Tomato Leaf, Black Pepper & Hay Absolute

[zankoku_zen]

No additional scent description provided.

[marared]

I love this. It's one of the most interesting blends I've ever smelled from the Lab.

 

Right off the bat, this is very strong, very sharp leafy black pepper on a bed of hay. There is no "tomato" note to it at all, it is strictly that intense green scent on your hands after you've brushed up against a tomato plant. It is extremely peppery. EXTREMELY. The hay sits way down at the bottom of the scent for quite a while. The leafiness starts to fade after about 10-15 minutes, and after a good while longer, the pepperiness finally recedes a little as well, and then the hay comes out - which is startlingly sweet, almost like amber but without being rich or powdery.

 

It's pretty strong but it doesn't have a lot of throw, and the strength is purely in the pepper; once that fades after about 20-30 minutes, it's a much gentler scent.

 

 

[Threemoons]

I am the BIGGEST fan of the Lab's Tomato Leaf note, so was very excited to try my newly-arrived bottle today.  I bought two bottles of this blind and may need two more. In the bottle: Really sharp vegetal tomato leaf and cut hay. On, wet: Tomato leaf comes out even stronger, with a hint of actual fresh tomato juice like when you cut a very ripe tomato (NOT the crud in a can). Hay bursts forth shortly after. Drydown: The black pepper is nicely understated and is like a dash of ground black pepper from a spice jar, not a whole bag of cracked fresh peppercorns. Tomato leaf and hay are still present, but now it's a painting on black velvet of a tomato leaf and some hay; much more subdued and mellowed out surprisingly by the black pepper. This is a really DIFFERENT scent but also really sophisticated. I really want to layer this with my Erotic Vegetables HG for more herb and tomato leaf fun.  I only wish that they had some Tomato Leaf Note Atmos so that I can turn my bedroom/home office into a Tomato Leaf Trifecta.

 

[zankoku_zen]

Tomato Leaf and a whiff of fresh cracked peppercorns. Unfortunately, it dries a bit soapy on me. It's fresh, green, tomato leaf soap.

 

IMMA GONNA CRY UNDER THE TREE OF DESPAIR(tm).

[puellacaerulea]

I love the smell of tomato leaf, so had to try a decant of this. It's definitely tomato leaf in the decant, green and slightly peppery. The black pepper mostly seems to intensify that slightly spicy aspect of the tomato leaf. So far, not picking up the hay. After it starts to dry down, I think I'm getting the hay in that the scent seems to warm up a little. Weirdly enough, the end result reminds me a lot of the Lab's dead leaf note, but lightened up for late summer/early fall. It's vegetal with a distinct peppery edge to it, but with a warmth to it that's distinct from the DL blends.

[Permanent.Black.Ink.]

If you are concerned by reading the notes that you will smell like a garden/ salad, please do not be.  This is the raw greenness of the tomato vine freshly cut. 

The hay note is very crisp and somehow makes the blend smell freshly washed (I think this is the clean, somewhat soapiness that some reviewers are getting) and the pepper grounds everything enough as a warm & spicy bottom note so that the whole thing doesn't evaporate away in 20 minutes without being super obvious about it.

This blend is freshness in a bottle--it does not matter how disgusting you have gotten in your day; if you put this on to go somewhere, you will smell enchanting.

[deadlyves]

I didn't love this when I first got it. Now, a few months later, it's much more what I was hoping for. Though I think it might have just been me, because what I get now matches up a lot more with what folks have described above.

 

It's a fresh, green tomato leaf with a gentle spice of pepper that really just accentuates the fresh feeling, but then there is an added warm underlayer of hay that really makes this shine for me. I think the hay is coming out more now than when I first got it, it seems a bit softer and less sharp. All in all, just fresh and herby with fairly good throw. 

[fairybites]

When I initially got this bottle as a sniffie a few months ago, all I could smell was the pepper and the tomato leaf. Now that I've picked up a decant, on the skin it's pretty different. It's a clean green scent from the tomato leaf with soft hay. Pepper stays in the background. Better than I thought it would be months ago when I got the bottle from Ajevie. Can't say I'll wear this often, but glad I finally got to try it!

 

[Lucchesa]

I am coming to terms with the fact that I like the idea of the tomato leaf note better than I like it on my skin.  I want it to be that weird wonderful green tomato leaf note that calls to mind tomato worms, looking for ripe red fruit in a tangle of vines, childhood in California. Like zanzoku_zen,  while I can smell tantalizing hints of that, it goes soapy on my skin.  I rarely smell the pepper note, so I was expecting hay and tomato leaf, but I'm getting hay and tomato leaf high-end spa soap.  Sigh.