The Apothecary

[brownbear]

Tea leaf with three mosses, green grass, a medley of herbal notes, and a drop of ginger and fig.

I just realized that I never reviewed this one.

Wet: It's green, slightly citrus fruity, fresh, herbal.
On my skin, dry: The herbal comes out very strong. I get green tea and herbs. Not my favorite.

[sun_set_bravely]

The Apothecary

 

In Bottle: So delicious! It's light and airy, and after moving the bottle away from my nose, it reminds me a bit of those old store-bought fragrances I used to love in middle school -- except this fragrance is all grown up.

 

Wet, On Skin: Oh! I love this! It's bright and cool, like fresh sheets on a comfortable bed in the summer. There's one note that sings the loudest, but I don't recognize it. It smells like an expensive scented candle in Takashimaya. I love this!! There's also a sweetness underneath that's not too heavy.

 

1.5 Hours on Skin: This is spectacular! It's still light, but the grassy undertones have emerged.

 

Drydown: It's faded to a whisper of what it was, which is good, as I was almost getting a little nauseous an hour ago. That might also have been because I ate a late lunch.

 

Conclusion: LOVE IT!

[sophia_helix]

In the bottle:

 

Totally green. More of an herbal scent than some other BPAL greens.

 

Wet:

 

Straight-up cut grass. It's kind of too vegetable, and I don't like it much.

 

Drydown:

 

After a minute the grass calms down and the scent starts swinging back the other way. This is like a cousin to Rosalind and The Dormouse, except no berries or tea on me (although I know this has got tea), and much less sweet. It's still more herbal than the others, and I like it -- it's quite different to my usual scents.

 

Sadly, it's very light and faint, and eventually something (the fig, probably) starts to amp up the sweetness. For me, with BPAL, once a scent starts turning sweet it not only goes very sweet, but it's a generic sweetness that's the same in every blend, regardless of notes in common. I'm starting to realize that fig is one note that will do that reliably, though, so this is not for me. Pity!

Edited September 1, 2005 by sophia_helix

[jewelbug]

Bottle: very clean, very fresh, green, slightly sweetly fruity.

 

Wet: Fresh, green scent. It's like a sweet fruity tea, with a hint of citrus (that's probably the ginger). This very much reminds me of the light freshness from the Dormouse.

 

Drying: The ginger getting stronger. Ooh…ginger tea, fresh and bright. I wonder if there is lemon verbena in this as well? It's green and citrusy, slightly sweet. Overall it's just fresh and happy. Unfortunately, it's very faint on me.

In 2 hours, its still there, but more like smelling fresh clean skin than a perfume--no throw. It's very clean and nice. But very weak, and will be gone very soon.

 

Overall: I would consider this for summer--green fresh and light. But its lack of throw and staying power concerns me. Its such a lovely light and refreshing scent, though. I may look into using it for lotions and bathing recipes.

[erikasilverstein]

Wet: Citrusy, herbal, a little grassy. Getting a bit of a witchhazel scent, as well.

 

Dry: Smells a bit soapy and medicinal for my tastes. Swaps.

[misfitroxy]

The Apothecary starts out as both astringent and floral on me. There's something incredibly familiar about this blend. Something reminiscent of a perfume of the 1980s that I can't quite place.

 

The grass note is certainly vibrant. I had expected it to be a tad more mellow, but this is fresh cut grass instead of the milder, field scent. I can't say that I detect the ginger at all. The fig may be adding a touch of sweetness, but I'm uncertain.

 

There's a bitter element in the background that turns the oil almost sour against my skin. It mellows out a bit as the blend dries, but it still turns my nose ever so slightly. Guess it's something new that doesn't care for my particular chemistry.

 

Overall, I'd say The Apothecary is bright, though slightly chemical. It's clean, and ideal for someone who wants to smell nice but not overpowering. I would deem this a skin scent for sure, very unisex - as others have noted - and unassuming. Not for me, but intriguing nonetheless.

[Northernminx]

This was much sweeter and fresher than I anticipated. A touch of tea, light sweet and green, I really found this very refreshing. The mosses come out after a bit along with the herbs and while this isn'tme this was a lot more pleasant than I anticipated. Gorgeous

[Firewaver]

Wow, this is really nice!

I always pictured the apothecary as being very astringent and dull, so I never bothered to try it out... but I recently received it and it's quite a pleasant surprise!

 

In the bottle it smells a bit like herbal lemon tea.

 

On the skin, its actually a delicate herbal smell with a bit of sweetness and spicy tea notes peeking in and giggling. This is a lighter, more herbal version of Dorian, to me. Not as sweet (absence of vanilla), but a bit cleaner and fresher.

