The Reaper and the Flowers

[mgrazulis]

A funereal bouquet laid on cemetery grass: longiflorum lilies, white rose, chrysanthemum, and carnation.

In the imp: lilies, chrysanthemums, white rose.


Wet on skin: dry chrysanthemums and lilies.


Dry on skin: wonderfullly floral. Reminicent of funeral bouquets. Mostly white lilies, chrysanthemums, a bit of warm spice from carnations. A white rose undertone. The green from the flowers is there, too--leaves, stems and a bit of grassiness.


After a while: the sharp dryness of the chrysanthemums fades along with the lily. The white rose is fantastic and benefits from the spice of the carnation. The lily is back and it is deep. The rose is a bit drier but it is rejoined by the chrysanthemum after a few hours.


Verdict: this is very mournful and melancholy. Beth's white rose is one of my favorite rose notes. In the beginning the lilies and mums are strong, but it morphs into a beautiful white rose phase. When it joins with the carnation it becomes warm. I have to say that I like this very much--although I am not a big fan of funereal blends. The green from the flower parts and the grass, prevent this from being entirely floral on me. I don't foresee a bottle--but this is beautiful to try out.

[furygrrl]

In the imp: Green sourness and white rose.

 

On wet: Herbal powder, something warm, and a twinge of sourness underneath it all.

 

Drydown: Very soapy powder on me - like a cross between some kind of amber and orchid (ick!). The white rose is especially bad (it *never* works on me, no matter how many chances I give it) - I think it's joined forces with whatever's powdery in an attempt to kill me. Perhaps that's the Reaper aspect of this blend? What's sad is that I can detect the *barest* hint of peppered cream from the carnation (perhaps some cool creaminess from the lily, too?) - if only I could get *that* smell as the primary aspect of this blend...

 

Overall: Powdered soap. Something sour. Evil white rose. Not enough yummy carnation. Sadness. 1/5

[ouch!]

Hmmm...I can sometimes tolerate floral blends, but unfortunataly this is one that I just can't.

 

It's very very soapy and powdery . It has got quite alot of throw but it's just making me feel a bit weird.

This is probably the most florally floral (If you know what I mean) I have tried of the BPAL blends.

I actually really like carnation but cannot smell it in this blend, it's all Rose...and a mish mash of generic flowers to me.

 

Not much fun...

 

[Iceblink]

Lily + carnation=powder AND soap. Oh dear. Makes me want to do laundry.

[Caerphilly]

In the imp: A lovely sweet floral. All lily and rose. I like it!

 

Wet: It turned to soap. I wore this to work and it bothered me all day! And I love rose and lily! How unfortunate!

 

Dry: It does have good throw and it lasts forever, but I don't want to smell like soap for 12 hours.

 

Overall: I don't know why it turned to soap, but it did. Rose and lily love my skin chemistry. Maybe it's the carnation or the chrysanthemum, but I've worn those notes before and never have they turned to soap on me. I don't understand. So pretty in the imp, but it just doesn't like me!

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: It smells like a florist's shop, with the slightly pungent chrysanthemum dominating. Just like a florist's shop, there's a hint of sharp greenness about it.

 

Wet: I don't get any carnation. There's definitely strong lily, and some rose, and the chrysanthemum bitterness. Not sure I'm going to like this.

 

Twenty minutes: Lilies kept artificially past their peak, just before they begin to turn brown. The hint of rose and carnation isn't enough to save them.

 

Two hours: Wow, this died back a lot. It's almost gone now; there's just a hint of rose, a bite of mums, and something that might be wilted carnations.

 

I'm usually good with florals, even the fleshy ones, but this was just wrong for me.

[batsy]

In the vial: Ah, carnation, my old enemy. We meet again!

 

On the skin: Yeah, that's lily. You can't mistake that note if you've ever spent any time around Easter lilies. It's all lily drowning out everything, until the dry down begins and carnation returns to assault me yet again. Why must you ruin things, carnation? Slowly but surely, the drier it gets, the white rose makes things play nicer but still... florals and I just do not mix.

[obsidienne]

The Reaper and the Flowers started off so beautiful: strong florals with grass and perhaps a hint of dirt. Strong lily-rose; I can't smell the other two very well here. As it developed, however... purest soapsoapsoap, then faded to nothing.

[Seismogenic]

Another Lab frimp! The fact that "Flowers" is part of the name means I probably wouldn't have ever thought to try this one on my own, but here we go anyway.

 

In the imp: Another white floral! I can't pick out anything individually yet. I'm usually kind of bad at that, when it comes to white florals.

 

Wet on skin: Floral soap. Uh oh.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, it's strong floral soap. My nose is getting tingly. At an hour later, it's still floral soap (I think the rose is becoming a little more distinct in there), but it's much weaker.

 

Five hours later: Pretty much gone.

 

End of the day: Completely gone.

 

Overall: So, you know the part in the poem where the Reaper shows up and takes the flowers away, right? Well, this Reaper is clearly pretty darn OCD. He might have put them there to begin with, but then they got out of control and weeds started growing and dirt got out of line, and the Reaper was all, "AHH! Heaven's gardens need to be neater than this! Let's start over!" So he hauled out the soap and got rid of the wayward flowers really really quickly and efficiently.

Or at least that's what happened on my skin.

