Carlin

[zankoku_zen]

Black sage, ivy-twined rowan, thistle, snapdragon, heather, gorse, fumitory, and anise.

I kinda enjoy this - in the same way I enjoy Host of Air. Whereas HoA is a fresh, green spring, Carlin is much more of autumn in it, darker, cooler, less bright. This goes a little soapy on me.

Unfortunately, I still prefer HoA. Edited October 19, 2009 by Shollin

[Aldercy]

zankoku_zen, I agree entirely about Carlin being a darker, bleaker version of Host of the Air. That's the first thing I thought of. It's a green heather smell, but a little grittier.

 

I get the sage, ivy and heather for sure, and there's something kind of fuzzy and smoky in the background. The anise comes out a tiny, tiny bit as it dries, and it's a twisty, woodland smell, not glossy, bright black licorice like it sometimes is. Carlin is herbaceous, cool and witchy.

 

I like it a lot, and if I didn't already have Host of the Air, I would certainly buy a 5ml.

 

 

[aquazoo]

Starts with a generous helping of soap. Thnkfully it improves. It's a dusty woody scent, that herbal sage is in there. Lots of leaves.

 

[Bluestocking]

In the bottle: Very well blended and very green. It has a certain sort of airy, floral quality that is very strongly similar to The Host of the Air (I think it's the heather and possibly the snapdragons creating that effect), but with a definite darker, colder edge. It's difficult to tell where one green element begins and another ends, but the black sage is a standout, and something else adds a peppery undertone. I don't get much of anything from the anise, but that's not a disappointment.

On, wet: Darker, greener, less sweet and floral. The rowan and sage are strongest now, but they're still backed by the sweeter, lighter florals, which is keeping this from going entirely dark. It's pretty but in a wild, free way.

On, dry: Much softer and somewhat sweeter, though still in a very natural, green way. I get a lot more of the floral notes here, and they do have that airy aspect from Host of the Air, though the anise is giving them a different spin. The sage and rowan remain just beneath, adding some darker bite and keeping the florals from getting too airy.

Later: Mostly heather and the other florals. The strong green streak is nearly gone, but it's still very pretty, and the throw remains very decent.

Overall: I was hoping to find a darker, cold-weather counterpart to the Host of the Air, and this is pretty much exactly that. It isn't identical to HotA, but if you loved the "airy" quality of that one, I think the chances are good that you'll like Carlin as much as I do. (Conversely, if you were one of those who thought that HotA smelled like fabric softener, Carlin is probably not for you, either.) The rowan stands out most when it's wet; it has a very deep green, almost spicy, peppery feel then, but it dries down to light, soft, beautiful florals with an undercurrent of that same green. It's feminine, but not fussy or even particularly domestic; it makes me think of naked tree limbs and rambling fields and a chill in the air.

 

[Lamia]

I thought that there was some sort of pine in here when I initally applied it, but no. The floral is fairly potent, which is not a bad thing, particularly with the spikey comonpents arguing for primacy.

 

The florals remind me of my grandmother (not a bad thing), and it's a pleasant scent, but the combination of the ingredients are making me uncomfortable - it's reminding me of somthing unpleasant and I don't think I will be able to keep from washing this off.

 

It's really very nice, just not for me.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I received an empty bottle from my decant circle with just enough in it to test. Carlin starts out green and fresh, with a lovely hint of heather, but goes quite soapy on me and fades quickly. I'm glad I have the bottle with the pretty witch logo, but I don't mind not having much of this, as there are other "green" scents I prefer.

[MeiLin]

In the imp: Cologne, a little spicy, but not distinguished.

 

Wet: A snapped-stem green, wet. As it develops, it goes through a sweet phase, the snapdragon and heather, I think.

 

Dry: The sweetness fades, and one is left with a dry green. Gone after four hours.

 

Verdict: Eh.

[Schmoozy]

 

Heathery and herbal. I detect sage right at the beginning. It feels fresh, and green, but there's sweetness to it as well. Upon drydown anise really starts to poke through, lending a spicy licorice type note that really amps the green.

[rayvn1]

Manly and a little soapy with a fleeting hint of some kind of sweet nature element. Carlin is a good one in my book! Can't wait to try it on DH. This guy isn't going anywhere!

[Wwindy]

I thought I would really like this, but it goes both soapy and a little plasticky on me. I'm still hunting for my perfect green BPAL, it seems!

 

ETA: Scratch that! I don't know if it was aging or a skin chemistry change (I'm inclined towards the latter for various reasons), but... Carlin is now exactly the deep leafy green scent I was hoping it would be. I really like that it's *just* greenery and nothing extraneous -- it's not grassy, not floral, just that rich, lovely greenery. Beautiful.

Edited June 25, 2011 by Wwindy

[Invidiana]

A dark, sinister thicket full of gnarly rogue things entwintining themselves around the tree trunks. Though evergreen isn't listed in the notes, it's probably the combination of a few or all of the actual notes that gives it an evergreen-y feel, making Carlin great straight through the holdiay season (not like I care, becasue I wish it was Halloween every day). The anise--anise of which does wonderful things on my skin--isn't too prominent but gives it just a tad of sweetness to keep it from crossing over into hyper-masculine territory. This is my type of green scent, not a fresh-cut grass green but a deep, dark blackened green. If I could describe it in three words it would be...evil Christmas tree!

