The Churchyard

[misfitroxy]

The sequestered situation of this church seems always to have made it a favorite haunt of troubled spirits. It stands on a knoll, surrounded by locust-trees and lofty elms, from among which its decent whitewashed walls shine modestly forth, like Christian purity beaming through the shades of retirement. A gentle slope descends from it to a silver sheet of water, bordered by high trees, between which, peeps may be caught at the blue hills of the Hudson. To look upon its grass-grown yard, where the sunbeams seem to sleep so quietly, one would think that there at least the dead might rest in peace. On one side of the church extends a wide woody dell, along which raves a large brook among broken rocks and trunks of fallen trees. Over a deep black part of the stream, not far from the church, was formerly thrown a wooden bridge; the road that led to it, and the bridge itself, were thickly shaded by overhanging trees, which cast a gloom about it, even in the daytime; but occasioned a fearful darkness at night. This was one of the favorite haunts of the headless horseman; and the place where he was most frequently encountered.

Overgrown dark green bullrush, midnight roses, dwarf St. John's Wort, frankincense, blackberry leaf, and moss-covered, half-buried tree bark.

No thread in sight that I could click my mouse on, so I guess I'm going first!

I must first say that I've been obsessed with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow since I was a wee one (I remember gleefully tormenting my friends when I was maybe 7ish by telling the story over and over again at sleepovers, complete with voices and frequent pauses to build dramatic suspense - and they say goth is a phase ), so this is hands-down my most favorite Halloween sub-theme (or probably any special series set) yet. I had to be frugal, though, and could only nab up a few to try initially. With the squee-ing out of the way (for now), let me set the stage for our tale...

Do I sense movement in the trees? {Wet}: kinda herbal and sweet with a hint of nuttiness. Maybe that's the bark.

Was that neighing or someone screaming? {First applied}: I can smell it on my arm as I type, so it definitely has decent throw. It's bright and clean. Not necessarily soapy, but much cheerier than I'd expected.

The Hessian approaches {Drying (Dying?)}: The blend starts to mellow substantially. Something arises which almost smells like apple to my nose. But I'm guessing it's the roses mingling with the blackberry (naughty things). Nothing stands out as particularly sharp or potent, though.

If you've heard the swish of the blade, I'm afraid it's too late {Final Thoughts}: After it dries, I'm left with moss and slight sweetness (the blackberry is goooooood) and fallen leaves and a faint memory of incense and everything that makes this season perfection. The scent is nicely unisex. Not too heavy either. It starts to cling much more closely to the skin and is merely wafting around pleasantly at this point instead of jumping out in surprise as before. A fitting fragrance for dusky Autumn tale-telling by firelight... punctuated by the slightest underscore of heavy horses' hooves echoing through the distant woods.

[Katherynne]

Oh wow -- this is so much sweeter and brighter than I thought it would be! I'm definitely NOT complaining, it's just such a surprise! I expected, for the record, a much more dark and chilling scent. When I opened the bottle, the first thing that came to mind was "Oooh, complex. And sweet?"

The label is lovely, I really like the artwork and the lavender colour of the picture. It seems to suit the scent so perfectly.

 

In the Bottle: Sweet! This smells first and foremost complex, with underlayers and things lurking, but the sweet topnote is definitely there -- just like a churchyard that should be beautiful, but hides something sinister.

Wet: When I put this on, the first thing that hit me was the rose. I should have known this would happen, because I amp rose like nobody's business, which is why it's one of my Dreaded Deal-Breakers. I don't think I noticed that this blend had rose in it, really, but I am definitely noticing it now! There's a hint of fruity berry underneath.

Drydown: Ohh, the bark, moss and bullrush are coming out to play. This is more what I was thinking when I ordered this; it's much more herbal and plant-filled. The frankincense seems to be hiding at the bottom under everything. I'm getting a whiff of it, but only with my nose right next to my wrist.

Throw: I can smell it wafting up from my wrists as I type, but I'm wearing it tonight around people, so I'll come back and edit when I get some reactions about the throw -- that's always the best way for me to tell. How quickly can others smell it? ETA: seems like the throw diminishes as it dries. Scent was quite faded about four hours later, but it's the herbal notes that hang on and I'm down with that. I think without re-application, this scent would be totally gone in about, oh, six-eight hours or so, on my skin. Seems like it's a more "personal space" scent too, it doesn't THROW like some scents do. intimacy.

