The Little Sparrow

[lunaticana]

Seeds, sedge, brown amber, and sandalwood.

YAY! ;joy: this is good one!
very simple but also very elegant, amber is just GOOD on me!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love the powdery feel, it reminds me of the furry cat belly's in Ivanushka
I might need a bottle from this for the cold winter time

[rayvn1]

Dry, almost incense smell. Lots of amber and sandalwood though there's a light hint of something vaguely floral...I think. It's an interesting scent and with Bensiabel on my other arm I'm getting something really reminiscent of On Darkness.

[unlaced]

In the imp: it smells brown and somewhat powdery...

 

Wet on my skin: powdery suntan lotion? This is the first thing that's ever done this on me...

 

Drying: The throw is still pretty powdery, and a bit of suntan lotion. Closer to my skin it definitely smells like seeds, not so sure about sedge. I can't detect any sandalwood or amber really.

 

Dry: yeah... I don't think this is working out. I really like the idea though. I'll probably keep the imp around.

[tdiym]

I so wanted to love this. Birdseed smells delightful to me, so I grabbed a bottle of this right away.

But instead of getting that sweet, seedy smell, I get something soapy. I'm very disappointed...

I gave it several chances, but I never get that smell of seeds...

[anna1850]

I do get bird seed at first but then something that smells a little like alcohol. Plus I'm not really into amber or sandalwood, although this is a well blended perfume so I can't pick them out too much.

 

2.5/5 Just not my type of thing.

[bristlecone]

Something about this reminds me of a lotion I got from Bath and Body Works 12 or 13 years ago. I can't remember what it was called but it was a short-lived limited edition and had "mountain" or "breeze" or something to that effect in the name. The Little Sparrow is sort of powdery but fresh at the same time. I don't really smell seeds per se, but there's definitely something about it that makes me think of dried grasses, warm breezes, and woods. I think it's going to make a great spring-into-summer scent.

[catattack]

Imp: Non-descript flowers.

Wet: Very faint. It's slightly sharp on my skin, but I can't figure out what it is.

Drydown: After a couple of minutes, this became powdery and soft. The scent is an image of a little sparrow. It's a powdery brown scent. I can't figure out the notes at all.

Overall: It's not a bad scent at all. It's just very faint on me. I don't know if I'd wear this.

[stardreamer]

In the imp and fresh on, this is a nice mix of sweet and sharp. Sadly, on drydown it turns into pure sandalwood and stays there, and sandalwood is something I prefer as a background scent, not a primary. Staying power is good; it's lasted all day in the heat. But overall, this one's a swap.

[jiggahava]

No seeds. No sandlawood. Just powdery floral dust. Is that the amber that's causing this? Whatever it is, it's making me sad. Looks like it's one for the swap pile. :-( And I wanted it to work.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed: Light yellow oil. Sharp and mildly sweet, a little almost citrusy, woody in a polished, oily way. Definitely a distinct powdery, dusty amber base below.

 

Wet: Oh hello Verbena, I thought that was you. Somewhat medicinal/mentholic, now. Much stronger of a scent overall. I can't really get much of the wood - verbena and amber powder are strangling it.

 

Dry: More that oily-seedy note emerging, as well as the sandalwood which combined with the powderyamber has taken on a perfumey feel. The verrbena has calmed down, but it still very much present.

 

Summary: Verbena & sandalwoood SOAP & amber POWDER. Eeek. Masculine-ish? Not something I'd wear. Good throw but fades fast.

 

[Jupita]

This was a freebie.

 

I had looked at it, when passing my order... and thought : amber - not my thing, seeds - not my thing... not worth it.

 

I was wrong.

This is nice, for once, amber doesn't amp on my skin, like it usually does, and its a rather nice sandalwood with some florals in the back... it has a soft brown feel, and makes me happy... eager to do something.

 

I don't think I'll be ordering a bottle, though who knows, right?

 

What I do think, is that seeing that both Marchen scents I've tried so far, are hits, I might order more of them... hoping to see more of this nice scents.

 

BTW, I see what people mean with soapy... and I love it.

[angelicruin]

Sniffing the imp, I'm getting lemon and sandalwood. Very refreshing scent.

 

On the skin, definitely still mostly citrus and sandalwood. Amber is there but is not the main note on my skin.

 

I like this scent a lot. It's warm yet refreshing. Reminds me of a cool summer morning before the sun begins to bake the earth for the day.

[devilot]

In the Vial: Something sharply green. But an undertone of dust.

 

Wet: Again that herbal sharpness, then quickly the amber. And now sandalwood. But still, I'm getting that dusty note and I really really hate the dustiness.

 

Drydown: Sandalwood and amber. Which I would love, but I'm really struggling with that dusty element. And it's all just so sharp.

 

Verdict: This just, is a big fat "no" for me from start to finish. Ugh. Away with ye'!

