Autumn Fancies

[Invidiana]

AUTUMN FANCIES
Faded the clover now ;-- sere and withered the grasses:
What dreams the matsumushi in the desolate autumn-fields?

Strangely sad, I thought, sounded the bell of evening; --
Haply that tone proclaimed the night in which autumn dies!

Viewing this autumn-moon, I dream of my native village
Under the same soft light, -- and the shadows about thy home.

Dry grasses bathed in amber light, muted by gentle shadows.

The moment I smelled this I imagined falling backwards into a sun-warmed field of golden grasses. There are some drier notes that I simply can't do, but the dry grass note here is just perfect. It's not that kind of suck-all-the-moisture-from-the-earth dry like some kinds of sandalwood, but more of a warm, autumnal kind of dry that's even comforting in a way. It's not woody and not even really grassy in the conventional sense, but closer to hay or wheat or something in that neighborhood. The amber also contributes to the "golden" current that runs throughout, and gives the grass note some mild sweetness along something of a honeyed undertone. Oddly enough I do pick up something playing the part of shadows here. I can't exactly put my finger on it, maybe some type of sheer, shadowy musk? It reminds me of that dry patch in my backyard I loved so much as a kid, just breathing in the scent of that and feeling the warmth against my skin.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: It’s an excellent fit for its concept. The amber is thick and dreamy’ the grasses soft and complex. There is a sense of fading about the grass even as the amber is so warm and buttery it smells like moving underwater feels. I suspect the shadows are mostly musk. Wet: Still Amber dominant, but the grasses pop on the skin giving the Amber and Shadows more to play against. The shadows support the Amber. There may be a berry element to the shadows. May I add that this is lovely and lazy late afternoon in September decadent. Dry: Mostly amber.

[Lycanthrope]

Wet, I get hay, sweetgrass, dry, crumbly, tan and gold grasses. There's a whisper of something lemon verbena-ish (or I'm crazy). Sweetness of amber rolls on through as a middle note and I get little Coyote and The Lion flashbacks. Not exactly sure what the dominant deep note is... it may be a dark musk of some sort because it's got that round sweet musk element.

 

I think what I'm pulling out as verbena is the berry-esque fruity tone noted in the review above.

 

The scent is kind of... a lemon-amber-black musk. On drydown the grassy element is not as pronounced, it's mostly a very predatory (and sensual!) amber black musk.

 

It's very pretty and atmospheric, but one bottle will do me fine.

[The Poison Queen]

I love this scent! It's lovely!

 

In the bottle: Sweet dry leaves with a bit of sharpness to them.

 

Wet: Sharp and tangy, almost a bit like lemongrass/verbena without any hint of pledge. Just a whiff of dried leaves.

 

Dry: a soft leaf smell, like piles of leaves on slightly damp earth. This is very lovely, but I am good with one bottle.

[sharkdiver]

Lycanthrope hit the nail on the head - this is an amber/lemon verbena/ black musk sort of scent - it's gorgeous!

 

If you are a fan of Haunted, definitely check this out, it's like like Haunted's lemony cousin!

 

Love!

[musikmegs]

On me, this smells almost exactly like Hay Moon. Golden, warm, sweet dry grasses, a hint of lemon. It's a very sunny scent. It's lovely but as I already have a bottle of Hay Moon I won't need one of this. I will enjoy my decant though!

[yakiguri]

I don't know what note in here is the culprit but this blend goes VERY wrong VERY quickly on my skin. It's incredibly fetid and swamp-like, and I blame the lemon and black musk notes, if those are indeed in here, as those are two of my WORST skin nemeses.

 

Nope, never risking a bottle purchase on note-less blends ever again...glad I was patient and only grabbed a decant.

[ObliqueRed]

Nice, dry, grassy/woody. At least on my skin, it feels very masculine, but goes powdery on the drydown. I may have to test this on my husband to see if it works better for him.

[fiddlehead]

I almost didn't order this because I'd tried Scarecrow and Coyote and The Lion and they all seemed too cologne-y/masculine to me.

 

Autumn Fancies has the dry grass note that I love plus a bit of Lemon Verbena (I think) to sweeten it up some. It's soft and cuddly smelling so there's probably some musk of some kind in the background. Makes me think of a field of dry, sweet grasses. Just what I'd hoped for.

 

I really like this! I've had it on for an hour or so and it isn't changing into cologne or powder on me, thankfully! Happy I got a bottle

[Caper]

ditto me with scarecrow and coyote. I actually include hay moon in that group because I should have loved all three based on notes, but they were all overpoweringly cologne.

 

the amber in here is the prefect complement to the verbena? lemongrass? whatever is the bright top note.

 

I'm not sure about black musk because that always, without fail, goes to baby powder. this isn't doing that, yet, but it is grounded by something.

 

I like it for sure, but I think Aelopile has my heart for verbena/amber goodness.

[Zii]

Lemon? Others seem to be smelling it, but this is bright citrus at first, though there is something grassy hanging out in back. This is mostly amber and that lemon note, to my disappointment. It's getting woodier as it dries, and I certainly don't mind the way this smells at all, but it's not what I was hoping for.

[tziporra]

Wet: Amber and fresh cut green grass.

 

Very perfumey and herbal at the same time - like one of those "herbal" shampoos. Almost a minty edge - maybe that is the lemon verbena. I like the amber very much, but wish there was more going on.

