The Hanging Gardens

[cuervosueno]

This perfume is an interpretation of the Hanging Gardens by night, based on further accounts of its fruit and flora: date palm, ebony, fir, pomegranate, plum, two pears, quince, fig, and grapevine with plumeria, three gardenias and dry rose.

Given the heavy fruit and florals, I didn't think I'd like this, but I was utterly seduced by Macha's review, so I ordered an imp anyway and...
Glad I did! I really like it! I can't top other reviews here and won't try, but on me, this is lovely--green garden and white florals (must be the gardenia, and this made me realize the only florals I really enjoy are the white ones...) with just a nice juicyness beneath it all. I can't really pick out the notes, but this is a warm tropical night that I enjoy!
Thanks Macha, for your great review and for leading me to this!

[Carolyn]

YEEEOW. Love love love this scent! Oh, how I love it. It is a tropical fruity fragrance that is so summery and fun. I smell the quince, I do I do! I wear this one with Pele for a tropical drink kind of fragrance. Stick a tiny umbrella in me and I'm done.

 

Yay! I'm so glad I have this. In the top ten, for sure.

[FireInCairo]

Super fruity..and..a little ferny? I don't know- but it smells a bit like the ferns my mom used to have in our house. It's a very uplifting scent..and very heady.

[metaldog32]

The Hanging Gardens...this is *some* BPAL scent. I have been wearing it for at least 3-4 days..and it really has been challenging trying to formulate in my head exactly what I experience...I will try now to put some sort of coherence together

 

Initial sniff from bottle: What I get is fruit..but not overly sweet fruit such as the date/fig..what I think I am smelling is possibly the plum/quince and perhaps the pear...I agree that the initial *fruit* blast I get is a touch like Queen of Spades..which is also heavy on the plum. Fruity, fruity, fruity..but a rich fruit..

 

Funny thing is...a couple of days ago..when trying to formulate my opinion I could have sworn the initial sniff was all date/fig driven..REALLY sweet fruit..so I am baffled...this is going to be pretty challenging...

 

Applied wet on skin: Okay.now I am getting the date/fig rush coupled with the other fruits..and coupled with that I am getting some sort of *wood* note..not really aggressive..just if I inhale deeply..it's like on the tail end..must be the ebony/fir..and all of this smells incredible..if not baffling and kind of chaotic..the notes seem to running all into eachother..so I am left most of the time wondering..*what the heck am I smelling???*

 

Couple of minutes on skin: This is warming up on my skin...now the gardenia/plumeria seem to be a bit more in the forefront..with the ripe fruit not far behind..and that wood-like note again on the tail end. It's a bit more floral than fruit..but it still smells fabulous...chaotic but fabulous. I don't know if I actually got any pomegranate in the beginning.but no matter..this is just so freakin *roller coaster*..at least to me.

 

Inhaling this fragrance reminds me of Indian Summer..other reviewers have made mention of it..and I have to agree..this to me reminds me of just before fall harvest..the fruit so ripe and harkens to me a bit of an exotic locale...sun-drenched fruit at the peakness...rich and sweet...not tropical..but more Middle-Eastern feel to it..

 

Drying on skin: Original players are still here..but now I am getting more of the dry rose..I like it. Again..more floral, the sweet fruit (meaning date/fig) are behind with a trace of the fruity fruit and now more of the dry rose heading up the back.

 

Drydown: Basically all dry rose..with hints of the other notes weaving softly in and out...sometimes more so than other...this scent has many facets..

 

Staying power is pretty good..I usually have to re-apply at the 5 hour mark.

 

Bottom Line:Indian summer fragrance..and definitely one that rivals Kali as one heck of face changer..I was truly stumped for the first couple of days. I like it very much..and will enjoy wearing it again in another month. I just might bring it with me when I travel to Spain in September..seems like a *fitting* fragrance to complement the rich,sun-drenched, locale that is Espana!!!

 

Well done!!

[~AmusedMuse~]

My Impression: Such a wonderful blend of fruit & floral. To me this could be worn in any season and I love the green crispness of it. A really invigorating scent that make you pay attention. The fig note is softened by the gardenia and pear and is blendly lovely together..just as a walk thru the garden.

