry grassiness. Like walking in a field in early autumn. I could see going for this one in warm weather, too.

In the decant: APPLES! My skin eats the apples up fast, though -- once it's on, the apples mostly disappear and the oud and amber amp up. It's not heavy, though -- it's a relatively light amber/oud combo, with maybe a bit of the honey detectable, but it's a subtle honey. It is a little indolic, but the oud mostly behaves. So: golden, light, sophisticated, gently sweetened amber and oud.

This starts off as a combo of bright lemongrass, neroli, and white musk, emphasis on the lemongrass. This isn't just cleaning-product lemon, though -- there's a distinctly herbal tone to it, which I'm guessing the lavender is helping to provide. As it wears, the lemongrass settles a bit, and the cedar and oakmoss come out more, giving the scent a bit more backbone. This is still primarily lemongrass and white musk to me, but with a slight herbaceousness and woodiness that grounds it. It's like Phantasm with a little more oomph. If you like scents like Phantasm or Embalming Fluid, you'll probably also really enjoy this. I might need a full bottle to fill the Phantasm-shaped hole in my heart.

This is another interesting take on the Dead Leaves blends, in that the dead leaves seem to be a background player through all stages of this scent. This is primarily a warm, rich, spicy amber to me. I do pick up the balsam, which I think is adding a woody/spicy note to the amber, but the smokiness is minimal. The dead leaves do peek out more well after drydown, adding to the woodsiness of the scent. If you've ever tried Pacifica's Spanish Amber, this reminds me a lot of that. Medium throw and great wear length -- a little goes a long way. If you like amber blends, this is one to try.

I've tried a ton of the DL blends over the past few years, and this one's definitely different. It's almost more gourmand than leaves. The leaves are there, but they're a background player to the marshmallow and pistachio, and they don't have the cologne-y vibe you can sometimes get from the DL note. It starts out sweet, creamy, and a little nutty. After a weird sharp/powdery phase, it settles and gets nuttier, but the leaves keep it from getting cloying. Nutty sweetness with an undercurrent of dry leaves.

Pretty much exactly what you'd expect -- smoky dead leaves! It's a sweet-ish, non-overwhelming smoke, though, somewhere between "distant bonfire" and "candle you just snuffed out." Definitely distinctly smoky, though. If you tried October and wanted something more smoky, give this one a go.

This one starts out with aggressive cinnamon. Like, *aggressive* cinnamon. As in sticking-your-nose-in-a-cinnamon-scented-candle cinnamon, and combined with the dead leaves, it's a bit much. Fortunately, after drydown, the cinnamon settles quite a bit, and more of the sweet notes come out. After settling, the leaves stand out more than the cinnamon buns. The cinnamon buns are still detectable, though, and do that thing that sweet notes seem to do to the dead leaf note -- adding warmth and toning down the super green, bell-pepper-esque scent people tend to notice in the dead leaf note. The end stage is warm, dry leaves with a hint of cinnamon buns wafting around in the background. Fortunately, it lasts for a long time post-drydown, so if this sounds appealing, powering through the "ZOMG CINNAMON" stage might be worth it.

Simple and pretty rose and vanilla combo. The chypre is also there and, along with the rose, a little more prominent than the vanilla -- it gives the scent a sort of shimmering, effervescent quality. The rose does go a little bit powdery on me, as rose tends to do, but the bourbon vanilla balances it out. The throw is subtle, but it has great wear length. If you liked the smell of TAL Enchantment and Rose-Tinted Mirror, you might also like this.

I think I was hoping for more salt/sea air/aquatics in this one, but I'm getting more of the fruits/mosses/florals. There is a blue-green aspect to this scent, but to me it's less oceanic and more muddy and bayou-esque. My skin chemistry might also not be playing well with this one, as it goes slightly powdery for a bit. It's not bad as a green, mossy take on an aquatic, but just might not be for me.

In the decant, I get a bit of that same sweet, oily, doughy scent from PSIYH, but it's way more subtle here -- it's like an extra sweet and rich Snake Oil. On me, the SO is dominant while the funnel cake scent is a background player -- it adds just a little extra sweetness to the SO that tips it more to the vanilla/musk side and downplays some of the heavier, incense-y notes in regular SO. So, yeah, if the idea of a more gourmand Snake Oil appeals to you, this is worth trying!

In the decant, it's a sweetened coffee layered over dead leaves. It's the same kind of sweet coffee note from blends like Europa and Guatemalan Volcanic Coffee Bean SN. There's something about sweeter notes paired with the Lab's dead leaf accord that gives the DL note this rich, sweetly earthy quality -- it's recognizably dead leaves, but it's warmer, richer, and more complex, without the cologne-y or greenness you can get with the DL accord. So: warm, rich, subtly sweet coffee and earthy dead leaves. It works! I've had the decant since it was originally available and I'm not sure why I passed on a full bottle, apart from already having a couple of coffee-based scents I liked.

In the decant: warm, dark, sweet, and chewy tobacco, with a backbone of polished wood. Tobacco stays the dominant note throughout, but the black peppercorn and musk notes add extra warmth to the scent. The cognac and wood notes aren't especially strong, but they're there in the background. It's a warm, brown, tobacco-forward scent, but also a surprisingly cozy one? Think an extra-cozy wood-paneled study where someone's smoking expensive pipe tobacco.

This is dead leaves and blackberry, but it's also so much more than the sum of its parts. The blackberry balances out the sometimes bitter, vegetal aspects of the DL note, giving it a kind of richness and complexity that I don't get with a lot of other versions of the DL note. The blackberry is noticeable, but it's not obtrusive or overly sweet -- my overall impression is like dead leaves, but better. I'm surprised I passed on this during its original run (especially given Glasgow is one of my favorite GC scents), but I'm glad someone frimped me a decant.

