The Passionate Shepherd To His Love

[Balame]

Heather, clover, Irish moss, English ivy, tea rose, and carnation.

In the Imp: Super green. Or maybe Super Green. Like a fresh spring plant hero, POW!

Wet: Fresh grass, the "fuzzy" pink sweetness of carnation, a bit of rose, and clover.

Dry: This begins to feel like the notes are swirling around in a spring of fresh water. Bright and so cheery it's almost saying, "Aren't you happy? Are you happy now? Are you excited for it to be spring? ARE YOU!?"

Verdict: Yeah, this is one is a little over the top for me. I have no qualms about an oil being reminiscent of spring, but this takes it to such an idealistic level that it's just overkill. It does get softer as it dries, but not enough to save it. I'm not really a big fan of florals, anyway.

[angelamaria]

In decant: carnations! fresh, green and floral. It makes me think of a field of sweet flowers.

 

Wet on skin: similar to the decant scent: clean, fresh, floral and green. Very uplifting. Not cloying in any way.

 

Dry: the florals are coming on stronger now, the green-ness receding a bit. It's almost boozy. The rose seems to be behaving. Sweet, slightly tart at the start, and then moving towards a faint soapiness the longer it's on my skin. There's also a faint aquatic tinge as it "ages"--maybe the moss. The greenness continues to recede for me until it's mostly soapy floral.

 

Verdict: very pretty, but I would have really loved to have the greenness stay--if it did, this would probably have ended up a bottle blend. The final smell on my skin is mostly soapy floral and rather flat without the other accompanying notes, so this will have to be a pass for me.

[Cinder and Smoke]

Oh this is lovely. To me it smells just like strolling through a green house in early summer, minus the soil. On me it starts off very green with a splash of carnation at the forefront. As it dries down the tea rose comes through, lending it some sweetness without being overpowering.

 

I met up with a friend today while wearing this, and in the car he commented that I smelled like flowers. "But not fakey grandma flowers," he said. "It's like you've been literally tromping through a big green field, Sound-of-Music-style, getting pollen on your lederhosen. The hills are alive, muthaf***a!" ...So take that as you will.

 

As for me, I love this. It's perfect for cool Spring weather. The downside is it didn't last very long on me. A couple hours tops.

[becca_s]

On me this starts out with the fresh heather and carnation - its smells very realistic and pretty. After about 10 mintues I think that the ivy and maybe the clover must take over, and makes the blend smell very green and at this stage I get a kind of masculine vibe from it. I am going to re-test this one since it only came out of the mail today, it might need some time to settle. I would love for the flowers to stay around longer.

[crimescenecleanup]

The 2013 version smells exactly like a chilly florist's cooler. A touch of ivy, a touch of carnation and heather, but altogether it is the scent of opening a fridge full of bouquets.

[stellamaris]

Wow this is an amazing fresh spring floral. And it has lasting power. It's not like Killer Flowers that will give me a headache, beautifully round and lush with just enough green, and it stays strong and constant.

[claudia6913]

Green, green greeny green greenery. Like walking through a meadow lush from spring with the morning dew on it. As it dries the carnation starts to come out a little more, but, it's not spicy, and I was kind of looking forward to a little spice in this blend. It's pretty, but probably only good to wear for a specific two weeks out of a year.

 

Edit: Ok, after just wearing it for a while, I can see it's allure, or smell it rather. It mellows out into a nice meadow scent with florals wafting through. Definitely a green scent, but pretty if you like that sort of thing, which on occasion I do.

 

Edit 2: After wearing it all day, I'm hooked. I can't stop sniffing my wrists.

Edited March 10, 2013 by claudia6913

[RiverPoet]

I really needed a pick-me-up scent today, and decided to try this one. It's working perfectly!

 

It goes on quite bright and green - like a fresh-mowed lawn. It quickly quiets down to a light, happy-feeling scent. The heather, tea rose and clover are dominant on me and the combination is lovely. It does seem to fade fairly fast (or I just didn't put enough on)... luckily I had the foresight to tuck the decant into my yoga bag this morning.

 

Definitely need to get a bottle before it is gone.

[thekittenkat]

This is for the 2013 release.

 

In the decant: All the florals and plants blending together so beautifully.

 

Wet: The moss and the ivy are very very green and high and bright.

 

The dry-down: The florals have moved somewhat forward to soften the moss and ivy, so much more lovely now. I had to try this because of Marlowe's poem, and because most all the notes usually work on me. Since it's been several years since the first release, am debating a bottle.

