Spicebush Swallowtail

[megank4]

Brown sugar, sassafras, clove, and wild plum.

This reminds me of a Yule scent, most likely Butter Rum Cookie, for some reason.

I feel like there is a strong boozy rum scent to this with brown sugar, reminding me a little of Brown Jenkins. I really like brown sugar and plum, but it reminds me of when I was wearing Butter Rum Cookie and my boss was convinced something was burning in the office. I was too embarrased to tell him "no, I think it is my perfume"

[Andrea912]

Wet: yummo brown sugar! And some sassafras...no clove or plum yet...

 

Dry: And there it is...within two minutes this is nothing but clove clove and clove...ewwww...

[musichappens]

On my skin this smells like a barn fire, which I was totally not expecting … perhaps it is from the clove? I actually really like this blend and I think it would be perfect when cooler weather starts to roll in; however, I think I'll look around for a partial instead of springing for a full bottle.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Lots of spice and plum.

 

Immediately on skin: This smells of potpourri, all spice and brown sugar with plum. It reminds me of a hot spiced fruit drink you would drink in the fall. I smell a lot of spice, but not just clove.

 

After a little while: This really hasn’t morphed much on my skin. It’s all spiced brown sugar and plums, and smells very holiday-ish. This blend is sweet and spicy with a nice fruitiness.

 

Overall Impressions: Smelling this scent in the summer is so odd because of how un-summery it is. It’s moreso a late fall or winter scent. It’s heavy on the spice, but I don’t get just clove from this… more like miscellaneous spices. Along with that is thick sweetness (though not very caramel-y) and lots of plum. Very pretty, but I don’t think I’d wear it.

[Sabir]

I immediately fell in love with Spicebush Swallowtail!

 

It's brown sugar rounded out with sassafras and spiced with a bit of clove. It's sweet, but the brown sugar is nice and rich, which makes this more than just a sugary sweet scent. The spices are lovely and just seem to fill everything out. I can't help but think of this scent as playful, with just a hint of naughty spice laughing at you from the background.

[SophieCedar]

This is tasty. Smells a bit like a candle shop in the fall or a country store. I get the sassafras and clove strongest, followed by wild plum. The brown sugar is making the whole thing bloom.

[IridiumFlash]

Spicebush Swallowtail smells like a holiday candle on me - the type of candle you find between Halloween and Christmas. The only note that I can identify for sure is clove. I think the other notes are there in a supporting role only. This one will be good for when I want to smell like gently spicy clove. i just don't know when that might be.

[isisonearth]

Spicy and sweet. The clove it so heavy it really drowns out the plum for me until it dries for a long time then a sort of juicy note starts to come out.

 

Like Monarch this one is another butterfly cookie to me!

[Gold Dust Kitten]

I smell a little root beer but it's overwhelmed by the sugary, spicy cloves. It has great throw, but when I sniff up close it smells a little plasticky.

[Voleuse]

Oh, yum! This is a gorgeous, sharp sassafras at first--almost too sharp, in fact--but the brown sugar quickly asserts itself to balance the blend. (And neat, it's very distinctly brown sugar, not just sugary.) I don't get any plum from the blend, but there's the barest hint of clove-smokiness to it. This is yummy, sweet and spicy, like microbrew root beer in the best way.

Edited September 7, 2010 by Voleuse

[jencallisto]

In the decant: Spicy, sweet, dark.

Fresh on the skin: Spicy, sweet, Christmassy in the best possible way. I love clove! Which is good because there is a lot of it.

5 minutes in: This is delicious, it smells just like spicy plum pudding. Or what I would imagine spicy plum pudding smells like, anyway. Quite strong, medium-to-long throw. Warm and spicy and comforting and just sweet enough.

15 minutes in: Still quite prominent, but not overpowering. I think it's the fruit that keeps this from being more of a room scent... though it does lean in that direction regardless. I like this, though. Spicy and plummy and Chrsitmassy! I'm not really that into Christmas as a religious thing or as a holiday, but I do love the smells!

30 minutes in: Warm, sweet, spice. The plum is still there but has moved a little more to the background.

5 hours later: Faded down to a faint sweet-spicy scent.

 

Verdict: I like this a lot, though it might be a bit more of a room scent than a personal scent. Very nice, though. I may need a botttle!

 

One word: Christmassy!

[bloody sore]

This is better than expected. There is a store here that makes old school candy. Every year at christmas, mom would take me and let me pick out something for my stocking. I usually chose the sugar plum gummies and a clove ribbon candy. This smells like eating the clove candy with the sugar plums near by! A really lovely scent, the first time I've been ok with clove as a perfume.

