The Ragged Wood

[shellyshells]

THE RAGGED WOOD
William Butler Yeats
O, hurry, where by water, among the trees,
The delicate-stepping stag and his lady sigh,
When they have looked upon their images
Would none had ever loved but you and I!

Or have you heard that sliding silver-shoed
Pale silver-proud queen-woman of the sky,
When the sun looked out of his golden hood?
O, that none ever loved but you and I!

O hurry to the ragged wood, for there
I will drive all those lovers out and cry
O, my share of the world, O, yellow hair!
No one has ever loved but you and I.

Lily of the Valley, star jasmine, benzoin, vanilla, plumeria, bergamot, Terebinth pine, juniper berry, and tea rose.

I picked this up because I love all the florals + benzoin & vanilla.
In the bottle, I smell bits of plumeria, bergamot, and something slightly foresty. On my skin, it is more foresty than floral, but after awhile it all settles (thank god!) into a well blended & smooth close to the skin floral scent. It reminds me of a wedding bouquet (and all the floral arrangements) + an outdoorsy wedding if that makes any sense. It echoes the poem perfectly! :clap:

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Juniper berry with a soft undercurrent of flowers.

 

Immediately on skin: The juniper berry in this is strongest… I don’t think it’s the pine because it’s not as heavy or thick as pine usually is on me. There’s a softness underneath, a light breath of warm floral notes. I can’t really separate them from the pine because they’re blended in with it, but I sense some lily of the valley and a little smoky jasmine. There’s a hint of bergamot that makes the scent a little less feminine than I was expecting as well.

 

After a little while: The juniper and pine note have faded and blended into the scent leaving a cool bergamot and pine blend with hints of flowers. The lily of the valley comes out in a very nice, clean manner, and there is just a hint of jasmine. As for the benzoin and vanilla, I can’t sense them at all.

 

Overall Impressions: I was expecting something much different from this scent… something heavier on the florals and lighter on the juniper and pine. On me, this is a juniper dominated floral blend which morphs later to a cool cologne type scent that’s a mix of juniper, bergamot, and clean floral notes. It’s very refreshing and sticks close to the skin.

[vegasblueblood]

Lots and lots of florals! In the bottle, it is a soft, almost watery floral, not much of the benzoin or vanilla going on and after applying, I get a ton of lily of the valley and the jasmine. It briefly goes soapy on me, which is very rare for me with the BPAL jasmine or other florals, but to my relief, the soapiness is going away pretty quickly and it's settling down into a soft, extremely feminine floral. After about 15 minutes, I'm getting hints of the vanilla which makes me happy. I got a little nervous when it went soapy but now I really love the floral bouquet with a touch of vanilla that this blend has become.

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is a floral forest...

 

once applied i get soft pine and juniper with a breath of jasmine...lovely...

 

the forest notes compliment the florals exquisitely...

 

the benzoin and vanilla round this out removing any of the soapiness...

 

great throw and distinctly girly

[puck_nc]

Origin: decant from a decant circle by eviltemptressdq

 

Initial Thoughts: Several of the notes hearken back to my cherished Bearded Lady (lily, jasmine, vanilla, rose...), so I wanted to give this a try.

 

In the Bottle: Heady florals shot through with the pine. A very spring scent, beautiful.

 

Wet: I'm getting a crush of the florals; the pine has receded quite a bit. I think I'm getting lots of juniper among the florals now.

 

Drydown: No one note seems to dominate, it's a lovely swirl of floral, cooled and tempered by the pine and juniper with just a few touches of the bergamot and kept sweet with a hint of the vanilla. It's a very outdoorsy scent, very refreshing.

 

Verdict: I may be getting a bottle of this one. I need to do a few side-by-side comparisons with my other floral blends to make sure I need it.

[coldandsleepy]

In the imp: whoosh. This has a very sharp smell in the imp to me. Lots of juniper and lots of floral and detectable lurking vanilla. I had second thoughts about applying it, but went ahead anyway.

 

On me, wet: oh, wow. This smells awesome on me wet. The juniper mellows a bit, and the pine shows up, but it's a really gentle, mild pine on me. A really delightful creamy lily note emerges. The rest of the florals and the vanilla all back way down, though they don't disappear. I agree with the reviewer who said the vanilla rounds this scent out. It's barely there, but it adds some perfect gentle touch around the edges of this smell.

 

On me, dry: almost identical to the wet smell. Just a little gentler. Delicious juniper and lily with other lighter floral notes and pine. The juniper smells... damp? Like the trees have just been rained on.

 

Throw and duration: good throw, excellent (6+ hours) duration.

