The Reaper and the Flowers

[Teggy]

There is a Reaper, whose name is Death,
And, with his sickle keen,
He reaps the bearded grain at a breath,
And the flowers that grow between.

"Shall I have naught that is fair?" Saith he;
"Having naught but the bearded grain?
Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me,
I will give them all back again,"

He gazed at the flowers with tearful eye,
He kissed their drooping leaves;
It was for the Lord of Paradise
He bound them in his sheaves.

"My Lord has need of these flowerets gay,"
The Reaper said, and smiled:
"Dear tokens of the earth are they,
Where he was once a child."

"They shall all bloom in fields of light,
Transplanted by my care,
And saints, upon their garments white,
These sacred blossoms wear."

And the mother gave, in tears and pain,
The flowers she most did love:
She knew she should find them all again
In the fields of light above.

O, not in cruelty, not in wrath,
The Reaper came that day;
'Twas an angel visited the green earth,
And took the flowers away.

A funereal bouquet laid on cemetery grass: longiflorum lilies, white rose, chrysanthemum, and carnation.

~~~~~~~~

I'm not a floral expert...I really don't wear them much, but I still wanted to give this one a try. In the imp and wet it's a beautiful bouquet of very fresh and gentle flowers. Carnation seemed to be the prominent note in the imp which instantly brought back memories of my figure skating days. Not too sweet. I even thought "Hey...I actually like this! Maybe I could wear this as a floral scent."

Two minutes later the white rose laughed in my face and turned to soap. Why must rose hate me so?

If your body chemistry doesn't make rose turn soapy, I think even non-floral fans would enjoy this.

ETA (two years later): This does not age well. Edited November 16, 2008 by Teggy

[Heavenlyrabbit]

This is a high pitched floral that I could only imagine an older, mature woman wearing at night.

 

Pretty straightforward blend too. Your chemistry should work well with lily for this to work, methinks.

Edited November 8, 2006 by Heavenlyrabbit

[Little Bird]

This is a perfumey, fresh, sharp, clean sort of floral on my skin. I was hoping for something that smelled like real flowers and a bit of grass, but I don't smell any grass or greenery from this at all, and it's definitely floral perfume as opposed to the smell of real flowers.

 

The only note that I can pick out for sure if a perfumey rose. It has a little floral spiciness to it, but it doesn't really smell like carnation spice. And there's a very clean undertone to the whole blend that's almost soapy, but not quite, like a high pitched white musk.

 

Perfumey, musky, chemical white floral headed by rose. This isn't my sort of floral (the heavy, perfumey qualities start to give me a headache after a while).

Edited August 23, 2010 by Little Bird

[edenssixthday]

The Reaper & the Flowers - This is a gorgeous, gorgeous floral blend. On me, it's all lily and rose, reminding me a lot of Sepulcher. I don't smell the chrysanthemum or carnation at all in this blend. It doesn't morph at all on my skin. It's just all lilies and roses all the time. The sillage is absolutely perfect and the staying power is quite strong. This is one of my current favorite florals, so smooth, well-rounded, sweet, and somber. As much of a "funereal" blend as it is, I could see it being gorgeous worn by a bride, as well.

[filigree_shadow]

At first I mainly smelled lily, but as it dried it became mostly rose. As rose scents go, this is a pretty good one. It's sweet as opposed to being green. It also seems, to me, to be overtly feminine. When I sniff this I get an image in my head of a pretty woman in a white dress and hat walking through a garden.

 

Hmmm. I expected not to like this, but I do. That white rose is really growing on me.

[slave1]

THE REAPER AND THE FLOWERS

 

In Bottle: Carnation

 

On Skin: The spicy carnation comes out right away, it smells like I am in the garden taking a deep whiff of carnations and chrysanthemums, so pure and realistic. As the scent develops I can smell the sharp rose in the background and also a very faint sweetness from the lily. Overall, I am not really fond of this scent. It’s a bit too bitter, soapy and sharp for my taste, but if you are a floral fan try this for sure. I prefer sweeter scents and this one is a bit too perfumey. It’s is a woman’s scent for sure... I'd even go as far to say as an older womans scent (I almost always get "Granny scent" from roses) and quite strong. It has a nice throw and lasts quite a long time.

