The Witch's Garden

[IronMollyBlack]

`What ails you, dear wife?'

`Oh,' she answered, `if I don't get some rampion to eat out of the garden behind the house, I know I shall die.'

The man, who loved her dearly, thought to himself, `Come! rather than let your wife die you shall fetch her some rampion, no matter the cost.' So at dusk he climbed over the wall into the witch's garden, and, hastily gathering a handful of rampion leaves, he returned with them to his wife. She made them into a salad, which tasted so good that her longing for the forbidden food was greater than ever. If she were to know any peace of mind, there was nothing for it but that her husband should climb over the garden wall again, and fetch her some more. So at dusk over he got, but when he reached the other side he drew back in terror, for there, standing before him, was the old witch.

Morning glory vines twisting around a patch of rampion, carrot, and parsley, with monkshood, hemlock, elfwort, sage, wormwood, and mandrake.

This is most definately a green, growing scent. It evokes a scent memory for me, in general of picking wildflower (mostly considered weed) boquets as a child--the flowers, and also the stems and the green sap from the plants. On drydown, it reminds me of a flower I've smelled before, I think it might be the four o'clocks that used to bloom outside our house? Not sure that I'll need more than an imp's worth, but I'm enjoying it.

[Coldfire]

Imp: green. Definitely green. Like a meadow green

Wet on Me: more meadow green with flower. But not

cloying sweet flower…herbal flower. I can actually smell the parsley!

Drying Down: a gentler green now. The herbal flower

vibe is mellowing. But oh how this is lovely.

Dry: I’m soooo keeping this and need a bottle. The

flowers vibe mellowed the green softened but in no way got weak.

This is what I imagine a witch’s garden to smell like. WANT!

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is, indeed, green and floral...

 

once applied i swear there is something very jasmine-like...perhaps the morning glory....it mellows

beautifully after a minute or two and this very simply remains herbaceous with a touch of flowers...

 

i am very pleased this does not turn soapy whatsoever... quite nice

[Jadys]

Like it did for everyone else, this started out as a really lovely green, herbal scent. I could almost see the garden in the middle of summer, hidden behind a stone wall, all secretive and magical. But as it settled, it turned into a generic soap smell on me. Swap.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

sniffed from the imp: parsley and jasmine (i hate jasmine. it smells like poo!)

 

on skin: salty, unwashed BO with overtones of gardenia and parsley.

 

 

i just KNEW i was gonna love this. but noap. off to swaps.

[Lucretia]

Wet this smelled really quite unpleasant to me. A blend of parsley and jasmine, neither of which I'm crazy about. Dry it's a floral with an undertone of something very natural but sort of pleasant. If you can wear jasmine you might like this, I however, can't.

[Iceblink]

Whew--this is intensely herbal and green. Parsley, definitely. It's not a pleasant smell to me at all--it smells like something used for a certain intent, not like something you'd wear just to smell good. There's a note here that reminds me of some of the sleep blends like Somnus, too. Witchy!

[isisonearth]

Imp: Green but sweet. There is something wonderfully vegetable about it. Wonderfully enticing.

 

Wet: Lettuce and parsley with a sweet breath of morning glory, succulent and sweet. The herbs are dryer and hint at something bitter underneath.

 

Dry: More of a complex herbal blend. I smell the sage, hemlock and wormwood. I recognize them from other blends. They are perfect together a mysterious mix of ingredients. A bit of the fresh green of the rampion lingers but there is nothing floral left.

 

Amazing. I had a feeling this one would be great. It goes on my list to get a bottle before summer.

[Aldercy]

Heavy-duty salad at first. Definitely ruffage, with a lot of parsley. It grows more flowery but also more peculiar over the first few minutes. I don't know what a number of the notes in The Witch's Garden are meant to smell like, so it could be anything lending it this tingling, sparkly, dangerously enticing quality. It's an almost salty or glassy sort of note.

 

This oil is definitely enchanted. Overgrown, uncontrolled, and strange. There's a vegetable earthiness with a lovely bubbling scent over it which smells a bit like melon and a bit like gardenia and a bit like wine. A little perfumy when I get up close to it, but not very noticeable.

 

This is so different from my other green scents. I was beginning to think there was really only one sort, but this is way out in left field. It's... "glittery vegetables," not "astringent herbs." Weird. I really like it.

