The Apothecary

[Ghost of a Rose]

Tea leaf with three mosses, green grass, a medley of herbal notes, and a drop of ginger and fig.

 

Lab frimp aged about 4 years.

In the imp: Oh my, is this beautiful! It reminds me so much of my beloved and deeply-mourned original Clairol Herbal Essence shampoo. I've been looking for a replacement for that for years. Is this my Holy Grail at last?

On me, wet: the same gorgeous green herbal scent, but now with a tiny tingle of ginger added.

But very quickly (only about 5 minutes), the whole fragrance has become very light already, and less like Herbal Essence. Still a lovely green scent with florals and ginger, though. Close enough.

After 30 minutes: Quite faint. I wish this beautiful scent was stronger and lasted longer! The ginger has faded away, and I don't detect any individual notes. Just that perfectly blended and balanced green Herbal Essence vibe.

After about 2 hours: I am surprised at how long this is lingering, after the quick die-down in the beginning. It's very soft, but still there, and is stable - the scent doesn't change much. Which is a good thing, in this case.

4 hours later, the close-in throw has actually gone a little skunky. But that doesn't matter because it is so faint. And past time to reapply anyway. With my nose practically touching my skin, I still get a hint of Herbal Essence.

Verdict:
This would be a good one for wearing out in public places. It's so light that it is less likely to bother people who are sensitive to perfumes.

Otherwise, I'll want to wear it in the scent locket. To maintain the strength and the closest resemblance to the Herbal Essence shampoo.

So is it the Holy Grail? Yes! Especially in the locket.

5 out of 5 stars. Thank you so much, labbies!

[JuliskaMarie]

In the imp: Exactly as described- very herbal & fresh!

Wet on skin: Exactly the same as in the imp

Dry on skin: A little softer/more muted & slightly more “perfumey”, if that makes sense? The ginger & fig are coming to the forefront & doing those yummy things that BPALs ginger & fig always do on my skin, but with a nice surrounding herbal scent.

After a few hours: A faded gingery-fig with a subtle hint of herbs. Weird, but nice!

Verdict: Not quite what I was expecting, but a very nice scent that I can see myself getting a fair bit of use out of!

[VetchVesper]

Kind of herbal and green, like a nice shampoo.  I DO get the ginger, and it reminds me a bit of Dubious Ginseng Formula, but that was fizzier and sharper, and this is a bit more soapy/clean smelling, but not in the typical "aquatic" way.  This seems like a nice bet for someone (male or female) to wear when they just want to smell fresh and clean, but not perfumey.  Not me, but pleasant none the less and probably a very good choice for summer. 

[Mister Azure]

Something simple and natural that applies a needed balm. 

 

Wet: Sweet moist moss and grass comes into the foreground with a light juiced sweetness. I feel like I have just wandered into a naturalist healing shop just after the morning sun has come up. Greeted with freshly ground herbs resting next to piles of recently harvested moss. 

 

The throw is medium at this stage. 

 

Dry: The mosses and fig remain but are mellowed out slightly with the arrival of ginger than slips in without notice. The transition is so sleek and seamless that it is a natural progression for the scent. Subtly beautiful is the best way I can describe this scent. 

 

The throw becomes less but still remains present on the skin. 

 

Final Thoughts: I can say that as a result of this scent, I love mossy fragrances. A lot. After a day and night of wear, a faint lingering remnant of this sticks with me that I was pleased to discover. I did have to refresh it the next morning just so I could enjoy it again. I wish the Potter’s Field fragrance was closer to this one.

[Soupy Twist]

Moss in the bottle. Goes on as uncut grass, like a lawn. Continues into wet/used tea leaves with some sour lemongrass.

[Niniel0205]

Started out as a very clean scent, almost soap like, fresh and clean but maybe not super special.

 

About 1.5 hours later, it has mellowed out on the soapiness and had become a little warmer. Seems slightly more floral now but since there are no floral notes in the description, maybe it is actually the moss I am smelling, but then a slightly sweeter variety than I would have expected.

 

Scent is fairly light right now, so not sure about how well the scent will linger.

 

Overall, a very and slightly subtle pretty scent but probably not memorable enough for me.

[torischroeder9]

Received in a swap.

