October

[Seismogenic]

Dry, cold autumn wind. A rustle of red leaves, a touch of smoke and sap in the air.

I grew up on the east coast, and only moved to southern California two years ago. While I really love living here, I do admittedly miss east coast autumns. I miss the not-quite-warm, not-quite-cold feeling of the air, the colors of the leaves, and the smell of the first fireplace in the neighborhood adding smoke to the rest of the atmosphere. For this reason, when I read the description of October, I knew I wanted to try it. I was initially wary to spring for a bottle unsniffed, but good deals on the forum and curiosity about the notes won over.

In the bottle: Very very leafy green, with a cologney character. These leaves are still very much alive. I get some of the sap, too.
Interestingly, when I smell just the cap of the bottle, it's a tad different. Still leaves, but much dryer, and not cologney in the least. I take this as a good sign for the applied scent.

Wet on skin: I was right - the smell in the cap is like the wet-on-my-wrists smell. Leaves that are drying out, plus some sap. No smoke yet, but I'm hoping it shows up eventually.

Drydown: I am getting just the faintest tickle of smoke at the back of my nose, so to speak. If I concentrate on it, it's not there. When I don't focus on it, it serves to warm up the leaf smell, which is still nice and dry. There's still sap, but it's not quite as prominent as before. I get the impression of wood too, but that might also be due to the smoke. After about a hour or so, the same general combination has sweetened slightly. The leaves are not completely crispy dry, but they have fallen off the tree and still have color.

Five hours later: The scent has become faint, but has not entirely disappeared, and it's been subtle for a while now. The leafpile smell is still the most prominent thing, and it's still warmed by a bit of the smoke. I'm still getting a little wood/bark, but I can't really detect sap anymore.

End of the day: Gone.

Overall: October is a much warmer and sweeter scent than I would have guessed based on the description. I didn't get any chilly wind, though it might not be totally fair of me to say that at this point, since it was 98 degrees outside today and therefore would have required more than some oil on my wrists to remind me what chill feels like. I'll have to keep a nose out for the chilly air component on a day that's not such a complete scorcher. That said, this is still a very evocative autumn scent. It's piles of leaves and twigs warmed by the sun in a cloudless deep blue sky. It's earlier in the month, rather than the end. It's definitely bringing back memories of raking piles of leaves, then promptly scattering then again by way of jumping in them. October is a fairly subtle and mellow scent, and quite pleasant. I'm glad to have it, and I'm glad it brings to mind some of the things I hoped it would.

Edit: added lab description Edited August 6, 2008 by Seismogenic

[furygrrl]

In the bottle: Sharply green - like fresh cut green peppers - and an undercurrent of faintly sweet, masculine cologne.

 

On wet: Sweet green peppers and light cologne at first, but pressing my nose in close reveals that almost bitter smell that comes from newly fallen, turned - but not crunchy - autumn leaves.

 

Drydown: Very traditional cologne on me. There's a lightly sweet, aquatic-like freshness on top of an equally sweet, glowing base, and every now and then, I get that bitter leaf smell riding in between the two.

 

Overall: This scent wasn't much of a morpher on me, and didn't really deviate from the cologne-y vibe that carried on throughout. I really enjoyed the initial green pepper stage - it was *so* realistic to my nose, so crisp and juicy! - but it got lost towards the end. If that green freshness had stuck around, this puppy might've been something for me to wear regularly (I have no fear of "masculine" blends), but it didn't, and it works better on the Husband anyway, so I'll leave my favourite month's namesake to him. 3/5

[sprocket21]

You know how someone can mention what a scent smells like, and totally ruin it for you?

 

Yeah. For me, October = Jalapenos.

[rayvn1]

In the bottle there is the sharp scent of those plants that grow on the forest floor or beneath evergreen trees that smell almost unpleasant but alluring in their strength. Very weed-like.

 

On dry this is delicious! Sap and wood and smoke with that sharp, biting green in the background! It smells like getting the yard ready for winter Unfortunately this fades extremely quickly on me. I will require much more than an imp of this for the future!! Perfect for fall. Doesn't seem very "masculine" to me - quite unisex.

[Juushika]

In the vial: Ozone and cologne, with just a touch of sharp greenery. The scent feels almost empty—an absence, clear, white, airy.

