A Companion Of The Same Nature

[TheIceMaiden]

“If you consent, neither you nor any other human being shall ever see us again: I will go to the vast wilds of South America. My food is not that of man; I do not destroy the lamb and the kid to glut my appetite; acorns and berries afford me sufficient nourishment. My companion will be of the same nature as myself, and will be content with the same fare. We shall make our bed of dried leaves; the sun will shine on us as on man, and will ripen our food. The picture I present to you is peaceful and human, and you must feel that you could deny it only in the wantonness of power and cruelty. Pitiless as you have been towards me, I now see compassion in your eyes; me seize the favourable moment, and persuade you to promise what. I so ardently desire.”

A companion of the same nature: skin musk, red rose petals, mums, carnations, white linen, and sunlit amber on a bed of soft dry leaves.

This starts off heavy and the mums and leaves with a little rose and skin musk. As it dries, it gets a bit more musky and softer with hints of the carnation, linen, and amber. The drydown is a lovely skin-and-linen combination.

Overall, this is nice enough, especially the drydown stage. It reminds me a lot of several past Halloween scents, like La Catrina Calavera and to a lesser extent, The Death of Autumn. I think I'll hang on to my decant to see how it ages but don't feel the need for a bottle as I have lots of autumn leaf scents in my collection already.

[tativa]

Okay... if I didn't have such a trusted decanter I'd almost question this one after smelling it and reading the description. I'm starting to read some of the notes after some concentration... but to be honest the first thing I smelled when I put it on was sugared tea. Like a deeper Dorian with rose. I'm guessing my nose is reading linen as tea, as they both are clean notes.

 

If I try really hard I can smell the leaves and the carnation... but everything blends together into the smell of a tea party on an early spring day. I can smell the sweetness of the child with a pastry in hand, weaved in with the perfume of her mother, and the plant smells the breeze carries along.

 

Then as the scent is on the skin longer, it starts to smell like embalming oil and the linen of wrapping a body for burial, and the flowers being brought to mourn.

 

All in all, its a lovely scent, but so evocative it creeps me out a bit. I'll keep it around for contemplation, but there is very much a circle of life feel to it.

 

Even after being on the skin a bit it maintains a freshness to it... its only the morphing of the sweetness that really indicates the passing of time.

Edited December 22, 2011 by tativa

[Lit Chick]

I am a sucker for any blend that has carnation, ever hopeful that carnation will be the main note.

I should have known that leaves (a death note for me) would never ever allow a favorite note to even show itself.

 

Alas, this smells like decomposing vegetation on me, with a hint of rosey perfume underneath. Mental image - the fresh grave of a young bride. Or, I guess, the perfume of a freshly reanimated bride...

[Little Bird]

I like the name of this, but it's pretty much everything that I dislike in a fragrance. It's baby powdery, sharp, chemical-y perfumey, and not much else. It just turns to baby powder, sharp chemical musk (like cheap hairpsray), and a touch of soap on me. Blech. I usually like most of the floral notes listed in this, but I can't pick them out here...

[Leopard403]

I just don't get it. A Companion of the Same Nature is composed of scents that I love, that are magic on my skin. It's true that I tend to amp amber and that it has the risk of drowning everything else out, and I was willing to take a chance here because it sounded lovely. If I could have put money on which of my Yule decants I would love best, it would be this one.

 

I knew I was in trouble when the decant arrived and the oil was a rusty orange color. That's usually the first bad sign, but I tried to disregard it. So I was so disappointed when, upon the first few sniffs, I could barely bring myself to put this on my skin; and once on my skin, it didn't get any better. This is a super-strong generic "perfume-y" scent that encapsulates everything I dislike about most bestselling eau de parfum sprays.

 

So though I have a very full decant to swap away, I also have a headache and a broken heart.

[edenssixthday]

A Companion of the Same Nature - This opens up really heavy on the dry leaves and mums. As it dries down, the skin musk comes out, as well as the linen and a hint of the spicy carnation. The longer it's on my skin, the rose becomes more evident but smells more like a tea rose (probably because of the dry leaves in the blend), but the rose never becomes overwhelming and remains subtle. Throughout the life of the scent, it's a mostly dry leaf and mum scent on me and the wear length is about average for me.

[maika]

In the decant, I get a kind of almost but not quite masculine cologne-y smell. I'm thinking most of that comes from the mums and the leaves, with just a little of the musk peeking out underneath.

 

Wet on me, it's still masculine, but not opressively so. I'm going to agree that there's a hairsprayish tinge to it, but I hoard Stardust, so to me that's not a bad thing...as long as it doesn't become the dominant feature.

 

Dry, the hairspray thing is there as an undertone, and the rose seems to be coming out. I really think the hairspray thing is coming from the leaves.

 

This is lovely. It's not my normal style of scent, but I am going to need to get my hands on some more of this.

