The Potter's Field

[sarada]

Silas walked across the path without disturbing a fallen leaf, and sat down on the bench, beside Bod. "There are those," he said, in his silken voice, "who believe that all land is sacred. That it is sacred before we come to it, and sacred after. But here, in your land, they blessed the churches and the ground they set aside to bury people in, to make it holy. But they left land unconsecrated beside the sacred ground, potter's fields to bury the criminals and the suicides or those who were not of the faith."

"So the people buried in the ground on the other side of the fence are bad people?"

Silas raised one perfect eyebrow. "Mm? Oh, not at all. Let's see, it's been a while since I've been down that way. But I don't remember anyone particularly evil. Remember, in days gone by you could be hanged for stealing a shilling. And there are always people who find their lives have become so unsupportable they believe the best thing they could do would be to hasten their transition to another plane of existence."

Rich loam, fragrant grasses, murky vetiver, wild herbs, and dry cedar bark.

This is the first one I went for, in the Graveyard Book, it sounds custom made for me as a scent.

The Potter's Field is definitely an earth-lover's dream scent, with a very heavy dose of dark, scorched vetiver. A damp, sweet earth so black and moist you can almost see the worms wriggling around in it, lingers as I sniff it in the bottle. It's the loamy green-brown scent you can catch in blends like The Premature Burial. The vetiver is similar to that in the Hessian of the Hollow - so dark it sparkles.

I don't quite catch the herbs, but the dry cedar must be contributing to the overall scent of dry, burnt wood lingering over the damp, rich soil that you can just about feel your feet sinking into. A swirl of smoke over a desolate field, where hints of life sprout in the wet soil, constantly renewing itself. Bare trees and grey skies, wild things growing in the darkness. Edited November 28, 2008 by Shollin

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is very herby and smoky...it reminds me of something foody ....

a smoky marinade...?

 

once applied there is fresh cut grass and earth...these notes are both very distinct and

very separate .... there is definitely vetiver but it's not in your face as much as other blends...

 

this is a dry blend....dry and smoky; herbaceous and grassy....i'm astounded with

its complexity

[rayvn1]

This is my version of heaven in a bottle Sweet grass, fresh turned loam and earth. The faintest sharp hint of herb. To top it off, a light dusting of sweet rain makes this utter desolate perfection! Bottle worthy in spades - and there's your bad pun for the graveyard series

[stefrand]

ITI: Very strong! It smells...kind of like grassy barbeque smoke.

 

Wet: Strong, smoky, grassy. Weird!

 

Dry: Same.

 

Drydown: It got less weird and more grassy with time, but something about this was just off on me. I got no lovely soil or herbs, just this kind of odd grassy smell.

 

Final Thoughts: This is the first scent I've ever tried with vetiver, and I don't think it agrees with me. Ah well, off to a better home!

[voodoocatwoman]

All righty. Were I to pick a huge bouquet and then turn it upside down and sniff, that green smell would be The Potter's Field. It doesn't change over time either, although later on I am aware that someone dumped a bag of grass clippings on the bouquet.

 

I can see wearing this on occasion when I want a hint of spring. Otherwise, no.

[Little Bird]

In the vial, this smells amazingly dark, heavy, and spooky. It smells so creepy, like a dying meadow near a forest as the sun goes down, and you really don't want to be there alone when the sun goes down. Heavy, slightly burnt, dry grass, dark soil, and a chill in the air.

 

On my skin, this smells cold and earthy, with a little hint of smoke that goes away in the drydown. The Field smells like sitting on a blanket of dry, sweet grasses in the fall, next to a flowing river, with a cold breeze blowing in from the forest across the field. It truly smells like all of those wonderful things to me.

 

And my boy *loves* this on me (seriously, he said it's his favorite bpal). He said it smells very natural and forest-y, and I agree.

 

The Field doesn't smell like any perfume that I've had before. It smells so natural and comfortable to me.