[thekittenkat]

In the bottle: getting all the notes, the sugar, sassafras, clove, and plum, but the first two dominate.

 

Wet: oh, my, the sassafras is ramping up and going to town!

 

Dry: the brown sugar has come out to try and tame the sassafras. The clove and plum are deep in the mix, but helping to round out this blend. I was hoping for a roll-the-eyes-back-in-the-head experience with this scent, but alas, it was not to be. Still very lovely, though, and perfect for these still summer-hot early autumn days. (It may be autumn according to the calendar, but here in the Deep South, temps are still in the low 90s/upper 80s.)

[pandorasmuse]

In the decant: It smells like autumn treats. Cinnamon rolls and pie. Yum!

 

Wet: A lot of brown sugar up front, with sassafras as the ending note. The clove’s spiciness lingers in the back of my nose. I don’t smell plum, exactly, but therre’s a bit of fruitiness lingering around the edges of the scent.

 

Drydown: The cloviness makes me nervous. I’m afraid it’ll clobber all other notes into submission. It’s done that with several other promising scents. So far so good, though. I’ll have to remember to use a light touch if I hold on to this one.

 

Later: This reminds me of a spicer version of Autumn Moon of the Mirror Stand. It’s nice, but I already have a bottle of AMMS, so I don’t need a bottle of this one.

[caitilarkin]

This was a gift from my lovely and generous Switch Witch!

 

In the bottle: I looooove the Lab's clove note, and at first sniff I noted rich clove tempered with brown sugar.

 

Wet on skin: The clove is blending beautifully with the sugar and sassafras...not getting much plum as of yet...

 

Dry on skin: Oh, how I love this! Somehow this combination of very foody notes is melding into a very sophisticated, non-foody scent. I'm tempted to think that there's a touch of brown musk in here...

 

Lasts over eight hours on me and is appropriate for both work and play. This one's a Top 10 for sure!

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Half decant frimped to me on LJ.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

This could be one of the rare foody scents that really, really works on me. Or it could be utter failure. Sugary scents always walk that fine line for me. I do love the smell of sassafras (although I don't always enjoy smelling like[ it) and love clove. Brown sugar is wonderful as long as it doesn't turn to caramel. Plum is hit or miss. Sometimes I really, really love it and sometimes it smells like fruit punch. We'll see how this one turns out.

 

First sniff:

 

Spicy brown sugar! I agree that this smells like cookies. Specifically like a mix of oatmeal cookies, molasses cookies and snickerdoodles (to me, anyway). It's sweet and spicy and smells like a bakery, but it's not cloying. It is a bit "holiday candle"-like, too, I have to agree. But somehow it works and I like it.

 

Wet on skin:

 

No change from in the imp. I smell like cookies. Spicebush Swallowtail has a strong throw, even by my standards (I like scents that I can smell without holding my wrists under my nose). I dabbed a little on from my decant and I can smell it on my arm as I'm typing, which is pretty unusual considering that I only put on a thin layer over a small patch of skin.

 

The clove is definitely the Lab's sweet clove note (I have the single note, so I recognize it immediately). The brown sugar is sweet and sugary and just a little bit molasses-like. Definitely not caramel. Not by a long shot. This smells like oatmeal cookies on me at this point. Normally, I'm not crazy about smelling like cookies, but I think I like this.

 

Dry down:

 

Brown sugar and clove (the clove sort of ebbs and flows as the drydown goes on; it never disappears and is always noticeable, but sometimes it seems to spike) with just a bit of sassafras (I smell a bit like rootbeer and oatmeal cookies now). The plum never does show up at all, which is perfectly fine by me. Definitely a sweet scent, but it's not really cloying. It's bordering on the too sweet range for me (much less sweet than something like, say, Sugar Skull, but it's still quite sugary in that unique brown sugar way), but doesn't go over the edge.

 

The bottom line:

 

I don't see myself wearing this all that often, but I do like it. I ended up getting a bottle when one came up cheap and I'm happy with that decision. I probably won't put a serious dent in it and may not keep it super long term (years), but it'll get some wear and it'll be nice to have when I'm in the mood for something spicy and cookie-like.

 

This is definitely a winter/fall scent. Normally I don't wear scents according to the season, other than reaching for my autumnal scents more often than usual in autumn, just because it's my favorite season and I like celebrating it, but this doesn't feel like a spring or summer scent. I think it would be too much to wear in the heat. It smells more like a snuggle up in a warm blanket scent to me.

[rayvn1]

Brown sugar and clove predominate for me with this one. Smells a lot like a pantry Safe to say it's better off in my swap pile so someone else can enjoy it.