[Emu Nymph]

In the bottle this smells like a bright fruity scent, I can smell the pomegranat and the pares the most. Oooo that smells so goos.

 

As soon at it hita my skin the gardenias seem to comes out. And just as with Honey Moon, gardenias smell uber funky on my. Ok I hope I get the fruity scent back.

 

After about 45 minutes it mellows out and turns nice. But I don't think it's one that I'll be getting a bottle of. I think I'll pass the imp on as well.

[pekeana]

The Hanging Gardens smelled very fruity and floral in the bottle, then I put it on me. Generic floral for a couple of hours, then it mellowed out and the pomegranate came out to play a bit. It's nice -- a bit powdery, a bit sour, a bit fruity and fizzy.

[Firewaver]

This perfume is an interpretation of the Hanging Gardens by night, based on further accounts of its fruit and flora: date palm, ebony, fir, pomegranate, plum, two pears, quince, fig, and grapevine with plumeria, three gardenias and dry rose.

 

This is very happy scent... it's light and misty. When I wear it, I think of a midday sky with fluffy clouds tinged with gold by the sun. I think it's the pear that gives me the happy note.

 

I really loved this, and it was nice to have an oil that didn't have the distraction of a rose note. It's a fruity oil that's warmed up by the palm and ebony oils. Not overpowering, and it never turned into a soapy, sticky fruit smell like Titania did.

 

Love it love it. I'm definitely putting it on my 5ml list.

[Muppetk]

Wet: sweet berries with a hint of sweet flower. Plus that sharp scent which usually means my skin will eat the fruits soon. Oh well. I had to try it, the description sounded so good.

 

Drying: Sigh. Yes. Already half of the sweetness is eaten. Sigh.

 

Dry a few minutes: Some pale flowers with a hint of sharp.

 

Dry a few more minutes: mostly gone. Oh well. Fruit curse strikes again. It was really pretty in the imp.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Sweet and flowery.

 

Just On: Quite sweet and flowery, very beautiful.

 

An hour or two later: Hey, flowery but not soapy. There's hope for my skin yet.

 

Around 6 hours: A touch soapy, but still flowers.

 

12 hours: Gone.

 

Overall: I like this one.

 

After reading other reviews: I didn't get any fruit out of this, but I did get beautiful flowers.

[MaryMoon]

On me this is fruit so ripe it bruises when you sniff it.

 

As is starts to settle in on the skin that mouth watering sweetness mellows to where it's more a memory of the scent than noticeable, and I get really sweet florals.

 

This is really just lovely. It reminds me of fruit harvests from our backyard when I was just little.. you know, that innocent decadence in chomping down on rich sweet berries and having juice stains on your chin to show for it. I will likely be getting a big bottle soon!

[luxuria]

This is fruity! Kinda reminds me of MiGo Brain Canister, actually. I don't like gardenia, though, and it's definitely lurking in the background once it's on my skin. This is a lush, slightly humid scent, and evokes a garden in a very different sense than Eden does. I'd try to pick out more individual notes, but there's so many and they blend so well! It's mainly fruit accented by light florals and greenery, though.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Whew, it's a strong one! A whole garden, indeed. Gardenia and pear really stand out, with a sweet compote of dates and figs underneath. This reminds me strongly of Titania, but a hot, humid version of Titania's icy fruit/floral. Titania on vacation, perhaps? This is way too sweet for me, especially as autumn approaches and I start thinking of crisp, spicy scents. But if you want a tropical island scent that's lush and *extremely* strong, this is the garden for you!

Edited August 14, 2005 by Laurel the Woodfairy

[Monster]

Whew! Lots of flowers, and something juicy in there as well!

This is is a really comforting scent...to me, it's a "Mom" scent, the kind of thing I smelled on my mother when I was a little girl. I really like this one a lot, but its a bit too floral for my skin.

I'll keep this just for the comfort factor.

[magdalene]

in the bottle: very ripe, full scent. Slightly floral, slightly fruity.

 

wet on skin: Something in this, I don't know what note, made me jerk my head away when I went in for a sniff. It was sharp, too sharp for me to handle.

