The Hanging Gardens

[sheepzeit]

This perfume is an interpretation of the Hanging Gardens by night, based on further accounts of its fruit and flora: date palm, ebony, fir, pomegranate, plum, two pears, quince, fig, and grapevine with plumeria, three gardenias and dry rose.

Interesting that everyone used the word "summer" to describe this! When I first put it on, all I could see were the beautifully red and white displays in stores around Christmastime. To me, Hanging Gardens is the perfect Yule potpourri. I can see the artificial bouquets of holly, arrangements of pears and figs and grapes and apples encased in clear beads to mimic frost, all the shiny lovely aspects of the festivities. Christmas trees with plump, luscious fruit ornaments and sprinkled with crystalline frost, glittering with lights... mmmmm..

I smell the plum, fig, and a touch of gardenia. It's very hard to pick out the notes, but it's bursting with RED and PURPLE and a blend of flowers here and there. So very colorful to me.

Not sure if this is a keeper yet, but I was quite struck by how vividly the imagery of Christmas came to me.

[joseybird]

Plums and pears with a hint of gardenia and maybe some woods...

 

baah. This scent deserves a far better review than that! hmmm...

 

A native woman is picking exotic fruits in the heart of the jungle. This is the smell of the scent--woods, leaves, a touch of flowers, and a cascade of fruits, led by plum and pear

[Lady Ravenglass]

Being a berry/fruit fan, I pouncd on my imp with anticipation - and it hasn't disappointed. It's lovely; sweet, bubbly and rich, but not enough to be cloying. To me, it does smell a lot like Jester, which is all sweet berry on my skin, but I have to say that it isn't quite as sweet. I don't really get indivuidual fruit scents, or any florals, which is mildly disappointing as the description sounds wonderful. I suspect my skin amps up berry notes though. The plum is shining through, and adding a heavier edge to the scent, but without the boozy headiness in Blood Countess (which would have been perfect if not for the wine).

Potentially a big bottle, but I know I'll be unlikely to wear it much in the summer as it is a bit too sweet for baking hot days.

 

 

Fans of Jester, Bordello, Blood Countess, Mabon and Lady Macbeth will think this one delicious.

[olympia301]

 

I was really wanting to try this scent. I loved Macha's review of it, haven't we all walked by a little plot which was The Perfect Garden?

 

Perhaps I elevated my expectations beyond the possible. The imp came from a kindly swapper yesterday afternoon and all I could get my skin to give me was Default Headshop. I was really sorry. Could be my chemistry, could be my expectations, could even be my taste and pre-conceived notions. Could be a combination of them all. I think I would have added an undeniable green note, surely there is chlorophyll abounding in a hanging garden, it's not only blossoms. There should be the scent of plants exhaling here, like the smells in a greenhouse (even if it is an outdoor garden). ...and a bit of dirt, too.

 

A pleasant scent, once again. I won't throw it out screaming and cursing, but I think it should go in the swap pile. Anything which can inspire mighty prose in one BPALer, should have a chance to do the same with another.

 

The icon is the Hanging Gardens of Trump Tower.

[Phaedra]

This is very fruity and sweet in the bottle. When first applied it is warm and a bit spicey. It's hard for me to pick out the notes here- there might be some fig. After a few minutes it smells like cinnamon. This develops into a lovely, complex and fruity blend. It reminds me of a cross between Hetairae and The Hesperides. The only downside to this is that it seems to fade somewhat quickly on me. I'm not sure yet if it's worth it to buy a bottle if it's not going to last on me. I'll have to try my imp a few more times before I decide.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Deliciously fruity. Fig and pear, plum and quince. Plumeria is strong, as well, and some hints of creamy gardenia bubble up now and again.

On me: On the skin, some of the plants grow more prominant. Grapevine and dried rose petals increase in strength, as does the pomegranate and a citrus note. There are so many different things blending together in this, some notes retreating to the background only to re-emerge a few minutes later, others humming faintly in the background the whole time and never quite stepping into the spotlight. The spicier fruits and woods keep this from being a sweet screaming fruit salad, and aid this in maintaining a tropical, lush garden sense.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Fruit yumminess!!!

 

On Skin: I have been waiting for a scent like this… Oh my.. the pear, the plum, the pomegranate… I can smell them right away. I’m not smelling the fir or florals yet. Slowly the florals make themselves known, but I’m happy the fruity notes stay prominent. I would love this as a candle scent, it is so warming and juicy.