Overall: I am really loving this. That blackberry note is heaven! I've not worn anything with blackberry before, and I am very pleasantly surprised. The sweetness of the rose and berry on my skin makes me say that this scent feels feminine, but I have the feeling that if I slapped some on the boy, it would smell completely different. Stay tuned. I'll do that later.

Keep or Swap?: DEFINITELY a keeper! I'm so glad I didn't wait to get a decant of this and just ordered the bottle right away. It is so worth it.

Edited August 31, 2008 by Katherynne

[sarada]

I spent about 24 hours just applying and reapplying this one to both skin and locket to really get a feel for it. It's that complex and interesting, and it goes through that many changes based on how you are wearing it.

 

The artwork perfectly suits this blend as well, with the muted twilight lavender tones. You do have to really lean in to get a sense of it. I am first intrigued by the dark green herbal notes that peek through when this is wet and just drying down. Even in the locket they don't come out as strongly as they do fresh on my skin. Dark green wet broken stems and mysterious evening herbs. Dew clinging to your ankles as you creep through the overgrown yard where berries grow over graves.

 

The next layer is that of the berries. Sweet, wine-like berries. A splash of communion wine perhaps, sloshed over the earth onto a soft bed of moss and midnight herbs. Frankincense is not very prominent but without its presence I think these notes would fade away very quickly. Its sweet, clear, strong tones add a touch of sparkle and earthiness at the same time, grounding the sweet berries and brief rustle of greenery. I would even swear there was a touch of stone in this one.

 

I forgot this blend contained rose, but now I realize that is what the truly intoxicating part of the blend is...rising above the other notes, the simple plaintive pinkish purple rose, blending seamlessly with the berries to create a heady floral wine. It only peeks through occasionally on my skin. In my locket it was much more prominent. A unique blend though, if you like things a bit complex. A distant rosy cousin of Fortunato perhaps. But really, it's quite unlike anything else and that's why I keep reapplying it to get that fresh rush of herbs and sweet berries.

[inurbanus]

The Churchyard strikes me as a "nighttime scent", not because it's not appropriate for day wear, but it really embodies the idea of an overgrown graveyard at night, under a glowing moon. It's spooky stuff. This is indeed deep and herbal, but it's a very fresh scent, along the lines of The Passionate Shepherd. I can't smell the blackberry leaf, but I can smell the rose and the frankincense, and the two are a very interesting combination. I agree with Katherynne -- this is definitely a scent to be appreciated mostly by its wearer. I don't know how often I will wear this, but I'm definitely going to keep it. I feel the same way about it as I do October -- not a scent I really want to wear, but I love the way it embodies a concept and want to keep it on hand to smell it from time to time.

 

3.5/5

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is very green...

 

once applied i can smell the blackberry leaf and roses...this really is pretty and

very dark...a little too floral for my tastes

[savage_rose]

First sniff: very green, herbal

 

On: Hello baby powder! Sigh. Baby powder with hints of rose and blackberry. It smells very clean, but...baby powder. Not even regular powder. Double sigh.

[Blood onmy hands]

In the bottle, this smells very evocative of an old, secluded church with an overgrown and not-often-visited graveyard. It somehow smells like cold stones to me, overgrown with dark green plants and thorny, dark roses. I also smell a hint of the fruity blackberry leaf and something incensey.

 

On my skin, this instantly goes sharply perfumey and soapy. I had hoped that this would be my ultimate dark floral blend, but I get high-pitched, bright, happy, laundry soap. Thankfully, the drydown is a lot better.

 

Fifteen minutes after first applying this, The Churchyard is awesome. It's not at all what I was hoping for or expecting, but it's great in its own, surprising way, lol. I get mostly the rose and blackberry from this. The rose is soft and clean (less outright soapy and more just an overall clean, soft scent), and the blackberry adds a touch of dark sweetness.

 

I like that this smells both clean and a bit dark to me at the same time, and the overall touch of sweetness really pulls it together and makes it wearable for me. I'm glad that I bought a full bottle, even though the initial soapiness is a bit scary. I have a lot of rose blends, but I don't have one that smells anything like The Churchyard, so this is one that I'll definitely keep .

[IronMollyBlack]

I have tested and re-tested this one as well. Can't decide whether I like it or not.

 

It goes on floral, with a lot of rose, and I don't like floral, as a rule. I'm almost tempted to wash it right off, but not quite. There is blackberry coming in, and it's anchored by the more dark/herbal stuff in the background. I would say that the comparisons to Passionate Shepherd are accurate, it's that kind of scent, in a way, but a bit darker? After all, it's a churchyard, not a meadow...

