The Ghastly Garden

[Archaic Smile]

Overgrown oleander, marshy water hemlock, the sugared nectar of carnivorous blooms, putrefying wet greenery, oozing sap, crushed rosary peas, withered climbing roses, and nightshade berries.

I searched, but couldn't find a review so...*gulp*...here goes.

At first sniff from the bottle I definitely got white floral (Oleander?) with wet greenery. It's very pleasant and immediately made me think of what a tropical greenhouse smells like in the fall. On my skin and on the dry down the floral softens a bit and the greenery gets a little stronger. Not strong as in mossy - it's almost like fresh cut stems directly from the garden.

Altogether it's very pretty and feminine, but not girly, the throw is very good and it seems to have better than average longevity. I'm so glad I took a chance and bought a big bottle!

[jolarocknrolla]

REALLY REALLY GREEN. A vibrant, fresh, bright, almost citrusy sort of green. It's very sappy, very juicy, and the green-ness really overpowers anything else that might be in there. The decription didn't mention pine, but i get something very much like pine in there. It's so stong you could say it's suffocating - but it dries down to show hints of floral (probably oleander), but the floral is light and not too sweet.

[empi girl]

Each review seems different, so here goes mine!

 

In the bottle and on at first, this is a lovely sweetly aquatic garden, twilight time, a little cool, fresh and incredibly beautiful.

 

But within 30 minutes it morphs completely-the scent becomes warm, sultry, almost incensy, perfumy. It remains sweet, but not in an aquatic way. Of all things, the only comparison I can make is to imagine a spicy-sweet amber and carnation scent, then add heavy and sweet "carnivorous blooms" to the mix. I know neither the amber or the carnation are in the description-but it's what I get. Since I like them both, it's a good comparison. It is also very sensual and heady.

 

I've tried this a few different times, since it makes such a 180 turn. I even had my husband sniff at different stages. He doesn't have much of a nose, but he did notice the difference, and also said, "that's nice". I'm still making my mind up, however, so will try it a few more times. It is nice, but heavier than what I usually wear. I prefer the sweet aquatic, so this could become a scent locket one for me, with wearing it on the skin when I want to go out, perhaps. Certainly worth a try!

 

And the bottle art is beautiful.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Fresh green leaves and vines, white blossoms, and a subtle fruitiness.

 

Immediately on skin: This blend is surprisingly fresh, and very complex. There are definitely green notes, but very fresh ones. There’s a fruitiness that reminds me of yuzu, and a lot of flowers (but not overpoweringly so). I’m also getting a sugary note that’s very pleasant and playful. The berries add a very juicy sweetness to it that really rounds out the blend.

 

After a few minutes: Bright, fresh, floral, and fruity. That’s what this blend has become. That slightly citrus fruit note has strengthened, and it still smells of yuzu to me. The fresh green note has faded quite a bit, and the strong, sugared flower scent has come out more. It’s slightly powdery, in a fruity, nose tickling sort of way now too, but the berries smooth it out a bit.

 

Overall Impressions: This is such a bright, happy scent. There’s really nothing ghastly about it in my opinion. It’s a very fresh mix of floral notes and fruity, almost citrus, notes. I need a bottle of this for sure!

[zankoku_zen]

This is such a sweet blend on me. Fresh mix of florals, sweet berries and something else. It is sort of climbing vines vibes for me.

 

Pretty, feminine, good throw. It's a tad too sweet on me but it does well as a representation of an overgrown garden with poisonous and beckoning flowers. Red for blood and white for bone, indeed.

[Finny]

The Ghastly Garden, wet, green, sweet floral. Yum! Did I just type that? I hate florals, but this one too, is lovely. A very wet green scent over all, a sweet fruity note, and light floral. The Attic is a dry sweet floral, this one is a wet sweet floral. I like both!

[grifyn_whiffs]

I am in awe. This smells exactly the way I would expect a wet, poisonous, dangerous garden, with bright blooms to ensnare small children, to smell. I can smell wet, sweet blooms, viscous green vines and stems, and something underneath that says, "No, don't do it!" An aunt of mine had a patch of deadly nightshade in her front garden, and she had planted a bunch of chrysanthemums and rhododendron around it. I just remember walking WIDE around her garden, wide-eyed, not wanting to touch ANY of it, thinking it was going to get me. I don't know if she liked it, couldn't get rid of it or was afraid to get near it like me.

