Dead Leaves and Vanilla Incense

[wendyb1063]

Every leaf tells a story.

This is probably my favorite Dead Leaves scent ever. At first it's heavy on the classic dead leaves, with a hint of incense. As it dries, I get more of the incense, then just a wisp of dusty vanilla. Gorgeous!

[ladymeag]

In the bottle: October! with a little bit of... something else?

On my skin: Oh, no! What happened? This went very, very powdery and October went completely away. When I later washed it off, the lingering scent was pretty great, a hint of rosemary and vanilla but I can't handle the application, dry down, or full wear at all.

On someone else in my house: mossy leaves, slightly dusty vanilla, and a small hint of smoke. Perfection!

[brineydeep]

This goes on as dry incense and a hit of dead leaves. The incense is much drier than I expected with hardly any sweetness or softness from the vanilla. There’s pretty good throw at this point too.

 

As this oil dries, the leaves fade (probably my skin chemistry) and the soft vanilla comes out. It becomes much more of a skin scent at this point. It’s a nice soft incense now but not doing much for me, both scent-wise and strength-wise.

 

While a nice blend, I don’t think my skin chemistry is helping by eating this scent. I wish it had more of a sustained oomph, but maybe this is just destined to go in a scent locket.

[KezzieZ]

This is fresh and unsettled (I got a bunch of Halloweenies this year), so this is subject to change.

 

In the Bottle: Dead leaves, definitely. It smells super bitter to me in the bottle.

 

Wet on Skin: Still bitter dead leaves. It sort of reminds me of bell peppers, which isn’t exactly a compliment from me. I think I can smell incense in the background. This has some throw to it, too. It smells nicer from a distance, but part of that is that I’m trying an imp of The Lights of Men’s Lives on my other arm and that oil is vanilla beeswax candle goodness.

 

Later: I feel like the dead leaves are calming slightly, thank goodness. I smell more incense now and I think maybe a subtle smoke note along with it. The incense smells a little more generic overall than specifically vanilla, but there may be a hint.

 

I think I’ll see what aging does for this. That bitterness at the beginning isn’t the vibe I was hoping for, though this is the first Dead Leaves scent I’ve ever tried, so it was technically a gamble.

[VetchVesper]

I can already tell this one's going to be a crowd-pleaser. Dead Leaves? Check. Vanilla? Dry, light, and musky. Check. Incense? Check, but with a gentle touch that non hippies can enjoy.

 

If this one sounds lovely to you, get some. This one is exactly what it says it is and executed well. It's a bit generic for my tastes, but in the way that it's hard not to like it. It's pretty unisex too.

[zankoku_zen]

Dead Leaves, dusty incense and a whiff of vanilla. There's a slight citrus edge I am picking up. It's incensey, perfumey, and dead leafy. Medium throw and wear length.

[puellacaerulea]

In the decant, it's the strong, green, bitter version of the dead leaf note. After applying, the leaves calm down as the incense note amps up. The end result is surprisingly subtle and balanced compared to the impression you'd get from the bottle -- mostly dusty, dry, non-overwhelming vanilla and incense notes with a hint of dead leaves in the background. Throw and wear length are fairly low on me. I can see this one being a crowd-pleaser. Right now I'm not sure if I'm wowed enough to need a full bottle, but will probably keep reaching for my decant through the fall.

[marared]

One day, I will find my perfect dark, not-too-sweet vanilla, but this isn't quite it. It's a nice dusty sweetness (I actually kinda sorta get that bell pepper impression someone else mentioned, although I wouldn't have thought of it that way) and it's got medium throw that doesn't announce itself, but it doesn't really have a whole lot of personality, either.

[Dark Alice]

On me, the dead leaves take over. The vanilla is there for about 2 minutes and then POOF. GONE. *sigh*

[Casablanca]

This one is nicely potent on my skin.

 

Wet: A surprisingly perfume-musky vanilla mingling with dry incense and dead leaves. That's about the order of the notes in their strength on me.