 

In the imp: Soft, wet mosses, fig, and a touch of sharp ginger. 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, it's moss, then ginger, then grass. As it dries, the moss stands out more, with the ginger sharpening the scent a bit and the fig rounding and smoothing it. Given some time, a faintly Irish Spring soap note starts to emerge, unfortunately, though it's interspersed with sparks of ginger, which still gives me a bit of hope. Fortunately, the Irish Spring is short lived. After this, the moss and grass fade back a fair bit, so this ends up being mostly fig, with a bit of moss, grass, and ginger on me. 

 

I'm not sure it's really my thing for daily wear, but it's a very interesting and complex blend. 

[niffler]

In the imp: Strong ginger and tea leaf, hint of something like patchouli with the moss and grass hiding underneath. Eh? Not a huge fan, despite being very excited to try this due to the moss and grass notes.

On my skin: Instantly calms down, becoming mossier with just overtones of ginger and fig. There’s a tiny touch of patchouli from somewhere, but not strong. Very subtle once dry. Fades to something lightly musky, with only a feeling of herbs. 

[Laughing Seagull]

Received as lab frimp.  In the vial, it smells fresh and green.

 

Wet on skin, it remains grassy but ginger pops out.  Seems very masculine to me, overall, and I don't detect any fig at all.  This is the second fig scent I haven't detected any fig in.  Am I noseblind to it?  Does my skin just eat it?

 

As it dries, it becomes super, super, super mossy (three supers for three mosses).  I hate moss scents, so this is a bad thing.

[supreme_c0rt]

The mosses and green grass are most prominent out front, and the herbal notes are fresh, and somewhere along the lines of mint, basil, sage, etc. So, very green, very alive, and despite the name, not medicinal at all. I like it most at this stage. As it dries, however, the "drop" of ginger and fig push their way aggressively to the front. This makes everything shift much fruitier than I would like.* The combination reads as grape juice or perhaps plum juice. Some kind of red-purple juice... Very juicy. I would really like to smell a version without these two notes, as I think they're kind of crashing the party here and don't make sense to my nose.

 

I will agree with a previous reviewer that this has big Herbal Essences energy, so if you like that you'll probably really like this.

 

*Thinking about this a bit more, I think the grass note the Lab uses is also what's making this shift fruity. I've noticed this in other blends with grass, that it starts to take on a very sweet juicy quality over time. The fig isn't helping though!

Edited April 14, 2021 by supreme_c0rt

[Llanval]

This smelled so amazingly fresh and green in the imp, but on my skin it goes dead quiet almost right away, to the point that it's not noticeable after 30 min. 😔

 

I DO get clean airy green tea and vibrant green mosses, without much input from the ginger and fig (which I loathe and hate so yay!). I really wanted this one to work as I love both tea and moss heavy scents. Tragically, it seems my skin won't cooperate here.

[splendidissima]

New imp from the Lab, 2022.

 

Lightly sweet, light green, herbal tea! I was hoping for a bit more ginger (that usually works well on me) or fig, which can be interesting, but The Apothecary just settles in and stays a nice clean green scent. Like Llanval's experience, it fades super-fast on me - I actually reapplied within about 15 minutes so that I could write a review! I never get the fig at all, and only a tiny hint of ginger. It's pretty, if you like green herbal scents!

[crow-toes]

Very fresh and clean, mild, and low throw. Comes across as a fancy but fairly neutral soap. Herby and slightly floral, very very minimal on the citrus. no individual notes are standing out.

 

I'm unfortunately not getting any noticeable fig or ginger on my skin. Overall on me it’s… nice? Entirely inoffensive. But a bit boring and soapy for my tastes.

[Jarek]

I received this as a frimp in my last order, but then I realised I had put it on one of my wishlists to try, I've been wanting to try some green perfumes. So I decided to try it today!

 

Green and herby and a bit of a tang in there, maybe the moss or tea? Or even the ginger? That's in the bottle and wet on my skin. Very green and herby and lovely. Not quite citrus or sweet but something feels close to that.

 

It fades a fair amount after five or six hours, I can still smell a bit of herbs and maybe moss on my skin, though I'm less familiar with moss scents so far, and it loses the near citrus/sweet notes.

 

I agree that this is likely a better one to not overwhelm others' noses when out and about. And yeah I'm still learning the gender of scents but I thought this one seemed androgynous and it looks like many reviewers agreed with me.