 

Overall: This is a hard scent to characterize. I wouldn't say that this is a floral scent, and i wouldn't say it's a woodsy scent, though of course it has elements of both. It also smells the tiniest bit foody to me, which i just can't explain. It's definitely feminine, but not overwhelmingly so.

 

It smells really amazing on me. I hope i'll be able to order a full bottle before the Lupercalias are gone.

[vitawash24]

When I first apply this, the juniper and pine scents dominate, but they quickly fade into the background. The remaining scent is a perfect melange of florals and warm vanilla. I was a little concerned about the star jasmine, as jasmine often fails miserably on me, but this is gorgeous, both refreshing and comforting. I will definitely be on the hunt for a big bottle!

[alhbooks]

Like those above, I get a swift hit of Juniper first , with a soft sweetness beneath. I love the faint woodiness and the floral blend is delicious, so I'm very happy i got a whole bottle. Vanilla isn't a note i seek out, but here it does seem to add a touch of warmth as the notes settle in and blend.

[snapeophilex]

I love all the florals in this blend and though I feared the pine I got an imp...

 

And was not disappointed!

 

In the bottle, like many others, I got lots of piney/juniper smells and I sniffed and sniffed, searching out the florals.

 

Wet, first impressions are again piney but then I get bergamot. Florals very light in the background.

 

Dry: thank goodness, the (muted) flowers have arrived!

 

I tend toward full-out florals and floral/fruity blends. That being said, I really, really like the Ragged Wood. It's an intriguing blend and perfect for any day that I don't feel like smelling like a florist's. I just have to figure out if that day will ever come!

[evanescence]

OMG is this lovely!!! The notes are seamlessly blended. Out of the bottle, it smells like walking through a forest with flowers. It's got a unisex quality to it, slightly reminiscent of men's cologne (which is probably the pine/juniper berry contribution), but something really softens it. I'm not a rose hater so I don't know if the rose will amp. I am very picky about jasmine, and this is not "jasmine shoved up your nose" at all. It goes very slightly soapy on me but I have no complaints because after all, don't we all love beautiful soap? When wet, I got a fleeting memory of the old Herbal Essence shampoo, a good thing IMO.

 

But the final test is what others will say... so my neighbor comes over to help with gardening, and immediately gravitates to it. The kids love it. I love it. 'Nuff said.

 

Yep, I'll be getting another bottle of this one.

[Heavenlyrabbit]

Ragged Wood has the 2 most necessary quality of any new BPAL's I'll be adding to my already too large bottle collection- it smells great on and just as importantly, it is unique.

 

Pine and Jasmine are two notes that really overwhelm on my skin.

 

In Ragged Wood, they stand with each other and hold the perfect balance. You can sense the other florals and a touch of the earthy and pungent Juniper Berry.

 

BPAL's with evergreen notes usually don't stick around in my house very long cause they tend to all smell the same to me. This is so very special. And does capture the Poetry.

 

IMO, a good investment.

Edited March 2, 2008 by Heavenlyrabbit

[suileach]

In the vial, this is a strong, sweet, piney floral. My skin maintains the pine, but turns the rest into fetid, algae-infested water and maple syrup. Yikes. I hasten to add that there are four notes in this that do not work at all on me in general (but I like the poem too much to not have tried it) so this seems to be a case of my skin chemistry holding true.

[alicia_stardust]

The Ragged Wood is beautiful and so very unique! I especially love the first stage of it, when it is sort of foresty and heavy on the juniper. The juniper is dominant yet not strong and sharp. Instead it has sort of a cool, soothing quality to it. It smells like a pale teal color.

 

After the juniper settles this turns into more of a soft floral blend, but the juniper doesn't disappear altogether. The benzoin adds a gummy resinous bite that is almost balsamic and the vanilla adds an almost powdery warmth.

 

Between the terebinth, juniper, vanilla, and benzoin, I am left with an overall floral gestalt but I am unable to pick out individual floral scents. I do know all of them individually and normally I do not miss jasmine. But this time, the florals all lend themselves to each other as a well-blended accent to the other aspects of this. The florals together seem almost sweet, almost powdery, almost watery. There's an almost transient quality there.

 

Simply stunning even if this doesn't initially look like your cup of tea. It's worth trying for the uniqueness of it alone, but anyone that loves juniper and/or florals should definitely check this out.

[MaeKitty]

In the bottle: Uh, dryer sheets?

On Me: First sniff is very chemically and WHOA!Perfume! I don't think the vanilla is strong enough in this one to weigh down the florals and give them more definition. The bergamot is nice though, I can distinguish it from the rest. It's just too Junipery for me

[jessu]

I would never have chosen this for myself, but my SO bought it for me as a suprise because he loves Yeats. Wow!

