Dead Leaves and Sugared Cardamom

[SadariEvenstar]

[No additional description given.]

 

You know when you get tears in your eyes because of how utterly perfect something is? That's me right now, because this is utterly beautiful.

Dead leaves is one of my favorite notes. I have a lot of perfumes where it is the star, but I don't have any that smell quite like this. This isn't the lab's usual greenish dead leaf note that can swing acrid on the wrong skin type. This is sweet and dry and a little bit spicy. These are leaves in full color. I don't really smell cardamom as a separate note, but I'm guessing it's adding to the spiciness of the leaves.

I smell like I just rolled around in a leaf pile on a warm autumn day and I am loving it.

[lapetiteflower]

Testing fresh from the mailbox...at first it has an almost aquatic-ness to it that made me go oh noooooo...but it quickly dried down to a glorious scent...spicy, warm, dry, and perfectly Fall-ish! I may be getting more bottles of this one, it is that good.

[Dark Alice]

I wore this yesterday. Wet: Dead Leaves and Sugared Cardamom. As the day goes on, the cardamom stays true just less sweet, and rounds out the Dead Leaves beautifully. Definitely going to keep this bottle.

[wendyb1063]

I like this. It's not exactly what I expected; on me, it's more dead leaves with even a bit of vaguely fruity "herbage". The sugared cardamom is very subtle. But perhaps that's because (in my excited anticipation after ordering this) I was layering last year's Dead Leaves and Tobacco with Posset's Pavane (a sugared cardamom scent), and expecting something more like that. That was a very sweet and lovely combo, btw.

But I do like this quite a bit, even if has a hint of the dreaded aquatic/men's cologne vibe that many of the dead leaf scents have.

[LizziesLuck]

Fresh outta the mail, and I should be giving it time to settle, but I am not. I have had such a craving to smell like dead leaves this fall! And this one sounded perfect for me, I ADORE cardamom. And sugar.

 

 

Wet: Wow, that cardamom note....it's so true and pure. Cardamom is one of my favourite spices to bake with, and this smells just like the real thing. It's sweetened to the perfect extent. The leaves are only in a supporting role - so far this is all about the cardamom

 

Dry: Sadness!! Somewhere along the way, this turns odd on me. The leaves never really show up, the sugar fades away, and the cardamom turns into - men's soap?? Weird. I'll give it another test when it's not so fresh out of the mail, and hope for better results.

[russetfox]

I have been wearing this daily at work for the past few days. I love it! I can't smell the sugar at all, to me all I smell is an amazing men's cologne, but my coworker can pick up on the sugar and does not think man when she smelled my wrist. So I get my men's world to me while those around me pick up a little less on that and don't mind!

[halation]

In bottle: Sharp green cardamom and the sort of leaf note that threatens to go aquatic / dryer-sheets on my skin, but I'm being brave and pressing on because I want this to work, dangit

Wet: Also getting the 'men's soap' / 'old-fashioned cologne' vibes mentioned above. The leaves are sweeter than I was expecting -- curiously, they feel more 'sugared' than the cardamom does -- and they threaten a little to go in to headachey-aquatic territory, but the spice of the cardamom cuts through the sweetness a bit

 

As it dries, the throw lessens considerably -- it is STRONG when first applied, but tones down quickly. As it dries, it settles, and becomes something closer to the spicy, slightly sweet scent I hoped for. It's not fresh / wet / earthy enough to feel like a roll in a leaf pile, sadly, but it is a nice fall scent, and I'm hoping the leaves tame a bit as they age.

[Katlastrophe]

I'm so very disappointed about this one.
I really love the dusty, cologney scent in Dead Leaves, Bourbon Vanilla and Myrrh from last year, but this one toootally lacks that.

Dead Leaves and Sugared Cardamom has nothing leafy or dead at all according to my nose and skin.
While wet, it's a sugary sweet cardamom.
And after 30 minutes, it went pure watermelon-candy??

