The Autumn Folk

[Jenjin]

The chord vibrated in the air between them — a connection point.

Hay-dusted oak, honey mead, pumpkin rind, vetiver root, corn husk, and maple leaves.

[VioletChaos]

Full disclosure: the autumn leaf notes tend to HATE me. Like, with a fiery, cologne-y passion that breaks my heart every year at this time when folks get to slather on the Dead Leaf scents. But I figured I'd take a chance with this one because literally every other note in this blend is something I adore (and works on me), so I'm hoping for a Hail Mary. Let's see how it goes, shall we?

In the bottle, I get the corn husk immediately which combines with the hay note in the best possible way. The leaves are peeping in the background, which always smell fine in the bottle, I hope it translates to my skin without issue! 🤞

Wet on skin and through to dry-down, I get wisps of the hay, the oak, the corn husk and the leaves. I was hoping for more vetiver, which is a note I adore, but I am pleased as punch to have found a maple leaf scent that I can ACTUALLY wear!!!

I suspect that the other notes, with their dry-earthy qualities were enough to do a course-correct with my skin chemistry. So if you, too, are a person that's been sad about a lack of Dead Leaves in your life, definitely give the Autumn Folk a try!

I'd say this is a low-to-medium throw, so test cautiously until you know how your personal chemistry will respond.

I can't wait to see how this ages! ❤️ 

[ghoulnextdoor]

An unexpected autumnal breeze; crisp leaves carry secrets of golden fields. Honey-tinged sunlight clings to weathered bark, earthy roots anchor fleeting warmth. Tattered pumpkin rind scrapings compost with the sweet decay of fallen foliage. Deceptively fresh, almost cheerful, yet a ghostly chorus lingers in wind-stirred branches - a chill, whistling echo of summer's fading warmth.

[hivesofbees]

The top notes on this scared me. The sweet blast of mead, pumpkin, hay, and maple signaled "October craft store" to my brain --not exactly the vibe I was hoping for. However, on the skin, the sweetness subsides to a gentle background, the corn and woods start to come to the fore (and do I detect an unlisted orange blossom?). The vetiver brings a hint of dank earthiness that keeps things grounded. The overall effect is meadowy and sun-kissed, and I suspect this will work better as the days get shorter and the nights colder.  For the moment, it's not quite a love but I do think I'll be reaching for it from time to time. My experience with BPAL is that often the top notes settle a bit as they age, so I am hoping this can be a real hit for me by next autumn (and I will update this review if so).

 

[AbbyNormal]

I am so glad I gave this a chance to recover from mail shock. When it first arrived I tried a small drop and it immediately smelled like poop. There was a pleasantness underneath it, but poop was definitely the forefront. The same thing happened with my Hatman from the same order. So I set them aside. 
 

Today I tried them again and there were zero signs of poop. The Autumn Folk is much brighter than I expected, almost a touch effervescent when first applied. The leaves are present but hanging back quite a bit, and it’s much sweeter than I thought it would be from the mead. There’s a touch of pumpkin and it reminds me of the pumpkin in Pinched w/ 4 Pumpkins (pumpkin is starting to not look like a word anymore). In fact, the longer I have it on the more it reminds me of Pinched, if you swapped out the coffee and cinnamon for leaves and mead. I’m very happy I went for a full sized bottle!
 

 

[Elspethdixon]

In the imp/wet - light, sweet hay and mead combined with something cool, probably either the corn husk or maple leaves

 

Freshly applied - the hay and mead are joined by a hint of something musty, an undertone of warm pumpkin, and just a whisper of dry/dead leaf note. On my hair it’s a nutty hay and mead like it was on the wand.

 

Drydown - The first ten minutes or so have a distinct soapy element to them. It’s reminding me of one of Lush’s soaps, but I can’t remember which one. Once that dies down, Autumn Folk is a pretty faint scent on me. Right up at the skin I get sweet warmth, but the throw is cool and even slightly soapy from the dead leaves.

 

By two hours in it’s completely gone :(, Alas. But for those two hours it was the first and only dead leaves-esque scent I’ve been able to wear well.

[puellacaerulea]

In the decant and immediately after applying, this is a warm, autumnal gourmand -- even though oats aren't listed in the notes, it reads like honey and oats (which could be the hay) to my nose. If anything, it reminds me of a local soap shop's oatmeal stout soap (in a good way). As it dries down, the leaves and vetiver come out more, giving the scent an ever-so-slightly cologney (again, in a good way) backbone and taking it out of strictly gourmand or fall-craft-store territory. Warm, autumnal, and earthy-sweet -- like Corn Riggs but with some pleasant oomph from the vetiver.

[LacedDoll]

This is a very fresh autumnal scent, with the corn husks coming through strongly for me. I also smell a smidgen of orange perhaps? Not a strong note, so I might be mixing it up with the mead. 

[tinyvulture]

A true blend where no single note stands out. I get maple leaves, honey mead, and corn husk – bitter and green. I don’t really get the vetiver or pumpkin though. The honey mead gives the whole perfume a sweetness that makes it “honey tinged sunlight” as ghoulnextdoor said. It’s a warm fall day in the woods, maybe at a Renaissance faire. Very unique.

[RoseThornAndOak]

The label art is giving "it's autumn 1997, The Mummer's Dance just dropped, the radio is still playing all the hits from Mellon Collie and we're heading to the corn maze and the Ren Faire" so naturally, I had to try it despite my hangups about vetiver and honey. In the vial: sweet, vaguely gourmand, warm kinda bready, kinda outdoorsy, yellow brown in hue. It kind of reminds me of the Lab's mushroom note, buttery, vegetal, gourmandish. The maple leaf is not the normal dead leaf note, so no green pepper. I don't really get honey, booze, vetiver, pumpkin (other than rind + vegetal + gourmand, but it doesn't read quite like pumpkin? hard to explain), but it is a little like cornbread. There's also nothing barnyard about the hay thankfully. It's just a nice warm, autumn goumand, sweet, but not overtly so. The final drydown is fresh, warm, autumn air that is a smidge ozonic, just enough to lift it, without any smoke notes, with a lingering hay and corn husk sweetness. This would layer beautifully with a smoky fragrance, yet I'm glad to have something autumnal and atmospheric that is also wearable that isn't smoky, for the variety. 

 

So does it fit the vibe? Yes, but to make it 1997, I would burn some Wild Berry Lilac incense or wear the fragrance oil over it, which is my signature (very similar to B&BW Fresh Cut Lilacs), and it would be autumn heaven to me, as we would pick up the incense on the way to the corn maze. I could also see lavender being a beautiful layering option for this.

 

Verdict, I'll probably get a bottle. 

Edited December 10 by RoseThornAndOak

[Cali]

From the bottle i'm getting an autumny soap. Applied, it goes into a dreamy, velvety scenescape of a dark, cozy autumn night with magic in the air. 

I'm not entirely sure what i'm smelling that still vaguely reminds me of "soap" (dw, it's not """perfume soapy""" anymore), but maybe the mead, corn and maple? It's this... goopy gloppyness of liquid orange amber (*not as in an amber note), swirlywirling around, stars twinkling in the night sky - a bit away you see a cozy city, right in front of you a dirt road lit by fairy lights, filled with sweet autumnal creatures, a forest to your right, and a corn field to your left. 

Usually the dead leaves note amps on me like crazy - no such thing here!  This is so, absolutely adorable (and so wearable)!