Edited November 14, 2006 by slave1

[grrrlennyl]

at first: gorgeous somber flowers.

on: a bit more biting and a bit bitter.

2.5 hours later: white flowers.

5.5 hours later: a little lighter, but still somber, white flowers.

overall: this isn't really something i would wear, but i was just told that a family member passed away after putting it on, so i may wear it to the wake and funeral.

[sofiaviolet]

This is pretty soapy. I blame white rose. The carnation is nice, but it doesn't hide the soapiness well enough for this to be wearable.

[Medici]

In the bottle: Carnation and lily.

 

Wet: Lily, greenery beneath, and a little bit of carnation. Still predominantly lily.

 

Drydown: I am a lily h0r! I bought a bottle unsniffed of this blend going, lily - yup, carnation - yup, white rose- yeah ok. Let's hope my skin doesn't amp it.

 

The end result, for someone who likes funeral flowers, this blend is right up my alley and I am capering with glee that I went straight to a bottle.

 

Two thumbs and one toe up.

[storme]

In the imp: lily and chrysanthemum and green carnation.

 

On me, wet: very green stem-sap sort of scent, under chrysanthemum and green carnation. Refreshing and floral.

 

On me, dry: I get the impression that without the lilies I would love this blend. Unfortunately, they're swamping the blend.

 

Verdict: Alas, those lilies are too soapy. I can smell how awesome the carnation/chrysanthemum combination is beneath that, though.

[theseagrows]

i looove carnation and chrysanthemum, therefore i was attracted to trying this scent. unfortunately the white rose and lily are most prominent on me. i really should just avoid any 'funereal flower' scents because they always smell creepy and old-ladyish on me. i think it's mostly the lily, but rose, which often work, can also go awry in blends like these. also i think white rose turns a bit on me, unlike the straight rose note. off to swaps with this one.

[ChupaChup]

Of the new imps I received in my last order, The Reaper and the Flowers was the only keeper. I get very strong lilies at first, which I love, and then the carnations take over, which I love even more. I really can't pick out the rose or chrysanthemum in this, it's pretty much single note carnation at drydown and it's very strong and long lasting. Even better than the single note carnation the lab used to sell which I found a little disappointing due to its weakness. If you love carnation, try this one!

[Voleuse]

This is a very quiet, very pale bouquet of floral notes. The white rose is the strongest note, I think, though the others aren't far behind. This blend could very easily turn to floral soap, but it's a nice, faded rose on me. Fresh and solemn.

[supremegoddessofall]

Definitely a white floral! I get mostly lilies and carnation. Feels kind of soapy on me. I'm not sure about this one.

[Em-]

I love what Beth does with lilies, and tend to like her carnations and find her roses very wearable as well. So the mums were the main question in this blend, that and the total floralness of it...

 

Alas, while this is a very pretty perfume, it is a little too flowery for my taste.

[PurringPulsar]

The Reaper and the Flowers

 

In the imp: white lilies, chrysanthemums and dry roses.

Wet on skin: dry chrysanthemums and lilies.

Dry on skin: very pretty. This really does smell like a funeral bouquet. It's predominantly 'mums and white lilies, with a hint of warm, spicy carnation and rich rose petals underneath-I smell it all here, flowers, stems and leaves. Maybe even a hint of the grass the bouquet is laid upon. It reminds me strongly of Sepulchre, but with added 'mums and carnation.

After a while: the sharp dryness of the 'mums seems to have faded a little, as well as the greenish lily scent. Now the gorgeous white rose note, warmed up so nicely by carnation, comes to the front, with the dewy, waxy-papery lily at the back now. It's now a deep and velvety yet slightly melancholy floral scent, it's very well blended though and with that lovely spicy sweet carnation touch to it. The rose note becomes drier at the end and the 'mum comes out again to join it after a few hours.

