Nothing Gold Can Stay

[Elfbait]

Dewy green leaves colored by Moroccan amber, ginseng, and rooibos.

When I first sniffed this from the bottle, the first thing that came to mind was "good shampoo"- sweet, salon-green, and pleasant. I happen to like that smell, so I was pleased by this. However, the real story of any perfume is told on the skin, so on it went. The simplicity of my first impression made way, as the complexity of crisp green apple peels, leaves dew-dropped with autumn rain, and something almost tannic, like heavily steeped tea, came forward. As those notes settled down, the gentle, ancient and warm scent of amber emerged, adding to the sense of quietude and imparting grace to this scent. Lovely. And I love the imagery this scent brought to mind- the smell goes from the tip of the branch, to the heart of the tree. From leaf to amber, from green to gold.

Often green scents I've tried start out very vivacious, and spicy, but then tend to go all high-pitched and discordant on me. Not this green, however. This is one of the few "green" scents that I would describe as gentle, and introspective- very intriguing from start to finish, and very beautiful.

[Ravenclaw79]

Leaves. REAL leaves. Nothing vetiver-y here -- just the pure, true scent of a pile of autumn leaves. Wonderfully evocative.

[Coldfire]

Decant: totally getting the dewy green leaves

Wet on Me: dewy green leaves and tea!

Drying Down; tea and the powdery scent of the amber. Not as baby powdery as usual but a pwdery note nonetheless.

Dry: This finished as a musky. powdery, faint tea blend on me. nice. Happy to have tried it.

[Akurarei]

In the bottle:
fresh cut grass

On my Skin, Wet:
BANANAS!? WTF?
it bursts with bananas, mangos, & something coconut like

On my Skin, Dry:
still somewaht smoothie-like
but the amber is coming out more now, and the green 'grass' smell is also coming out but definitely is slowly turning into fresh leaves

Verdict:
very weird opening on my skin - the drydown is pretty but also fairly sutble.
4 of 10 Ranking!

[kbrighton]

It opens with the most beautiful green, golden and sweet. Oh so lovely when wet. I mean, it was the most beautiful thing I'd smelled in a long time.

 

It dries to green and yellow leaves. Interesting, evocative.

 

Then with a bit more time I smell like a smoker who's trying to cover it up with perfume. What the heck happened?!?!?

[Voleuse]

This is a lovely, fresh green on first application, though the warmer notes start piping through quickly. The greenery never gives in to the other notes, though--there's simply a waft of spices being carried by a breeze in the background. This is such a vivid scent picture: dewy green leaves, absolutely, but also a hint of sunrise.

[Mamma Badger]

This starts out very green in the bottle. After having it on a few minutes the notes blend into a crisp green apple and fallen leaves smell. Reminds me of early fall in an apple orchard.

[zankoku_zen]

Banana peel. Honestly, this smells to me like a green, unripe banana. It's got that green planty smell, slight hit of creamy fruitiness, a bit of sweet florals. I get no amber or ginseng.

 

Odd.

[aquazoo]

Yes, that is green leaves! There is a definite fall feeling to it, with the other elements adding the "falling leaves" notes.

[taramarie]

Nothing Gold Can Stay was inspired by a poem I frequently quote this time of year, so I was so excited to see the perfume. All I get is the dewy green leaves, but it's so true-to-life that I just love it.

[Ceisdein]

Strange. It's unripe fruit. From bottle to dry down, just unripe fruit.

[thekittenkat]

In the bottle: On first sniff, this is true to all the notes. I like tea scents.

 

Wet: This is wet leaves that have just fallen to the ground. I've carried my tea cup outside to see them, after sniffing a little ginseng, and wearing an amber necklace.

 

The dry-down: This is a nice, pleasant tea scent. Just like drinking tea outside on one of the first autumn days; it's early morning, because the dew's still on the grass, but not too chilly, and the leaves are drifting down and around. (And deep down, the amber provides a base, and the ginseng keeps it from being too "green".)

[meatcake]

From sharp grassy scent in the bottle, to a soft pile of green, red and brown leaves. A very clean, fresh smell. "So fresh! So clean!" I didn't think I'd like this one but it is lovely.

[pandorasmuse]

In the decant: This is fall all over. Leaves, leaves, leaves!

 

Wet: Wet leaves in early autumn. Maybe ones that have just fallen.

 

Drydown: This really is fall in a bottle, isn’t it?

 

Later: This is a cheery fall blend, but there’s a bit of melancholy at the finish—fall won’t last forever, you know. Winter is just around the corner.

[Incendiare]

I don't really get any grass out of this blend. In the imp, it definitely smells green, but a juicy green deriving from fruits. Wet, the first fruit I thought of was pear, but now as it's drying, I can definitely see where the comparisons to unripened banana are coming from. I detect a hint of rooibos in the background, but ultimately, this still smells fruitier than leafier. It's beautiful and not what I was expecting based on the description. Glad I was able to get a hold of an imp but that will be more than enough for me.

[calivianya]

This scent is absolutely stunning! It is an instant favorite. It smells very rich and juicy - almost apple-y - which was not what I was expecting from the notes. I imagine it's the rooibos making it sweet. Unfortunately, after about ten minutes I had to bury my nose in my arm to smell it at all, and shortly after that it was totally gone. I have never had my skin eat a perfume so fast. How unfortunate. This would have been an instant mad scramble to track down a bottle if it hadn't disappeared so quickly.

[HerbGirl]

I have been wearing this perfume since September 2010...it's about time I give my review!