 

[tinyvulture]

I’m just not feeling this soft, sad bouquet; it goes powdery and bitter on my skin and gives me a slight headache. I usually love spicy carnation, but here it’s overpowered by the Easter lilies, which just aren’t doing anything for me. I can’t even smell the rose or chrysanthemum. Sorry, Reaper. Off to swaps you go.

[hellomoonglow]

Whoa! This is super dooper strong florals and powder on me! I can't wear this one.

[othelloperrello]

 

Well, it is what it says: a healthy dose of strong rose, carnation, etc.

It comes too close to the uber-smell of soap products to me. After a while, it dies down enough to be tolerable, but it's a fleeting thing and not worth it to my nose.

 

As a guy, in any case, I just couldn't wear this out. To much of a boquet.

[Suu4LC]

This blend wasn't for me at all-a rather unmemorable dour floral blend. Floral haters beware! This is a gloomy bouquet-the rose goes a bit sour on me and in the end this turns out to be a rather soapy floral on my skin. I will have to pass this imp along!

[lucy gray]

Reaper & Flowers was my first lesson in "don't ever ever EVER wear anything with lily" -- I smelled like one of those little rose-shaped guest soaps from my grandma's half-bath. I don't hate florals, but lilies sure hate me. If they like you, though, I imagine this could be a very pretty scent.

[sirensea]

This one fades out to a strong, deep floral, with rose and carnation as the two most noticeable notes. Unfortunately, it's a bit too artificial for me.

[Veronica]

I can smell the lilies and the spice of the carnations. No powder, just fresh, strong floral. A very pretty white floral, but nothing particularly outstanding.

[ClareDeLune]

I just wore this one out for a run.

Maybe it smells a little soapy, but it's still very pretty and girly and a little sad. I like it and I plan to keep wearing it.

7/10!

[stardreamer]

As I expected from the description, this is entirely floral. It's a gentle, inoffensive floral; the lilies and carnation are dominant, making it sweet and slightly spicy with just a bit of green underscent. In fact, it's a nice enough floral that it really deserves a home with someone who's more likely to wear it than I am. To the swap pile it goes.

[juniperus]

bottle: oooh, lilies! dewy!

wet: I can catch the carnation, too. and grass - fresh, light-green spring grass.

dry: no mums, and boy those lilies are amping!

later: and now so is the rose - my tendency to amp heady, white florals hasn't eased one whit.

[aquazoo]

A rich floral, definitely lilies in there. And it's getting soapy. Yep, detergent-o-rama.

[Diva Urd]

Vial: Sharp, white floral

On: White roses, lilies and a little crysanthemum. I don't get any carnation. Very straightforward white floral, with surprising oomph. Let's see how long it lasts...

Later: It actually lasts quite well for a scent that doesn't have a base note listed. It turns rather dusty and generic after a while though. I don't think this is interesting enough for me to want more.

[crebbsgirl]

Ok, this is a weird one for me to wear. I don't know why I even thought I should try this given my incredibly spotty history with flowers but somehow we ended up together. Here goes...

 

Wet, the lilies and rose are predominant. This does not bode well. Rose and I are just the most explosive combination on the planet. To say we loathe each other would be an understatement. I don't think any scent has ever pissed me off quite like the rose (well, and frankincense, but that's another story). Don't get me wrong, I like the smell of roses... when they're in vases, or in a garden. Not on my skin. Ditto lilies. This starts going *just* this side of headachey.

 

Then....

 

Wait a minute....

 

And carnation comes to save the day. Suddenly I'm smelling this wonderful rich scent, floral yes, but with depth. Nothing is screaming at me anymore. Instead, there's almost a seductive whisper about this one. Elegant, and refined but a little morose. Something makes you want to peer a little closer, you know? I'm intrigued.

 

I think I will have to retest this a couple of times to make sure it wasn't a fluke, because somehow the idea of a rose I like is just too bewildering to get my head around.

[HamletsKeeper]

My skin can handle heavy flower bouquets which is just as well because this is a whole florists shop full of white flowers stuffed into a bottle. It's nice but not interesting enough for me to buy a bottle of it. If you like your florals light and breezy this isn't the blend for you. Jazz funeral is lighter and more complex but has the same floral bouquet. This is a very heavy floral that could easily turn sharp and sour if your skin doesn't like lillies. It's very green and white and quite cloying without being sweet.

 

I'm coming to realise that the Ars Moriendi scents are just too morbid for me to enjoy. The category is filled with very heavy and somber blends, which is not surprising. I've never smelt grieving flowers before but that's exactly what the Reaper and the Flowers is. It's flowers turned sad and depressing. Not for me.

 

If you want a white floral that's upbeat and beautiful then Her Voice is a much better choice. It's lillies with a happy personality and a couple of wild roses dancing on the top note.

Edited November 9, 2009 by HamletsKeeper

[lensflaaare]

Wet: Rose, which quickly disappears. Then it's all lilies and carnations.

 

Dry-down: Something's going wrong. It's sour.

 

Dry: Cat pee.

 

Strange, because I get nice pretty whiffs of flowers, but when I sniff my wrist I gag.

 

ETA: After a while, the cat pee disappears and it's just lovely. What the heck.

Edited December 24, 2009 by lensflaaare

[SophieCedar]

First out of the imp, this smells like fresh cut flower stems laid on summer grass. Overwhelmingly sad smell however. This is not bright and refreshing to me.

 

There was a sweet burst that happened during drydown. However it was quickly replaced by a soapy grassiness on my skin.