The Witch's Garden

[Innocuousmold]

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

 

You had me at rampion!!!

I really enjoy green, herbal scents which is why I was excited to order this. On application it reminded me A LOT of Black Hellebore, which I was not a fan of, but this one is a morpher and dried down to a nice floral with a wet quality to it. I honestly thought it'd be a lot weirder than it actually is.

[lohengrin]

In the imp: Green, lots of dusty sage, and just herbal in general.

 

On skin, wet: Sage, with a little vegetal sweetness underneath--not distinct enough to say for sure "this is carrot," but that's my best guess.

 

On skin, dry: What the heck? My lovely green and herbal scent has turned into a standard BPAL fresh floral. BOO.

 

After an hour: No change from the initial drydown. So disappointed--the wet stage was lovely and interesting, and now this is just like so many other BPAL florals.

[WidgetAlley]

I like herbal scents, so, high hopes.

 

Imp: Sharp, sweet, and spicy! I get big round florals, bitter greens, and something that actually smells a bit like... bubble gum? And carrot. And onions! I have no idea what's going on.

 

Wet: Big delicious sugary lotus, or maybe jasmine! Yum! That's where the bubble gum was coming from. It's backed by a number of more delicate, papery white florals, but unfortunately no herbs or sharp greens or vegetables any more. This is rapidly turning into a lovely floral, but it's much more in the vein of, like, Th Witching Time of Night than it is an herbal blend like Mantis or Sundew (which is what I was hoping for). I wish I got the sage and wormwood and the darker stuff.

 

Dry: Soporific white funereal blooms drooping in the heavy spring rain. Not unpleasant, but very somber and feminine-- and not quite the wild herbal blend I was looking for.

[Quillifer]

This reminded me of something and it took me ages to remember what: it's Arpege by Lanvin, the original formulation before 1993 (I haven't smelled it since). I don't know whether the perfume itself smelled like this because I only had a scented lotion - I might be picking up the lotion itself I suppose.

 

ETA, by the way - I don't like this scent. I gave away my imp and will be happy to part with the one I've just received. One of the notes doesn't appeal to me but unhelpfully I can't identify it I'm afraid.

Edited June 7, 2013 by Quillifer

[stellamaris]

I received this one due to Mad Good Fortune, and I do like it. It is a morpher, it morphs from strong sharp and green to soft and wet flowers, so very nice.

 

It is a sweet floral, but very wearable IMO, will update.

 

Just wanted to add, this is AMAZING as a room scent, just gorgeous. Not too perfumey, flowery, my daughter said it smelled like being outside in a garden.

Edited April 16, 2013 by stellamaris

[calivianya]

A lot of these things are herbs I'm not fond of in perfumes, and that initial flush of scent on my skin confirms it. I am definitely getting dirty mandrake and carrots! That carrot note is so weird to be smelling in a perfume. This is just... really vegetable like and herbal and dirty, and while I think it's genius because it's so evocative of its name, I will never wear this. I will send it to someone who will love it more than I will!

[ralenth]

This scent quickly turns sharp, medicinal, and herbal green on my skin. The heavy parsley cloud hangs on for ten minutes before sharing the limelight with a soft, blooming jasmine. It's an odd combination, but eventually the jasmine wins out and the verdant notes die off.

[Mokiefraggle]

Another frimp from my Samhain purchase. Decided to try them all out, just to see what it is I've got, so I have this on one wrist, and Xiuhtecuhtli on the other, plus Samhain was on the back of one hand earlier. Never really looked at the scents in the Marchen collection before, so this is gonna be a bit of a trip.

 

In the imp: oof, what the heck is this? Green, green, green--wet, herbal, almost on the verge of rotting. There's a trace of something almost "purple" behind it, too; maybe the morning glory, or the monkshood? Bluh, this is cloying and pungent, and smells more like some witch's brew instead of a garden.