 

I wasn't expecting to like this at all, but I'm going to need a full bottle of The Potter's Field

[Upstart Crow]

Vetivert is one of my favorite notes, as is loam, so I knew this scent would be dreamy on me. And it is!

 

In the bottle, I'm hit most strongly with the cedar bark and vetivert--it's a very dark brown/black scent, if that makes sense. In bottle I also get a sweetness that reminds me of very expensive dark chocolate. It must be the grass note (which typically smells sweet to me), because there's no chocolate in this blend.

 

On my skin, the cedar fades to texture, and the vetivert and loam dominate, with a little of the grass' sweetness. I love this scent because it reminds me of a heavier cousin to Hessian of the Hollow, which is my ultimate vetivert blend, but where Hessian is sweeter and spicier, vetivert is musky and heavy like the tomb.

 

Definitely worth a bottle! Though I think vetivert haters and agnostics would do well to avoid this one.

[zankoku_zen]

On wet, this smelled like smoky bacon.

 

So as it dries I get the vetivert and combined with the cedar, it smells masculine and a bit like men's cologne. It's dark but commanding.

 

Vetivert and I don't play well together... but I keep trying!

[AnArtfuldodger]

This scent conjures up the memory of summer camp. It's all the cedar and earth and it's absolutely lovely! I just kept sniffing my arm and being transported to falling asleep in a rickety bunk in the woods.

[crebbsgirl]

This was deep and rich earth when I put it on, with just a touch of vetiver and herbs. The cedar note was very faint here, almost undetectable on me. And then as it dried, the grasses overtook the blend. It went soapy on me.

[loladae]

There's not much to add that hasn't been said. To me, this is a lot like the inscription. I get some vetiver, but it's not overpowering. It's mostly fresh grass mingled in loam. Kind of murky. I like it, but it's more novelty for me, so I'll just keep my imp

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Partial 5mL from ralenth.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I have no idea why I haven't tried this one yet. It sounds right up my alley. All I can think is that I figured that I had enough dirt scents when I first read the description. But then I happened to read the description again and knew I had to get a bottle, regardless of the number of other dirt scents I already own (Zombie, Graveyard Dirt, Badger, etc.).

 

I'm thinking that The Potters' Field has the potential to be somewhat unique in my collection in the same way that Badger is. The grasses, herbs and cedar in this one have the potential to make it more than "just another dirt scent."

 

First sniff:

 

Yummy, dirty goodness. This is definitely more than "just" a dirt scent. The grasses and herbs and cedar are definitely putting in an appearance. It's reminding me of a perfume I owned a long time ago that I can't remember the name of. It was supposed to smell like a summer night and it did. And so does The Potters' Field. It smells like laying out under a canopy of tree branches, watching the stars and smelling the dirt under your back and all the trees and plants around you. There's a pretty significant amount of greenness here in addition to the dirt.

 

Wet on skin:

 

About the same as in the bottle, only slightly more green. Dirt, trees, grass. It smells like summer to me. And childhood.

 

Dry down:

 

I get soft grass, bright green leaves, freshly snapped twigs, (much less intense) rich soil, a very faint herbal sweetness and something airy and almost ozone-like (without being soapy in the slightest; it reminds me a bit of the ozone note in Thunderbird) in the very far background. The vetiver isn't really putting in an appearance here, but I'm getting everything else and then some. This is a nostalgic, happy scent for me. It makes me think of running barefoot through sun-warmed grass and wandering the woods at the end of the street I grew up on. It reminds me of summer camp and exploring my neighbor's garden.

 

The bottom line:

 

A surprisingly happy scent, considering. I've never come across a company that could nail dirty "nature" scents the way that the Lab does. And I'm glad I gave into my compulsive need to try every dirt scent that comes along, regardless of how many I already own, because this is definitely unique. In my pantheon of dirt scents, Badger is my soft, infinitely wearable one, Graveyard Dirt is my intense, rich, fresh-turned soil one, Zombie is my dry, dusty, mossy one and now The Potters' Field is my green "summer" one. Each is unique in its own way, but The Potters' Field is possibly the most unique one of them all.

