A Blade of Grass

[galleywest]

A BLADE OF GRASS
Said a blade of grass to an autumn leaf, "You make such a noise falling! You scatter all my winter dreams."

Said the leaf indignant, "Low-born and low-dwelling! Songless, peevish thing! You live not in the upper air and you cannot tell the sound of singing."

Then the autumn leaf lay down upon the earth and slept. And when spring came she waked again -- and she was a blade of grass.

And when it was autumn and her winter sleep was upon her, and above her through all the air the leaves were falling, she muttered to herself, "O these autumn leaves! They make such a noise! They scatter all my winter dreams."

Autumn leaves scattered among blades of grass.

Dear Readers, I am delighted to be able to present to you, in honor of this lovely scent, a long-lost addition to Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. What many people do not know is that in addition to the ground-breaking Trancendentalist piece "Song of Myself", Whitman also wrote another, shorter poem titled "Smell of Myself". Whitman had to publish the first edition of Leaves of Grass with his own money, and thus seems to have chopped out a number of interesting works in order to cut down on the expense. The fate of many of these poems, including "I Thought I Left My Keys Here", "The Rabbits Are Ruining My Garden", and "I've a Stain on My Shirt", remains unknown. A recent private auction in Lithuania has brought this gem back to light, however, as well as Whitman's long-rumored but nary confirmed obsession with essential oil-based perfumes. Without further ado:

Smell of Myself
I sniff myself;
and what I smell, I assume you do too.
For every atomizer belonging to me, as good has sprayed on you.

I loaf about a bit,
I loaf and observe the scent of a spear of summer grass.

My house and my rooms are full of perfumes--the shelves are crowded overflowing with them!
I breathe the fragrance myself, and know it and like it;
The distillation would intoxicate me also, but I'll get longer wear out of the oils and so shall not cut it.

The atmosphere is not a perfume, which is a pity. I shall use my lovely green scent to remedy this.
Ah yes! It is in my nose forever, I am in love with it.
I will close all my curtains, become undisgiused and naked,
I am mad for it to be slathered about my person.

The scent of the grasses,
echoing, playful, bright, sunny summer grasses,
reminding me of summer lawns, of playful days and evenings passed, the
passing of summer games in the yard
The sniff of autumn leaves, some green and some dry
Of the cooler evenings just beginning,
the play of longer shadows on the ground, of winds whispering cleanly through the colorful trees.
It is the smell of health, of the outdoors, the sharp, green, leafy scent of nature itself.

Have you smelled the grasses blowing in the wind? Or the bright, calming, whistling autumn leaves?
Have you found your perfect grassy scent?
I have, I have!

[oddment]

Aaah I was so excited, thinking I might be the first to review this.

 

In the bottle--strong cut grass, bitter autumn leaves in the background.

 

Dry on my skin, it's still very grassy, and the grass is strong and sweet; the leaves are there (I think this is the bpal note or set of notes that makes my mind go "autumn!" and happily collapse in a pile of pleasant associations), but not the main focus. I really, really like the grass note, though--it's clean and very distinct. It isn't perfume-y so much as it is ideal--it definitely isn't the dirty rotting grass scent you sometimes get in spring, or the dry tinder smell of grass after it's browned. I'm interested to see how it changes once it's been more than an hour out of the mailbox, and whether the leaves will be stronger as the bottle ages, but for now this is great and a beautiful compliment to other autumnal bpal scents. I'm impressed and unable to find a less-goofy way of saying "Thanks, lab!"

 

Or else I'd say it, you know.

 

Overall: This scent is lovely. It's much milder than October, and I think it might make a nice alternative for those who tried October and found it overwhelming but still want an autumn outdoors scent. It's nice and wearable, and it makes me feel less sad about missing Stranger in Camp.

Edited August 30, 2008 by oddment

[TheIceMaiden]

A Blade of Grass is the last fresh cut green grass of summer with a smattering of early autumn leaves, but not yet dried. There's still a little sap in the leaves to give them a little sweetness. This reminds me just a bit of October, but its warmer and without the crisp ozoney-autumn air and woodsmoke. Its just grass and leaves and its beautiful!