 

I am a big fan of Robert Frost's work, so I ordered this straight away. I love most of the perfumes I have tried with leaves (any kind of leaves) in the description and have loved the ones that don't have vetiver. This isn't a dark leaves scent anyway, it's a perfect "dewy green leaves" scent. I don't get the amber at all, I think the slight tang I sniff may be the ginseng and rooibos. If you are a fan of Summer's Last Will and Testament and Flor De Muerto give this one a try. They are similar to my nose, but Nothing Gold Can Stay is a brighter Autumn scent.

 

4.5/5 on the Herb Girl scale.

 

ETA: I just put something together looking at the description: Moroccan amber, ginseng and rooibos paint colors to me and I'm wondering why I never noticed this before?!

 

Amber - golden Ginseng - yellow/greenish Rooibos - red/coppery Green leaves - Green

 

That's awesome.

 

ETA: I think this may be my signature scent...although that's sad because I highly doubt it will come back...SO GOOD!

Edited June 24, 2011 by Herb Girl
Removed Lab description

[grrrlennyl]

On: This definitely smells like fresh, wet, green leaves or grass for the most part. Perfectly springy.
1 hour in: A wood note is coming forward now. There's a hint of sweetness and damp earthiness, too.
3 hours in: Mostly a warm, woody scent. Not heavy or overpowering, but soft, with a bit of a sweet feel to it.
6.5 hours in: Still a really lovely warm and woody scent.
Overall: This is really nice and light on me. I wish it didn't go as woody on me, since it isn't something I can really see myself wearing much. However, if someone didn't mind that about it, it would a really great blend to try out.

[Vega]

Sniffed: Uh-oh, wet leaves. Well, this isn't as bad as I've experienced in the past, and these leaves are more red-gold than green, but I'm wary...

 

On skin: Clear, still water infused with fresh leaves and a red, leafy, tea-like scent that I've not encountered before, and must be the rooibos and ginseng. The water gradually recedes over time, leaving behind a fresh, red, slightly earthy tea-scent. A mellow, limpid, light blend that exudes a soothing, serene, introspective presence. Colour impression is indeed the red and gold of maple leaves.

 

Verdict: I have a very negative track record with "leaves", especially wet ones. While Nothing Gold Can Stay is actually wearable, I can't completely ignore the slightly earthy, dirty touch of the leaves, which spoils what would otherwise be a lovely red tea scent. Sigh.. this is not going to stay.

(Yeah yeah, that's bad pun. Humour me! )

[achromance]

In the vial: A very curious, bittersweet scent. Warm amber and rooibos, with a kick from the ginseng and lush greens. Although many of the green tea or black tea scents from the lab have been quite harsh and bitter and not tea-like at all to me, the rooibos seems to actually deliver in this department. It's a tad sweeter than the other teas ought to be, but it really works.

 

On my wrist: The amber is going powdery on me, which is a shame and I hope it can pull itself together. At first there was a gust of freshly cut grass, but it settled for a subtler variety of greenery. I'm hoping the ginseng will lift its head soon to spice things up.

As it dries, Nothing Gold Can Stay becomes a subtle, slightly powdery amber scent with flair from the ginseng and rooibos. It is a very lively scent, undulating in degrees of each ingredient. At times it's like sugared rooibos, at others the freshly cut grass I picked up earlier returns.

[Monday]

On wet: This is seriously green like fresh grass cuttings, with a hint of banana...

Drying: Still a very sweet grassy scent, the unripe banana is still around too. Not unpleasant so far.

Dry: Well this turns out to be one of those blends that doesn't morph a lot. The grassy note does take a back seat a bit but otherwise it's still sugared grass with a hint of banana. It's nice but not something that I need a bottle of.

[patina]

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this one before because this is one of the most evocative BPAL scents I've tried. You know the early, bright days of fall when the sky is extremely blue, the air is crisp and the leaves are still green? Yep. This smells like September.

 

More specifically, this starts out smelling like green leaves. I can see where some reviewers would get green bananas. It also smells like ginko leaves. The amber in the scent gives me a strong impression of golden sunlight. After I've worn this a while I get the faintest impression of a tiny wisp of smoke which must be the rooibos. (Is the smoke a forecast of the leaves' future?)

 

Your milage may vary. Not everyone will get such strong sensory perceptions. My mother called it "a lovely women's perfume."

[porcelina]

oooh. sweet tangy vibrant fresh leaves. this is a scent where it's hard to pick out individual notes because it blends so seamlessly together- the amber in the background, adding a richness to the greenery. i actually can't stop sniffing my wrist because it smells so wonderful.

 

across the street from the house i grew up in, there was a nice little patch of woods with a few ponds and a winding bike path that i rode up and down hundreds of times. on certain days, at certain times of year, i would smell this amazing rich-spicy-green scent when i rode my bike through a certain field. i don't know what plant was responsible. this is like that smell, but concentrated and distilled into a beautiful perfume.

[Naomi Kelsey]

At first application, it's a slightly sappy maple leaf scent. Very green, as others have noted. It doesn't have the complexity of some other scents, but it is perfect for its description: maple leaves slowly turning gold and falling. The amber is lovely--reminds me of the copal top note in El Dorado. It dries down to a "book amber" type scent--hard to describe, but a slightly papery or dusty amber that smells like a lovely cedar chest (without the mothball bite some chests have). I don't know how she did it, but it is very evocative and reminds me of the red maple tress in my childhood front yard--piles of leaves with the slight smell of burning leaves in the background and the crisp air of fall all around.

 

Delightful. Perfect for fall.

 

4 out of 5.

[Soupy Twist]

A little amber in the bottle, but mostly cut succulent, which is how it goes on. This sweetens a little to cut grass. Similar to Arcana's Avalon and BPAL's Squirting Cucumber. No tea or ginseng. Don't know why this is a Weenie; it's totally a summer scent for me.