[Aleah]

Throw out your arms, close your eyes and fall backward into a field filled with sunwarmed clover. Pure heaven and wonderfully nostalgic.

[milo]

This reminds me of Glasgow quite a bit, though Glasgow is more heavy on the berries. This is quite lovely with the heather and greenery. There's something 'cool' in here that is bringing it all together. I quite like this, though it's not something I'd wear. It's a bit too 'cold' feeling for me, but I love how evocative this blend is.

[loubric]

In the bottle it's sweet and herby. On me it's beautiful clean and green with hints of flowerly sweetness. The ivy being the strongest out the ingridients listed, but not overwelming. It does remind me slightly of Glasgow but it's different (if that makes sense!)

 

A beautiful herb scent filled with flowers. Right up my alley! LOVE!

[JuliskaMarie]

(2013 Version)

In the bottle: Clover! Everything else is there when I actually try to pick it out, but the clover is the dominant note here - it's so gorgeous! It smells like a light rain or heavy mist in a meadow in a fairytale!

Wet on skin: Less clover now - the carnation & heather have taken the lead. It smells slightly more "solid" now. The airy/rainy/misty vibe is still there, just lessened quite a bit.

Dry on skin: Carnation mainly, with hints of ivy, heather & clover. Different, but still pretty.

After a few hours: Carnation & heather.

Verdict: I really like this a lot! It's nice on my skin, but I LOVE it in the bottle - another one to test with a scent locket one day!

[sunlitgarden]

2013 version:

In the bottle: A jumble of leafy, planty green notes, with florals in the background (though I can't pick out any particular flowers at this stage). The ivy is the most recognizable note to me: a green, leafy note that smells kind of similar to tomato leaf. It's fresh smelling and almost dewy, very reminiscent of a green field.

On my skin, I'm still getting some greenery, but the florals come out more. It's very fresh smelling still, almost a bit aquatic - but more like morning dew or rain on greenery than like an actual body of water. This is the type of scent that I often find soapy or dryer-sheety, but I'm not getting that effect with this blend. As it starts to dry, I'm getting a little bit of rose as a detectable note, but it's in the background. This scent makes me think of going out into a wet garden and smelling the greenery, and getting occasional whiffs of the rose bush across the garden, rather than being right next to the rosebush and sticking my nose directly into the flower. The greenery eventually gets more "sappy" smelling than just leafy.

Late drydown is mostly floral - they're soft florals with just a bit of the greenery left. The florals at this point kind of remind me of potpourri or the scent of a fancy bathroom, but not really in an unpleasant way. They're just kind of inoffensively sweet and pleasant.

This scent is very evocative and I really like it - it's one of the "fresh" types of scents that actually works without giving me a headache.

Edited February 7, 2016 by sunlitgarden

[Lucchesa]

2008 version and I'm shocked I didn't review this when I received it for the 13 Nights of Halloween swap last fall. Maybe it just seemed like the wrong season. Now is very much the right season, and this blend is so beautiful. I don't like straight florals, but carnation is my favorite floral, and this is carnation and a lush field of green grass with clover and heather and ivy, and frankly tea rose can be dreadful on me but I'm not getting any here. This is pure pastoral poetry and perfect for those overcast spring days that just make the greens seem that much greener and the pinks of blossoms that much pinker.

[Dancing Raven]

I forgot the notes when I tried this one, so I was surprised by how green it was. This is definitely not my usual scent!

Wet: It starts out all clover and ivy. It's very realistic and green, but more so than simply standing in a field of greenery. It's like when you actually get the leaves smeared on your skin, and the chlorophyll sticks to you. I applied a liberal amount, and it is strong - note to self: just a tiny dab will do next time. Luckily, I like these notes.

Drydown: The bright green dies down as moss joins in to make it more dark green, and a little salty. It becomes just a touch peppery at this point (the green kind as opposed to black). It reminds me a bit of tomato leaf.

Dried: Tea rose and carnation usually work beautifully on me, however, I don't really smell either of those. What I end up getting is a generic "perfume" scent that is a bit screechy.

The opening stage was nice, so I will set this aside for a while to see if I can get the florals I know and love to come out.

3 out of 5 stars. 

[crystaltongue]

A friend gave me an imp of the 2008 version at our last swap and sniff in November because of how much I love Maiden, and I finally got around to wearing it today. Fresh, bright, and hopeful. I agree with others' assessment that it starts out super green and gets more floral as it dries down, but it's delightful at every stage. If carnation is a winner for you, then this one is definitely worth a try if you can get your hands on it.