Agreed with the above reviewer that something about this scent says church, museum, or an otherwise quiet and reverent space. It might be because the frankincense is reminding me of church incense from when I was a kid (but better!), but there's something about it that makes me think of big, polished halls with a slight whiff of incense wafting through. The dominant notes throughout are frankincense and amber, but there are herbaceous and mossy notes in the background that keep the scent from being heavy. I can't specifically pick out the dragon's blood, plum, or mandarin, but the mosses and tansy are there in the background. Very much a unisex scent, and great wear length. Might consider a bottle upgrade for this one.

Was frimped a decant of this in a sale earlier this year and remembered to test it before autumn's over. It's a pretty, light mix of crisp, fresh apple, florals, and light musks. One set of notes never quite overtakes the other -- I kept expecting the florals to overpower the apple, but they're balanced really well, with little morphing. Definitely has a kind of crystalline quality to it.

I'm iffy on strawberry as a note, but I do like red musk and bourbon vanilla, so I wanted to at least give this one a try. In the decant and upon application, it's intense, super sweet dried strawberries, strong enough that I'm not really picking up the other notes. It feels sort of childlike to me, probably because it reminds me of 90s-era strawberry scents from my teen years. Over time, the strawberry fades and I get a subtly sweet red musk and bourbon vanilla. I'm good with that post-drydown stage of the scent, but the strawberry is a little much for me.

In the decant: Rich, oily fried dough. Borderline sickeningly rich, like biting into a piece of cake with too much frosting (just me?). Once I apply it, I get a big blast of cinnamon, which slowly settles and starts to blend with the dough. The cinnamon helps tone down the richness of the dough into something more doable. After drydown...it's basically like sticking my nose into a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Not the kind of thing I need a full bottle of, but I'll keep my decant for when I want something fun.

Agreed with the previous reviewers that this starts off super sweet. If this is lemon peel, it's a candied one (or a super sweetened white tea). Definitely lemony, but very, very sweetly so. Fortunately, as it dries down, the grass and tea amp up and tone down the sweetness (the grass manages not to go to plastic on me, as it sometimes does). Overall: bright, grassy, and citrusy. Doesn't have the longest staying power, but it gets a few good hours in before starting to fade.

Disclaimer: I've never tried a scent with a papyrus note before. This is a strange one! I'm also getting a weird sour note to start off, but it reads to me not briny so much as musty -- it's so close to Old Book Smell, but with an intense sourness that's off-putting. I can get a hint of the balsam in the background, but not a lot of cardamom yet. The musty/sour smell does calm down with wear, and the cardamom gets more noticeable, adding a slight warmth and spicy-sweetness. However, the overall impression is still Old Books Gone Off.

This is definitely an inky, musky, incense-y kind of scent. In the decant, I get the musk, amber, and a hint of terebinth, but there's also something that's slightly musty to me in there -- I think it might be the oud. Fortunately, the oud behaves after application, and the musty note calms down. As it wears, it's primarily dark, smooth musk and amber, and even though incense isn't a listed note, there's something there that makes me think of a heavy incense. It has great wear time, and over time the myrrh slowly comes out and sweetens the scent a bit. The end result is nicer than the first sniff in the decant suggested, but it's definitely not the kind of thing I'd grab for everyday wear.

There's so much going on here that it's tough to pick out individual notes! It's definitely primarily a white floral to me, especially in the decant -- the moonflower and ylang ylang stand out to me, while there's a sort of green, aquatic-ish undertone (I'm guessing that's the cucumber and lettuce). It does go a little powdery with wear, but stays primarily bright white floral.

I agree with the above reviewers that this is a green scent, but in a muted, dry, slightly smoky sort of way. The dead leaves are strong in the decant, but after application, the ambergris, amber, and vetiver start to amp up. Despite that, it's not a heavy scent -- I think the leaves, along with a slight sweetness from the cardamom and carrot seed, are keeping it from getting heavy and smoky. My overall impression is a dry and smooth take on the dead leaves blends -- think muted greens and browns.

In the decant, it's bright and herbaceous, with the lavender standing out quite a bit. The citrus is more of a background player, but it adds a noticeable brightness to the lavender and juniper. Once on, the herbaceousness of the lavender dies down, and I get something that reminds me of soap, but not in a bad way -- it's bright, clean, and refreshing. Unfortunately, it fades super fast on me -- after an hour, I get just a faint whiff of mandarin on my wrists. Probably going to pass on a full bottle due to the short wear time, but I'll hang onto my decant. I feel like this would be a fantastic room scent.

I apparently never got around to reviewing this despite having and loving my bottle of this since its original run, so. It's a simple, pretty blend of fresh rose and dry autumn leaves. The leaves are slightly bitter, but not the very vegetal, cologne-like kind sometimes associated with the Lab's dead leaves blend. The rose manages to avoid going to baby powder and stays fresh and greenish, which provides an interesting counterpoint to the dry leaves. I wouldn't call this similar to Zombi in that Harvest Moon '13 doesn't have that heavy-smelling soil note that Zombi does -- rather, it's more light, dry, and a little bittersweet. I especially like to haul this one out in early autumn.

This might be a new favorite of mine among the dead leaves blends, and I don't know why I didn't pick up a bottle of this during its original run. In the decant, it's true, dry, crunchy dead leaves, alongside a bright, herbal lemon verbena that complements the DL note surprisingly well. On my skin, it starts off with a loud blast of lemon verbena, but then it settles to a mostly DL/cedar scent, with the lemon verbena providing a faint brightness in the background. The cedar blends almost seamlessly with the dead leaves, helping give the leaves that dry/crunchy quality. Like walking through the woods on a dry, bright, windy late fall day, with lots of leaves crunching underfoot. Glad to have scored a decant after the fact.