[Kippy]

This was almost all grass for me. I was hoping for some more leaves.

[Eemia]

I love grassy scents, so I knew this would be fantastic. It's a mild, softer version of the grass note in Garden Path with Chickens (which I find to be very, very pungent). Still the same recognizable green notes that just feel fresh and soothing. Like baby grass. We used to have this super thin, fine bladed grass at our old house when I was little. This reminds of it.

 

But there's a sort of musky, smokey quality that appears as it dries down. I can't place it...it doesn't smell like any of the Autumn/leaf scents that I own, and I've been opening them and sniffing them all today to try and pinpoint something. Whatever it is, it's intoxicating and has me completely riveted to my wrists. Grass with musk?? Heaven. love

[jehrichardson]

In the Bottle: Green green grass - juicy summertime lawn.

 

On the Skin: Ah... grass, and the unmistakeable deep earthiness of autumn leaves.

 

After a While: Grass fades a touch, leaves remain with a touch of an earth backnote

 

Verdict: This is the smell of 'why of course I've been doing yardwork, why do you ask?" It is unusual and a very nice juxtaposition of earthy leaf and fresh green grass. Intriguing blend - I like it very much!!

 

Caveat: It is very light and fades quickly (after ten minutes I can barely find it, but I did spend ten minutes with nose firmly planted in elbow, so that might not have helped), but has a good throw when fresh.

 

ETA Some Time Later: I just put this on today to mow the lawn. It is slightly dusted with the first crispy leaves of fall, and smelled exactly like this scent - it was wonderful. I came in and reapplied to bask in the "I just mowed the lawn" glow. I think this will be a great comfort in the depths of winter when you look out the window and wonder how and if it will all ever come to life again. *sigh*

Edited October 4, 2008 by j4r

[greenranger]

This is grass and leaves.

 

It's very simple, and it doesn't morph at all. The image I get is of the first few fall days that feel like fall, instead of summer. The days where being outside is such a pleasure, because it's cool enough, but, not too cool yet.

[Brianne]

This was pretty much grass single note on my skin. It was VERY grassy and green but really just grass and reminded me a lot of summer (grass always makes me think of summer!).

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Sweet, green, vibrant grass.

 

On Application

Briefly the green grass and then it is quickly joined by the leaves to make it definitely autumnal.

 

Dry Down

This is so evocative of the concept it's awesome. I love this and it would be great layered with Graveyard Dirt.

 

Rating (0-5)

4.5

[azndragoncrimson]

Mmm...green grass.... When I sniff closer, I can smell the sweetness of fallen leaves. But it's mainly grassy. It reminds me of raking leaves in October since the grass is still growing in California. I don't think this is a scent I will wear often, but I'll definitely keep the imp around when the occasion presents itself!

[ravenfeathers]

in the bottle warm, green grass, like the pale part of the grass near the roots on a hot, humid day in early summer.

wet on skin keeps grassing

dry on skin this sweetens in the dry down like red clover blossoms in a sea of grass and i never smell anything crunchy or dry like the autumn leaves, just sweet grass. pure art, but possibly wearable as a sophisticated perfume.

 

this one is calling to me purely for it's aromatherapeutic value in the dark, cold days of february.

[Jilara]

In the bottle, it's fresh-mown lawn.

Wet, it amps up. It's now that bag of lawn trimmings, slightly wet and warm, after they've sat in the sun for an hour or two. Wow, overwhelmingly GRASS TRIMMINGS at this point.

 

Drydown gets interesting, in that it goes aquatic. Um...the tang of salt spray? It's going all Jolly Roger on me! Wow, it's a grassy Jolly Roger! Seriously, add some green notes, and a distant memory of something vaguely warm and floral to Jolly Roger, and that's Blade of Grass at this stage.

 

Dry, it's morphed again. The grass notes come up to the fore again, but with a warmth behind them, and the salt tang has dropped out. Strong grass, but with a slightly aquatic sweetness and a slight note of...hay? I think it's hay. I got a whiff of this note in Hay Moon. No leaves for me. It's grass and hay and sweet goodness. Definitely a keeper!

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is fresh, green grass...

 

and once applied there are the crushed leaves...amazing!!