 

This blend goes on sharp, floral, and astringent, but settles down into a warm, skin-hugging vanilla. On drydown, the vanilla is most prominent on me, which is great because almost all vanillas go plastic on me. This is creamy and warm and just plain pretty. Doesn't smell earthy, but reminds me of earth for some reason.

 

What a great suprise!

[LadyLuckDoubt]

This was The One I HAD to try from this range. It sounded fascinating, and I love Yeats, so I just had to get it, and swore I would cry if it didn't work on me.

 

In the Bottle

Far more delicate than I expected. Subtle, with a handful of florals coming through, and the "Irish herby" smell I expected to smell more of in a few other blends. I expected this would have a stronger woody note, and I can detect the juniper, which I LOVE. (I'm a gin drinker. I love the juniper.)

 

On Me

 

Just like in the bottle for a few seconds, then things change a little. It's a lot stronger on my skin than in the bottle, too.

 

I don't know WHAT the florals are-- there's SOME lily in there and something a bit spicier, and something that might be lilac. Whatever it is, it's calm, happy-making perfume for me. Suitable for a summer's day, yet ideally, in my mind, a crisp winter morning blend.

 

After awhile, the florals amp up a bit and I'm getting a note of something dark in there-- that same poisonous note Beatrice has. It has an odd earthiness that makes me think of rainforest floors, too.

 

A few hours later, I can still smell it on me: it's extremely subtle, but there. After that, I think it's gone, but it's like I can detect this aloof, distant green floralness around me, which I'm liking, and also which is making me wonder: can other people smell it? (I'm a smoker, so I guess my nose isn't as good as the noses of my non-smoking friends.)

 

Yep, I'm happy with it. Not insanely in love, but pleased I bought it, and pleased I satisfied my curiousity. And pleased that I didn't have the reaction to this that I had to Love's Philosophy.

 

EDITED TO ADD: Having read the other reviews, I'm interested to see that so many people have called it feminine. See, I'd say this is unisex: this, to me, is Beatrice's foresty little brother. I'm really wanting to see how this goes on some male!friends, because I can see it working on boys.

Edited March 13, 2008 by LadyLuckDoubt

[slave1]

In Bottle: Pine and florals

On Skin: The pine in this scent is sweet and combined with the floral, a very beautiful and bright scent. It’s feminine and strong, not a light scent to me. The vanilla is thick along with the benzoin. The lily of the valley and jasmine are sticky and fully bloomed. The rose is very tart and sour and the juniper berry offers a cold and herbal tone. The scent to me isn’t woody at all, which was a shock since with a title like The Ragged Wood you’d expect a very woody scent. But still, it’s very nice and has an outdoor feel for sure. Strong throw and long wearlength.

[Little Bird]

The combination of juniper, pine, and vanilla in this makes me think strongly of Golden Priapus in the bottle and at first on my skin, though that similarity quickly fades. In the drydown, the florals start to come out to play and the evergreen notes fade away entirely. I think that the rose and lily are mainly what I'm smelling. My boy thinks that this smells slightly soapy, but I don't know if I agree with that. The florals have a sweet, tart, sort of edge that I like, mixed with the smoothness and warmth of the vanilla and benzoin. It's almost a bit smoky and sensual to my nose. I'm not sure if this is a keeper for me, but I do like it.

[Czarina]

One might call this a definitive BPAL scent--utterly unlike a department store scent, notes so well-blended that it is impossible to deconstruct without effort--in a word, heavenly.

 

Let me try to be more specific:

 

In the decant: benzoin and jasmine.

Wet: the juniper and pine come out more.

Drydown: oh, there's the vanilla! This is a wonderful vanilla-juniper-floral blend. Sweet and sensational. Haunting.

[AEris]

This scent has several notes that I recognize, and because of this, it's a symphony for my brain!

 

Mainly I get the pine/juniper note, but it is finely balanced with bright tropical plumeria, fresh dewy rose and bergamot, soft jasmine and lily of the valley, and a light swirl of creamy vanilla.

 

I'd classify this as a fresh floral as a whole, but I can pick out every note if I focus on it, and it's as fascinating as it is beautiful.

 

Diggin' it....I'm screwed if I wear this for a day and get hooked, I'm BPAL broke as it is....

 

4.6 out of 5

[savage_rose]

This is FAB-U-LOUS! It's floral, but a bit green, a bit spicy...it's sexy, sassy, and feminine but not girly. LOVE IT (can you tell), and I will have to get a bottle.