[MadameGorgon]

I got 2 imps of this in a swap because I was so certain I would love it.

 

It smells very different than I imagined. I get clove, soap, and smoke. Maybe a little Sasparilla now that I'm at the 4 hour mark. I can deal with the smoke (I think this is actually the brown sugar), but the soap is a deal-breaker.

 

Alice's Evidence went soapy on me too, but eventually it stopped. I think that sometimes my nose interprets notes that it doesn't understand as soap? I'm hoping that's the case and that I like this more the next time I try it or I will just have to let someone else pick out my BPALs for me.

[frecklestars]

In the bottle: cookies made of brown sugar with a bit of sassafras! the cloves come in at the end, and there's just a hint of plum, but it's primarily sweet and spicy. not dangerous-spicy but homey-spicy, if that makes any sense. it makes me want to bake something rich and autumn-tasting. the hints of plum unfortunately make it lean more towards fruitcake.

 

On my skin: on my skin it turns to almost exclusively clove at first, then to a goodly mix of clove and sassafras. I definitely smell like a christmas dessert. luckily the plum stays undercover, because I wouldn't want to smell like a fruitcake! the spiciness of it is very inviting and I just love cloves, but there's something about it that keeps me from falling wholly in love with it. the overly sweet scent of brown sugar is tempered when I'm actually wearing it, which is nice.

 

Last thoughts: I was hoping for the clove and plum to be most prominent, but instead the sassafras and brown sugar are in the bottle. the clove comes out strongly on my skin, but with a little too much sassafras for me to swoon over it. I do love me some clove though, so if that's what you're looking for, this is probably a pretty good scent for you (just so long as you don't mind the sassafras).

[filigree_shadow]

I don't remember why I didn't immediately want to try this when it first came out -- I love plum and brown sugar, and sassafras usually agrees with me. Maybe I was scared off by the clove, which has a tendency to amp on me.

 

This definitely does smell spicy -- more spicy than I usually like my perfume to be -- but I'm a big fan of plum + spice combinations, and the plum and sugar with this makes the clove tolerable for me. There isn't a huge amount of sassafras in this, just enough so I can tell it's in there.

 

All in all, it's a good one. I'd like it more if the clove would back off a little, but that's my skin chemistry's fault and not Spicebush Swallowtail's fault.

[Gin]

This is cute. I don't get a lot of plum, and the sassafras goes on really strong. Dry, it's more balanced between the clove, sassafras, and sugar, but still hardly any plum. It's kind of a drier, spicier version of Sugar Skull, which I think is pretty cool.

[tinyvulture]

As the name implies, a spicy, light blend. Love the sassafras and clove together with the caramel-sweetness of brown sugar. Reminds me of snickerdoodle cookies. Just the tiniest hint of plum adds an interesting, fruity depth. A little foody for everyday wear, but really a charming scent.

[imaginepageant]

In the Vial: After the disappointing outcome of Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener yesterday, I was extremely excited to get another sassafras blend in the mail today! However, I get mostly brown sugar and clove from the imp... and a hint of tartness in the background from the plum. It actually reminds me a lot of Jack!

 

Wet: Immediately gets warmer and spicier, and then very pleasantly woodsy. The root beer scent of the sassafras is very slowly edging out, bringing a very strong sweetness with it.

 

Dry: The sweetness has calmed down a bit, and now it reminds me more of Samhain than Jack, more woodsy-spicy than foody. This is a very dry, hot autumn scent. I wish the plum was more noticeable - I can't really pick it out at all except for that hint of tartness.

 

An Hour Later: It's so weird how this blend has smells like so many other blends at different stages. It's totally Gingerbread Poppet now! The sweetness has come back (though thankfully not as in-your-face as before) and the woodsiness has ebbed away.

 

Overall: Very nice and a lovely autumn scent. However, I'm not sure I'll keep this as Samhain and Gingerbread Poppet are two of my favorites, and I probably don't need another blend that's similar to them. I really wish the sassafras and plum had been more prominent in this!

[TulaMontage]

This is a wonderful complex and stunning sassafras dominated scent, which I wanted to love on my skin, but unfortunatley I think it's going to be better off in my oil burner. It's got amazing staying power and throw, but it's just too um.... candley? My room needs to smell like this, just not my skin.

 

It's got oodles of charm and sophistication, blended to perfection and I adore it. I may need a bottle purley as a room scent!

Edited June 1, 2011 by TulaMontage

[mooncityminx]

Wow, this one is really special. To me, it smells just like gingerbread with some tea and maybe a little honey and cream. Maybe Chai and gingerbread. Mmmmm!