 

On me: Goes on as cologne, very masculine, preserved in sharp alcohol. And on me, that's what it stays—even after an hour's wait. It's a bit sickening, really, and not quite what I had hoped for from this blend. I'm disappointed, but to be fair my skin chemistry doesn't often fail me so completely.

 

Verdict: Washing it off and swapping my imp, immediately. This one just doesn't work on me.

[delicate_fangs]

Wah. Mine starts out as lovely dead leaves, and morphs into strident cologne. Wah!

 

Oh, well. Off to swaps with the decant. But I had such hopes.....

[undream]

loving this time of year the way that i do (the way that i'm sure many of us do!), i jumped on the chance to receive this in a recent swap, and i am so glad that i did!

 

wet, this smells at first whiff like crushing some kind of greenery between your fingers; very sharp, very green and fresh. after a few moments, it warms into a pleasant men's cologne. and all this before even hitting the skin!

 

once on, it actually stays pretty true to my first impressions. i have to agree with the very first review of harmonyfb's in that the throw is very much wet, autumn leaves while up-close it remains a men's cologne. definitely a masculine scent, but one that has easily endeared itself to me via the name and idea alone. it's pleasant, cool and comforting, and i love the occasional whiff of damp leaves that i'm getting. i am absolutely keeping this one for the boy, but i may just sneak a few swipes now and again myself.

 

ETA: &mygod, the longer this one is on, the more deeply in love i fall. ungh!!

Edited October 22, 2008 by undream

[msbcozad]

October

 

My favorite month (and not just because it's my birth month)!

 

The oil smelled of rotting leaves when wet, but on drydown it turned into a lovely soft musk. Somehow Beth has captured the feeling of walking through the woods on a crisp Autumn afternoon in a bottle. There's woodsmoke and chilly air and, well, OCTOBER, in this bottle. I am completely in love.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Wow. Smells like cool/cold air and smoke

On Application

Gorgeous smokey autumn scent

 

Dry Down

Doesn't have a lot of lasting power on me and not as nice as Chant D'Automne, IMO

Rating (0-5)

4

 

[ephemera]

This was a frimp sent to me by a forumite.

 

Defintely not a bottle scent, but the imp is nice, if not my style. The prominent smell coming through is greeny-leafy. Wet leaves on the ground, mouldering slightly. I can't seem to get any of the smoke, nor the sap. This is all rainy-afternoon-leaves smell on me. Not unpleasant, and I'm glad to have tried it, but I don't see myself wearing it often really.

[tragedy]

October is my favorite month because of the leaves, fires, all the smells that were described in this oil.

 

Its strange, I dont get the notes in it, the leaves, the smoke, the sap... this dries to a sort of faded perfumey scent, BUT it does evoke autumn to me. Or maybe I wanted it to. *shrugs*

 

Not what I expected or hoped for, but nice all the same.

[cyanidenoir]

Very, very sharp in the bottle. The notes were all muddled together. When I put it on, I could definitely smell the dried leaves with a hint of smoke. As it dried down, it started to smell more sandalwood-ish and I am not a sandalwood kinda girl.

 

I think perhaps I was expecting more of a patchouli-type scent. While this is a nice scent, it isn't for me.

[Eucatastrophe]

I don't know how they do it, but this smells like Autumn in a Bottle (or imp) to me.

 

Wet: Autumn is my favorite time of year. If I close my eyes and sniff I can almost feel the crispness of the night air while hearing the whisper of footsteps moving through dry leaves.

 

Dry: Dang. Just turns into a kind of musky cologne/perfume smell.

[Monster]

I've had two bottles of this floating around my home. My husband and I are both guilty of slathering this during the cooler months

 

The Labs Autumn scents are to DIE for. Really. They do vetiver and smoke better than anyone else.

 

This is the scent of decaying leaves, but not DEAD leaves. These leaves have changed color, fallen from the trees, are sitting on chilly dead grass and are waiting to decay.

The cold autumn wind note shows up as the gentlest breath of ozone, JUST enough though (fear not ozone haters!), this doesn't smell soapy of like dryer sheets at all.

 

October pretty much smells exactly like the description. Leaves, slight decay, air, smoke. All of it in perfect harmony. October in a bottle.