 

Dry: Very much a skin scent - like an idealized version of myself.

 

As someone else said, this is hay, first fresh cut, then dried in the field. What a great scent trip, but not something I'm going to wear.

 

Tzi

[Spork]

thank goodness other people are getting lemon out of this from reading the description i was sure it was a figment of my imagination. this starts out with a quick whiff of vetiver, which fades fast and turns into lemon verbena and a little bit of amber. unfortunately, lemon verbena always smells like lemon drops mixed with lemon cleaner, so this is not for me.

[SophieCedar]

You know, this comes across as warm musk and a touch of thin dry grass. Its not really overtly cologney or nature/earth reminiscent. Its my surprise like of the weenie pack.

[Floria]

Disclaimer: My hormones/body chemistry is a bit in flux at present, your skin and nose may vary. A lot.

 

That being said, I mostly got this to see if I could wear BPAL's dry grass note. It's interesting. The opening note is very reminiscent of a light vetiver - the botanical, grassy kind in some of this year's Song of Nature blends, not the heavy smoky Malediction-type vetiver. Makes sense, vetiver is a grass. The drydown is warm, a bit dry (but not sandalwood dry), and very sweet in a non-foody way. Maybe sweetgrass synergizing with the amber? If there's musk in here, it's pretty subtle.

 

This is definitely an autumnal scent. Between the soft earthiness and the warm sweetness, it manages to be outdoorsy and cozy at the same time.

Edited October 28, 2013 by Floria

[Poenari]

Very dry grasses, and it definitely has a golden "feel" to it. I also detect the slightest hint of lemon, but nowhere near the Lemon Pledge scent that any touch of lemon usually turns to on me. This is the scent of a late September or lan October warm Indian summer spell. It's nice, not something I will usually wear, but I'm glad to have the decant.

 

edited for laptop fail

Edited October 30, 2013 by Poenari

[zankoku_zen]

Grass, touch of lemon verbena, black musk and amber. This is an amber grass blend, with the black musk providing some depth to it. Definitely reminiscent to the Lion.

 

Tall, grassy, masculine.

[MCS4096]

To my nose this is a thinner Haunted. Like exactly. Sniffing the decant I get more of the dry grasses (hay), but once on my skin it's lemony amber and black musk. The throw is much less than I experience with Haunted, thus my "thinner" description. On first sniff I thought this would be my big Weenie Winner but... I already have, and love, Haunted.

[tinyvulture]

Hay...the same vaguely soapy, sweet hay note from Needle in a Haystack or Hay Moon. Plus lemon. Lots of lemon. At first application, the strong lemony vibe threatens to give me a headache, but I hope it will calm down if I ride it out for a minutes (because I ended up really liking those other hay blends.) A few minutes later...it's still hay and lemon. Off to swaps.

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: Amber with a tinge of citrus? I bought this hoping that the dry grass note would be similar to the one in Coraline Jones, but I am not getting that out of this scent.

 

Wet: It's very lemony! I would have been surprised about this development if it hadn't read previous reviews. The lemon seems to be overpowering everything else right now. I'm not really getting anything else out of this blend!

 

Dry: It's still very lemony. I am getting slightly sweet lemon household cleaner and nothing else.

 

Verdict: Well, this is nothing like I thought it would be. I don't think I will even keep my decant!

[HerbGirl]

I love this wet and dry but somewhere in the middle...there's something that smells like vetiver (one of the "grasses" no doubt) and I don't like vetiver.

 

Wet, it smells like the love child of Haunted and Hay Moon...I layered both of those, just to be certain. I love it!

 

Dry, it reminds me of a heavier Summers Last Will and Testament on a bed of amber. Really, very pretty.

 

Even though this is so similar to the oils I referenced, I think I need a bottle because they are favorites and I think this will age well. :-)

[thekittenkat]

In the bottle: A sweet hay scent. Reminds me somewhat of Hay Moon.

 

Wet: Oh dear! That amber light is indeed amber, and it's heading straight to Powderland. And just a whiff of a lemon note.

 

The dry-down: Powdery lemon something all fuzzed on the hay. Not sure what to think of this.

[cherrycherry]

Anything that smells like Haunted is a win for me. That's mainly why I bought this one (the comparisons made me very excitable) but I also fell in love with the label. I am a shameless slut for labels that look good on my shelves and this one was a must-have. What's not to love about a skele-man and a clown? Anyway, onto the blend itself.

 

If I was concerned about anything at all when ordering this, it was the grass note. On me, it is barely there and instead all I get is silky, warming amber. It's going to age a real treat, this one. I'm going to let it sit where it needs to, in a cool and dark place, for as long as I can bear it. When it has aged at least two years, I am going to slather Autumn Fancies like you would not believe. For a scent that is slightly mournful (why do I always feel this way about amber?) it certainly makes me extremely happy. I would love this as a hair gloss. Perfection!

[skyelyric]

This was a lovely scent in the decant, very much warm, sweet grasses. To me this is reminiscent of Traipsing Through Crop Circles from the Black Helicopters update. Unfortunately there seems to be something in here that's either white musk or behaves exactly like it on my skin, and the supersweet chemical funk overpowers everything else.

[milo]

This is kind of fresh and citrusy, with something in the background that smells pretty yucky to me. After a bit, it's still fresh, the odd bit of yuck fades in and out. Kind of like a fresh field with flowers and mown hay a field away.. Fades quickly, and not for me anyways.