Dead Leaves, Frankincense, and Copal

[claudia6913]

This blend has less of the dead leaf note, though it's there in the background. Copal is the strongest note with frankincense backing it up. It has that scent of like ... beach shops. It's what I remember the shops along Hilton Head, SC smelling like. Which I assume is the copal. Very woody and dry.

[Jennifurious]

I like this a lot. A LOT. It smells golden, like the actual color gold. I get a goodly amount of leaves and they aren't cologne-y or nose tickling. They are dry, dry yellow leaves and the copal is like sunlight hitting them. I find copal to be so lovely and hard to describe. I was worried that the frankincense would dominate this blend (I think it is myrrh that actually runs amok on me since the two are like peas and carrots *Forrest Gump voice*) but it takes a backseat here and does this FABULOUS fir-like thing on the drydown. So for me this is like a walk in the woods on the last sunny day of Autumn. The crunch of leaves. A hint of something that could be faraway smoke but better. And pine needles underfoot. Very evocative of the season.

[stellamaris]

I love this because all though there is leaf, there is less leaf, more Other Stuff. Very delicious...

[savage_rose]

Possibly my favorite of the Dead Leaves--they are perfectly balanced with the frankincense and copal so there's a sweet, smoky, incensey quality that pairs so beautifully with the leaf smell. Love!

[tziporra]

I just love the sweet dusty copal note of the lab, and it's especially lovely here with the sharp frankincense and, of course, dead leaves. It's a little cologney but in a very very good way. Spicy, snuggly, resin-y just yum. Managed to snag a partial bottle and am very happy I did.

 

Tzi

[patina]

I don't understand this one. In the imp it was horrible, pungent and off-putting with scratchy leaves and paint-thinner frankincense. On my left arm, the drydown was absolutely beautiful, like sunlight on yellow leaves. The copal seems to make the whole thing sparkle and the leaves smell like soft sun-bleached cedar. This was so gorgeous I went to sleep with a drop at my neck- and woke up hours later being bothered by the scratchy leaves. So, the drydown does not always work?

[torikitty]

Took a whiff from a decant which was a frimp. NOPE! Smells kinda like weedkiller. But I'll have to try it on, since the rest of these reviews make it sound really interesting. Will update later...

[sunqist]

In most of these, the dead leaves start off really green smelling, like they aren't DEAD leaves until the drydown. With this blend they go on much dryer to begin with, much less acrid. That said, on me they tend to disappear into the frank for the drydown. I really only get copal if I huff my wrist super hard. It's there, and I'm sure it's modifying the blend, but mostly I get the frank. I'm enjoying it, but I don't think it's going to be my One True Love dead leaves blend.

[Mechanical Death]

For a while I was convinced that all the dead leaves blends would smell the same on me. The leaf portion of these blends is potent and over powering both in the bottle and on the skin, and while it's not unpleasant, it's more of a novelty smell than a rounded wearable perfume as a single note component.

 

The frankinsense and Copal variation for a while I thought sadly dried to just a dead leaves single note. For like an hour or so into the dry phase it's mostly a dead leaves single note, but the longer it's on my skin the more the frankinsense and copal come forth. It's sweet, a bit dry, and lightly incensey.

 

Each of these blends are very light, I had hoped for more oomph from the components considering there are so few. Out of the 3 I got this one will be the most worn. It's lovely, though light on the skin. When the scent does bloom fully it's very relaxing. Would be a nice for meditation.

[Blood onmy hands]

I get nothing but copal from this blend (and it's like the copal in bpal's El Dorado). It's a very dry, dark, glittering gold, woody-resinous incense scent. It also smells like it has a hint of patchouli to it, which I often get from copal. I don't really smell the dead leaves or frankincense, but that's fine, because I like the copal note enough on its own.

[zankoku_zen]

Resinous frankincense and leaves. This smells like leaves and a touch of resin as the background. Very autumnal.

 

MEH.

[kakiphony]

This started out quite vegetable from the leaves, and then the frankincense amped and gave it a strong cologne smell. Over time it has faded and it now fairly pleasant, although I get an underlying hint of BO when I huff my wrists. Not my favorite of these Dead Leaves scents. The BO is just...kind of gross. First one I've washed off.

[milo]

Resin with bpals classic leaf note. I like my leaves a bit sweeter than this, but this is still nice. Very fall-like. as others have mentioned. We are beyond that up North here at -17. Upgrade not necessary.

[Lani]

On me this is smoky incense and dead leaves, with the different qualities weaving and fading in and out of each other. I love the Lab's leaf note, and I love smoky incense perfumes, so this is definitely a hit for me.

[Argentwolf]

For once I do not instantly get leaves and nothing else at first. Instead the frankincense seems to be what come out, first. There is a brief flare of very beautiful smoky copal. After a while, they seem to mingle together into a soft smell of incense. Like the other DL scents, it hugs very close to the skin, and while durable, does not present itself; you have to seek it out. It's very surprising to me, considering I thought that all of the scents in this line would have very prominent notes. In any case, I think this is a pass, for me.

[sunlitgarden]

Note: this is the only one of the dead leaf scents I've sniffed this year.

In the decant, this is a very vegetal-smelling leaf. I think this dead leaf accord might contain some Galbanum. It's not a dry, brittle, crumbly leaf, but it's not exactly a wet earthy leaf either. (I actually smelled some leaves this year while raking FOR SCIENCE!) I can smell the resins in the background, but the leaf note is pretty dominant.

On my skin: Hmm, it smells "lighter" than in the decant, somehow. Copal tends to make scents smell "bright" to me, and there's an aspect of that here. It's like the sun finally came out and is shining on a wet pile of leaves. There's also a bit of smokiness from the frankincense.

As it dries, that vegetal galbanum-y note becomes less prominent and the blend becomes more resiny overall. It's a bit smoky and spicy. I like it better at this stage. It's more like the crumbly dead leaves now.

It's kind of interesting how it transitions from the strong vegetal smell to the dusty drydown. Unfortunately, I find the wet stage kind of off-putting.

[tinyvulture]

That glowing copal note always reminds me of Dia de los Muertos, as copal incense figures heavily in the various local DDLM celebrations. Copal plus crisp, dry leaves is wonderful, if a bit green and cologne-ish at first. After a few minutes, the sweetness of frankincense comes out and the cologne aspect is less. The copal is the star here, though. A warm, woodsy/mineral incense, spiritual and glorious.

[agirlnamedfury]

I'm not familiar at all with the scent of copal, so I'm going to guess that's most of what I'm smelling here. It's incensey, but also quite green -- moreso than I would expect from the "dead leaf" notes.

 

I've tried almost all of the dead leaf blends from last year's Halloweenies by now, and unfortunately this one doesn't really stand out to me, though there's certainly nothing wrong with it.