 

I used to have dreams that it uprooted itself at night and would come after me... This scent is such a reminder of that garden.

[requieminblack]

Whoa, this smells a lot like Embalming Fluid. But with a lime instead of lemon. No wait, I think it is bergamot. I do detect that chloraphil/aloe plant smell but this is mosly citrusy to me. After it sits on my skin for a while a very soft white flowers comes out. I want to say this smells like Mums or lilies. It's very similar to the flowers in House of Night. So to me this is Embalming Fluid + House of Night. Very soft and pretty!

[alicia_stardust]

THE GHASTLY GARDEN

 

Wet: In the bottle I smell a vividly sweet mix of florals. It's very inviting and almost candy-like.

 

Dry on Skin: As soon as this hits my skin I smell a heady, intoxicating sweet floral that reminds me of the way jasmine or dogwood scents the air. They do not smell the same, but they have the same effect. It is gorgeous, nectar-like, hypnotizing. Almost fruity.

 

It's as if the sweet and enticing floral blooms are trying to distract me with their beauty so that I will forget their poisonous side. As time passes, though, I can detect more and more of a sinister undercurrent. A slight green bite comes out to overshadow the floral blooms and there is a touch of watery, sap-like darkness. This is exactly what I envisioned when I read the description for the first time, and it hits the concept dead on. This is such an evocative scent that I just have to keep it!

[CrazyPretzel]

In the decant: very much a Rappaccini's Garden-type 'green' blend with something that smells like melon.

 

Wet on me: Berries! Light, sweet, and juicy.

 

After a few minutes: A slightly woodsy note comes out. It's a sinuous green scent not unlike the Twisted Oak Tree, but with fruit in place of TOT's earth/moss.

 

Drydown: It reminds me an awful lot of Strangler Fig but less 'dirty': think the green notes from Strangler Fig along with a berry edge. Fun!

[edenssixthday]

The Ghastly Garden - I haven't really been digging on the florals lately, so I wasn't expecting to be impressed by this scent, but I am. It's not what I'd consider a typical "garden scent." It's very green and wet, kind of swampy and aquatic, and reminds me of the overgrown, neglected garden of a large plantation house in the Deep South. The first note I detect is definitely bright green, followed by the sweetness of soft, watery florals. There is the scent of heavy, damp air in this blend, and I can almost hear the whirr of the cicadas and the chirps of crickets. This is drop-dead gorgeous and I'm wishing I had more than one single imp! It sticks somewhat close to my skin, but it lasts for hours and hours.

[filigree_shadow]

This smells like a humid, heady floral blend to me. Like what I imagine a garden in the southern US would smell like. Very green and almost damp. I don't think I can identify any particular notes in this, it just gives me the overall impression of a dark creepy garden.

 

Really not the sort of floral scent I like, but it's soft enough that I don't especially dislike it, either.

[Brianne]

I ended up buying a decant of this, rather than springing for a bottle because several of the notes had me a bit worried (rose >>. I'm really glad I made that decision, because this is really floral indeed, and as mentioned in the review above me - it's quite heady. I can definitely see how this fits with the "Ghastly Garden" though - instead of it smelling like a Spring garden (airy florals, bright and lightly sweet) this garden is dark, dank, thick and ripe with all sorts of dangerous things. It even has a bit of zinginess to it - one of the florals is a little citrusy in vibe or that could be the berries. The whole overtone of the scent is ozoney though. I get that ozone scent of tangy air above all the heavy, dark florals.

 

I like the overall vibe of this scent, it's just not something I would reach for. I even think that the ozone and zesty fruit in this balance out the florals enough for me to even wear this one now and then. If you like florals or if you enjoy scents like Jazz Funeral (because for some reason, that's what it makes me think of), give this a shot!

[sprocket21]

I bought a decant of this, and in retrospect, I don't know why - white florals and rose tend to hate me.

 

This starts off very very green, with floral powder in the background. (White florals turn powdery on me). The florals slowly got stronger - I could especially smell what I thought was gardenia. Then, about a half hour later, it just turned NASTY on me! Just smelling my arm was making me feel ill, so I had to go wash it off.

