Brood XIX

[yakiguri]

Tree sap, hay, almond blossoms, moss, hemp, corn stalks, acorn, sweet amber, and rice milk.

Oddly enough, Brood XIX comes off on me like spiced tea with almond milk, a regular drink of mine. I imagine this scent would just get better with age, softening the harsh bits (I'm assuming to be the corn stalks and acorn) and warming up the rice milk, almond blossom, hay, and amber. If my skin didn't chug the scent down like I chug the aforementioned tea, I'd buy a bottle without hesitation. As it disappears within 2 hours I'll have to try this a few more times before it goes down before I make a final decision.

EDIT: Added Lab's description.

EDIT2: Retried it wet and the harsh note I get later is the tree sap, not the corn stalks. The more I sniff, the more Brood XIX reminds me of a creamier, softer Gypsy.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: So well blended that it's difficult to identify single notes. A milky feeling is coming from the tree sap, the corn stalks, and the rice milk.

 

Wet: The almond blossom jumps out. Oh dear.

 

The dry-down: In the end, this becomes a grassy, milky scent. A nice and pleasant scent for the long hot days of summer still left to us.

[Ashmedai]

Heavy and sweet with a lot of grainy notes from acorn and corn, sweetened by what I'm guessing is tree sap and softened by creamy rice milk. I also smell a smoky, earthy note in this that reminds me of vetiver, and as it dries there's the burlap-bag note of hemp underneath the sweet, nutty-grainy creaminess. The predominant note is acorn and brings to mind white, sweet nut meat. Dried down, there's just a breath of something floral that I take to be the almond blossom, but it's a warm, nutty porridge-like scent overall, very unique, and I'm thinking this is going to age beautifully until winter, where it'd be a real comfort scent when it's cold outside. Nothing I'd wear as a scent, more like a sniff-curled-up-on-the-couch-while-reading kind of deal. Reminds me a lot of Sleipnir without the carrots.

[PumpkinGuts]

Hmm, this was a lot sweeter than I expected. It reminded me a lot of Halfling.

Wet, it's what I imagine eating sugared porridge in a barn would smell like. I get hay, sweet oats, and a little spice. It becomes spicier as it dries. A very appropriate scent for the late summer into early fall.

[halation]

For the first twenty minutes or so after application, all I can smell is banana smoothie. It's baffling to me... but oddly compelling. This could be the rice milk, but it's not something I've experienced in other rice milk blends. Somehow the creaminess and the greenness of the tree sap read as banana to my nose.

 

As it begins to dry down it has a strong green acrid bite, which hits me in the back of the throat. Almost medicinal, but not at all unpleasant. Very much indeed like tree sap, but not particularly herbal or vegetative. Just... green.

 

Dry, it's creamy and soothing and warm. A warm and sun-drenched field, fragrant in the noon heat. The almond blossom adds sweetness without being floral, which is pleasing to me. The amber never does go powdery, and the scent stays true on my skin for about five hours with no morphing and limited fading.

 

An evocative and wonderfully comforting scent, unlike anything else I've tried. It really does smell like a golden late-summer afternoon.

[boxinghelena]

I ordered Brood XIX even though it was more than likely that it wouldn't work on me. The reason... cicadas. Everyone that knows me, knows how much I loathe summer BUT I love the sound of cicadas in the summer. I've lived on the East Coast my entire life & the sound of cicadas during the heat of summer is actually soothing to me. I have always loved this sound. It brings back VA summer nights sitting in a field with my sisters staring up at the stars comforted by sounds of the ever present cicadas.

 

Anyway, this started out like strong hay/hemp & morphed into resinous sweetness as others have mentioned. I don't know if I would seek this out often but I'm glad I have a bottle.

~

Edited September 21, 2011 by boxinghelena

[cuervosueno]

I got a decant of this, and couldnt' honestly remember what was in it, but it was an odd combo of a scent: grains and sap that was almost like pine resin. Alternately soft and warm and sharp and green. I couldn't decide what I thought

 

But then it turns. the dry down on this goes straight to powder. It's a nice enough powder, more incense ash than baby powder, but it is still very powdery.

 

Don't need more of this.

[Babypopje]

People, please be gentle, this is my first review!

Oh golly I am so excited!

 

I am so glad to do this, because I couldn't smell ANYTHING in the past half week.

 

In the bottle: It smells green, tree-like, mostly, with a shot of rice milk.

Wet: Something sharp sticks its head up. I blame the tree sap for it. Also, quickly after it, a lot of almond!