Edited November 8, 2009 by Invidiana

[Coldfire]

 

 

Decant: Green. A greenhouse with fresh dirt

Wet On Me: I get the thistle, snapdragon and heather along with the ivy.

Drying Down: soap. I'm getting soap and all the other stuff.

Dry: Green Deep woods Soap. Nice. something I might want to wear while walking through a forest.

[DigitalCoyote]

*sighs* I guess I'm an odd duck.

For the first ten minutes or so--when the smell is so fresh it's overpowering--this was a sweet scent on me. Herby and green, just barely flowery if there's any floral at all.

After the dry down, it was very masculine and dark. I'm not entirely sure what commercial cologne it reminded me of, but it seemed like it could have be a member of the Drakkar family--albeit once or twice removed--or something else really masculine and common. It'll come to me eventually.

It's not that I find the scent unpleasant--I think it's nice and the manly guinea pig (MGP) gave it his usual non-committal "eh"--but I think I would like it more on a man if it smelled the way it does on me.

[fairnymph]

Light golden oil. Green, herbal, spicy! A little dark and a little grassy, too. Reminds me a bit of Garden Path with Chickens - similar type of nasturtium-spiciness. The anise and sage are faint and the thistle and heather are what stand out to me - I'm not familiar with the other notes.

 

Spicier, grassier, more vibrant. Very fresh and garden-y and outdoorsy. Still a little herbal/medicinal but less so than it was in the bottle. Maybe a touch of a soapy sort of floral, I'm guessing the snapdragon? The heather note here is really lovely, just like the one in Glasgow. Definitely a unisex blend at this point.

 

Actually...now this is reminding me sort of the Host of the Air. Still very spicy-green, grassy and fresh with that slightly soapy (but pleasantly) floral note, a little bitter and darker from the ivy that's emerged. Overall faded a bit, alas, but that fading seems to have taken away the slight harshness of the wet stage.

 

Not a morpher after initial drying, other than going a bit musky and woody - it's a deeper, rounder scent after a couple hours, and more cologney, more masculine. Well balanced fresh, green, grassy scent with those floral and spicy hints holding - clean and classic, if somewhat generic. I like it, but it's a tad too masculine and maybe a wee bit too soapy. Lower throw but great longevity.

[themerrybaker]

The only thing that makes hot, humid, weather tolerable for me is the way plants thrive and display every shade of green. Carlin is an "every shade of green" scent. The sage helps to keep the blend dry instead of sticky and sappy. This scent is a fine evocation of the border between spring/summer growing deciduous plants and autumn/winter evergreens.

[mxtine]

Dried grass/herbs, like the dried floral section of a craft store. Smells nice, but not for me.

Swaps pile..

[cupcakegernade]

I have had this since its release, but have yet to do a review for it, oops.

 

In the bottle: This is real strong. I mainly get wet and soapy dead leaves and something reminiscent of dirt. This is very unpleasant.

 

Wet on skin: The floral in this are quite strong and smell dry and dusty. It still smells of wet leaves, but the soapiness is no longer there. At this point, I am still not convinced about this scent. There is a smokey tone in the background, black sage I am guessing.

 

Dry down: This softens up quite a bit due to the thistle and heather, and smell of dried up flowers in the garden, surrounded by dead leaves. A slightly honeyed sweetness begins to emerge, this must be the snapdragon. The ivy also makes an appearance at this stage. This is quite nice.

 

Overall: I am still not quite certain how I feel about this scent. I do not care for its wet stages, but can't decide if the end result is nice enough to justify it.

[Lethran]

In bottle: Pleasantly crushed greenery in tone. I don’t know most of these notes to tell which thing does what, but it’s right up my alley. It is very faintly floral, but not in a conventional or off-putting way. Wet: Medium green, a touch less crushed, as if some of the plants are now reading as fresh. The floral is so understated as to be nearly undetectable. The anise is more ghost than substance. Nice, very nice. There are both heavier and lighter scents in my crushed greenery collection. This fills a hole I didn’t even know I had. It’s very bright and fresh, with lovely definition between notes. Dry: A touch powdery and drier sheet like and very slightly feminine on the dry down, mostly because the florals come out a bit more. It retains it’s richness however. It’s more a matter of the balance shifting within the scent than a radical change.

[tinyvulture]

This is a really "me" scent. Makes me think of curling up with a book after a walk in the chilly rain. A very romantic, poetic, dark green scent. Sage, heather, ivy, rowan, thistle...even the list of notes sounds poetic. I don't pick up any anise, just a tangle of green notes, a breath of nature.

[nathanielhebert]

I’m intrigued by the “hag” blends that pop up every so often. Carlin reminds me of a dark, overgrown forest thicket, very green and vegetal, and it goes on rather bitter with only a hint of anise. As it dries down, it starts smelling slightly floral, though it still feels swathed in deep green and brown tones. My overall impression is that this falls somewhere between Scarecrow and Black Annis.

[Casablanca]

Despite my lack of familiarity with most of these notes, I picked up this old bottle on a hunch of goodness, and I'm glad I did.

It smells grey-green and grey-brown to me, with some light purple flowers that open in wispy blooms on my skin after a couple minutes. This smells like dried purple flowers hung from the beams of a wood-and-straw hut, and lichen on an old-growth tree. This smells like a scent that rustles crisply but softly with botanical age.

I smell the sage and wood, and a soft, leafy green, but the dried flowers are stronger on my skin through the life of the scent. The scent is mostly gone after a mere hour and a half, though, so this is probably one for frequent reapplication.