[fallow deer]

My first impression was that Hanging Gardens was not as fresh-smelling as I had hoped, it's more dried fruit than anything else, but the fruits are sticky and still lush, very rich.

 

After a couple of hours, the floral notes start to come through - I think it's gardenia, and it's giving a pleasant lift to the heavier fruit notes.

 

Hanging Gardens is truly a bonteous scent - both for wearing and as a room fragrance.

 

[PurringPulsar]

Hanging Gardens

 

In the imp: gorgeous mix of fruit and florals, with a hint of something green or woody.

Wet on skin: there's a clear floral, but also a harsh woody note there that's sort of scaring me…it's a sharp, grating note, hot and uncomfortable! What a shame…there's something underneath that's nice but that smell scares me.

Dry on skin: that sharp note is still there; it gets greener though, and there's a sweet smell underneath that will hopefully redeem this. And after a minute, it's softened out into a green note that for some reason makes me think of the trunk of a palm tree? Maybe it's the dry, rough aspect this note has. And there's a soft floral there, it's an exotic scent-gardenia, perhaps. This is a very hot, dry scent, and yet it seems like a garden with palm trees and exotic blooms. It's quite fitting for a garden in a desert country. I'm hoping the fruity notes come out, because now, it's really just dry woods and gardenia. Which is quite nice…I wish the smell was a bit stronger.

After a while: oooh, the fruits are coming out! Under the dry woods, a sweet moist smell of fruit starts to surface. I'm not sure what fruit, but there's a fruit there, with the gardenia. I think there could be fig or plum there, it's a sweet fruit. Now the scent becomes more lush. There's a nice mixture of woody, green, floral and fruity now. I think some of the fruits are dry fruits, like dates and dried figs. I can't distinguish notes, but it brings to mind a sun drenched, exotic oasis like garden in a great palace. There's a dry bite to this, which really makes me, think of the desert, but the sweet fruits and flowers redeem the fragrance. And there's a contrast to the dry scent-the fruity note is moist, almost aquatic. It's a very gentle, close to the skin scent though. And the throw improves dramatically.

After about half an hour, the smell develops a tartness, probably the fruits. I just hope it doesn't turn too sharp. I'm amazed at the sheer number of scents simultaneously showing up now.

The tart stage doesn't last...after about an hour the smell becomes truly gorgeous. There's a juicy, fresh fruity scent that i love...not sure what fruit, but it's lovely!

Verdict: this is so fascinating…an extraordinary and unusual blend of scents that put strong mental images in my head…picture a beautiful garden oasis in a burning hot desert land…that's what the smell reminds me of. There's a rough note that seemed almost off putting at first, but this then mellowed, and this scent reminds me of dry palm woods, dried fruits and fierce desert sun. But then there's a cool, moist blend of lush florals, ripe fruit and greenery with a hint of aquatic. It's such an interesting and intriguing blend, full of complexity, it takes your nose on a journey, and does befit the image of the hanging gardens. I'm not sure if I'll buy a bottle, as this is not your usual perfume, but as an olfactory journey to ancient Babylon, this can't be beat. How does Beth do it? It's awe-inspiring. I bet this will be even better as a room fragrance.

Now I'm hoping more of the Seven Wonders get BPALed.

Edited June 2, 2005 by yeahbutnobut

[bigeyedgirl]

I was really concerned when fresh from the bottle it was so over poweringly fruity. But I put it on anyway.

 

Wet..ugh still fruit. overly ripe fruit at that.

 

Dryer...oh look flowers and palm are poking through.

 

Dry, this is gorgeous. All of the flowers come up and beat the fruit into a bloody pulp while the palm tempers the sweetness and makes it the perfect summertime, spring and fall floral...

 

10ml a must!

[sarahj]

The Hanging Gardens

 

in vial: fruity and woodsy, with a slight plastic note

 

wet: a nice mix of fruit and floral; it's difficult to pick out any individual notes

 

dry: over the course of about 6 hours, the fruit slowly fades away, leaving only the florals

 

verdict: I am undecided; I will have to try this again

[QueenFae]

Fantastic!!! One of the best floral blends ever. The rose is the top note floral that shows on me, but the spices (must be fig?) are the most dominant. It's such a lovely balance of a soft floral overshadowed by the bite of the spices. Sooo feminine and lovely. Conjours Greek goddesses and Pagan princesses. I need a 5ml!!!

[UltraViolet]

In the bottle

Darkly Fruity

 

On

I smell pears, grapevine and plum primarily.