Drydown: the hay, tree sap and moss stay on the foreground. But it isn't sharp anymore, they are nice, late summery and mellow. Some almond blossoms fly around, when standing around on a field, filled with trees and corn stalks, eating a bowl of milk rice stuff. It's also pretty strong, and boy, I like it!

 

(I will be editing this later this evening how the next stages are).

 

This scent reminds me of the rice in a Haus of Gloi whipped soap, called Mango Sticky Rice (or at least, something like that). I loved it, until it died, and now I hunt it forever..

I LOVE RICE MILK SCENTS! Aaaaah!

[Teaotter]

in the bottle: milky and grainy, almost like oatmeal.

 

Wet: a blast of creamed corn, followed by fresh soy milk.

 

Drydown: It splits into two levels during the drydown: A warm creamy softly spiced tone, and something thinner and greener. There is definitely something about the second smell that reminds me of fresh soymilk -- kind of green and bean-smelling.

 

Dry: It settles down eventually into a single warm, sweet smell. It is definitely still a warm, creamy liquid, but I can't pick out whether it's a grainy drink or a nutty one. But it's comforting and mildly vegetative, with just the faintest hint of something almost like marshmallow in the distance.

 

ETA; In the late drydown, the amber starts to powder and amps over the rest, but it still works for me.

Edited May 12, 2012 by TeaOtter

[The Planet Queen]

In the bottle: almond and hay

Wet: almond blossoms and rice milk are in front with hay splaying behind it. It's sweet but not overwhelming.

Dry down / Dry: it doesn't change very much it just becomes softer and it's as if you are out in a field on a warm summer day and the sun is beating down on the hay that has just been bailed. I really like it. It's a good oil to wear in summer weather . I think it would also work in the fall as the last of the harvest is gathered .

[jkfagtongpun]

On wet I definitely get hay and acorns, really strongly.

 

As it dries it becomes more rice milk, almond blossom and corn stalks. To me it smells of a sweet, warm breakfast.

 

I didn't think I'd like it but I love it. It's a warm comforting smell that reminds me of summer in the countryside. Though it reminds me of summer smells I think it'll be a fall scent for me - yay! It'll be the perfectly warm and sunny antidote to dreary, wet winters!

[Ordo_ad_Chao]

This smells like home to me.

 

I'm from Southwest Kansas originally, and this smells like the first day of the wheat harvest.

 

Mostly a field of sun-warmed, golden heads swaying in the breeze, warm grass and the slight nuttiness of wheatberries in their heads.

It has a hint of sharpness like right at the spot where it's being cut down and the scent of xylem, phloem, and chlorophyll is coming from the fresh-cut stalks. And yes, it does actually have a hint of cicada buzzing in the sun, I swear.

 

I can almost feel the rumble of the tractor going through the field, and the itch of climbing in the trailer full of fresh cut grain and getting covered with chaff, and the taste of fresh wheat berry gum, just smelling this.

 

It's not something I'd wear normally as a perfume, but is amazingly evocative- and now I'm feeling homesick. I may have to be careful with this!

 

*eta: on later drydown- about 3 hours later- this is a second skin scent. It no longer smells like I'm wearing a field, but like I took a nap in a pile of hay and have just a hint of it still lingering on me. Very nice!

Edited October 5, 2012 by Ordo_ad_Chao

[White_rabbit334]

In the bottle: I don't know if I can detect the corn, but I'm definitely aware of the hemp---it's almost a green note, but I would call it more of a green-brown, not emerald. This might also be accented by the tree sap and the mosses, neither of which I'm entirely familiar with. The acorn gives it a mealy nuttiness that reminds me of when Bob, my oak tree, starts dropping them all over the front walkway, only for some to be inevitably crushed under foot. The hay is strong and sweet, what I would have hoped for from Hay Moon, but on second sniff that sweetness is probably coming from the rice milk. Good sweet gods, the rice milk notes are sending my head in a whirl (in a really good way!)

 

On the skin: The rice milk and almond blossoms predominate, but behind them there is a strong presence of hemp, acorn and tree sap. It's not exactly sharp, but it's not smooth, either; those green-brown notes grab your attention, and the sweeter, milky notes draw you in to stay. Mmmmmm. I need to get myself *quite* a few bottles of this, especially if it wears well! I can't imagine that it could turn weird on me, but there's always that chance...

