The Death of Autumn

[jade_starlight]

Dark amber, dead leaves, khus, saffron, bitter clove, chrysanthemum, camellia, galangal, and a drop of oud.

Right out of the bottle all I'm getting is smoky vetiver. It smooths out a bit as it dries, but the vetiver seems to have worn its stompy boots and is making use of them on all the other scents. Sadly, this one simply won't work on me.

[daiconharuko]

Holy crap I'm in love! This is one of those smokey almost bonfire-ish scents that actually works wonders on me. I smell dead leaves in the forest, with a hint of an autumn bonfire.

 

It actually reminds me of how they scalp the grass at the start of fall, but without all the allergies. It's a total fall scent. I'll have to scrape up and get myself a bottle before it's all gone.

[alhbooks]

In the imp, all smoke and bitterness. Wet, still smoky, but starting to soften. After a couple of minutes, the dead leaves start to move front and center, followed by the scent of wet ashes, which (oh, dear) reminds me of washing ashtrays when my parents still smoked. it keeps morphing, but so far, not something I'm going to want to wear much.

 

[darkblade]

Bottle: (Imp) *blink* That.. is discouraging. There's those rotten leaves, and bitter.

 

Wet: Ok, there's amber in there.. and.. blagh. I do not think I like this. I usually like amber notes, and I know I'm not used to lab-fresh stuff, but.. blagh.

 

Dry: Woah! Clove. There's a bit of other stuff, but the clove is overwhelming it. Kinda glad I've run this one on my ankle.. It would probably cause problems with further testings today otherwise.

 

40 minutes later: Hrm. It has an interesting creamy bit to it..

 

Verdict: Nnnh. I could hang onto the imp to see how it ages.. but I am -not- buying a bottle. I'm skeptical on the imp too. But it might go really neat.. but the clove burns. Aaaagh. Maybe I'll give it a few weeks to sit and then see.

[jayla]

At first, I get a huge shot of clove and vetiver that are a little too strong for me. Five minutes later, though, this changes into a softer blend of amber, saffron, mums and leaves. Wonderful!

[Upstart Crow]

It's nice and smokey and pungent, but I think that it's the scent that gave me a mild hedache, a slightly queasy tummy and a numb lower lip (?!? i wasn't eating it, I swear!)

 

Has anyone else had this kind of reaction? Could it be the clove?

