The Woman at the Edge of the Woods

[zankoku_zen]

A scent of power and wisdom, resilience and rage: a patchouli bramble embraced by creeping ivy and rose thorns, protecting a glade populated with mandrake root, yarrow and nettle, Roman chamomile, purple sage, elderberries, sweet myrrh, smoky vanilla husk, and willow branches.

[hhelix]

I must admit I bought this for the name alone, not really caring what the notes were. Luckily, it worked out. This is dark, dry, herbal, and complex, with a subtle sweet warmth on dry down hinting at the vanilla husk, but it is predominantly patchouli. The astringent, green, leafy kind of patchouli, rather than the rich, aged, eyes-rolling-back-in-head patchouli. I pick up the sage and a general herbalness intertwined with the patch. This has great longevity (12+ hours) and medium to strong throw. 

 

Edit: After settling for a couple weeks, this is much smoother and well-blended. The patch is not so dominant. It's a glorious, sexy, comforting, confident scent. Glad I blind bottled it.

Edited October 15, 2020 by hhelix

[LilBaephomet]

The Woman at the Edge of the Woods is literally endless, just like her forest. It vacillates between thorny and prickling  to strong celery herbaceousness, but it also has that really entrancing dry, perfume-y quality you get whenever you are in the herb section of a good occult store. And you are trying to suss out which herb it is that smells so captivating and it is always, invariably, the herb you absolutely should not be handling. This fragrance is so transportive and experiential, it is difficult to truly capture the individual notes because they rise and fall so unpredictably that catching them feels like grabbing at fog. If you are looking for a fragrance that smells of a witch’s cottage in a dark glade, cauldron bubbling, garden overgrown with herbs so green they are almost black, this is the fragrance for you.

 

The longevity of this fragrance is stellar and after a couple hours of wear, the notes of myrrh, swirled with the ghosts of vanilla and patchouli keep pulling at the brain.

[kscha2017]

On me, it goes on as a light, soft, comforting scent of dry woods and vanilla, tending towards a masculine cologne. Then it flips to strong, bold, bitter and menacing. Then back to gentle, then back to bitter, repeat. Perfect. Glad I bought two bottles. This should age beautifully.

[HerbGirl]

THIS IS SO VELVETY SOFT, DARK AND GREEN!!! I loooooove it!

 

Patchouli, herbs, vanilla.

 

I feel like this is Nasty Woman's witchy counterpart.

Edited March 1, 2021 by HerbGirl

[Ythik]

On initial application this is darkly green and sharply herbal. Very prickly and tangled.  I occasionally get a whiff of something slightly sweet but it's hard to pin down.  It could be a tiny rosebud, or it could be a handful of berries, or the faintest splash of vanilla.  And then it disappears again and it's back to the tangled beautiful dangerous mess of a briar patch beneath the trees.  It's never particularly dark, but it is shadowed and mysterious.  Like afternoon in the woods, it's not too dark to see, but the sunlight also never quite reaches the ground.  As it dries, the sharper herby smells settle back and it just becomes this beautifully rich woodland sort of blend. Green and deep and witchy and full of mysteries. It absolutely fits the woman who lives out away from "society" and knows secrets that you don't, but which you desperately want to learn.

Edited October 16, 2020 by Ythik

[doomsday_disco]

I'm getting a nice brown patchouli, rose thorns, herbs, branches, and a bit of berry. The rose thorns become more prominent on me over time end up being the dominant note on me after a while. This differs from the first time I tried the scent, a day or so after it arrived -- I got more patchouli from it then. It ends up being an herbal rose and patch scent on me after a day of wear with a swirl of smoke. I get a bit of sharpness from the ivy, but that tends to be my experience with that note. The berry in this is only a touch, so if you're not fond of berry notes, you need not worry about it here.

 

The 'edge of the woods' part of this is very fitting. It's not something I can see myself reaching for, but I appreciate the imagery the scent evokes.

[deadlyves]

This starts as a dark green, fresh, herby scent with a touch of sweet floral rose. After a while, the rose seems to slip away into more of a slightly sweet smokiness still mixing with that herby green but making it darker and dryer. It's the kind of herby I've been looking for, I'm getting dusty rather than sharp. It's almost like as it dries on the skin, the fresh green things and roses dry out too, collected and used and burned. I'm not really able to pick out individual notes, it blends so well into a very atmospheric scent that feels like, yes, the edge of the woods, but also something from a long time ago.

 

On a side note, somehow this reminds me of the incense burned in church more than any of the actual incense blends I've tried so far? Not sure why, and it's just in the smoky undertone of the smell, but I like it.

[DizzyGinger]

This is definitely herbal, but not lush and green; more like dry herbs and sticks, a little on the dusty side. It smells like fall, kind of like burning leaves and twigs after raking the yard. I get the vanilla husk, but it's a light and subtle touch and it seems to wax and wane when it wants to. There's something sharp and astringent (maybe the myrrh? There's a lot of notes here and I'm having a hard time picking them out) that I'm not loving, and starts to go powdery on me on the drydown. I do get a very incensey vibe from this, but it's a little heavy and mature for my taste. 

[torischroeder9]

Decant received in a swap. I wasn't familiar with this scent before today. 

 

In the decant: Herbal and grassy, with just a hint of roundness. I think I can pick out the chamomile, and maybe the roundness is the elderberry (but I can't be sure). 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, it's very much the smell of being in thick woods, with trees, thorns, vines, and smaller plant life. It's not one type of plant or tree in particular, but it's very evocative of the overall smell I've gotten when hiking through still, quiet woods. As it dries, I can pick out the mandrake root and nettle, and I'm also getting something with a smoky quality though I can't truly identify it as vanilla. 