[forspecial_plate]

This is a great scent, because it seems lots of folks get different impressions of it. I would call it gender neutral, because I'm a guy and I feel I could definitely pull it off. The list of notes is nearly useless, because I really don't detect a lot of those ingredients. I mostly smell soft vanilla and almost powdery woods. Juniper is usually a berry/fruity wood to my nose but I can't smell the juniper here at all. And lily often turns sharp and soapy but there is no hint of it here.

 

So, I'm smelling a soft, sweet, woody vanilla scent. No rose, no juniper, no jasmine. It reminds me a lot of the newer Hunter Moon, without the smoky aspect. And even more I'm reminded of Glowing Vulva, just a little less sweet, somewhat more woodsy, and less powdery. The scent hasn't morphed at all in the last 3 hours. I'm particularly surprised that I can't smell rose, even when I sniff up close.

[PurringPulsar]

In the imp: pine and a hint of sweetness, something floral too.
Wet on skin: pine and juniper, with vanilla and florals just detectable under the evergreens.
Dry: hmm, this is really intriguing. It smells very pine-y, and it’s a really lovely pine note, with a bite of juniper to it. underneath it I smell floral notes-can’t distinguish them just yet but I just about make out jasmine (and it doesn’t seem to be a bad jasmine note) and rose, a citrus hint of bergamot, and sweet vanilla. I then smell lily of the valley, and this note is soaping this scent up a tiny bit, making the pine note in here a little soapier than usual (usually terebinth is a rich resinous pine on me), but other than that, this isn’t bad. It’s very unusual-a floral and evergreen scent which is very unique.
After a while: damn. It seems the lily of the valley/jasmine and pine mix reminds me too much of pine cleaning fluid. It’s the combination of soapy flowers and pine that does it. It reminds me a bit of TP’d Trees now, though I prefer this greatly…it’s a lot more sophisticated, but the lily of the valley is turning rather waxy as well, and I don’t smell the vanilla any more.
The scent then settles into a mix of waxy but not too unpleasant lily petals and juniper. An intriguing and different mix of floral and forest-y notes. It’s not bad, actually, but I wanted vanilla, rose, benzoin etc, as well as the lily and pine/juniper notes.
The scent swings from floral to pine-y every now and then. After a few hours it smells mainly like juniper, with a bare hint of flowers. The drydown is a really lovely warm spicy-sappy pine scent with vanilla, the kind of pine note I love…in fact it reminds me of a floral version of Capricorn 07, and I love that…but I prefer Capricorn because of the lack of soapiness in the first hours of wear.
Verdict: this is such an unusual and multifaceted scent. it’s not often you see mixes of evergreens and lush flowers, and this is such a scent. it’s like a mix of winter forest pines with tropical floral notes, hints of lily and rose and just a faint trace of vanilla. But since this scent contains lily of the valley and jasmine, it was inevitable that this scent wouldn’t be too nice on me, and as expected, the flowers turn a bit soapy. It smells like a much nicer version of TP’d Trees, flowery pine and softness, but I’m really not keen on the soapiness. I do like the drydown better, when the scent is a gorgeous pine resin-needle scent, and I love how different this is, but ultimately, it’s not a keeper.
Emoticon rating:
Is it a keeper? Not really. Not crazy about how soapy the flowers get here…I love the drydown though.
If you like this, try: Moon of Ice, Stranger in Camp, Capricorn 07, Wolf Moon 07, Noche Buena, Kubla Khan

[Miss Lynx]

I wanted to like this one but I was pretty sure it would be trouble. It's a Yeats poem, so that made me like it on general principle, but at the same time, four different florals? With two of them being jasmine and rose, both of which my skin tends to amp brutally? Still, pine and juniper and benzoin and all the rest might mellow them out...

 

When I first applied it, I really did like it. It smelled complex and interesting, like a forest full of wildflowers, with the florals balanced by the bite of the evergreens and the mellowness of vanilla and benzoin. It was a little reminiscent of Dublin (appropriately enough for its inspiration), only better.

 

But then my skin began to crank up the florals, and the balance was lost -- or should I say, "Things fall apart -- the centre cannot hold." It starts to smell very, very perfumey, in a not-so-good way.

 

And yet, even then, it doesn't entirely lose the other elements. There's still a faint whiff of pine in the background, and the fruitiness of the bergamot and plumeria is a little bit in evidence too (yes, I know plumeria is a flower, but it has a slightly fruity scent). I keep finding myself almost liking it... But not quite.

 

So, not for me. But anyone who was a fan of Dublin and misses it should definitely try to get hold of this one.

 

Grade: C+/B-

Edited March 30, 2008 by Miss Lynx

[taramarie]

On me, The Ragged Wood is just soapy pine. I dearly hope age will improve it.