 

Dry, it settles down into a calming, green/yellow herbal tea. Very pretty. Though the throw smells a bit like fresh celery to me! I like it and will keep the imp.

 

I have a bottle of Dorian on order, so this is a bit too similar to justify a bottle purchase.

Very nice though, two thumbs up!

[imaginepageant]

In the vial: Lemon tea, a strong hint of ginger, and a very soft, light green aroma that could either be the moss or grass, or both. A very pretty scent right off the bat!

 

Wet: The tart lemon disappears completely, but the tea, ginger, and greenery stick around. Very quickly this turns into a much softer, flatter scent than it originally was in the imp. A few seconds in and it starts to turn into a powdery floral.

Dry: It's almost... delicious! There's a slight sweetness that's making the ginger smell foody, yet that green smell is still there to keep this grounded. I'm sure it's my imagination, but I'm starting to pick up a bit of apple in here; maybe that's just the fig finally coming out.

 

An hour later: It's turned soapy. Not floral soapy, but decorative pink spicy soaps or perhaps body lotion of some sort. I can definitely smell fig now, and the fig has turned it darker and musky. I can't distinguish any longer between any of the other notes.

Overall: If this had remained the scent it was when it had first dried, I might have kept it, but I'm not happy with the way it turned out, so this will go to the swap pile.

[lohengrin]

In the imp: Mossy herbal green.

 

On, wet: Mossy herbal green. :/

 

Later: Mossy tea. ^^; Nothing too special, frankly. Like my other tea scents better.

[Chantarelle]

This one was a surprise for me. It's very different from the scents I normally go for, but it's quite nice - sharp without being overwhelmingly green. And it lasts surprisingly well. Definitely a keeper.

[Cedar]

In the bottle: Ginger tea. It's refreshing, and I like that it's herbal without being too "green."

 

Wet: I get more of the tea scent, and something sweeter that might be the fig, but the tea is still strong. It's refreshing, but not in the sharp way that, say, Embalming Fluid is. I only get a little of the moss, and it's more of an afterthought

 

Dry: It's BPAL crack. I've only recently gotten into herbal scents, and I love that this one is not overpowering. Maybe it's not the most "unique" scent BPAL makes, but I like it and it's one of the few that I can see myself wearing year round. Getting a big bottle of this one.

Edited October 15, 2005 by Cedar

[klowey]

I really, really wanted to like this one, but it went kinda powdery, kinda meh. It almost needed something else, something sweeter or darker or greener, which is weird since it's supposed to be mostly herbal, moss, and grass scents. Off again in my search of the perfect grass scent.

[aedes]

Whoa! Interesting! At first blush it seems to be another green, herbal smell. But this has lots of stuff going on. I can sense the ginger and the fig in the background. I think Shanghai, Yggdrasil, and possibly Hamadryad lovers should take heed of this one. I agree it would make a great summer scent or bath products. It smells a little soapy on me, but not in the way most things smell soapy. It doesn't smell like something has "turned" soapy in as much as this would be a great smelling soap, if that makes any sense!

[wolfie13]

In the imp: Mostly green tea - yum!

 

Wearing: Fresh cut grass and moss notes really start to come out and it gets a touch sweeter than I would have imagined. (likely do to the ginger and/or fig though I never smell either ginger or fig.) Nice.

 

30 minutes later: It goes through a bit of a soapy phase. Then the moss really starts to take over and overwhelm the rest. Not loving this.

 

An hour later: The moss is still running rampant and it is now surprisingly perfume-y as well. Yikes! (And like most that I don't like - why is that??!! - it has a lot of throw and lasts forever.)

 

Not a keeper for me. Though instructional in that I've finally learned that the bpal moss note(s) does NOT work on me. I sense the same note here that ruined Mad Hatter, Cathode and Wolf Moon for me.

[LyndaM]

Herbal and grassy blends tend not to work on me, so I was leery. The Apothecary is the epitome of green. My chemistry turned it astringent, and astringent it remained. I couldn't detect any fig or ginger, but I got a tartness that made me think of lemon. Very lemon-grassy. Dry, the moss made a half-hearted appearance, but by then I was a bit headachey. It was very bright and a bit sour throughout.

 

It just wasn't for me, but on a person whose chemistry cooperates with lemon and fresh leafy greenery, it might be lovely.

[ABrokenAngel]

Every one of the tea scents I've absolutely loved, even if they didn't smell righ ton me (as in the case of Dorian which smelled too masculine on me) I still loved them. Kumiho has been by far my favorite. Tea and ginger...which this has both....different kinds of tea but here's hoping!