 

Wet on skin: still very green and herbal, with the tiny hint of purple flowers underneath. Thankfully not quite as pungent, and definitely not as potent as it was in the imp, and the herbal scent is starting to fade back and let the flowers to the fore. Not too bad, actually. (Ah-hah! According to wikipedia, the elfwort might be what's producing that purple flower scent. It has similar undertones to violets! )

 

Drydown: much lighter on the green, and...where did that jasmine come from? The floral scents under the green have morphed entirely into something that smells like jasmine with a tiny hint of violets, and I have no idea what could have caused this. It's pleasant and not overpowering, and a definite change from that slightly retch-worthy almost-rotting greenery scent that it started with. I could definitely see wearing this as a springtime scent. It's far too light for winter, especially in the damp winter here, but once it starts getting warmer, this will be a nice, airy floral-and-herbal mix to be wearing.

 

Definitely not keen on this one in the imp, but it's totally worthwhile once it's on. It's a keeper!

[neuilly]

This scent is quite the morpher. It's quite herbal and a bit sharp at the beginning - I didn't find it pleasant at all. And then after about 20 minutes it's 100% Jasmine on me. Very bizarre.

[hexnut]

A frimp, tested blind.

In Vitro Sharp, perhaps aquatic or citrus.

Wet This began as pungent sweetness like pennyroyal or mint but rapidly turned into menthol. After a few minutes I noticed a bit of sillage that was completely different, almost floral.

Drying Five minutes after application this was much sweeter with very little pungency, and a familiar, "old-fashioned" note. Some kind of floral and/or herbs, and quite nice. But then, right at the twenty-five minute mark, my nemesis plastic showed up and came to dominate the scent.

I was willing to put up with the initial menthol to get the nice garden scent in the middle, but boo to that horrid plastic.

[filigree_shadow]

LOL, why the hell did I try this? There's nothing in there that sounds good to me. I just don't like this sort of vegetal gardeny scent. Smells like weeds and plants, plus some sort of harsh floral scent. And it's strong. Well, the plus is that it doesn't have any dirt in it, which would put me straight into a scrub off situation. The minus is that it smells exactly like the description promises that it will.

[heyjjudette]

Mystical herbs and greens! Yum!

 

When I first put this on I HATED it. Then it began to dry to this, hm, well hard to describe scent! I can picture a little cottage in the woods and the garden out back. It almost smells alive, if that makes sense? It keeps evolving and growing.

 

The word luscious comes to mind.

[icecreamcone]

On my skin The Witch's Garden smells like a smashed first aid kit: it's all alcohol pads, betadine, ointments, gauze, etc.

I'm sure this smells great on some people but it was a scrubber for me. : (

Edited December 26, 2022 by icecreamcone

[JuliskaMarie]

In the imp: EXACTLY like how I would expect a fairytale witch's garden to smell! A mixture of vegetables, cooking herbs & magical spellcasting herbs! VERY intense & crazy, but I love it!

Wet on skin: This amps really strongly on my skin - I only put on a small amount & I already smell like a Herbology teacher at Hogwarts! This is very potent, but also very, very cool!

Dry on skin: Ok, it's calmed down now! Before it was like I was either currently lying in a witch's garden (or working in the hothouses at Hogwarts teaching Herbology!), now it's more like I'm just catching a whiff of the garden on the wind, or like you're just walking past the Herbology teacher at Hogwarts. Either way, this is GORGEOUS! I think this is the nicest green/herbal scent I've ever smelled!

After a few hours: Almost not even there. A tiny bit of carrot & parsley with a hint of something magical, but this is almost completely gone.

Verdict: Not very long lasting, but lovely!

[mymymai]

• ITI: Hmm, too green, too…sad. I’ll wear something else today. Day 2 – okay, again, I’m getting the same impression. It’s that carrot, wormwood, and mandrake. Boo.

Wet: This scent makes me sad and mournful. The carrot, hemlock, wormwood, mandrake, parsley and vine notes are all nice green notes, but there’s something faintly aquatic to them and medicinal in the sense of need, not want. I just want to do nothing when I’m wearing this.