[Seismogenic]

There's this part in Sondheim's musical Into the Woods where the Witch basically raps about the invasion of her garden, and the words to that rap are, in part, pretty much the notes list for this oil. I've played in the pit orchestra for two separate productions of that musical, and I think the Witch Garden Rap scene is still one of my favorites. That in and of itself was enough to make me want to try this, though I also do love the smell of fresh salad herbs/greens.

 

In the imp: Green green green! Fresh, thickly leafy, and herbal.

 

Wet on skin: Still a very fresh and herbal green.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, this is still pronouncedly herbal, though it actually smells drier now. An hour in, the herbs are still very strong, and they are dry in the sense of there not being extraneous moisture on the leaves, rather than being desiccated. When the oil was wet, it smelled like there was dew or rain on the leaves. I really can't ID the individual notes, though I can tell there are several distinct things in there.

 

Five hours later: A dusky herby green, fainter than at one hour, but still very much present.

 

End of the day: A faint herbal dust remains.

 

Overall: This is Power Salad, seriously, and I mean it as a complement. This is not unlike walking into a farmer's market herb and veggie stall, or opening a fresh bag of herb salad, but it's much darker than that. There's a heaviness to this scent that makes the fresh herbs seem foreboding and menacing, exactly like the kind of things a witch would choose to grow. The fresh greenness is inviting, definitely, but this salad bites back. I think it nails the concept, and I like it quite a lot.

[Little Bird]

In the vial, this is sharp and harsh, and kind of like sniffing harsh cleaning chemicals. It sort of burns my nose and throat, and it's a bit menthol-y. It smells like dry, dark green herbs and chemical sharpness, and maybe some sort of floral.

 

On my skin, this is a creamy floral with that harsh chemical feel and a soapiness backing it up. It's not at all green or vegetal smelling on my skin. It's floral soap and sharpness. The Witch's Garden reminds me of some of the funeral/Ars Moriendi blends, with an overall feel of pale, gloomy florals. It reminds me of Eternal's creamy gardenia + other gloomy florals.

 

After a half hour, this actually isn't soapy anymore. It's a mish-mash of creamy, sweet floral and gloomy, pale blooms on my skin. It has an overall cool, pretty, melancholy feel.

 

This smells better on my skin than it does in the vial. I actually don't mind it after giving it a half hour to dry down, but I'm not sure that I'd suffer through it's harsh, soapy phase again.

Edited April 23, 2009 by Little Bird

[gingiemay]

Wet in imp - Dark and herbally fresh. I get the carrot and parsley as well as the sage.

 

Wet on skin - I get the morning glory now, as well as the vegetables, but there's a slightly sour smell coming through, not sure what it is.

 

Dry on skin - Morning Glory and a slightly sour cat pee scent. Swap!

[zankoku_zen]

This one started as a dark herbally green scent, and dried into a green soapy floral sort of scent. Still very green. Very clean, soapy green.

 

Ah well.

[sarada]

It's nice to see that after all these years I can still try an imp of a new GC scent and immediately race to the computer thinking "I need a bottle right now!!" -- and that, true to form, about 15 minutes later after it's dried and I've had some time to think, that I calm down and realize that I might not need one after all.

 

The Witch's Garden contains some favorite notes of mine (sage, parsley) along with some that I am eternally curious about (carrot -- I always want more things with carrot in them), and anchored with some interesting earthy, rooty or green notes like hemlock, wormwood and mandrake. The immediate sensation is a fresh, wet, heady bouquet of herbs. Some medicinal, some fragrant, some floral. That first rush of wet greenery and disorientating, medicinal herbs is quite lovely.

 

As it dies the main note that captures me is very similar to a pungent, soporific jasmine. Jasmine makes me fall asleep. I feel as though I am falling facefirst into the wet garden while bunnies look at me curiously, chomping on carrot greens. I have to assume this is what morning glory contributes to the blend. The jasmine-like odor becomes overwhelming as I wear it, and then the sneezing begins.

 

I went from wanting a bottle of this, to feeling a bit woozy, very quickly in this case. The pungent, almost medicinal floral aspect is just a little strong when I was hoping for more of a wet, fresh herbal scent so it will probably stay in the imp case for now as a curiosity.

[savage_rose]

First sniff, peppery floral-herbalness...the pepperiness is mainly the mandrake, I think. As it dries it smells like white flowers and herbs...the jasmine is very light. Oddly enough, this is a very light, innocent smelling blend. Very innocent and pretty, but not what I would expect a witch's garden to be!