With pomegranate, and plumeria as the middle notes.

Rose bottom note.

 

30 minutes

This is deeper and thicker, more resin-y then Heteaire. And it's also sweeter then I initially imagined.

Even though I'm sure it's more complicated than this, HG smells like a mx of Lampades and Swank, with a dash of Sugar Skull to me.

Not as mellow-y fig and plum as you might think intially from the description. Plum in a more dominanat role is always more muted and densely berryish to me.

 

Throw:

Average

 

Scent category:

Fruity

 

Summary

This is nice, real nice. I was saying in my head while reviewing "If it was just a wee bit less of this and more of that it would be really good like "Swank", but thought that maybe it really doesn't need to be like Swank.

On my skin, it dries to a scent very nice and deep, the plums still there and the fig but it's "Sugar Skull" like to me with a bit more twig-ish notes.

I'm going to go try this with "Malkuth" or "King of Spades" and just ride the exceptional scent wave that I know this combo will be.

 

Purchase again?

Yes

 

1-5 rating (5 being best).

4

[blaqpearl]

This smelled gorgeous in the vial. I could actually see myself walking thru a botanical garden. The scent stayed true during the wet stage but as soon as drydown hit, the scent reminded me of scented feminine products. I dont particularly like the smell of those. I always reach for the unscented ones. Off to swap.

[Little Bird]

The Hanging Gardens was just way too... busy... for me. There were too many notes all screaming for attention at once. It gave me a headache.

 

The pear comes out on top of the blend, still getting engulfed by a plethora of other scents, but I can definitely pick out the pear.

 

3 hours of this and I'm too sick to keep wearing it. It's so strong. The shifting notes aren't my favorites either. This is everything that I hate about florals and everything that I hate about fruit - in one bottle.

 

I've noticed that most all of my favorite scents only have 3-4 different notes. I just can't seem to handle it when there are so many different scents all vying for attention. Instant headache in the hanging gardens.

[TrinitySydney]

When this oil first came out, I was listening to The Cure's song, Hanging Garden. It sold me and I immediately put in an order for 5ml, even though obviously no one had done a review yet and nor had I a chance to smell it. It could've turned out badly, but I'm glad to say it did not.

My nose, however, is picking up things entirely different than what the other reviewers noses are detecting.

 

In the bottle: Banana. That ripe banana you'd slice up and put on your cereal.

 

Immediately on: Banana disappears entirely and a very strong scent of fig, peach and CINNAMON pops out. Oh, the cinnamon!

 

30 minutes on: The fig is gone, the peach is barely there, a sweet pear has made a shy entrance, and the cinnamon is slapping my face in a love-pat sort of way.

 

Verdict: Good guess, good buy.

 

Thoughts: This is not a day-time wear for me. Too much in-your-face sass that says, "You don't know me--you only think you do". But for night, if I'm wearing something hot and I feel strong enough to carry this off, this will be THE scent to apply. It'll have to be a night when I'm prepared for the attention though. This would also make a fantastic scent in an oil burner to add a bit of 'something' to a romantic night, or, if softened a bit with vanilla oil, it would be outstanding for Christmas.

 

Edited much later, January: WOW. Still love this, and in fact, even more. I've also discovered that it is truly FANTASTIC layered with a rose scent. I've got it layered now with Peacock queen and whooaa! I'd be happy to be able to glue my nose to my wrist. Sexxxy!

Edited January 9, 2006 by TrinitySydney

[RunsWithScissors]

In the bottle: sweet and fruity, plums, grapes and plumeria. For some reason it reminds me of a richer, sweeter, and bolder Bordello.

 

Wet: Plumeria and plum stand out the most. Very rich and very sweet. Almost impossible to pull out any of the other notes.

 

Drydown: The florals soften it now. It's not so overpoweringly sweet. It's still very sweet. If you don't like sweet fruity/floral smells, this would definitely not be for you, but it's really softened quite a bit so that it's more like sweet florals. The plum is still present, but so are the rose and gardenias. It has a nice balance.

 

2 hours: Time really brings out the best in this oil. It was almost overwhelmingly sweet at first (to some it probably would be), but now, it reminds me of roses with sugar on them. That's the image that comes to me. The rose note seems to become more prevalent as the fruit notes fade. It's like sitting in a flower garden in full bloom and on the table in front of you are platters of fruit. Lean one way, and you smell the fruit. Lean the other, and you smell the garden, but when a breeze flows through, they blend together, making them almost inseparable. That's exactly what this is like to me. The florals and fruits are just perfectly balanced, and unlike some other scents, they maintain their balance quite well.