 

In the Bottle: Clean. I smell the grass and the mosses and the ginger. I can't smell any of the fig or the herbals. It smells divine. Would be fantastic as a linen spray. I am dubious as to how this will smell on me however it's beautiful as I expected it to be. Uh oh.....two seconds out of the bottle it sends me into a fit of sneezing. Let's hope it was just dust. I'd hate to think I'm having an allergic reaction to another scent.

 

Wet: Divine, as I had hoped. It's clean with tea and ginger. I can barely smell the mosses now with a nice sprinkle of the soft grasses. It's slightly reminiscent of Irish spring but tea notes usually are on me until the drydown.

 

Drydown: Ooooh nice and clean. Deffinately a keeper. I can see myself wearing this around the house while I'm twidling with arts and crafts. I don't know why but it's a very inspiring scent.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 2/5

Summarised in one word: Soapy.

 

In the imp: Citrusy, green and herbal. Very nice, but this could turn out very soapy.

 

On skin, wet: Yes, herbal/lemon soap. Damn it.

 

On skin, dry: Soapy lemon and nothing but. I didn't wash it off, holding out hope that it would turn back into the lovely citrus-herbal it was in the imp, but no dice.

 

Throw/strength: It has an average throw. I could smell it normally for about four hours, and could smell it when sniffing my wrist for about six hours after applying.

 

Conclusion: I had such high hopes for this one, but it hates me skin. I might try it out in a scent locket eventually, or try it in my hair come spring -- it'd be another perfect spring scent!

Edited December 1, 2005 by Aredhel

[AlaskaSnows]

Wet: Light dry tea and a gentle fruity scent.

 

Dry: Pretty much the same. This tea IS a leaf, it isn't a cup of tea, like Phantasm, or a dry tea mix, like the Sprirts of the Dead. There is some gentle herbal and something almost like a sweet dried flower. This is remarkably addictive. I love the way it smells, herbal enough without being aromatic, floral enough without being too flowery, sweet enough - just a hint. YUM!

[angharad]

Very strong tea, very strong herbs, VERY STRONG GINGER. For fifteen minutes all I could smell was a strong herbal tea. Suddenly the ginger took over, and that was all I could smell. It wasn't overpowering, but I just don't really like the scent of straight ginger. I wasn't really crazy about this to begin with because tea scents aren't a favorite, so at least it didn't break my heart when the ginger took over.

[perclexed]

Like having figs with tea under an awning during a lazy, contented mid-spring afternoon, when you can smell the greening on the air, and are reveling in the still cool, but warming sun. I really like it - very light and soothing, yet refreshing.

[Silverstrike]

Wet, The Apothecary was really delicious, in a way more beautiful than the other tea fragrances I've tried, but as it dries down, there's what my nose associates with artificial, some note that doesn't agree with me. After it's dried, it doesn't smell that great. Something a little plasticky or like insect repellant. I'll probably send the imp along to someone else or swap it.

[rinoastar]

I got this one as a frimp with my last order, and to be honest, this isn't really one I'd wanted to try at all. That isn't to say I didn't want it, but I'd never really thought about it much.

 

The Apothecary is an interesting scent. I like it a lot more than I thought I would from the description: it's sweet, but not overly sweet, grassy and bright. It reminds me a bit of Beth's white roses, but I don't think there's rose in it. It's not Victorian rose, though--more like a little bush of wild roses growing near a cool stream. The sweetness is building, and the scent deepens into a gorgeous bergamot/rose type smell. I'm really stunned by how gorgeous this is, and by how far away from my normal smells it is. I would have never chosen this, which is further proof that the labbies are brilliant, brilliant geniuses.

[hangingfire]

In the imp: TEA. The grass and herbs are present, but it's mostly tea. Not getting any fig or ginger.

 

On, wet: A little sweeter now -- the fig and ginger coming out to play?

 

Drydown: Unlike Holiday Moon, which I also tried today (it's green tea day, apparently), The Apothecary has more of a dried-herbs character. Recently dried, that is -- nothing stale about it at all. But it doesn't have the cool freshness of Holiday Moon; it's more of a ... well, an apothecary shop. Go figure. As the drydown progresses, the fig and ginger become much more pronounced, which I like a lot. Ginger scents make me happy.

 

This imp is definitely a keeper!

[Fefferbella]

This is sharp and medicinal like Medicine Man from the Carnival Noir series...

 

Very green, it almost burns my nose to sniff it. It's a very energizing scent... I'll keep it around for mornings when I can't wake up...