 

dry: I washed this off. It was just too much for me, too heady.

[LiberAmoris]

The description for The Hanging Gardens was so gorgeous, I absolutely could not resist it. I'd heard of the Hanging Gardens as one of the wonders of the world, but I had no idea that they were so incredibly engineered.

 

Beth's take on this wonder is just an absolutely mouth-watering blend of fruits and gardenia. It's lush and decadent. I get a lot of plum and pear, and even peach, even though it's not listed. The gardenia really shows itself on the drydown, where it luminously cuts through the fruits to glow nearly phosphorescently.

 

Another Wanderlust beauty!

[leahcat]

The Hanging Gardens

 

In the bottle: Green with a surprising tone of sweetness! Forgot about the fruits, but indeed this is a fruit orchard over grass.

Wet: ok, there’s that touch of rose but still very subtle (as I dislike florals...), the fruits are a nice blend of pear-plum-date-fig to my nose. Definitely others in there as this is a VERY complex scent! Impressed.

Drying/6 mins: Alas! Much more rose now, gardenias as well. *rubs itchy nose* fruits fading fast.

Dry/ mins: Gardenias and rose with a touch of sweetness. Fruits definitely take a backseat here

[slugbait]

An imp I got from modesty_blaise. Thanks, hon!

 

In the imp this smells very fruity. I get bits of pear, fig and gardenia. As this dries, this reminds me of Republic of Teas Mango Ceylon. This has a lot of throw, but it is really pleasant. Wearing this I can envision myself in a lush, tropical garden with fruiting trees and fragrant flowers. HG last a long time on me. My younger brother loves the smell of this in the oil burner. This is a definate keeper.

[AlaskaSnows]

In the Bottle: Fresh bananas on the plant and some sweet flowers.

 

Dry: During drydown it has a phase I like a lot that is sweet flowers. Eventually dries to Banana chips and some powder.

 

1 to 10: 2 because I hate banana. Buy Again: No.

[darkwitch]

Juicyfruit bubble gum, in the bottle and on the skin. I like it, but I don't want to smell like bubble gum.

[maewitch]

This seemed like far too many contrasting scents in one bottle - instead of complexity, I got cacophony.

 

I can pick out the individual notes, especially the plum, the fig and a bit of the gardenia, but all together, this smells like one giant mess on my skin.

 

Swap.

[ashtonrose]

Can a review be any better than Macha's on this one?

 

Her review is what made me choose Hanging Garden. I love it. The plum and pear are the scents that linger on me and it's just wonderful. It stayed on me for about 9 hrs and then my jacket for a week.

[quimerula]

This is a very complex fruity perfume.

 

I can smell fig, quince, date palm... a lot of mature and ripe fruits.

 

It's quite sexy and intense, if I close my eyes I can see the Hanging Gardens as an exotic and full of fruits place.

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Green and vaguely fruity

 

On me:

The fig comes through pretty clearly in this, and yet - I wouldn't say it was the predominant note either. The green note is very light and fresh, and the slight fruity note is just a little sweet, with an airy floral backing. The plumeria comes out a lot clearer in the drydown stage of this and I THINK I might smell the tiniest hint of that rose, but I can't be entirely sure.

 

It's such a complex scent that it's really hard for me to be certain about where this scent is going to land, so to speak. On me it's green, fruity, floral, sweet, airy, and a tiny bit nutty. In the late drydown stages of this I SWEAR I smell hazelnut, it smells just like a hazelnut candle from Yankee Candle Company.

 

Final note:

This is really interesting, it has a lot of depth and some really lovely notes. I'm not sure I'd buy a bottle because there's just so much going on in this scent that I don't know I'd where it that often. On the other hand, for that exact reason I just might get a bottle anyways. It's certainly unique!

[Oio]

The Hanging Gardens

 

imp:

fruity, figlike, fresh green floral.

 

 

Wet on skin:

fruit(fig?) and cinnamon. cinnamon gets stronger. fruit and floral pushed way back.

 

 

dry on:

complex. cinnamon dies down, figgy floral is back. smells very much like fruity incense, unlit. Very nice.

 

 

 

edited for formatting stuff.

Edited October 14, 2005 by Oio