It's not disgusting or bad in any way, but it's very, very far from what I wanted when I bought the bottle.

[puellacaerulea]

This scent was part of a friend's Weenie haul, so I got to test it for myself. I've never had a scent morph so intensely on me before. In the bottle, the cardamom note is very strong, but I don't get the usual Lab dead leaf note. Instead, it smells like a mixture of soap and pine to me. Once it's on, it got extremely soapy, but rapidly got sweeter as it dried down. The end result was actually quite nice, and almost a complete 180 from where the scent started in the bottle. While I still didn't get any detectable leaf note in the final version on me, I did get a sweet, foody, subtly spicy cardamom scent. Unfortunately, that end phase didn't last very long; this one faded on me after about two hours. Going to pass on this one.

[animalcules]

Light, sweet cardamom with aquatic cologne. Pleasant, but not a keeper.

[HerbGirl]

This is the runaway hit of the dead leaves for me. Yes, Cardamom. Yes, leaves. It is so much more though. This is one of the most atmospheric scents I've smelled and it is comforting. I want to layer this with Autumn Overlooked My Knitting for the perfect Autumn scent. Beautiful and comforting!

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

This is gorgeous when wet: it's the strong delicious spices of chai with something akin to Yankee Candle's Autumn Leaves (my favorite fall candle). The drydown is a little odd on me, though, sort of sickly? I think I'll use up my decant but not get a big bottle.

[roseus]

This is a warmer dead leaves to me, probably the cardamom leaning it this way. It's a simple, earthy sweet scent.

Edited November 16, 2016 by roseus

[freyasfae]

Ooooooh, this is just lovely. Like roseus said, it's a warmer dead leaves, makes it less wet and leafy, more earthy and subtly spicy. I may have to buy a bottle.

[Casablanca]

Cardamom is my favorite spice for fragrance, and I like most sugar notes. The Dead Leaves oils have been hit and miss for me, but DLSC doesn't disappoint.

It's a lovely rustic blend. This and Lavender Buds were the winners for me from the Dead Leaves blends I tried. If I had more spending freedom, I might back-up bottle this one, because I could see it becoming a fall favorite.

DLSC is well-blended. Even when it's wet on my skin, while I can pick out the notes, I don't find any seams. I love the way the dead leaves mix is working with this cardamon and sugar. The overall effect is a warm, dried, almost crunchy-leaf rustic autumn mood, spicy but not peppery, and sweet as a sugar crust, but not foodie.

[marared]

I liked the cardamom in Unicorn & Ram, so I was curious to see how this was. On me, it's pretty much single note cardamom. There's a very dry aspect to it that I suppose could be described as leaves, but yeah, straight up cardamom. I like it, mostly because cardamom is apparently about the only BPAL spice that does NOT go sour on me, which is sad-making because I love the smell of dessert and savory spices.

 

If I think about it, I get the aquatic-men's-cologne vibe that other people have mentioned, because it *is* fairly high pitched, but not particularly *sweet* per se.

Edited November 17, 2016 by marared

[zankoku_zen]

Sugared cardamom and some light aquatic. No leaves. This almost smells like a fougere. I'd say gender neutral. Low throw and medium wear length.

[Little Bird]

I really enjoy the scent of cardamom, but I tend to like it paired with resins or gourmand notes. It's a green, spicy, cool scent that always makes me think of green cardamom pods coated in a sweet hint of amber & vanilla. I like fragrances that play up the resin and sweet tones of it. This focuses more on the spicy, green aspect of it. I just don't care for the lab's new dead leaf scents. They're not like Falling Leaf Moon, which really smelled like a leaf pile, but they have a sharp, cold, aquatic cologne smell to them. This is cardamom thrown into a man's aquatic and green cologne.

[Bamels]

Oh that cardamom is gorgeous, definitely sugared! The dead leaves add a slightly sharp note to it which I am enjoying. The dead leaves is starting to take over as it dries, which is such a shame. It's turning greener and sharper. I think this is verging on too masculine for me.