[Cereus]

In the bottle this is bullrush and mossy tree bark sweetened by flowers with a hint of incense.

 

Just on this is wet and very leafy, the frankincense is present, but without the fresh smoky quality I associate with it. Like stepping out after late night services after a particularly windy rainstorm has strewn the leaves about.

 

During drydown this vanishes almost completely before fading back in with a warmer version of my first impression from the bottle. Ocassionally I catch a faint hint of soap, but it never lingers.

 

As it dries further, the flowers bloom. The combination of floral and herbal scents remind me of fresh flowers. There is a flash of powder and... nailpolish? as this fades out almost entirely again. When it fades back in it's mostly blackberry leaf and herbs with hints of rose and incense.

 

This is very soft on me, but a wonderful herbal scent with just enough of rose and wort to round out the scent without being explicitly floral. I really love this one, but it's a little unpredictable and I'll be giving it a few more test runs.

[greenranger]

First whiff is all refreshing green leaves and shadows.

 

The roses, and I think something else with them, come forward fairly quickly. Either midnight roses don't amp too much on me, or there are enough other notes to keep them mostly in check, because although I like the first whiff without the roses better, it is still a fairly green scent even after the roses show up. So far, this is nice. I don't need a bottle of it, but, it's nice.

[Iceblink]

Wet: hard to describe. Florals? Grass?

Dry: blackberry! And greenery and a little spicy frankincense. Odd but nice. Light and feminine.

[Methos]

My first sniff of it in the bottle wasn't too bad. It reminded me of Arkham. Oh, okay. I left it for a day or two, because my personal chemistry was weird thanks to the cold-medicine I was taking. Then, I went back and smelled it again-- SOAP. The distinct smell of Ivory bar-soap. Wet, it smelled like Ivory bar soap for a while. Then, it changed: it became soft, quiet, and rather blackberry-ish. It kinda reminded me of something by Bath & Body Works, without the stuff that gives me headaches. It's quite a lovely scent-- someone else called it a nighttime scent. Yup. Once it dries down and gets out of the Ivory soap phase, it does evoke imagines of the night sky through the trees in a churchyard.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Bright golden oil. Light, herbal, fresh, with a faint waft of incensey woods. Faintly soapy. Quite green, and a little medicinal.

 

Wet: More subdued, earthier, darker. Still herbal, but the sweet frankincense comes through more as does the moss and bark. The rose is the soapy sort, with a bit of a tang reminiscent of white rose.

 

Dry: Why hello fruity-herbal blackberry! What a pleasant surprise. Sadly, this has gone more soapy (the roses), as well as more dark/earthy, almost smoky, thought the frankincense is light.

 

Later: The medicinal herbal notes are long gone, which accounts again for the mellower feel. The blackberry cuts through some of the soapy rose, but not enough.

 

Summary: The blackberry amps over time, so it's blackberry, earthy moss, smoky bark, and soapy roses with light frankincense and dark herbs. Unisex to masculine. Good throw and lasting power.

 

Too dark and soapy for me.

[Finny]

Roses. At first, I get a pure strong rose, not like Rose Red, more like the rose in Rose Cross or Zombie. After a few minutes the rose settles down, and the blackberry peaks out. It is fruity, yet grounded with a woodsy earthy note. It reminds me of All Saints from 2004. The frankincense paired with the rose is very beautiful. This blend really shines in the last stages. It seems to blend together on my skin into a wonderful dark mysterious scent. Skin hugging, earthy incense, with a hint of blackberry rose.

 

It does capture the smell of a churchyard, with the scent of incense floating on the air from an open church window, perhaps?

Edited September 28, 2008 by Finny

[Ravenclaw79]

Wet: Herbal, with a bit of roses.

 

Drying: Dry and herbal with a floralishness underneath, a little bit of rose, but oddly, the rose isn't taking over like it often does for me. And something.... blackberry leaf? Yeah, that makes sense. This is starting to remind me a little of Glasgow, which I lurve hardcore. This will get a second test -- it's showing great promise (unless it's TOO much like Glasgow, of course).

[tartchef]

A risky one for me, given both roses & moss, but frankincense is always a winner, and the hypericum (St John's Wort) & blackberry leaf sound really interesting...

