Dead Leaves and Red Carnations

[zankoku_zen]

Every leaf tells a story.

Hod, is that you? I get mainly red carnations over Dead Leaves. So Hod does Halloween Leaf Piles? Yes. That.

Medium throw and wear length.

[mandragora369]

For me it's lovely! I get the dead leaves note and a delicate soft carnation note. This sure will age beautifully! Glad I went for a blind bottle!

[Dark Alice]

Oddly, the carnation note has taken over. The dead leaves is very subtle. I am not fan of carnation so this will go to a new home, but it is truly nice not to amp the leaf not in this one.

[kscha2017]

My nose is amazed to only just now realize how similar the scent of cold wet carnations are to wet autumn leaves. I cannot pick out one scent over the other - they blend seamlessly. This is gorgeous and elegant. I got a decant as an afterthought, and so glad I did. I will be ordering a couple bottles. This scent should age into something perfectly devastating.

[Leopard403]

The spice of carnations makes the dead leaves a lot less sharp. Similar enough to Harvest Moon ‘13 that I don’t need bottles of both. 

[reynardine]

Carnation isn't my favorite, so I was curious how it would blend with the dead leaf note. Answer: extra aquatic. Not for me at all.
 

[Juushika]

In vial: What it says on the tin: dead leaves and carnations, spicy and vegetal and lovely.

 

On me: Carnation as it goes on, so distinctive, spicy and gently sweet and very red, with an undercurrent of dead leaves. Some of the carnation dies back during drydown, and this becomes a smoothly balanced blend: spicy red carnation, gently sweet and almost hot, against a drier, wider, more bitter, more vegetal and earthy base of dead leaves. It's simultaneously deceptively complicated and seamlessly united; a lovely blend. But throw and wear length are both pretty limited.

 

Verdict: I love this. The only reasons I didn't get a bottle are because of the limited throw & longevity, and because I have a lot of very good carnation scents already. Of them, this is closest to the Spanish Red Carnation single note, but replaces that carnation's freshness and greenery with the richer, earthier scent of dead leaves.

 

Edited November 22, 2018 by Juushika

[ReineDeVampire]

Years ago I was gifted a decant of a carnation scent from a different company, and by the time I realized how much I loved it, it was a long gone LE scent. I've been looking for a BPAL to replace that since. I had a feeling Dead Leaves and Carnations might be able to fill that hole, and lucky for me, it does!

This is such a beautiful spicy, slightly smokey, carnation scent, I have considered wearing it daily. Only downside so far is that it seems to fade so quickly on me. Though I have my monthly visitor, so I'm hoping that has something to do with the short staying power. 

[Lucchesa]

Carnation is my favorite floral, and I love the Spanish Red Carnation SN, so this was a pretty easy bet.  Dead Leaves and Red Carnations is a gorgeous entry in this year's amazing leaf pile, the earthy spicy carnation melding seamlessly with the earthy piquant dead leaves -- like kscha2017 above, I had never thought of them as similar, but they blend effortlessly.  I could wear this cozy blend all fall and winter; it's totally work appropriate and I get minimal throw, which is normal for my skin.  Wear length is a little less than average, but that may improve with aging.  

[Aveya]

Expectations: I LOVE CARNATION. I also love the sweet earthy leaves. I'm hoping for a grounded earthy carnation, of course.

 

Initial Sniff: SHARP Green! These leaves are not dead.

 

Wet skin: Green and dying. Weird combo, the carnation early "fresh" plus the leaves makes this just a sort of wet rainy early autumn pile of leaves. Interesting and uninspiring a the same time.

 

Drydown: Carnation starts warming up - Yay. But the leaves keep the carnation "greener" than the raw SN carnation would be by now. It's interesting. It's a tempered carnation (which usually spices up warm and deep on me) with grassy aspects. It's got a floral-perfumey vibe about it.

 

Verdict: Not my personal favorite. I was hoping for more earthy carnation, less grassy carnation. But a unique take I'm sure others will really enjoy.