Verdict: this is like going to a florist's and burying my nose in a bunch of flowers. It's a very realistic bouquet scent bursting with floral notes, but these are mournful in nature. It starts off smelling strongly of lilies and chrysanthemums, but then moves into a gorgeous rose stage. I adore Beth's white rose note, and it is fantastic in here, where it bonds with a delightful carnation note which adds warmth, and the result is a floral scent which is almost like velvet with petals strewn over it. It's my favourite of the funereal florals so far, not one I need a bottle of right now but I'm keeping the imp.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Just the imp.

If you like this, try: Sepulcher, Santa Muerte, Maiden, Alice, Hymn, Les Fleurs du Mal, All Saints 06

[phedre]

In vial: lilies and roses

 

wet: Tons of lily and chrysanthemum. Not much carnation though, which is disappointing.

 

drydown: this has turned to soap. Oh well. The florals are nice, but the soapiness is overpowering.

[melrose]

This smelled intriguing in the imp - earth, a hint of green, flowers. Alas, the longer it was on, the more queasy I became, until I had to wash it off. It's the lily note. Sigh. Here's another note my stupid skin chemistry can't handle.

[belegwen]

When I first put it on, it smelled very strong and just screamed, "I'm wearing perfume!!!" It was strong and floral, and I didn't really like it. It's calmed down very quickly. It's still very floral, and I don't really like it, but at least it is no longer quite so strong. I'm definitely smelling a lot of lily, and other flowers that are just a little too sweet for me.

[outofrhyme]

In the bottle:

Sharp lilies... and grass?

 

Wet:

Still lilies and grass, maybe some chrysanthemum.

 

Dry down:

Sorta nice, sorta sharp. Gets better the longer it's on. I can pick out the lilies and the carnation for sure, and I think the other two as well. Powdery on me.

 

Final thoughts:

It's a nice, muted, grown-up floral on me, but probably not my favorite floral. Might be good for something professional, though.

[naeelah]

I received this as a frimp. I'd been thinking about trying it but wasn't sure if I'd like it, so I was happy to get it for free!

 

It's all white florals, no doubt about it. It's nice, but it goes on very strong. I put on the usual smearing from the imp wand, and it was probably too much, so use a light hand with this one. The florals blend together very well and I wasn't able to pick out anything in particular. There is something in this that reminds me of the gardenia note in some other blends (highway man came to mind). These florals are pure perfume, there is no sweetness.

 

This one doesn't seem to morph so much on me, so it seems the notes all remain well-blended. It also doesn't fade fast. I had to wash it off because it was making me feel faintly ill, and I'd decided I didn't like it. I might try it again with a lighter application, but I think this is one that just won't work for me.

 

Use a light hand, and if you're a fan of light florals, this one should be right up your alley!

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: lilies and carnations

 

On Skin: lily smash! I think she is crowding out all the other flowers, and that's unusual because usually it's rose smash! for the win.

 

On Drydown: Pale white floral

 

Verdict: Neither a like or a dislike. This is an interesting, and yes, somber bouquet of flowers.

[GoldenRubee]

When I first applied this I smelled spicy carnations and lilies. It was really nice and light. After an hour or so, it turned into a powdery floral. The carnations that I loved so much have faded and all the flowers have now mingled together into a mosh-posh of florals. The spiciness is gone too. I guess this one is off to the swap pile.

[steffanina]

The Reaper and the Flowers-

 

In Bottle: Sharp, floral, no good promise here for me.

 

Wet: Sharp florals, they water my eyes a little.

 

Dry: No, there's nothing here for me; florals are not my friend and this one's too eye-watering to even be a good next-door neighbor.

 

Overall: Not for me.

[neuilly]

Definitely not a good scent for me! This comes of really sharp and green with a strong soapy rose not. Nothing about this scent works on me. Off to someone who can appreciate it!