[Ajila]

In the bottle – That’s a real gardeny smell. Green and fresh, but slightly peppery and slightly medicinal

 

Wet on me – That fresh green salady sort of scent on top of something slightly fetid

 

Dry on me – It settles into a surprisingly sweet green herbal

 

Overall – It was nicer than I anticipated at the out set, but not really me

 

[kjirstiben]

This goes on in a wash of spicy herbal, floral scent, with an almost-peppery overtone. I think it might be the parsley I'm smelling--it's very familiar and an edible smell, almost. The combination becomes a mélange of unfamiliar bitter and herbal notes, unpleasant at first, but they soften over time into a greenness that's fresh-smelling. As time goes on, this fades away to a barely-herbal skin-close scent. It's an interesting and different scent than I usually go for, and I can see it being very good for the summertime, with its green freshness.

 

Recaplet: Spicy herbs that blend into summertime freshness.

My rating: 3 of 5 (Nice enough.)

Color impression: Green, and green, and green.

[Kikkervisje]

Wet: Bitter and herbal. I can definitely pick out the carrot and parsley. Not particularly pleasant.

 

Dry: Drying down, this eventually became a soft floral with a green background (and some light herbal spice). However, along the way, it went through phases of almost cloying morning glory.

 

Wear Time: 5 + hours (on the collarbone)

 

Fits Description?: When wet, it does indeed have a garden smell, and the herbal bitterness suits the idea of a malevolent character. However, once dry it smells more generic than the other BPAL scents I’ve tried. I feel like I could find something fairly similar commercially. (Others smelling it on me had the same conclusion.)

 

Overall: Overly bitter to an overly soft and generic floral. Goes through decidedly cloying phases. Not for me.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed in imp: Pale yellow oil. Sharp, herbal, almost medicinal. Vegetal. The parsley is quite strong in particular. There's a faint foul rotting smell that vaguely reminds me of a toilet, and some mentholic greenery.

[FeatherQwill]

Wet: Herby, quite interesting, but not really "me."

 

Dry: Faded away rather quickly to almost nothing.

 

 

Overall: Meh.

[theseagrows]

when i first tried this on, it smelled horrible with my skin chemistry...it was actually nauseating! it smelled almost like a kitchen with something cooking in it, which isn't something i want to smell like. as you can guess, it's VERY herbal and strong. however, after an hour it smells quite nice- like a carroty-floral. it's just not worth the horrid first stage to justify me keeping it, unfortunately.

 

.

[kbrighton]

Oh this is delightful.

 

I was completely taken by surprise by my love for Hosts of the Air and immediately began looking for a GC scent to take it's place in my heart once my bottle is gone. This is not a note for note substitute for Hosts, but it does have same the lingering green loveliness.

 

Wet on skin, this is a strange greenness that threatens to go to soapyness, but doesn't go there. It becomes a beautiful mix of fresh cut herbs, and a hint of wildflowers.

 

I close my eyes and see myself standing in the midst of the herb garden, the hem of my dress wet with dew, holding a wicker basket collecting herbs and a few wildflowers. My inner witch is delighted with this scent. If it continues to live up to expectations I see a bottle in my future, I believe this would be wonderfully cooling on a hot summer day.

[bubblefish]

Oooh, this one is lovely. I'm not usually one for florals, since a lot of them can in my opinion smell sort of artificial, but this one is just plain lovely. It's got a nice crispness and delicacy to it and smells simply divine. Driving to the store I kept sniffing at my wrist. For some reason I am thinking "plumeria" or honeysuckle, but whatever it is, it's simply delicious and very lush smelling.

Edited May 24, 2009 by bubblefish

[nekogrrl]

First sniff: Oooh, this is interesting - sharp and green. This could be spiffy!

 

Wet on skin: AAAAAAAAAAUGH floral. So gaggingly FLORAL.

 

Dry on skin: The nasty floral has toned down, but it's still a heavy overtone, making this smell like rotting greenery.

 

This is not for me. Off to swap pile!

[Shadowdawn]

was a frimp...

In the imp: EARTH... wet earth and all the things this implies... worms, wood particles, small flowers, dankness....

 

On the skin: More green.... like stems, with a hint of soil

 

Later: Like those stems bloomed on a pile of compost.... >.>'

 

Overall: Just not working; far too earthy for me... i perfer not to smell like a vegetable garden...