The Harvest of the Empress

[spookyumbrella]

Fancy with prophetic glance
Sees the teeming months advance;
The field, the forest, green and gay;
The dappled slope, the tedded hay;
Sees the reddening orchard blow,
The Harvest wave, the vintage flow.

Wheat stalks, hay absolute, and clove.

Clovey...something. I dont know what wheat or hay smell like but I do know clove. Sweetens a tiny bit a few minutes after wearing. I cant explain it very well, but it's easy to wear and soft. A clean...earthiness I suppose.

[le-champignon]

I'm not the greatest describer of BPAL scents, but here's my impression.

 

I put this on about 12:30am. Initially it seems sweet and light. I don't particularly get the wheat stalks or hay smell at all. I have goats that eat hay and bed in wheat straw, so I know what those smell like.

 

About 1 am I realize that what this reminds me of most is clove drops hard candy in the bag, not in your mouth. You have to go meet the clove; it doesn't jump out and beat you over the head. Then I fall asleep... for a long time.

 

When I woke up in the morning, this had dried down extremely close to the skin and I detected the sweet dried vegetal scents of hay and wheat straw. Very subtle at this point. I wonder what I missed during the night.

[Elspethdixon]

In the imp - sweet hay and strong clove. For a moment on first sniff I get all sweet/warm golden hay note, and then the clove hits. This is going to be a clove SN on me, I can already tell.

Wet - all sweet clove, kept from being pure harsh spice by the sweetness from the hay note. (On my hair, it's clove and hay, on my skin it's all clove, all the time, but a sweeter, cuddlier clove than the clove-with-an-undertone-of-poison-smoke in Loki Lyesmith.)

Dry - SN clove on my skin, fading hay-and-clove in my hair. Good throw - I can smell a cloud of it all around me without having to lift my wrist (or hair) to my nose. There's a hint of something almost rubbery when I put my nose directly to the skin of my wrist, but only a hint.

Overall, this is basically a nice warm/slightly sweet clove single note for me. I don't think I need a bottle, but I'll keep the imp to layer with fall/winter scents that could use a shot of spice.

[LizziesLuck]

I totally forgot I snagged a decant in a bottle of this, and then had a kicking myself "why didn't I try that?" moment, and then was super stoked when I found it! I am not sure if this is the result of having too much on my mind, or too much BPAL...both, lol.

 

 

Wet: Upon cold sniff from the bottle, it smells like eggnog and I am a mixture of freaked out and delighted, but once it hits my skin it's all about that gorgeous hay note. This smells, to me, like there is cardamom mixed in with the clove. It's spicy and tickles my nose the same way cardamom does, making me smile. This is wonderful - fellow lovers of Hay Moon take note!

 

 

Dry: I take it back, and say instead that clove lovers should take note! This dries to a sweet, grassy (dried grass) sort of clove. It's a bit earthy. Not sharp or harsh or overly spicy like clove can get, but it's for sure all about the clove now, not the hay. Which I am somewhat sad about, as I have many clove scents I seldom reach for, and only a couple of hay scents that I slather all through late summer and early fall. I hoped this would be another, but alas.

[Soupy Twist]

In the bottle: A light clove, like I'm smelling the actual stem of a physical clove itself. Goes on as a hay or dry grass, which is where it stays. Pleasant, but unremarkable.

[zankoku_zen]

Hay and clove. This smells like delicious cloves with a whiff of golden grass. Good throw and wear length.

 

Mmmm, love.

[Casablanca]

A mingling of sweet hay, dry grassy-grain, and light clove.

 

There's more sweetness and weight in this than I expected, to where I wonder if there's a little lurking sweet labdanum, or something.

 

This is not long-lived on me, but it's an appealing hay-clove combination for the fall.

[annemathematics]

I snagged this because I was curious about the "wheat stalks" note and hoped that given the simplicity of the blend, it'd be a grand teacher.

 

surprise! the scent is worth checking out because it's gorgeous! lightly spicy clove cologne, all of the notes cooperating in harmony. refined throw but good longevity. this isn't a heavy scent. it's very much spiced breezes in an autumn field. hours into it, I close my eyes and huff and can sense the wheat stalks swishing in the wind. and it's wheat the grain; without suggestion of yeast or loaf. so simple yet utterly perfect and brilliant. the beauty extracted from wyeth's paintings in a way that leaves their melancholy behind.

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: Clove and warm hay! I am not familiar with the scent of wheat stalks.

 

Wet: This is cooler than I expected it to be on my skin after smelling the spicy clove and warm hay in the vial. It has a breezy feel to it, and I agree with annemathematic’s description of a spiced breeze in an autumn field. But the clove isn’t as spicy as some other varieties -- it is not the cinnamon-like clove from the Indonesian Clove SN.

 

Dry: This is a light scent that stays close to the skin. It’s clove being carried on a cool breeze. After a few hours, the hay does become more prominent, making the scent warmer.

 

Verdict: I like this, but I don’t love it, even though I adore clove. I think I’d appreciate it more if it were stronger on me.

Edited October 16, 2018 by doomsday_disco

[Mima_w]

This has a really long-lasting, warm spicy incense note on me, but undercut at first with a hint of citrus which stops the clove from getting too heavy or too Christmassy. My husband took a sniff and declared it smelt "like the renaissance faire". I'm quite in love with it.

[Lucchesa]

I always want to love hay notes, but I'm am beginning to acknowledge that they just don't work on my skin (e.g. Hay Moon would be perfect on me except for the hay).  Harvest of the Empress is really lovely in the imp, warm and golden with a hint of clove.  On my skin, there is more than a hint of clove -- this is a clove-proud scent, wafting over a sundrenched field of haystacks.  It has good throw, too, something I don't often get with my chemistry, and it lasts well.  But the hay note goes a little soapy on me, and a scent this simple (which is not meant as criticism - pared-down blends can be incredibly beautiful) needs to be in perfect balance.  I'm glad I got to try this one, but it's ultimately not for me.

[milo]

I thought right away, carnation, but it's the clove.  I'm not really getting the hay, but maybe it's adding a freshness to the blend.  This is nice, it reminds me of more of a carnation blend, though, like Spanish Red Carnation.