 

Drydown: Sometimes I think I get a little fruity, peach-like scent in the mix. Nothing pulpy, more like a shampoo scent. The dead leaves assert themselves a bit more.

 

Dry: The vanilla has calmed significantly and I get more of the dry incense and dead leaves.

[reynardine]

Dusty with a touch of sweet incense. However, the dead leaf note just doesn't seem to work well on my skin. Interesting scent, will pass along the decant to a friend.

[monocainsheresy]

My first Dead Leaves!

Had to let this one sit for a month for the incense to come out.

Starts very green and mossy which was worrisome, but thankfully on my skin the leaves powder a little and allow the vanilla incense to come out. The vanilla incense is more vanilla than incense. Overall the notes complement each other in a way I wouldnt have expected upon first sniff, but which I am nevertheless very pleased with.

[donkehpoo]

Wet: Dead leaves and incense. A little bit sweet, but not necessarily reading as "vanilla incense".

 

Dry: Now THAT is vanilla incense! Vanilla incense, with a touch of dead leaves in the background.

 

I like it! I don't really "crave" dead leaves scents too often so I won't need a bottle, but I think this is my favorite DL scent I've tried. 

[Juushika]

In vial: An airy, cold dead leaf scent; reminds me of October (Dry, cold autumn wind. A rustle of red leaves, a touch of smoke and sap in the air.).



On me: Like a few of the dead leaves blends, this has a weird, bitter tobacco-like note on application; it burns off pretty quickly. Dries down to a very faint vanillic dead leaves, sweet and fleeting in the throw, more smoke and dead leaves on the skin. The skin scent is pleasant, autumnal and slightly spicy. But this is so faint, and slathering doesn't do much to help except make it more perfumey.

 

Verdict: Pleasant, especially right on the skin, but I have to strain to get anything out of it. 

 

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: This is the dead leaves note that is my favourite out of all of them (well, the only one I like, really). It's not aquatic or cologne-like as a couple of them are. It's lovely. I get faint hints of sugary vanilla. It's nice, but not wowing me.

 

Dry: Poof! Gone, so I can't tell you. 

[milo]

I know I reviewed this, but I must have forgot to enter 'post'.  I love the dead leaf note, and here it does not disappoint.  Fresh, airy leaves with a touch of vanilla.  I think the incense part of the blend is meshing with the leaf note, so I'm not really getting it.  I hope the vanilla comes out more with age, but so far, I'm liking this blend.

[artoria]

In the bottle: Mostly Dead Leaves. I also get some sweetness from the vanilla.

 

Wet, on skin: Hello, incense. The longer this stays on me, the more the incense takes over.  I'm definitely amping the incense notes. I usually amp vanilla, but.. okay, I guess! I'm lot mad. It's sweet and smoky, with a tinge of DL. 

 

Dry, on skin: Sweet incense with leaves. The longer it stays on my skin, the more I can pick up the leaves, but I'm definitely amping the incense, because that's the main scent I'm picking out for sure. It's somewhat reminiscent of Fame by Lady Gaga, actually. Throw is decent. Longevity is decent. I really like this one. Definitely one of my top DL blends by far. 

Edited February 7, 2019 by artoria

[clockworkcrypt]

Aging has done this one well, and while dead leaves still goes all green pepper on me, 6 months on I get more vanilla in the dry-down. It's a little smoky, and very faint, I have to press my nose deep in my wrist to get it, but it's there. It's an odd smoky vanilla meets green pepper, and as I have a friend who loves the dead leaves note, I don't think I'll be keeping this one around. 

[Lucchesa]

Dead Leaves and Vanilla Incense is a lovely, light DL blend with just a hint of vanilla on me and the kind of incense that is sometimes described as white or pale.  It strikes a nice balance between the earthy leaves and the ethereal incense, barely sweetened by the vanilla.  Wear length on me is probably a little less than average, though.