 

this stays true ...grass and leaves and has very little sillage...

[iiinterstate]

Wet: Fresh cut grass. Juicy grass, if that makes sense. It really seems like single note, to be honest.

 

After a few minutes it is more or less the same. I like it a lot, but I'm not sure if I need a whole bottle.

[goblinshark]

In the bottle: Grass so green it makes my mouth water.

 

On me: OK, I think this + Hay Moon are going to be my signature scents until I run out of both of them. This is SO AMAZING. Sweet grass with a hint of dried leaves. It smells like my childhood. I absolutely love it and I think I might buy another bottle of it before it disappears; it is that great.

[femmefatale]

This smells exactly like the end of summer/beggining of fall when the grass is still green and fresh smelling, but you can sense that cool weather is on the way. It is definitely freshly fallen leaves on green grass.

Definitely getting a bottle.

[savage_rose]

First sniff: Sexy cologne! Oh yeah, and a hint of grass. But the cologne!

 

On: it tones down a bit...subdued sexy cologne, that hint of grass, and whiff of...is that patchouli? It's so well blended it's hard to tell. Very earthy, with that wild tang to it. I like it!

[rayvn1]

When this one was announced with the Halloweenies I yipped with joy I can't get enough of grass, dirt, and leaf scents and this is better than I could have hoped for!! Fresh mown grass clippings lying in the sun, but the freshness is offset with the darker, smoky leafiness of last year's October LE. Heaven indeed! I will be running out for a bottle of this and Graveyard Dirt as soon as humanly possible!

 

Oh BPAL, my love for you grows and grows at a frightening pace (as does my stash).

 

Edit: Wow, this has great staying power on me. Hours and hours with a light smell of mowed lawn on my arm ahhhhh....

Edited September 18, 2008 by rayvn1

[inurbanus]

Not surprisingly, this is emerald green grass, topped with crunchy dried leaves. This is the closest BPAL scent I've found to Gap's Grass perfume ( ). Anyone who likes the more natural scents (dirt, grass, moss) should check this out, since it's so true to life.

 

4/5

[plunderparlour]

Yay! Its fall time! No more sweaty days. . .

 

This scent is almost all grass on me as well, but I love it. It smells like fresh grass after a rain.

[LittleMissAspie]

Grass. Not autumn grass but fresh, green, lush, summer grass. I don't get any of the deeper scents that some people have mentioned. It's just very fresh and clean. In fact it's turning a little soapy now, but I like that.

[Blood onmy hands]

As most everyone else has said, this smells just like green grass to me, in the bottle and on my skin. Fresh, green glass clippings. It's the scent of mowing the lawn, in a bottle. It has a lot of throw on me. One tiny drop has me smothered in green grassy goodness, lol.

[CLFilm]

I get a lot of the sweet, green grass out of this that other people are talking about, but also that deeper, spicy note of dried, crunchy leaves. And it's getting "drier" the longer I have it on. It's not a chilly scent like October, though. It's very, very rich and warm. Also, it's strong on my skin, I only put on a few drops - I think more would be overwhelming.

 

This is the "being outside on a crisp, sunny, perfect early fall day" smell that I've been searching for since I found BPAL (over 3 years ago, omg!). I live in northern New England and I think we have a very particular version of this smell - it's probably my favorite smell in the world and now I have it as perfume! Very, very evocative. Thank you, Beth! I adore this. It's the first bottle I've splurged on in a long, long time (broke student) and I'm SO glad I did.

[Monster]

Out of the bottle and on my skin this is all warm, fresh grass with crispy leaves and a smoosh of dirt. It reminds me of laying on a nice patch of grass on a late summer day with the sun beating down on me and a cool, crisp breeze in the air. It's sunny, fresh and smells exactly of the fading summer with a promise of autumn. Unfortunately, the drydown smells exactly like Febreeze or fabric softener on me This is a clean, fresh, "soapy" scent. Sadly, it's not for me.

[fairnymph]

Tested at EC Will Call: GRASS, dandelion (no one else got this), dry leaves. Rather bitter, very green. Incredibly true and natural; exactly as described in notes and just as evocative. Unisex to masculine.

Edited September 21, 2008 by fairnymph