Dead Leaves, Vetiver, and Hinoki

[Seajewel]

No scent description.

[marared]

Deep resinous wood in the bottle. It is initially vetiver-dominant on my skin, but it's very dark and smooth, almost chocolatey - it's not vegetal or scorched. It gets dead-leafier with time, but the wood and the vetiver blend together smoothly and make a wonderful dry autumn blend.

[SeroSpu]

Smells like a pile of leaves, dead grass, and twigs ready to be thrown on a bonfire. Smells very crisp; the leaves are crunchy, the vetiver is dry, the hinoki is very present and smells bright and slightly sweet. I'm getting that almost chocolate-y smoothness that marared noted, as well. This scent is an absolute winner for me, and I bet it would layer extremely well with something like Graveyard Dirt if you wanted to make it earthier.

[wordortwo]

On me, this opens green, bright, and almost lemon-zesty. This is quickly smoothed by a lightly smoky, earthy, grass scent. The green qualities fade to what I think is hinoki: soft, fresh wood, almost like incense. Throughout the life of the fragrance, a light smokiness and green spiciness endures. If I were to guess, I would say the fragrance develops according to the order of the listed notes -- it is linear that way. It isn't that nothing changes, but the phases are quite distinct. It remains quite strong for at least four hours.

 

Unlike many the many themed or atmospheric BPALs, this feels like perfume for perfume's sake. I understand why people describe the Dead Leaves blends as "perfumey" or reminiscent of "men's" fragrances. (Edit: all of this is positive to me).

 

Edited to add: I realized this reminds me a bit of Lalique Encre Noir. That might just be the strong vetiver, though.

Edited December 20, 2021 by wordortwo

[puellacaerulea]

This is much, much greener than I typically expect from a DL blend. First sniff in the decant is wet leaves, almost grassy (but not bright) greenness, and a hint of smooth wood. Once I apply it, the vetiver amps up and goes not exactly smoky, but more like dusty. As it dries down, the vetiver calms down and the dark green and slightly resinous wood notes come back to the fore. The overall impression I get is a very deep, almost murky green and woodsy scent -- like a forest scent without the conifer notes. It's not the kind of thing I'd wear often enough to justify a full bottle, but I'll keep my decant.

[zankoku_zen]

This is mainly dead leaves and vetiver on me. Medium throw and wear length.