 

This is definitely one for those who love fruity and sweet floral blends. I'm in love with it.

[arabella]

First impression: Is it really?...No, it can't be…banana??

 

Dries down to: That initial impression fades quickly and a lovely floral and fruity blend drifts in - sort of like flowers in the tropics in the early evening, just before the sun goes down. At this point, I can barely pick out the fig, gardenia and rose from the overall blend, which is fabulous. After reading the description, I see there's no banana after all, but that's still what I get initially. I've just started on BPAL and, so far, this is one of my faves.

 

Lasted: 2-1/2 hours.

 

Rating: 4 out of 5

[Aurelius]

In the vial: bright, bubbly strawberry.

Wet: Ha! I bet it's actually the plum, pear and pomegranate that I smell. Yum.

Drying: Uh oh. Something vaguely sour. The description lists "grapevine" and this is, hands down, a grapevine-y scent. My grandmother had vines dripping with fat ripe purple grapes in her backyard veranda. This smells just like her grapevines towards the end of the season when they were ready to burst. It's a wonderfully evocative scent, but it's unfortunatly one that I don't particularly care for. If I close my eyes I can see a landscape covered in fruit, astonishingly fertile, ripe, and alive. Wonderful!

Overall: Too fruity and ripe for me, but a lovely scent. Simply dead-on.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Juicy, ripe, rich.

 

Second Impression: Mouthwateringly rich, The Hanging Gardens makes me think of late, late summer, almost fall. Harvest time, bursting, thick, ripe. The blending is so perfectly balanced, no one scent pulls out ahead of any other. I can detect the grapevine harvest scent, ripe figs, juicy and fragrant pears, with just a touch of the plumeria and woods.

 

Final Analysis: This scent is so ripe and rich, long lasting with a good amount of throw. I love it.

[Ajila]

Predominantly on me this is figs, dark, rich, juicy figs. In the background, there's something more earthy, to me it smells like the damp bark of an oak tree. It's not very strong on me and fades quickly, but it stays true to my original impressions. On the whole this is a pretty blend, but not a favourite of mine.

[puck_nc]

I was intrigued by the site description and snagged an imp off a sale on LiveJournal, and I am so glad I did. I think this will become one of my favorite summer scents.

 

At first I thought it odd to call it a summer scent, because once I put it on there was a richness behind the florals that made me think of holidays, fruitcake and sugarplums dancing in my head.

 

But it finally came to me. This is the scent of an outdoor wedding on a perfect hot day: the exquisite flowers arranged just so, the sweetness of the wedding cake being sliced, the crisp tinge of champagne for toasting. It's a scent for celebration, for enjoying being alive, and I'm so glad I stumbled across it.

Edited July 13, 2005 by puck_nc

[OdetteOdile]

Hanging Gardens

Warm & thick. I get plumeria and the fig, mostly - oh wait, there's the quince (if I'm remembering correctly what quince smells like). There's something heavy and rich that smells a lot like dragon's blood, but I think my nose is fooling me.

It's a great big Mediterranean fruit basket. The fig is dripping with nectar, the pears are dripping with juice. This fruit has been sitting out for a day in the sun and everything is on the tipping point of ripeness. It's pretty yummy - and totally decadent. This is exactly the scent of an Alma-Tadema painting, of John William Godward's Fruit Girl or Edmund Blair-Leighton's Flaming June - all hanging draperies of voluminous clothing, dripping off sleepy bodies in the hot Mediterranean sun.

[Em-]

I fell in love with this the second I sniffed it at the DC meet up last weekend...I cannot even begin to pick out the notes, other than to say that the description is spot on, and there is no way I can top Macha's review...

 

This is absolutely lovely. I get mostly very very sweet, almost mead-like fruits, with the florals acting as the base that grounds the blend. It is so absolutely lovely and edible, I want to go slather more onmyself just thinking about it. This is a great scent, I think, for others who might be scared off of the flowers, but who love foody scents.

 

Just perfect.

[friendthegirl]

This smells very juicy and sweet on me. It actually reminds me greatly of Persephone and I think that might be the Pomegranate, though the oil is blended so well that I can't really pick out any individual notes.

 

I thought I wasn't going to like it at first, I'm not a juicy sweet kind of girl, but when it's faded a bit, it's not so overwhelmingly juicy.