[Aldercy]

*slather, slather, slather* What I really want is a man to put this on, but I guess I'll have to settle for my own skin.

 

October is the scent of just turning leaves-- not crinkly and crunchy yet, there's still some life in them, but they're giving up the ghost. There's also a mingled maple/pine sap note which is detectable, but very diluted and tempered... more like the scent of sap borne on a passing breeze than all up in your face. No smoke, but I am getting some musk. Mm. Yay fall.

[Schmoozy]

 

October to my nose seemed very similar to The Death of Autumn. However there is less smokiness and more greenery. Almost like the leaves are almost dry but still have a little life left in them. The sap in the air gives October a touch of sweetness and together with the ozone/airy notes this can almost be considered a little perfumey. The way Beth has captured the feelin gof October in a bottle is remarkable.

[tartchef]

Oh glory. This is proof that The Universe puts things in our hands when we most need them

 

I bought a bottle from the Lab when this was first released, and rather regretted it - October smelled lovely in the bottle, but went all man-fume when it hit my skin. I held onto it for a while, but ultimately swapped it away...

 

Fast forward 2 years, and I see October popping up in the recs threads. Ah, I say, what a shame that one was... might be nice to try it again.

 

And what should fall smiling into my lap via a lovely swap but October, aged to perfection

 

Gone is the man-fume, and instead I am awash in the glorious scarlet leaf note from Blade of Grass. Left to dry, a brush of sweet spiciness comes out, like crushing fallen maple & oak leaves. There's something faintly astringent in here, too, like bark stripped away from a tree trunk... The longer it wears, the more I smell the bitter herby notes I love from Oya, but there's an occasional pop of sweet cherrywood smoke.

 

The scent shifts like trees in the wind, the smell of tramping through the woods on a chilly day. The leaves crunch under foot, but the ground underneath is damp from rain the night before. It is not a showy scent, but rather the smell of solitude & contemplation & a pocket full of acorns.

 

Glorious!

 

[Ondine]

Weirdly, it smells like roasted chili peppers on me

[GreenSpine]

I get no ozone or smoke from this. October perfectly captures the scent of newly fallen leaves on a forest floor, with a slight hint of warm musk beneath. It was lovely both in the bottle and on my skin when it was fresh, but now that it's had time to age, it's mellowed out and become much stronger and more long-lasting. It's like walking through the woods on a sunny autumn day.

[topazphoenix]

This smells green, while at the same time being warm and inviting. But wow, I could SWEAR there is tomato leaf in here. I love tomato leaf, so it's not a problem, but...what, there's none in the notes you say? Really? Are you kidding me?

[Invidiana]

This is exactly like going apple-picking on a crisp October day, with the dry, crackling leaves swirling around in cool gusts of wind and the smell of sap and smoke in the distance. It's very green in the bottle, but once it touches my skin the sweetness and spiciness of the leaves, smoke and sap come to the forefront and do incredible things. A definite winner!

[loubric]

I like this on me .. I do, I do!!!

 

A touch of fire smoke, a hint of green and a bunch of Tomato leaf, mix this all together and thats what October smells like on me!!

 

A little musky on me, but not too much .... just enough to blend everything else nicely together.

[ouch!]

Hmmm this is what I think Death Of Autumn should have been named. It's more apt. October is very masculine. When it's first applied it has a spark of ozone/aquatic to it behind all the manliness.

It's a nice manly scent don't get me wrong but...nothing I haven't smelled before. It's a bit generic.

 

I get no smoke at all, it's more of a fresh, slightly aquatic musky dealio.

 

Not really a fan of this.

 

Ah well, you can't win them all.

 

[GeorgeJr]

Ok , so the first thing I can say about this one is it's 2 years old & still smells pretty damned great . I get mainly leaves blowing on a autumn wind from this . Freshly fallen & not yet rotting apart . Not quite like walking in the woods on a crisp day here on the east coast . Cool maybe , but not really cold at all . But if you like " green " scents , this would not be a bad one to try .

[arsenicsauce]

Oh my god, I love this scent. Love it. It's sharp green sap and a little smoky without being a vetiver explosion and somehow evocative of wet fall leaves without being musty. I am tracking down a bottle of this ASAP.