[cinnamonster]

Oh, I should have loved this so much, but alas it is reminiscent of Elizabeth Arden's Sunflowers (on my skin), a scent I cannot stand. It does not smell the same, but there is a similar note in it that my skin apparently amps to the exclusion of everything else in the perfume

[het4377]

In The Bottle/Imp: Fresh cut greenery.

 

Wet: This turns immediately green, similar to Blade of Grass or Nothing Gold can Stay in that it is a very authentic broken stems/cut grass sort of green. A Companion of the Same Nature comes off as slightly more perfumey than either of those though, likely due to the floral nots present in this blend.

 

Drydown: Still remarkable green, a touch of musk and amber, and a mix of the floral notes (nothing is really standing out between the rose, mum or the carnation) which are going slightly soapy-ish.

 

Changes as Time Elapses: eh, a mix of floral notes, a touch of skin musk and powdery amber. It does get better, as the floral notes fade the longer you wear this and it becomes mostly musk and amber.

 

Rating: 2.5/5

 

Similar to: Blade of Grass, Nothing Gold Can Stay, Flowering Chrysanthemums

[theseagrows]

this smells very perfumy and sophisticated when first applied. i get mostly rose, mums and leaves, i think. it's like a fall scent with added florals. i think i get the leaves most strongly at first, combined with the chrysanthemum. later on the rose and amber are more apparent, and the linen comes through. this is very beautiful. i kind of overlooked it the first time i tried it but now i am really loving it.

Edited January 10, 2016 by theseagrows

[calivianya]

In the vial: Mostly dry leaves. I really like the Lab's dry leaves note, so this one passes the initial sniff with enthusiasm. Wet on my skin: Leaves plus rose, mums, and amber. Quite lovely! Drydown: I'm starting to agree that this does smell a lot like La Calavera Catrina. It's nice but I have a bottle of that, so I will be rehoming my decant.

[a_llb]

In vial: Leaves and mums. Sharper than I expected.

Wet: The linen and rose creep in, making this feel suited to spring or summer rather than autumn. Clean white sundresses hanging to dry among rosebushes and daises.

Dry: The linen becomes very strong on me, and slightly ozonic. There are still hints of flowers, breezy and pretty.

 

Verdict: I can only tolerate ozone in very small amounts, or when it's buried deep in the blend. Not the case here. This one reminds me of 51, actually - like an ultra-femme version.

[Ghost of a Rose]

My imp is a decant from the lovely PhantasmMystera.

 

In the imp: The oil is clear and is a beautiful and unusual pinkish-copper color. My initial impression of the scent is peppery mums and carnations, with dry leaves.

 

On me, wet: For the first few seconds, it is the same as in the imp. Then the rose note shows up and the scent becomes sweeter. There is a nice equal balance between the peppery florals/leaves and the sweeter rose.

 

After 4 minutes: This blend changes quickly in the first few minutes. Now the rose, together with the clean white linen, is dominating. But the peppery flowers are holding their own.

 

After 15 minutes: Now the peppery mums and carnations have taken over, especially the mums. There's even that slight skunkiness that mums have - maybe it's the skin musk. The clean linen in the background balances that.

 

After 20 minutes: In another sudden change, the overall fragrance is quickly turning perfumey. It's clean linen/perfumey, with the peppery flowers still there in the background. The skunkiness/skin musk was short-lived and is now completely gone.

 

After 30 minutes: Pretty much the same, except that the notes are now blending more, and the bit of peppery sharpness is settling down. Both of these things make the fragrance seem softer. I can detect the skin musk again just a little, and now also a very faint hint of clove from the carnations.

 

After 1 hour: This just keeps on getting lovelier. It's now mostly perfumey clean linen, perhaps with some rose and definitely some clove-like carnation which keeps this from smelling anything remotely like dryer sheets. The peppery mum is almost gone, and I'm starting to pick up the first wisps of the amber bottom note.

 

After 2 hours: The same beautiful scent, but faded.

After 3 hours: Very subtle, clean linen and amber.

After 4 hours: Pretty much gone.

 

Verdict: Interesting and unusual floral scent that gets better and better as it lingers on my skin. It doesn't go through the dramatic total changes that some blends do, but it is constantly changing in smaller ways, veering back and forth like a teeter-totter from one note to another. Although not an absolute top priority, I would really like to get a full bottle if I can afford it.

 

My rating: 4 stars

[lilyliza]

In the bottle: I don't get a thing but leaves, lol. That tends to happen to any scent I get with a leaf note though, especially fresh ones.

 

Wet, on my skin: It disappears. I seriously smell absolutely nothing for 2 minutes. I think it's because fresh skin musk seems to be a dead ringer for my natural smell.

 

Drydown: A healthy dose of carnations and mums come out, creating a soft floral, with just a touch of rose in the background adding some extra elegance. There are some leaves, and I think I might smell some very faint linen- it just blends so well with the leaves and skin musk that I can't pick it out.

 

Dry: Floral-kissed amber with a touch of linen. This thing blends like a dream at this point. It definitely evokes a sense of sunset and gentle sentiment. I really like this.