 

Once it settles, the patchouli comes out more as a central note, though it's a fairly well-behaved patchouli. I was going to write "tame" patchouli, but it's not that. It's still evocative of an outdoor woodsy setting, but it doesn't get the patchouli funk that can happen sometimes. And there is a "dusty" quality to this scent, though I cannot for the life of me begin to place what notes are creating it. 

 

This ends up being an exquisite patchouli-forward scent on me. I love patchouli, so I have a lot of patchouli blends -- but I don't have anything quite like this. It's almost like this patchouli is infused with other qualities, rather than other notes, that make it seem dry and dusty. 

 

I would absolutely be interested in acquiring a bottle of this if I come across one. As it is, the decant is going in my swap box -- because someone else should have the sheer delight that is testing this scent. 

[fairybites]

I can notice the chamomile almost immediately since I wore an oil with that note yesterday. Rose is also pretty dominant on me, but hasn't turned soapy or anything. Funnily enough, I'm not getting any of the patchouli. That's a bit of a bummer since I love that note and it's basically the only thing keeping me from upgrading to a bottle. It's nice, but I feel like there is something missing. It's very interesting and totally out of my comfort zone, glad I decided to try this.

 

Starts out heavy and strong, but quickly begins to mellow out on me. This is the first scent I've tried from the Dead Blondes and Bad Mother's line, really eager to try some more that would work better for me!

[Casablanca]

This is my third test of Woman at the Edge of the Woods and, each time, it reminds me so much of The Earth Mother from the Tarot blends (I miss those -- good times). 

 

I thought this was a more patchouli but less dirty/pitchy version of Earth Mother. They are different enough that I'm happy to have both bottles, yet they're equally evocative of the forest floor and mood. Looking at the notes now, they list patchouli, mandrake, and sage in common. So I just put on Earth Mother as well to compare.

 

Earth Mother has the burgundy pitch, vetiver, and hay adding some weight, and it brings to mind the very bottom of the forest: the tattered, mulchy leaf layer and rich earth beneath, where the roots nestle.

 

Woman is cleaner, and more airy with sage, yet still woodsy and herbal enough to remind more of the next layer up from the forest floor: the scrubby plants, the bramble thorns, sparse wild roses and berries, the woody trunks. The roses and berries are scant occasional whiffs, barely there; mostly I get patchouli and other woods, and sage-led herbs. Woman is softer on my skin, but it's also two years younger.

 

They go well together but also stand well alone.

[VetchVesper]

Smooth, dark, and woody. The patch is prominent, but complicated by the other notes. There's something in the blend that gives it some alcohol burn, and the chamomile is coming through. No discernable berries or rose for me.

Oh wait, maybe a titch of rose in the dry down. 

 

This is interesting, but probably not something I would wear much. I'll agree with @Casablanca that it's reminiscent of Earth Mother. The same family, but also distinct. Like a mature dryad giving you a hug! Very glad I got to try it.

[supreme_c0rt]

A lovely forumite gifted me a sniffie of this, I've been waiting to try it for a long while. 

 

 

I suspected it would remind me a lot of Gaia's Blessing since they share a lot of notes, and it does. The same purple sage and mossy patchouli (I think I'm reading the ivy as moss) are most prominent, while the chamomile and rose follow close behind to soften the edges and give it a comforting warmth. Myrrh appears at the tail end to round it out into an incense-adjacent blend, also in the same way that Gaia's Blessing did. Gaia's Blessing felt more like fresh-dipped black forest incense and Woman feels more like a softly faded rose-pine-vanilla incense. They're in the same rack.

 

At first there is an alcohol burn that VetchVesper describes, but I find this floats away quickly (it came back and it seems to want to stay). It's a bit like the sharpness of pine resin or pine tar, but not as immediately identifiable as either. It's not overwhelming but it's there when you get close. Not getting much elderberries; if I reach in there I can pull out a vague purple juiciness, but only if I reach. The smoky vanilla is hiding back there but I sense it is growing its courage to bloom more over time. 

 

Fully dry, it lands on a myrrh/rose/vanilla combo with a distinct sharp darkness that I am really loving. It's not leather, but something black and thorny enough to read a little bit like it. Quite nice.

 

I really like this. Gaia's Blessing is one of my favorite BPALs and I think this is same-enough and yet different-enough to warrant a bottle. In fact I think this is how I wanted The Witch/Strega to perform on my skin. I really enjoy these atmospheric/narrative forest blends that aren't a punch in the face of pine and dirt. You get the whole experience of what this is describing without anything being too literal. It's powerful and and yet still very wearable. Beautiful, I'm thrilled I got a chance to try it out. 

Edited September 14, 2021 by supreme_c0rt

[skyturtles]

Wow, this is so much more complex than I imagined! I have a bottle purchased from a fellow phoenix forumite.

In the bottle, I get a fresh and clean herby mintiness. By oh how things change!

Wet on my skin the scents jump alive as if they are flavors. I get non-nauseating leather (not listed) and a bit of smoky vanilla, all kept together by some sharp herby poultice interwoven with dusty patchouli candle wax. It takes me back to middle school, staying up late reading Amelia Atwater-Rhodes novels from the library.

I purchased this for someone who fits the title; a fighter for land conservation and native species restoration. I hope she enjoys this as much as I do!

[Lucchesa]

I keep wearing Woman at the Edge of the Woods and forgetting to review it.  It is definitely brambles.  Patchouli, woods, thorns, ivy, witchy herbs, maybe a touch of soil still attached to those mandrake roots.  (I have no clue what mandrake smells like.)  I adored this the first couple times I wore it, and I still love when it's wet -- I'm a sucker for patchouli, forest scents, sage.  I put it on my bottle list.  But the last time I wore it, the rose thorns took over and a rose note dominated, which some people might appreciate, but not me.  I will keep trying as I decide whether or not I need a bottle.