Garden Path With Chickens

[stellans]

Garden Path With Chickens, Gustav Klimt.
Damp grass, ivy leaves, morning glory, daisy, rose geranium, heliotrope, white gardenia, climbing roses, peppery nasturtium, phlox, begonia, verbena and sun-warmed herbs.

 

I've waited till now to write this review, because this blend reacted a bit differently to my skin today than it has in the past; there was an underlying watery note that I hadn't perceived before, though this might be an aging thing? Anyway, my prior notes when worn last indicated lovely grass and herbs, slight floral, which all hold true today...but then there's the water. Granted, the official description does start 'damp grass,' but this is more water-logged than damp!

 

But I like it. I like how it smells like my garden after a short spring shower; after the grass is mowed; and after I bury my face in my little herb pots. This is a gorgeous blend, even if it did shift on me since last time I wore it, and I love it. I just wish it had more throw and a better lasting time, because to smell it at all I have to bury my nose into my skin and it wears off super-fast. It didn't last much longer in my Forbidden Brides scent locket, either.

Bottom line, though, is I love it while it lasts, even if it's not for long. 2 stars out of 5.

[countessmouse]

Very grassy and herbal in the imp. When it was wet on my skin, I smelled a bit like one of the bf's chicken marinades (which is not a bad thing)! Dry, soft florals have emerged over the grassy/herbal tones and it is actually a very nice scent. The bf approves.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Ooh! This is like a greener variant of One to Tie! It’s spring rather than summer, and the hay is very very green, but it’s the same outdoor sunny happy feeling.

 

Wearing: Fresh wet greenness, grass and leaves and dewdrops, and a little bit of nose-tickly hay.

[hersphinxness]

This is a beautiful, refreshing scent, light and sweet without being traditionally "girly". The main thing I smell is green, grass, leaves, those tiny wildflowers that have a grassy smell. I don't get anything particularly herbal, but there is a slight aquatic note, very light, which gives the scent a very fresh quality.

 

In the bottle it smells dreadful to me! That overpowering, powdery old-fashioned soap (usually in the shape of a seashell or flower and itches like all get out if you're silly enough to use it!). With hay on top of it. This makes me sneeze, and the scent lingers in my nose for hours after unless I have a sniff at some coffee or spices. I learned to hold my breath when I open it. Otherwise, a lovely scent and perfect for spring and summer.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: lots of damp grass and ivy.. good amount of morning glory, daisy, and heliotrope. I can smell the nasturtium, gardenia, and bit of herbs too. Lovely. It really does smell like a garden path.. many people up here grow these flowers, minus gardenia. I was hoping for a touch of dusty chicken feathers, but that's ok.

 

Drydown: grass and ivy settled, allowing the florals to come out more. I can smell the rose geranium and climbing roses. The gardenia is still strong too. Lovely green floral blend!

[frecklestars]

In the bottle: very summery! tons of herbs, growing among patches of a very juicy grass. ivy, certainly, and some climbing roses. this is yard clippings, an armful, and rolling down hills at top speed. reminiscent of gardens without being straight florals. it's a very fresh scent that I imagine some people might think smelled like detergent or soap, but to me just smells like warm weather and bare feet.

 

On my skin: grass is never too strong for me, so I slather it on and go! more ivy and grass, herbs, and daisies. this is mostly plain flowers, though they smell wonderful. not traditional florals, but not dry either. this is things that are alive and grow and stretch in the sun. the peppery nasturtium tones nicely with the juicy fresh growing-ness of the rest of it.

 

Last thoughts: juicy grass and gardens, armfuls of fresh clippings. who could resist such a garden?

[Incendiare]

So very fresh, green, and breezy, both in the imp and on my skin. The florals are sweet and innocent and evokes images of gardens in the countryside with an assortment of delicate flowers. This even smells slightly aquatic, but it isn't overpowering, like the grass and flowers are dotted with droplets of fresh water. Overall, Garden Path with Chicken is a delicate blend and I can't see this one having much throw. I've only had in on for a few minutes and I can barely smell it when my nose is a few inches from the spot on which I've applied the oil. But that's ok. It'll be good for a hotter day when I won't want to envelope myself in any of my headier, heavier blends.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Lagniappe from a generous seller.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I absolutely love the name and artwork, but the notes here are iffy to say the least. I don't do florals with very few exceptions (I sometimes like lilac and can tolerate osmanthus, honeysuckle and orchid in small amounts) and this sounds like a floral bomb. I do like grass scents, so it's not all bad. I'm going into this with an open mind since the Lab has a knack for creating scents that shouldn't work for me but do. Maybe I'll get lucky and this one will be a rule breaker.