 

So yes, don't be silly like me! You should like florals if you're ordering something with "garden" in the title!

Edited October 6, 2007 by sprocket21

[melange]

The Ghastly Garden is very strong, very heady, very sweet and green. On my skin, it gets greener and greener... and then the florals start creeping out again... and then it's a breath of herbal air. I enjoy morphers and find this one quite evocative. It had good throw but didn't last very long, but then, the decant was tested right out of the envelope and hadn't time to settle.

[hepkitten]

This reminds me of my beloved Bayou, but it has a full sharpness to it that's almost sour. I'm glad I tried it, but it's nowhere near as good as Bayou is on me; since it's similar on, I don't need to own both.

[purplemoonshoes]

A strong, sweet green scent. Nice in the imp (smells like The Secret Garden) but kinda soapy on my skin. Good soap, but still soap. Another swap.

[Medici]

In the imp: Now that’s what I call a fun, fresh, green floral.

 

Wet: Oh, green growing things! How I love thee! Let me count the ways! (OMG it smells like The Ghost. There’s creepers and climbing ivy in here. I’m… *tears well up* I think I’m in love!)

 

Drydown: Where The Ghost goes white after the initial slap of greenery (largely thanks to the lily and osmanthus and my chemistry amping those notes happily) the Ghastly Garden goes lightly floral. While still fresh and green, it takes on a sweeter tinge than The Ghost which I can definitely appreciate.

 

Vercit: Buying a 5ml. No questions.

[dronzeka]

Oh, this is lovely! It's very green, but it's not herbal or piney - it's very lush and damp and actually quite sweet; I think the oleander and the berries are most responsible. Like others have said, it's like a southern garden on a hot summer night - rich and secretive. Very evocative, as others have said! (Sorry, this is not the world's most original review! )

Edited October 10, 2007 by Anna D.

[Blood onmy hands]

Huh. This actually isn't as overwhelmingly floral as I was expecting. I get a burst of greenery at first that reminds me of moss and trampled vines with an undertone of zingy sweetness that I'm guessing is coming from the berries. It's a bit sharp on me and then morphs into a powdery floral stage before it dries down to a tangy ozone. Within a half hour this is like sweet, floral soap and dryer sheets on my skin. I'm not getting a heated warmth from this like I did with Bayou. I was hoping for a darker, nighttime version of Bayou, but this winds up being more like a clean floral when its faced with my skin chemistry.

[olympia301]

This one reminds me of the cassia note I was getting so much of in the Chaos Theory II series. I don't really get a lot of green from The Ghastly Garden, a whiff of vanilla maybe. It's a very good one, not perfumy to me and very very BPAL-ish...I don't think you could guess that anyone else had made The Ghastly Garden, and that is a compliment.

[TrueStar]

I tend to go for green scents and bought a decant to try it out. It's very green, but it's also very citrus. I didn't like the citrus. It didn't go away for a long time ,but when it does it's an OK green scent.

 

I wanted to like that, but the citrus lasts too long.

[missnightshade]

This one smells delicious! It's like an overgrown greenhouse full of evil, seductive blooms. It is a very juicy floral, with a slightly green note. There's something in it that reminds me of the Aloe drink that's available in asian grocery stores: very sweet and fresh, almost like candy. It's a bold and exotic floral, I really like it!

[shellyshells]

Wow this is a fresh greenhouse garden scent to me. It reminds me of bruised and dewy florals. I can't really pick out any single floral note, but it smells like a well blended bouquet of green and white florals. I like it but I'm not sure I need a bottle of it.

[surlygurl]

Ok, so I'm not much of a floral fan. What am I doing getting a decant of this? Just maybe it'll work...

 

Wet: Oh my!! Such pretty flowers! Yellow & green & fresh, like I'm walking past a garden in bloom. Maybe a night blooming garden. A tiny bit of jasmine - almost imperceptible? Honeysuckle? I can't tell - it's all a blur, really.

 

Drydown: Ugh. Musty dusty. Not a big fan of the 'grandmother's attic' stage. Makes me want to sneeze.

 

Dry: Oh wow! This is so soft & pretty! It's also very green, but in a gentle way. This stage would make a great lotion or body mist. Something you'd find at a spa.

 

Very nice. But do I need a bottle *inhales deeply*....?