 

Wet, oh man, this is cool... really botanical & green, much more fresh than the description would suggest. I'm getting what must be the SJW & blackberry leaf almost exclusively - fresh & green, but with a sweet, pollen-y air to it. I can tell the roses are lurking - right now, they're remarkably sweet & dewy, but as the oil settles into my skin, they start to go soapy & a bit sour. Not horribly so, mind you, just enough to make me wrinkle my nose. Shame, too - underneath the rose, The Churchyard's a lovely, marshy, fruity botanical.

 

Ultimately, The Churchyard was not the catastrophe I was expecting. In fact, I'm going to hang onto it for a while, in hopes that a bit of aging will get the rose to settle down - if it does, that's two rose scents I can now wear (Katrina van tassel being the other), two more than I'd ever hoped.

 

ETA: Holy cannoli. The rose sat down politely, folded its hands, and vanished into the woodwork Now I'm left with a delicately perfumed blackberry leaf over deep, dark, greenery. Even the moss is behaving. InSANE. I won't wear this often - it's not soapy, but it reminds me of a nice bath cube - but I will keep it.

Edited September 29, 2008 by tartchef

[khiseer]

Hmm i hardly get rose at all...Even the green isn't over powering at all..

 

I get soft sweet blackberry with a nice unassuming background. The rose serves as a bit of a balance but you can hardly even pick it as rose IMO. I love this scent but it is a bit too soft and i wish it didn't fade so fast..

[Myrrha]

Wet -- I LOVE the first phase of this perfume. The rose doesn't overpower it just lends a floral, lady-like tone. The green notes are interesting and fresh. Like Witching Time of Night or Bat it gives the feeling of plants at night but this time without the white flowers. I've worn the scent three times hoping that this initial phase will last but it doesn't.

 

As it dries -- After 10 minutes the green notes are not as obvious. The sweet blackberry and frankincense come out and the green notes become more of a background. The scent becomes sweeter and doesn't give such a night-time feeling anymore. The blackberry is not overwhelmingly fruity (coming from someone who dislikes fruity scents).

 

Drydown -- Faint blackberry and frankincense are what is left after a couple of hours.

 

I like this one quite a bit. It is just that the first few minutes are sublime and it breaks my heart when it changes. Putting more on every fifteen minutes seems excessive.

[jrk1857]

Wet: Green plants and dirt. Or, I'd guess, tree bark.

As it dries: The rose and frankincense become more pronounced, and the sharp dirt smell falls back. I'm not smelling any blackberry, but perhaps it will come later. (I'd be pretty happy if it stayed like this. That dirt thing had me a little worried.)

After a few minutes: Mmm. Blackberry and rose, with a light background of greenery and frankincense. Beautiful, if not quite the mood of desolation that I was expecting.

[livingdead71]

This is very sharp and herbal when first applied. It dries down very quickly to a soft feminine scent. The rose is subtle and pretty and doesn't go all soapy on me, as it so often does. The blackberry is gorgeous and pretty much my favorite part of this scent. I reapplied this evening just to experience that blackberry stage again. Overall, I'm glad to have an imp of this, but don't need a whole bottle.

[zankoku_zen]

This one is a soft, rosey floral with just a touch of herbs. It also goes a little soapy on me. Meh.

[aquazoo]

It's got a nice pine start, only pretty and not like a cleaning product. the beautiful old wood. Now the roses are wafting through. Now it's kind of a nondescript floral.

[Schmoozy]

Wow.

This is simply stunning. Light rose with tree bark. Blackberry leaf, moss and frankincense follow in the background. There is this certain sweetness to it, but after sniffing my arm even more, the sweetness is mellowed by the greenery and it almost becomes herbal/medicinal. The more this morphs the more beautiful it gets.

[Caerphilly]

In the bottle: Smells of old wood, and some sweetness. Delicate.

 

Wet: The roses come out, but aren't powdery. The wood is still there. It's very green and light. Lighter than I was expecting it to be.

 

Dry: I think I'd prefer this in a candle. It's sweet and too light. The wood is now gone and all I smell are flowers.

 

Overall: It's pretty. Definite rose in it. But I don't know if I'd wear this on a regular basis.

[Dark Alice]

Decaying wood, Old flowers growing around tombstones, dark air in the cemetary. This smells just like I envision, a spooky creepy churchyard, on a dank dark nite on Halloween. There is definitely something rosy in this, but its very light. And there is something very cooling in this scent. I love it, I just don't think I NEED a bottle. But I will definitely wear this on halloween!

Edited October 19, 2008 by Dark Alice