 

This is a definite winner and I think I'm going to need to get a full bottle here sometime in the not-so-distant future.

[filigree_shadow]

All I smell at first is loam. It's a very sweet dirt, not the dark muddy sort. After about an hour it gets a little bit herby, but mostly it still smells like dirt.

[Fjaer]

I was really really looking forward to trying this one, all the notes seemed heavenly =]

 

On wet, this reminded me exactly of Deep In Earth. Kind of like washing powder, very clean scent.

It's pleasant though.

 

As it dries the grasses come out. Sweet dry grasses. There's definitely that bpal dirt note.

 

Overall I give this a 3.5/5

It's really nice, but hardly any throw on me and doesn't last long at all =[

[Quillifer]

I stuck my neck out for this and got a bottle unsniffed. I'm very pleased that I did

 

I find this quite a cold scent. Damp earth, something rooty/barky, no flowers, a cool breeze. It smells very like digging the ground in early spring, on a fairly peaty soil. I love this because it reminds me of the most exciting, private, promising time in the garden - just me and the earth and my ideas, together.

 

I find this lasts very well on me. Not massive throw such that others would notice it across a room, but plenty for me to be able to notice it without huffing my wrist.

 

ETA the smell reminds me of something and I'm trying to think what. A vegetable I think; celeriac, or the flavour or roast bulb fennel, if you let it catch a bit. Or the smell of puy lentils as they reach the boil. But in a way that I like.

 

10/10 for me.

Edited October 31, 2012 by Quillifer

[Mister Azure]

A field waiting to burst with green life. 

 

Wet: Heavy bags of top soil with a fresh layer of perennial flowers are here. There are hot piles of mulch here to help support the field in its growth. You can see and feel the peeping and tending to the earth with this scent at this stage. There is some very good ground work being laid here. 

 

Dry: A subtle spiced herbal root is plucked from the ground. Waiting to be dried and used. Still the moist top soil is present and still aims to give a lush and vibrant field of growth. The mulch as cooled some and have become spread over the grounds, which make it difficult to note the perennials anymore. 

 

After about 4 hours of wear the perennials becoming rooted into the soil and bloom. They bring a light and sweet fragrance with them not that the mulch scent has faded. 

 

Final thoughts: This scent reminds me so much of trips taken to the garden and plant nursery with my mum. I feel like I have fresh, rich soil under my nails, herbs in a burlap bag, fragrant rooted flowers, and plant bulbs ready to fill the garden. The smell of a steaming wood mulch pile to help support the growth of plants while preventing weeds from forming is constant in this for me along with that moist soil scent in all stages. 

 

It is a nice earthy scent with a medium throw. Do I enjoy it for a nostalgic vibe but I do not believe this is a scent that I will reach for very often. For earthy scents in this line I enjoy the Eau de Ghoul over this on my skin.

[Llanval]

Like lying in an open grave in a grassy field, watching black pine trees sway against a dark night sky. So, basically Perfect for me. The slow emergence of the cedar, herbs and flowers turns this from just lovely dirt into a true, atmospheric stunner. If you like dirt and cedar and you're not afraid of vetiver, give this a whirl! Though, I do personally wish the vetiver was a little stronger. I find it has good wear time (4-6 hrs), and doesn't have huge throw, so you won't be leaving a dirt trail wherever you go.

[doomsday_disco]

This one starts off with a blast of fresh super realistic, freshly turned earth, infused with some earthy vetiver. But as time goes on, it morphs, and I smell like celery!?!?!?!

 

Skin chemistry is wild. Or was there secretly some celery in this field?  I am glad I got to try this, but smelling like celery is not for me.