The Deserted Village

[Blood onmy hands]

Where wealth accumulates and men decay. A scent of opulence, luxury, depredation, and dissolusion: velvety orris root and glittering bergamot, ambergris, red currant, honey, and neroli, with red oakmoss, patchouli, labdanum, and black musk.

In the bottle, this smells like intensely salty ocean spray with a tart, sour, citrussy vibe from the red currant & bergamot. It made me recoil when I first smelled it, because it has such a sour edge.

Thankfully, The Village calms down almost instantly on my skin into a soft, cologney smell. It smells like a musk + woods men's cologne with a hint of sweet citrus. It reminds me a bit of The Sea Rat, but not as good. The muskiness here is very soft & comforting - a fuzzy, cozy scent.

As this dries down, this fades really fast on me, and starts to smell like dust. It's unbearably dry and smells like getting a nose full of dust as you're cleaning off the top of a neglected wooden cabinet.

This one won't be a keeper for me, though it isn't bad for the first fifteen minutes or so on my skin.

[crebbsgirl]

First I get a lot of neroli, currant and labdanum. As this dries, the patchouli and musk and honey come out and really bring a sweet earthy depth. I LOVE this!!! I'm so happy I didn't pass on it. This is a really comforting blend, a natural scent, and interesting to boot! I can see this one getting a lot of wear.

[LunaClaire]

First off - I love chypre scents, so I sensed ( ) that the Deserted Village would be my favorite Irish Bard scent. I wasn't disappointed. The scent is primarily red currant & honey; grounded by the labdanum & ambergris. It's a bit earthy, a bit dry, which only serves to ground the sweetness. I wish I could smell the bergamot a bit more, but the I'm loving this scent just the way it is. It's sexy, sophisticated, sweet & tart - just love it! A bottle is in order!!

 

Excuse me while I go back to sniffing my arm...

[yeahbutnobut]

The Deserted Village

 

In the imp: this reminds me of something…Jacob’s Ladder maybe? It’s golden ambergris and bergamot/neroli.

Wet on skin: sharp neroli and bergamot with currant and a resinous-earthy background.

Dry on skin: I like this a lot. It reminds me of elements of Anactoria, Luperci and the Masque. It’s now very currant-y, and this is a tart crisp currant, not so much a sweet musky one. I think the citrus notes give it an edge. Underneath it is the ambergris, golden and slightly perfumey, then there are the powdery notes of oakmoss and orris, and underneath, the grounded notes of patchouli and either musk or labdanum. This is earthy yet glittery and very layered. Quite fascinating and very appealing.

After a while: this turns a bit weird after a while. I was expecting the ambergris, labdanum, musk and currant to do something wonderful like they did in Melainis, but instead this goes a little sour and flat? There’s a strange metallic scent to it like worn coins, the scent of money and the lining of an old purse. The currant, which I thought could do no wrong, has gone sour in here, and it’s not doing the sweet rich musky-resinous thing I was expecting. It’s as though the glitter has faded.

The scent becomes dirty and one dimensional on me and then fades very fast.

Verdict: this one started out with so much potential, but sadly went flat and dull on me. I loved the just dry stage when it was a wonderful earthy and golden mix of currant, neroli, patchouli, moss, musk and ambergris. It was complex and intriguing and resinous and dark, intriguing and with a lot of layers. But as the scent developed, it lost its sparkle. I don’t know what went wrong but the scent went from that stunning earthy-golden-fruity scent into a muddled and muddy mess, and I felt a little let down by that. a bit sour, without the complexity from before, I found it to be rather lacklustre. Though it does seem to fit the theme quite nicely, I just wish it had retained the glorious scent of the first stage.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? no.

If you like this, try: Man with Phallus Head, Greed, Luperci, Anactoria, The Masque

[gingiemay]

This is definitely a soft, velvety scent. The patchouli is light and merely strengthens the overall symphony of notes happening, but it isn't WHOAGOSH PATCHOULI like some other blends I have. I don't get the fruity vibe others have been getting, but there is a sweet tinge to the scent on my skin. Mostly I get the orris, ambergris, laubdanam and neroli. This is very well blended and it is hard to pick out specific notes. Very pretty but could be gender neutral as well.

[Invidiana]

I would have to put this one on the pedestal as my favorite of the Bards of Irleand series. If you have a thing for bottled decadence like I do, you *must* give it a try. It's the memory of gilded opulence, velvety luxury with plates of sticky, delectable desserts (thank you honey and redcurrant!) lingering around a desolate, windblown place whose splintering buildings have been all but abandoned. The patchouli, labdanum and black musk really make for a lovely dark shadow over the Deserted Village.

[tinyvulture]

This is the first Bards of Ireland scent I’ve tried. It makes me want to try them all. On first sniff, I sighed, “Aah, ambergris!” So soft and warm, and when it’s combined with honey…oh my god, it’s heaven. Luxurious and rich. I am so surprised that the citrus of the bergamot and neroli isn’t overpowering as usual. In fact, I’m not even noticing it. Same goes for the other notes that usually make me say, “hmm, can I wear this?” – orris root and oakmoss. They’re blissfully absent, and I’m floating on a little cloud of ambergris, honey, and a little black musk – just lovely.

[Lirion]

In the bottle I get a light airy honey.

Wet, whoah, honey! A very rich honey and while wet that's all I get.

As it dries an almost herbal note comes out, I assume it's the oakmoss. The neroli also comes out a bit.

This stage is very light on my skin,a nd not altogether pleasant with my skin chemistry. I think it's the neroli that's smelling slightly rotten on me alas.

Dry a couple of hours after applying I am left with honey, a tiny hint of red currant and some musk.

 

I am unsure about this blend. I will try it agian in a few days.

I like the honey, but I have other honey blends, and the inbetween stage isn't great on me.

Edited January 3, 2010 by Lirion

[filigree_shadow]

When the Bards came out, I wasn't sufficiently interested in any of them to hunt down a decant circle in order to try several of them, but I had my eye on this one. Generally anything with the patchouli note is going to spark my interest because I usually like BPAL's patchouli. (Except not the red patchouli. That one is not my friend.) I finally got a decant of it just this week!

 

I got a nice patchouli-oakmoss scent when I first put it on. Oakmoss isn't a note I generally seek out, but I definitely like it in combination with a couple of other notes, and patchouli is one of them. I like them together. The orris root gives it a nice dry overtone without being overtly floral, and although bergamot and neroli are pretty bright notes, they're not turning this into a bright/sweet scent. It stays warm, dry, and a bit earthy. Every once in a while I get whiffs of sweet currant, but the overall scent seems to be mainly coming from oakmoss, musk, patch, etc. -- the darker notes.

 

I definitely like this. My only issue is that I already have a bunch of BPAL patchouli scents, and I'm not sure where this one fits in on the do-I-need-a-bottle scale. I'll have to do some side-by-side testing. Mmm, that sounds like fun.

[edenssixthday]

The Deserted Village - Oh lordy, this is gorgeous! It's such an incredibly smooth, dark and musky resin. It's got a hint of bitter labdanum, loads of deliciously warm ambergris and oakmoss, is texturized by the patchouli, and smoothed over with the velvety black musk. The orris gives is the most delightful hint of powdery earthiness. On me, the red currant, honey, bergamot, and neroli are not discernible at all, outside of the general feeling of herbal sweetness they lend to the blend. This is really stunning and I can't believe I waited so long to try it.