 

First sniff:

 

First off, let me say that I'm terrible at identifying floral notes. The only ones I can reliably identify are lilac and rose. Others I sometimes recognize and sometimes don't. I can tell you if a floral scents is heady, tropical, creamy, etc. but I can't tell you what actual flower I'm smelling most of the time. So, keeping that in mind...

 

What I smell here is soft grass (not the intense, super sharp green grass note that sometimes crops up in BPAL scents, but a softer, springier grass note) and a mix of soft, gentle florals. It smells like a garden in spring and it's actually really lovely. For some reason, I want to say that it makes me nostalgic, but while we had a small flower garden when I was growing up, it didn't smell like this (probably because the only flowers in it were tiger lilies and roses). This is a very feminine scent. The kind of scent that makes me want to put on a sundress and sandals and sit outside with the sun on my face.

 

Wet on skin:

 

The grass is a little more prominent now, but it's still mainly a riot of different florals. While it's a very floral scent, it's not obnoxiously floral and it doesn't make me feel like I'm going to develop a raging migraine at any moment. It smells natural rather than perfumey, if that makes sense. There's a hint of something weird hanging around the edges, though. It's somewhat bitter and unpleasant. I've only had two other scents (One to Tie, Two to Win and Trachelophorus Giraffe v3) go weirdly bitter on me and while they were more intensely bitter than Garden Path, the effect is similar. The offending note in One to Tie was almost definitely the dandelion, but I'm not sure what it was in Trachelophorus. I'm guessing there's some sort of green plant stem note in here that's doing something similar.

 

Dry down:

 

The weirdness gets worse as the oil dries. It's a subtle bitterness, but it's enough to be off-putting. There's also a very faint pepperiness. I'm guessing it has to be coming from the nasturtium (big leap there, since it says right in the description that it's "peppery nasturtium"). I, unfortunately, hate peppery scents, so while it's subtle, it still stands out to me.

 

The end scent is a sweet, innocent spring-time floral blend with soft grass (and the faint bitterness/pepperiness I mentioned before). If those two party crashers stayed away, Garden Path would be very pretty.

 

The bottom line:

 

I have to say, I like Garden Path with Chickens in the imp. It's spring/summer in a bottle and it really brings out my inner flower child (as opposed to my inner stinky hippie, which gets indulged almost every day). But it doesn't seem to like my skin very much, unfortunately, so this is one of those scents that I have to wear in a locket so that my skin chemistry can't wreak havoc on it. Still, I like it enough that I bought a bottle after testing my frimp.

[LizziesLuck]

I was lucky enough to receive an actual Lap Imp of this as a frimp from the Trading Post! Thanks, Puddin and Goblins!

 

Wet: Gorgeous floral notes (not sure which ones, to be honest), something a little peppery and nose tickley (but enjoyable!), warm green notes. Really nice. I love these type of florals - it feels like summer.

 

 

Dry: Very faint, but still lovely. There are lots of nice grass notes in with the florals. I'm really glad to have gotten to try it.

[freyasfae]

This is a cozy, cottage garden! At first, it smells generally green - a happy garden blooming away in the midst of springtime. Not long though, the gardenia comes out more, and I lurve gardenia! Particularly in this because this isn't quite a heady, white gardenia - the rest of the notes make it gardenia in a blooming cottage garden. Just spring perfection. So glad I found a bottle of this.

[LiberAmoris]

Mmm, Garden Path with Chickens smells like late spring/early summer! Both wet and dry, it's grass and ivy and teeming with flowers. The grass note can sometimes be a bit overwhelming for me, but it's absolutely lovely here and really does smell damp. The dampness is what keeps it in check, I think, as it's like the smell of grass pulled through beads of water. This is a really beautiful capture of the art and I'm so glad I got to try it!

[porcelina]

i remember buying a bottle of garden path with chickens sort of at random and being pleasantly surprised by it, because super fresh/green scents are not normally my thing and this is AGGRESSIVELY fresh and green. it has a beautiful warm spring/summer feel to it and i find it surprisingly wearable, although it is quite strong on my skin.