[Rhowan]

~~~ THE DEATH OF AUTUMN ~~~

 

"It... touches something that is old in the human soul. a chord of race memory that says Migrate or die -migrate or die.

~ "Salems Lot" by Stephen King

 

In the bottle and wet on my skin, The Death of Autumn starts out as smelling like a warm amber, patchouli, vetiver blend - Just beautiful!

 

The warmth of the above combination creates a broad base but a earthy, woody type note is starting to come through as this dries down. When I use the word earthy, I do not mean dirt. This is very resinous and cozy.

 

Completely dried down, this is smell of all fecund things waning as autumn's death spreads. It's wood, leaves, mushrooms, dying mums,dried cornstalks and spices. The wood is not a fresh new wood but a dry,dead, almost rotting note (but in a good way) The spices are NOT a bright note, but more like the spice smell that all vegetation gets as autumn comes to a close. This is not the cold death of winter, but the warm spicy,earthy scent of autumn as it goes to its natural death.

 

Conclusion: The Death of Autumn captures quite literally the nature of it's namesake. I do not have to slather this at all and it's throw is terrific. This scent is like coming home for me.

 

PURE AUTUMN PERFECTION!

[lookingglass]

THIS is the scent of Autumn herself. She starts with a biting slap of harsh vetivert and resins. While it is fresh it is also dark and demanding, and it evokes a bright, smokey fire. Drying out I get the distinct crunch of fallen leaves, but with it, also, a feral heat that reminds me of castorium, which is creamy without being sweet, which must be the dark amber. This really smells like a dark, smokey, autumn night...the decaying soul of scorched flora. DH comments that up close it smells like burning leaves but when I walk away there is a sexy, animalistic note. That's the kind of throw I've been looking for...

 

Hours later the dark amber and spices remind me of an even more sinister Three Gorgons. I am very, very pleased. I fully embrace this scent in all of her stages.

 

She is exactly what I was hoping for...Brilliant.

Edited September 28, 2007 by lookingglass

[hackess]

Death of Autumn straightaway from the imp smells like burned resins -- deep and dark and smoky. Once applied, it's...oh, hey, burning leaves! A little dirt! Some nice sexy musk. That's not so ba....OH NOES! A little goth kid fell into the fire and he was carrying an entire CASE of handrolled clove cigarettes!! THE HUMANITY!!!

 

You see where I'm going with this?

 

DoA began as a nice fall scent, reminiscent of walking through the last of the falling leaves on a chilly wet day. Then, WHOOSH. Heavy, heavy clove. Acrid. Not so much the warm conflagrant feel of a bonfire, but more the hissing embers recently doused and throwing bitter smoke that burns your eyes and throat.

 

As far as descriptions go, oh, it's right on. This is all about autumn's last throes. And that poor kid. What will the babybats smoke now that all the cloves are gone?!?

[bodegaselkie]

Death of Autumn smells amazing in the bottle, and wet as it goes on. It starts off with the heavy bitter vetiver smell -- I adore that scent, and wish it lasted longer here. It dries down on me to pure warm amber, only very faintly spiced, and the scent lasted overnight and through my shower the next morning. While I wish the original scent stayed true, I'm happy with what it turns into as well. Mmmm.

[LadyMedb]

I agree with bodegaselkie to a degree about this one, just because the initial scent of the Death of Autumn is so amazingly evocative of the chilly breath of imminent winter. However, the drydown to saffron and amber, with a subtle bit of chrysanthemum (which was all too much for me in Chrysanthemum Moon but just astounding here), adds a sweet sophistication to the last rustling sighs of the dead leaf note. My wrist will waft a small amount of this by my nose at various points during the day, and I will wonder for a split second what that absolutely beautiful scent is. This scent is at once outdoorsy and uptown, complex and direct. I absolutely love it and have a full bottle on order right now, thankfully.

[grifyn_whiffs]

This was a little overpowering on the initial sniff, but having put it on my arm TWICE now from my decant, I am overjoyed. This is a such a dry, brisk breath of autumn-turning-to-winter. Each time I check the drydown, I like it more.

 

I love how the dark amber, rather than making things seem powdery (amber misbehaves on me) makes everything seem dry, brittle. The dead leaves here are magnificent -- brilliant shades curling and browning at the edges, rattled by the breeze. There's some smoke drifting through the background.

 

It strikes me that this blend has nowhere to go but UP, as these notes all strike me as ones that age gorgeously. Also, this blend morphs gorgeously. GUH.

 

There's saffron... not 100% in love with how my skin handles saffron, so I'm relieved when it morphs into the blend and isn't so discernible.

 

I'm not really sensing or picking out the florals, which is fine by me. This is beautiful. I may just have to score a bottle of this... dammit! My potential next order list is getting longer and longer.

[zenvodunista]

Holy Moly - I CAN WEAR THIS!!!

 

Usually, as soon as "leaves" enter the picture, I cannot wear the blend. I can't wear Samhain or Samhainophobia because of this. Also, on me, apples=bad potpurri, and usually pumpkin=butter - but I keep trying anyway.

 

So, I didn't have high hopes. But we got it with the BFs Big Weenie Order ( ) and it WORKS on me! On me, it's a softly spiced scent, with wafts of the occasional dry leaf, or burning bonfire, but mostly it's cozy spices.

 

Happy Autumn, all!

 

N.

[bryghtrose]

In the bottle, I thought it would be too strong, too heavy for me to wear. But luckily I spilled some on my finger and as it dried it turned lovely.

 

Wet, it's smoky/grassy/dirt, which is a little overpowering.

Drying, there's a sharpness, almost cloying scent.

Dry, it reminds me a bit of Wicked and Clio, with that really good, rich, musky amber. It's a cool scent that's also warming. I like it a lot. I'm not sure about a bottle, though. It definitely needs more testing.

[Finny]

Death of Autumn is so pretty. Dusty herbs, with a spiciness underneath it all. It goes a touch powdery on me, amber usually does, but it adds to the dry crunchy leaves on the ground aspect. It smells like all of my favorite parts of All Saints, with none of the floral notes that gave me a headache.

[Little Bird]

In the bottle I get a definite punch of vetiver, and it's the kind of vetiver that I hate. It smells smoky and off, like charred mesquite bbq. On me, this is like a bad mixture of the mesquite vetiver in Azathoth and the wet ash of Brimstone. I suppose that this could be evocative of a campfire setting with the bbq and rained out bonfire smell it has on my skin, but I really don't like this one. I was hoping that one of the autumn blends would smell like actual fall to me with the true scent of dead leaves, but this doesn't do that for me.