Dry: At least it’s a bit more floral once it’s dried from the morning glory emerging, but overall, the wet greens and solemnity of the notes as a whole just aren’t for me.

[Morsigne925]

"Weeding the Yard" this should be renamed - it makes me distinctly imagine being out in the garden playing around in the dirt. Not a bad thing! I actually love that smell. A very interesting one I may hang on to.

[Veronica]

Starts off very dark green and herbal. Dry down is a little lighter, still distinctly green and herbal, with an almost dandelion floral note in the background. I actually love it as a soothing, nature-y scent, but not something I would reach for.

[HighlyBell7]

In the imp: Light yellow. Dirty, mossy green. Raining in the jungle with freshly cut plants.

Wet: Gardenia, fresh cut tulip stems. Juniper?

Dry: Gardenia. Overpoweringly Gardenia.

Later: Almost Bubblegummy? Then, it fades to a boring generic floral perfume.

[freyasfae]

Yuck. I usually like herbal and green scents, but this was less witch's garden on me, and more the cellar where she keeps her potion ingredients: dank, stale, and pungent. No, thanks.

[Cali]

Straight from the imp it's almost like a rainy forest... accompanied with a faint, sweeter note. Interesting!

On my skin it quickly goes overwhelmingly floral, and it's just a mess of greenery and it's kinda giving me a headache. It's not bad at all, but not for me...

[Casablanca]

On the wand, Witch's Garden is intensely green, both herbal and vegetable, and reminds me of the veggie-and-greens chop I make for my parrot. (This puts it ahead of Orc, which smells like someone ate that chop and threw it back up.) I pick up carrot, parsley, hemlock, and a little bit of sage, but I'm unfamiliar with the rest of the listed notes. It smells brightly green, like absinthe -- which it also kind of reminds me of -- with bits of orange and little clouds of coniferous blue-green. This smells like a very out-of-the-way place, in every way off the beaten path.

 

On my skin, well, it's just odd. I seem to amp carrot, parsley, and something blue and floral I don't recognize. Morning glory flowers? I like them and appreciate the quirky garden vibe of this, but it's not for me.

[catwoman30]

Strange...all I get from this is a pale jasmine with a hint of ylang ylang. Nothing green or herbal whatsoever. It smells very clean and bright on me. I'd love to have a bottle but honestly I'm afraid it might not smell like my imp.😕

[Mermaid-on-Land]

On first application this is very bitingly herbal and green, leaning towards vegetal. I can distinctly smell the lettuce, parsley, carrot, etc. As it tones down over the course of about a half hour, it develops a sunscreen-ish note, like an herbal cream. I can imagine this being what a hedge-witch's healing liniment or something would smell like. After around 30 min the floral scent of the morning glory comes out. It reminds me quite a bit of jasmine. Overall it's a cool witchy blend, herbal and floral at the same time. The floral is warm and a bit spicy, and the herbal is cool and almost minty. There's an undercurrent of darkness to it, too. It's definitely a *witch's* garden, not a cute little cottage garden, which I like about it. It only lasts about 5 hours on me before i can’t smell it on my wrists anymore but it had a nice throw, especially for a green, non-resiny scent on me. I really enjoyed this one. It was more floral than i expected but also totally unique out of all that I’ve tried so far! The colors are varying shades of green, from pale celery to dark pine, with a bit of off white for the flowers.

Edited October 10, 2016 by Mermaid-on-Land

[tauntonlake]

I original posted that I didn't care for this one ... but now that it's aged, it's a whole different ballgame. I have fallen in love with this scent, and scouring Ebay to find a bottle, since I've been told, it's not coming back..

 

If anyone is looking to *destash* this, please PM me .. thanks ...

Edited May 17, 2017 by tauntonlake

[roseus]

Starts off very dark and herby, I can definitely pick out parsley but not much else. As it dries it gets a floral quality, narcotic evening flowers. Dry it smells like a green cottage yard and some waxy white floral, like gardenia or tuberose. Not what I was expecting but very lovely.