Garden of Death

[Ah Xia]

GARDEN OF DEATH
Garden of Death, Hugo Simberg.
A harvest of plants that symbolize death in myriad cultures: belladonna accord, iris petals, red poppy, acanthus, manioc, parsley, yam, urd bean, chrysanthemum, acacia, and cypress wood rooted in dark, rich loam.

Beautiful, grassy green with almost a fruity-floral candy-like edge. Pomegranate is not a note, but it reminds me a bit of a greener Swank. It's very vibrant and *alive* and not herbal/dirty/harsh at all. I would probably wear this quite a bit in spring and summer.

[AmyO'Shields]

Green peppers? Hmmm...the dry down is actually really pretty - a bright gardeny smell - but oh the green peppers in the beginning!

[Dark Alice]

I can see where the previous poster got green peppers. This smells like I walked into a garden with green green grass, different flowers, fresh spices while cutting up a green pepper. It's lovely, but not quite for me.

[tajana]

I didn't even read this review thread, but independently wrote down in my notes, "green bell peppers?!" After the perplexing, crisp-watery bell peppers fade back, this goes to a softer scent that's more traditionally perfumey but still reminiscent of gardening - light grassy flowers, just slightly sweet, anchored with a bit of a soft, slightly wet dirt scent. Ultimately dries down into a generic, slightly powdery scent on me.

[porcelina]

i love garden of death- it is exactly what i wanted it to be, a truly green scent reminiscent of a garden without being sweet and floral. it's a grassy, herbal, vegetabley green- it is surprisingly alive, for a scent called "garden of death!" i don't really get the bell pepper note that other reviewers have noted (thank god, because i hate those things).

[Antoinette]

In the vial this is all green peppers to me, so it was with a little bit of trepidation that I put it on. Glad I did though, because this is quite nice. It starts off smelling just like working in a garden of rich soil and abundant green veggie plants. As it dries I end up with a very clean sort of smell, which is in juxtaposition with the dirt smell. It's got a clean dirt and plants vibe and is genuinely pleasant.

 

This Garden of Death is very much alive.

Edited November 4, 2011 by Antoinette

[Ghost of a Rose]

My imp is a decant from schackjj, The Goddess of Decanters (to borrow a quote from another participant in our decant circle.)

 

In the imp: Oil is clear and colorless. The scent is a beautiful, complex, floral, with a green herbal backdrop to it (the green pepper.) I have no idea what several of the things listed smell like, so this should be very interesting!

 

On me, wet: Florals and wood with a somewhat starchy, foody, sweetness (perhaps the yam and bean?), and an undertone of rich, healthy soil. It's a green, fresh, kind of scent. And there's an almost aquatic note to it, but not the sharp astringent kind. This is sweeter, gentler, more feminine. I'm guessing that's another aspect of the green pepper. This is gorgeous and sophisticated. I'm really loving it.

 

After 15 minutes: Now pretty much all fresh-cut flowers including the herbal greenery of their stems. But if I try really hard, I can still get the subtle nuance of the foody sweetness. It's impossible to describe. The note isn't super foody, not like vanilla or fruits or nuts. It's very subtle. Like cooked yams, before you put all the other stuff on top. It makes sense.

 

After 30 minutes: The florals are strongest, with the foody sweetness coming in second. The herbal green note is much less noticeable.

 

After 1 hour: Same as above, except that now there is an undertone of spiciness (the crysanthemum?) and the whole fragrance is fairly faint.

 

After 2 hours: Mostly florals and earth, but faint. The spiciness is gone.

 

After 3 hours: Almost completely gone.

 

Verdict: Beautiful, but not long lasting. Wear some in a scent locket as well as on the skin.

 

My rating: 5 stars

 

(Later ETA)

After 15 hours in the perfume locket: The rich, dark, loam is strongest, and gives the fragrance a feeling of coolness. Then florals, and the sweet starchy foody note. There is a bit of herbal greenness, but it doesn't smell like green peppers now. All of this is backed up by a subtle undertone of cypress. It is a cool, complex, floral. It is somewhat elegant, but the earth note keeps it from being actually formal.

Edited November 10, 2011 by Ghost of a Rose

[Blood onmy hands]

I was excited for the green peppers and dirt that others have mentioned, but I don't get a strong vegetable scent from this. There's an undertone of watery greenery, but it doesn't make me think of vegetable gardens, sadly. I get watery green, black potting soil, and a bit of a sharp, perfumey floral from the iris and poppy. After an hour, it has faded a lot into a perfumey-clean smell with a hint of dirt. There are vegetable scents (Planting Moon & Hagsgate) and floral & dirt scents (The Premature Burial <3) that I much prefer over this one.

[Jammies]

Oh, wow, I adore this scent--it's a really dark, rich, well-blended green scent. On me, it's more forest than garden, a forest full of trees in full leaf, a few shy blossoms near the ground, and a sharpness from autumn chill.

[edenssixthday]

Garden of Death - When first applied, this is the scent of walking into a greenhouse that's full of leafy vegetables. It's not the scent of the veggies themselves, but the scent of clean, damp, black soil and tons and tons of leafy greenery. The parsley is probably the strongest note on my skin, next to the scent of dirt. As it dries down on my skin, I smell the soft, slightly powdery and slightly bitter iris, and other unidentifiable florals. It turns from something shockingly green and earthy to a very pretty floral scent with a hint of earth and greenery behind it. It really surprised me how nicely this turned out after the bright, crisp, green opening. It's still not something I'd probably ever choose to wear over my favorite pretty scents, but it's highly evocative, and a really neat scent to experience. P.S. I don't smell green peppers at all.

[zankoku_zen]

Leafy greenness gives way to green peppers and dirt with a hint of poppy and iris.

 

Fun, feminine, mysterious.

[milo]

Wet, very bitter greens. Dry, a soft green grassy smell, with a few floral weeds thrown in. This fades super fast on me, and it wasn't really my thing anyways.

[ami226]

On the skin: Green and leafy. Smells like a green garden! Not getting blossoms of any kind. Smells like the sap from green plants that I used to find on the playground.

 

Not for me, but a really good garden scent!

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Bitter loam and herbal plants. Is there rue in this?

 

Wet: The soil is wetter and fresher now, and the plants are green and growing. Well-blended, as no particular plant note jumps out.

 

The dry-down: As this goes along, it's a little bit fresher and greener. I could see wearing this in the springtime. It's rather a nice garden, after all; in fact I think of it as a garden of life.

[mymymai]

ITB: Whoo! That's very green. It's like freshly cut grass and the bitter scent of broken poppy stems.

 

Wet: It's really bitter in its greenness. I can discern the parsley, acanthus, belladonna, spicy chrysanthemum and the sweetly floral iris. The jury is still out on this one.

 

Dry: It's a bit more floral from the iris and mellow from the manioc, although the belladonna and acanthus are still just as present. There is a little loam tone to this, but not much. This is much prettier once dried, although if you love really green scents, give this a try.

[Coldfire]

Decant: sharp herbs
Wet on Me: sharp sharp herbs stomping over floral
Drying Down: this mellows and fades fairly quickly. a faint sweetness in the background if you inhale really deep.
Dry: sweet almost powdery chrysanthemum. Not bad. Probably Rehome