[edenssixthday]

Death of Autumn - I thought for sure I was smelling clove and vetiver in this scent, but apparently it's clove and something else that's gritty, earthy, and dark. This is not a very pleasant scent on my skin. It's very dark, raw, and earthy in a way that doesn't mesh so well with my skin chemistry. The clove and whatever I thought was vetiver (but isn't) are the two strongest notes on my skin and the scent of crunchy, dead leaves is not far behind those first two notes. It's not very pleasant, and my skin eats it up really fast so it has no staying power on me. It's not going to get any additional wear from me.

[batsy]

In the bottle: Earthy bitterness. Almost smoky, like burning leaves with damp.

 

On the skin: The amber is a golden note in this, combating all the dark elements. I know I've smelled a similar scent in the BPAL catalog but I can't place it. It's all burning woods and damp leaves and spicy smoke. As it dries down the flower elements come out to play. I like it, it's an unusual blend.

[Ms Density]

I couldn’t be happier with The Death of Autumn.

 

It’s difficult to tell which way it’s going to go, when I sniff it from the bottle. Those top notes are pretty green to me, along with something earthy… something that reminds me of Mastic gum (I happen to enjoy that smell). Once I put it on, absolute magic happens. I can smell my beloved Vetiver. This is the strongest measure of Vetiver I’ve detected in any BPAL blend so far. But there are other things here as well, and the bashful ones come out slowly but all at once. Boy, does it bloom into something lovely. I get Vetiver, Clove, Amber and something smoky. The smoke is what I imagine my skin would smell like after falling asleep next to a campfire. I even get a sense of the warm earth near the fire. But that campfire stage is quick. Something reminds me of Oblivion—maybe that’s the saffron. Everything comes together and conjures out my most ideal outdoorsy autumnal chemistry. This is EXACTLY what I want to smell like this fall, under my black cashmere jacket and swirling around me when the autumn wind whips my hair around. This is what I want to smell like wrapped in a blanket lying face up under the biggest, orangest tree I can find, watching its leaves fall all around me. This smells like keeping warm despite the cold. This smells like a fresh air walk in the woods when indoor things get to be too much—crunchy leaves, nearly naked trees and distant churchbells.

 

While Samhain feels like an autumn day, and Samhainophobia feels like an autumn night, this is timeless autumn to me. Needless to say, I LOVE it. Fate brought this to me; it was made for me.

[Gale]

This was such a surprise! I did not expect to like this at all, let alone love it--especially since I am in sweet, foody mode right now.

 

In the imp and wet: Dark, bitter, and earthy. There's a menthol-like bite that clears my sinuses. I don't know what it is, but it smells cold and it's not at all minty.

 

On and dry: Wow. This is so incredibly beautiful and evocative. It warms up considerably. It is spicy but not sweet. All I can say about this is that it smells exactly like how I hoped Shub would smell, even though ginger is not listed in the notes.

 

It's a cold night in a warm house with leaves blowing through the streets and clouds racing across the moon.

 

You're uncanny, Beth, having somehow captured the tail end of Autumn in a bottle.

[Northernskygal]

Hmmm, a scent with a bunch of notes listed that I'm not really familiar with (except amber, which I lurve and leaves, which I know but.. seems.. foreign in fragrance to me).. okay.. here goes..

 

Death of Autumn in the bottle... is murky, deep, dark and.. smoky, almost like.. someone cooking some sort of.. meat.. over a campfire...

 

On me wet - it retains it's.. weird cooking meat type scent.. though the leafy-ness comes through more.. now we are cooking meat over a campfire, and we tossed in some dried leaves to help the fire burn..

 

On me dry - it has started to.. lighten some, become a little.. spicier, a little.. sweeter, it is still dark and smoky, less meaty though. It sort of gives me a bit of a headache, me thinks my nose prefers the foody/sweet scents to this!

 

Overall, it is an interesting blend, no doubt. It is just unusual to find the smell of leaves and a campfire in a scent. Once it simmers a bit on my skin, it really does make me.. a little.. nostalgic for the bonfire parties we had when I was in high school. The more I sit here smelling it, the more I like it as a scent, just not as a scent on me. I'll have to see if I can sneak some of this on my boyfriend, as I think that could be some deliciousness...

[Nepthys]

Straight up bitterness. This was the autumn scent I was most excited over and it hates me. It smells like a chemical spill for a good hour - no burning leaves or autumn anything - and then it slowly morphs into a less pleasant Hexxenacht. I get that same smoky night feel but it isn't terribly compelling or attractive.

 

I'll play with layering it... I really want to make this work.

 

ETA: I salvaged this by layering it with O. It's gorgeous!

Edited October 5, 2007 by Nepthys

[Atalanta Pendragonne]

To me this smells almost exactly like the smoke from burning autumn leaves, with just a hint of a soapy undertone.

 

It makes me homesick for somewhere with a proper autumn. Texas certainly doesn't have one!

[olympia301]

This one was my favorite from the whole BPAL Halloween series so far. It reminds me of acorns and tree bark, leaves as they have fallen to the forest floor and marching through all this with your friends on the way to an autunm picnic. It has a green, a mineral, and a smoky part to it. I think it's very sophisticated, not perfumy or foody, and not an exact picture of fall but the essence of fall as seen through a beautiful woman's skin. I really thing this one is great.

[Eemia]

I received a bottle of this as a gift. I didn't buy it for myself because I was thinking that it would be very masculine.

 

It started out as a complete miss. Strong, overwhelming smoke and bitterness. It reminded me of Brimstone, which on my skin smells like smoky meat. Nothing I would wear easily. But I waited it out for about two minutes and it completely changed. It was deep, retaining that pure smokiness, but revealing more of the notes underneath. The chrysanthemum really began to stand out, as well as the amber. At this point it is very complex. The dry leaves are just pitch perfect. There isn't a tinge of sweetness or anything that would soften this up and ruin that crackling, dry Autumn effect.

 

I wouldn't call this beautiful, but it has so much depth and individuality. It's something I want to savor when I wear it. And for whatever reason I like to picture roasted chestnuts when I put this on. I've never had roasted chestnuts, but this is what my mind conjures up anyway.