[milo]

I smell cardamon in the imp, but on the skin, this is as unique as they come. No cardamon or dead leaves on the skin at all, as will Dead Leaves and Lavender Buds, this oil seems to take on it's own unique scent. I'm getting a fresh, slightly floral airy scent. I'm reminded of a window open in a clean house with grasses, woods and flowers all blowing through, but no particular scent is standing out. There were these dolls you could get in the 70's with a tiny bottle of perfume attached to a plastic rope to be worn around the neck. This scent reminded me of that, but it is no way fake. I really like this, but I think my imp will suffice.

[fundercat55]

I love, love, love cardamom so this was a blind bottle buy for me. Unfortunately, my skin chemistry amps the aquatic, cologney note of this to high Hades, leaving the cardamom in the dust. It's all sharp cologne until at about 90 minutes of wear when it calms and softens and eases into a vague, very light sweetness that smells slightly of cardamom. I like that dry phase, but it's so very light, and I am so not fond of the first hour and a half of wear, that I think I'm going to regretfully let go of this bottle. I had such high hopes of smelling like autumn dusted in cardamom sugar, but that's just not how this one played with my chemistry. Le sigh.

[torikitty]

So potent when it first goes on! Soapy and cologne. This doesn't work for me at all. I was hoping for something more earthy, like a mellow version of Solstice Scent's Cardamom Rose Sugar, but this is very different. I'm glad so many others enjoy this, but it doesn't work for my skin type.

[renfair]

I LOVE the Dead Leaves scents in general, so I bought a decant of this when I stumbled across it. I admit going into it, I had zero idea what cardamom actually smells like.

First Sniff Impression: Very fresh. Like a "fresh air" detergent smell.

Wet in Vial: Dead Leaves are there for the greenery of the smell. I have no idea what sugared cardamom is supposed to smell like. (See, I told you.)

 

Drying Down on Skin: This smells very light and airy. Somehow I thought it would smell spicy, and it's about as opposite from that as you can get. A touch aquatic, like a men's cologne. Reading now that on some people it goes on like "dryer sheets" and "old fashioned cologne." Totally getting that, and hoping it maybe changes as it dries.

Dry on Skin: Nope. This is hyper, amped up men's "aquatic" cologne on me. I went and smelled dried cardamom we had, to see what I should be smelling here. The dried cardamom smelled sharp and fresh, almost like Pepsi. It gives me a slightly better idea of what's supposed to be going on here, but it's just nostril-piercing cologne. Unfortunately, I had to wash off my arm, even though that didn't really stop the smell all that much. I got almost zero Dead Leaves with this out of the vial, which was heartbreaking.

 

Conclusion: I'm only going to keep this only because the bottle is so pretty, and I have an empty one to pour the decant into on its way to me. Otherwise I'd give it away. Bummer.

[Larinessa]

I've had this imp sitting around forever, when I first got it, the leaves note was a sharp chemical smell, so I put it aside and forgot about it. Today the temps in Minnesota have plunged more then 20 degrees, and there is a distinct coolness outside, so I decided to give it another shot.

 

The chemical smell has smoothed out considerably, lending a underlying 'cool' feeling at the bottom. The top notes are a warm, spicy cardamom, with the almost tangible crunchy note of dried leaves. It's making me think of being on a porch swing, wrapped in an oversized sweater watching the leaves fall on a chill, gray day, the parts of your body enveloped in the cozy sweater warm and comfy, your skin on your face feeling the crisp fall air. The hubby thinks this is delightful. 

[follis]

Woah, it's definitely got that autumn leaf, moss smell to it. Some fruitiness? Some sweetness... Cardamom is very much in the background so not forefront but a blend. Kinda becomes more green as it dries. It does make me think it has mandarin or something in it... Interesting. I did a small swatch, but the throw is fairly low, I think. The dry down is reminiscent of their aquatic notes-- slightly soap and salty but not at all in a bad way.