[Eucatastrophe]

This was a freebie from the Lab and I am happy they threw it in. I looked at the description when putting an imp pack order together, but passed it up as it didn't sound like something I would like.

 

On me it starts off spicy herbalicious and then softens a bit. It's a little while before the powderiness creeps in and even then it's not the dreaded baby powder.

 

I don't think I need a big bottle, but the imp isn't going anywhere.

[Siberia]

Wet: I get a dominant citrusy note over a light sandalwood. Not really smelling the amber. Unfortunately, this citrus goes citronella-like on me, and has just a hint of eau de bugspray.

 

Dry: The amber comes out more and it's a bit powdery and I can't really pick out much else.

 

I guess this one is not for me, though I really like the fairytale theme.

[yewberry]

Oh, but it sounded so right for me. Lovely herbal/woody in the Imp. Sandalwood bug dip on my skin.

[crebbsgirl]

I would describe this as a light brown scent. A little powdery, slightly nutty, light and earthy. It didn't last very long at ass on my skin unfortunately. I liked it in a pleasant and inoffensive kind of way, but it wasn't overly interesting for me.

[kakiphony]

Finally testing this most awesome SW gift off my wishlist. I've been a 'fraidy cat about new things lately.

 

In the imp: Hrm. This is unexpectedly aquatic to my nose. Sedge is a swamp grass, so I suppose some aquatic should have been expected if I'd thought about it, but everyone else has said this is so dry and dusty. Color me confused.

 

Wet on skin: On initial application this still has a decidedly aquatic feel over the top of the sandalwood on me. It makes the oil quite perfumey with some real throw and gives it an astringent quality that reminds me of witchhazel. It's sharp, almost bitter, wet and cologne-like. Again, not what I expected at all. (I note that some folks have said they get florals and/or verbena. I think it's the same cologne-note I'm sniffing, but which my nose clearly thinks is aquatic.)

 

Early dry down (5ish minutes): As this dries down the sandalwood starts to show up in the background as something a bit dry and powdery. However, the aquatic is still there lending this a distinctly cologne-like feel. I think the aquatic is what some others have identified as a "soap" smell. It definitely has that shower-fresh feel over the dry, brown ingredients. At this stage, I would not call this a dry scent at all -- I picture a sparrow in a bird bath!

 

Late dry down (45+ minutes): This does dry out quite a bit as it wears. By about 45 minutes in has MUCH less throw (amost none) and sits very close to the wrist. It's powdery, with only the faintest hint of that aquatic cologne as a top note. I get no sweet grasses from this, it's all sandalwood and that top note of sedge/aquatic.

 

Pretty, and I think this is masculine in an androgynous-man way. Not for me, but glad I got to try it!

Edited August 26, 2009 by kakiphony

[edenssixthday]

The Little Sparrow - The scent of this took me right back to the 1970s. It smells exactly like a hairspray my mom used to use way back when. I was hoping for some sandalwood loveliness, but my skin chemistry is doing crazy things to this one. Oh well, you win some and you lose some.

[voodoocatwoman]

I don't know what happened. I love amber and sandalwood is usually very nice. It started off pleasant but dried to something rather piercing. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to be long lasting so I won't have to wash it off. Amber. Why have you forsaken me?

[loubric]

This started out wonderful on my skin - Bubblebath!

Then it went very musky very quickly. It's still a very nice, warm smell on me, just not what I expected or something I would generally get a bottle of.

 

Homey and comfortable.

[MCS4096]

Loooove

 

In the imp it's a little sharp (as I find amber always is before it hits the skin) and definitely brown feeling, cold too.

 

As it drys so does the smell-- it gets huskier and muskier, the sandalwood definitely blows up, and the amber goes powdery..

 

I Just really love powdery, dry and comforting scents

 

ETA: In the end this smells a lot like my grandmother smells.. that's a good thing to me tho

Edited January 10, 2010 by MCS4096

[HKB]

Super dry, it's almost an unpleasant sensation to my nose to smell something this dry. Too sweet to smell like baby powder exactly. I was hoping this would be more woodsy or nutty. It's pretty flat, I can't make out individual notes and it doesn't morph much. For me it doesn't match the description at all. If I smelled this without knowing what it was I would think it was some kind of dusty floral. Reminiscent of an old lady's house.

Edited January 17, 2010 by HKB

[girasol]

I wanted to love this scent, because I adore the story by which it was inspired. But alas, it was not to be. In the bottle I didn't mind it, I got something sweet and warm, but on the skin, soap. Soap when wet, soap when dry. Not even nice soap, the nasty harsh stuff that stabs you in the sinuses *sigh*

 

Fly away little sparrow, you are not for me

[topaz]

Initially I can make out a seed smell (like a wild birdseed mix). This one dries down to soap. A nice, feminine, creamy, floral soap. I don't care for the "fresh, clean" scents". If I want that type of scent, I just don't wear perfume that day. This would be a good one for the girl though. A better Love's Baby Soft type smell.