 

20 minutes later: The green smell isn't so cloying anymore; the hay is coming out in full force with the rice milk and acorn---but the acorn isn't as... mealy? as it smelled before, it's almost like a smooth hazelnut tone. It could be my nose playing tricks on me, but it reminds me a great deal of that. I could see that if you're sensitive to smells this could be cloying in large amounts; best to go gently with it if you're in that group! The throw on this thing is ridiculous, Olympian even. This scent apparently leads a double life as a pitcher for the big leagues somewhere. Maybe multiple places. It's mysterious like that. I agree it smells like oatmeal porridge to a point, but it still has mossy tones lurking in the background. The moss isn't demanding, but it fleshes out the scent amazingly well.

 

1 hour later: Is... that spice? I don't think I saw any spice in the notes here, but it's starting to go slightly cinnamon-nutmeg on me; I won't argue. The acorn is still strong, but I was secretly hoping I would be the type to amp it (hooraaaay!!!). I don't broadcast it as strongly as I tend to with say, rose or sandalwood, but it's strong enough that it held its own. Thank goodness! Amber is evident; maybe that's the spice I noticed. It must be, I can't imagine where else it could come from, and on second thought amber *does* tend to get spicy over powdery for me. Thank the good gods! I still haven't noted any corn notes throughout the entire thing; this was *very* well blended. I imagine it's lurking back with the mosses, keeping company and providing proper support to the main characters. The rice milk, hay and amber make this just so incredibly sweet (as does my skin <3 ), and I seriously want to curl into this scent as deeply as possible. For being an hour later, the throw is still pretty strong, but it isn't as overwhelming as it was after the initial application.

 

I should add that the sweetness increased all day yesterday, and was still very noticeable this morning when I woke up! It's milk and meadows and amber-scented now, with hints of hazelnut-acorn and even a touch of smokiness. It must be the blend of the acorn and amber, carefully playing off one another; I realized I smelled like an oatmeal cookie! After reapplying, the green grassy/mossy and the sharp acorn notes subsided VERY quickly, and just revitalized the sweetness and sweet meadow notes. Good gods, this is perhaps one of my most favorite scents...! I know it's meant for summer, and I suppose I could see that, but to me it's much more autumn and winter. I worry that with the damp summer heat Western PA is known for, the strong throw that was there at the beginning would become overwhelming. Admittedly, this is not necessarily the best thing to wear if you're trying to avoid a hangover either. I didn't realize how sensitive to smells I could be after a night of silliness. x_x

 

All that aside, I need to stock up on at least 10 bottles of this. Body chemistry be willing, I would wear this for decades to come.

[Missy_killer]

To my nose: Wat? Popcorn and salad. Warm, newly popped popcorn sprinkled in someone's fresh green salad. It's such an odd combination.

On: Popcorn is the first thing that jumps towards me, and then there's something sweet and green underneath. This is quite far away from my normal scent choices. After a few minutes some spices come out to play. Popcorn, greenish sweetness and spices.

I completely forgot that I was testing, and it has changed since I last sniffed it two hours ago. The popcorn went away, and so did thankfully the salad. Only thing I know I can smell is amber and some distant spices. I don't know if I'll keep the decant or not. I won't need a bottle of it though.

Edited June 10, 2015 by Missy_killer

[vanilla323]

Sadly this scent was all hay and corn on me! BPALs' hay note is very strong and I amp it. I couldn't smell any of the other notes really. It was not good on me unfortunately. It did last a while on me and maybe after it faded/dried down there was a light milky note mixed with the hay and corn. Sorry little cicada we do not get along.

[filigree_shadow]

From the notes, I expected this one to smell very planty, or at least like hay or a field or something. I don't usually like that kind of scent, so I wasn't very interested in this but decided to try it anyway. It doesn't smell like I thought at all.

 

Sweet rice milk, almond blossoms, and the whole thing smells dry but smooth. It's quite intriguing. I like it a lot, and I didn't expect to.

[Naomi Kelsey]

This is an unusual scent, and one that takes some getting used to. The hemp note is the one that amps for me--a rough edged green blend with a slightly sweet herbal note. I love hay, almond, and nutty/milky blends and most BPAL scents tend to dry down to a creamy, slightly musky blend on me, but this one retains the dry, sweet young wood notes (like excelsior, a packing material made of wood shavings). This scent seems to bring up very specific associations for me---a warm, sunny barn loft with old wood tools and lots of hay with a field of fresh clover grass outside. Lovely. I don't often bring this into rotation, because it doesn't "go" with my mood very often, but it's a beauty.