 

This is a lovely floral scent, somewhat low-key with the linen and leaves. It's definitely a close cousin to La Calavera Catrina, but this is more subdued and low-key, while Catrina was a proud early fall scent with louder and somewhat brighter floral notes. I'd definitely recommend this, especially to fans of carnation.

[CiaoBonefish]

In decant/Wet: Stays the same for a good while which is why I grouped them together. When I first smelled this I thought WOAH spicy. It reminded me a lot of La Catrina Calavera like TheIceMaiden said earlier. It overall smells like spicy leaves, foliage, some carnation and mums at this point.

Dry: Now that is more like it! Dry the spicy-ness fades quite a bit and I am starting to get the rose which is a very light creamy sweet note, beautiful really. Amber is adding a bit of powder to the mix while skin musk gives the entire blend a lightly musky sweet feel to it. This smells like a bed of dry leaves, sweet skin musk, mums, and a bit of the most beautiful creamy rose. OH, I totally forgot! The linen is a major player, it is nice airy and creamy which just makes the scent that much better.

Overall: WOW. The more I smell this blend the more I like/love it. The dry down is so vastly different from the wet scent and I am in love. It turned out quite a bit more sweet than I expected initially and the rose and leaves note is beautiful. I may want to grab a bottle of this actually...

[milo]

Wet, smells like weeds of a noxious nature. Dry, kind of a powdery orris like leaf blend with a touch of water. I like this, but it is a teeny bit too sharp and perfumey for me.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Stunning! I wish I could wear this. The leaves are lovely with the unusual mums/carnation floral combination. It is sharply autumnal. The linen is understated and beautifully blended with leaves and flowers. The amber and musk serve to tie the other elements together, softly sexy and ubiquitous. The roses are very understated. This is stunning. No skin test rose.

[zankoku_zen]

Dry leaves, mums and carnations. I get whiffs of linens and amber. It's pretty, but sadly my skin eats this up. 20 minutes later and its gone.

[Monday]

This is unexpectedly nice. First off I haven't had the pleasure of smelling the mums note before and I'm pleasantly surprised. This is what I had hoped one of the autumnal scents would smell like.

It's dry leaves with mums some linen and skin musk. The amber is making it smell a bit perfumey, just how I like it . Strangely my skin isn't amping the rose, it's very well blended also carnation is nowhere to be seen.

I would have loved it more if the carnation had showed up, but overall it's interesting enough to keep a decant of.

[Doc M]

In the decant vial: dry leaves, which is a new scent for me to try. Exciting.

On skin: cologne. Ho hum. Strong. Whew.

Drydown: A wan, waxy smell... Light and boring. If I huff my wrist I can pick out linen and musk but the rest smells dull and incomprehensible. I never smell leaves on me at all.

 

A pity. I loved Frankenstein and this scent sounded so promising.

[Doc M]

In the decant vial: dry leaves, which is a new scent for me to try. Exciting.

On skin: cologne. Ho hum. Strong. Whew.

Drydown: A wan, waxy smell... Light and boring. If I huff my wrist I can pick out linen and musk but the rest smells dull and incomprehensible. I never smell leaves on me at all.

 

A pity. I loved Frankenstein and this scent sounded so promising.

[Ravenclaw79]

Very leaves-y at first -- it took several hours to stop being a harsh, dry, bitter sort of scent. Now, it's more of a linen-y floral, not bad, but not necessarily worth the wait.

 

(I always hope that leaves will blend with other notes, but no, they always seem to hog the spotlight.)

[Incendiare]

The first thing I smell as soon as I open the vial are the dry leaves which reminds me of Devil's Night or even Sonnet d'Automne if I remember correctly, but this has florals woven in with the leaves. There is also something very clean about this. At first I thought it was white tea but no, white linen. I imagine opening a window and seeing linen hung to dry, with a bed of flowers underneath. After about ten minutes, the dry leaves remains intermingled with the florals.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Rose and carnation tempered by skin musk and linen.

 

Wet: Carnation is amping.

 

The dry-down: Mostly carnation, softened by the musk and the rose. I only got a decant because of worries about the amber and mums, but not picking up those notes. If you like any of the carnation blends from the Lab, you should try this lovely and gentle skin scent.

[ajansuz]

Yet another one I thought I had already reviewed but had not. I loved the name and concept of this, which was why I bought it in addition to knowing I loved most of the notes listed. I was iffy about the mums, though.

 

In the bottle, it's fairly sharp and perfumey with dry leaves and a green note like bruised wood sorrel. A little sour.

 

Wet it takes on a sort of chilly quality, and it reminds me very much of Sonnet d'Automne to the point I feel like I duplicated scents.

 

It's a big morpher on me. As it dries, it's a lot more perfumey, clean and spicy. It smells more like commercial perfume than I tend to enjoy, but for some reason it never crosses that line entirely, so I like it. There's a hint of something somber and a little dark to this scent. I can't fully put my finger on it. I wear it when I'm in a solitary mood.

Edited April 24, 2012 by DarkSinestra