• About
  • Login to comment
    • Facebook
    • RSS
    • Twitter

Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

Menu ▼
  • Perfume Reviews
  • New Perfumes
  • Perfumers
  • Perfume Houses
  • Shop for perfume
  • Resources

Love, Me… In The Garden solid perfume palette ~ fragrance review

Posted by Jessica on 8 May 2010 36 Comments

Love, Me... In The Garden solid perfume palette

Lately there's been a wave of magazine and newspaper features discussing the rise of the solid perfume "trend." Of course, solid perfumes have been around since ancient Egypt, and they were revived in the twentieth century through the efforts of Molinard, Estee Lauder, and Avon (to name just a few examples), but it does seem that more and more companies are offering solid fragrances right now. I'll admit that I haven't tried very many solids, other than a cherished Youth Dew "cameo" compact and some wonderful Crazylibellule and the Poppies Crazysticks. I'm generally more of a "spritzer." However, the new perfume palettes from Love, Me Scents caught my eye. They're packaged in sturdy little cardboard "books," similar to the makeup palettes sold by companies like Too Faced and The Balm, and the one called In the Garden has a Klimt-inspired cover design, embossed with gold ink. I can't recall any other company releasing a solid perfume palette, except Sonia Kashuk for Target, and I've never been able to find those in person.

Each Love, Me palette includes three scents, a card with suggestions for layering the fragrances, and some mood-setting text. In The Garden's "story" is a steam-of-consciousness list of childhood memories about playing outside in the summertime, including "ladybugs & polka dots, lemonade, raspberry jam... butterflies in the air..." I was glad to find that In The Garden's trio of fragrances was less little-girlish than the accompanying verbiage. The three scents are named Earth, Whisper, and Sweetness. Earth is the most complex and intriguing one. It's described as "clean, fresh, grass," but its "fresh" green top is mixed into something duskier and more dirt-like, in addition to a peppery white-floral note, so that you really do get the effect of a shady garden with just a stroke of your finger. Whisper, listed as "vanilla, musk, honey, neroli," turns out to be a subdued little cousin to the infamous Thierry Mugler Angel. It definitely has cocoa and patchouli as well as the honeyed musk note, but it's a much more  easygoing way to wear the Angel idea. Sweetness is the simplest and lightest of the palette's three components, a bouquet of "honeysuckle, rose, jasmine" with a dominant honeysuckle note and some ylang ylang hovering behind it.

Love, Me... In The Garden solid perfume palette, package detailI didn't specifically plan this review to run on Mother's Day weekend, but come to think of it, this palette would make a nice little gift for a mother, sister, or female friend who wants to experiment with scent. It would also be appreciated by anyone who wants to keep her fragrance subtle, who travels often, or who just enjoys whimsical packaging. The fragrances are blended into a gentle base of safflower seed oil, beeswax, and shea butter, and their aromas stay close to the wearer's skin. The scents don't last especially long, but they can easily be refreshed, especially if you carry the palette with you — to work, on a vacation, into a real garden, wherever you please.

Love, Me...In the Garden solid perfume palette sells for $25 at the Love, Me website.

Filed Under: perfume talk
Tagged With: cheap thrills, love me, solid

Advertisement


36 Comments

Leave a comment, or read more about commenting at Now Smell This. Here's our privacy policy, and a handy emoticon chart.

  1. Shelley says:
    8 May 2010 at 1:16 pm

    Sweetness seems nice, The palette looks pretty and not too costly. Lemme check out if they ship overseas… =)

    Log in to Reply
    • Jessica says:
      8 May 2010 at 3:32 pm

      They are pretty! Not sure where they ship… let us know what you find!

      Log in to Reply
  2. 50_Roses says:
    8 May 2010 at 3:02 pm

    Does the palette have any type of closure on it, so that you and carry it in a purse without it coming open and getting? One of the advantages of solid perfume is portability. It is usually smaller than a spray bottle, and you don’t worry about it leaking out. I am reminded of the Coty Sweet Earth solid compacts in the 70’s, although those were definitely not sophisticated fragrances.

    Log in to Reply
    • Jessica says:
      8 May 2010 at 3:34 pm

      50Roses, the palette is lightweight, and it feels like it might have a magnet or magnetic strip concealed in the cover. I must have just missed those Coty solids… but they sound wonderful!

      Log in to Reply
      • 50_Roses says:
        8 May 2010 at 7:14 pm

        Jessica, I had one of the Coty Sweet Earth compacts in the late 70’s when I was in 7th or 8th grade, although I don’t remember which one. I think it was one of the florals, though. I carried it in my purse all the time, so I could apply it during the day whenever I wanted. It was in a plastic case with a snap closure, so it stayed clean and didn’t pick up any of the “stuff” that always accumulates in the bottom of a purse.

        The scents, as I said, were not “sophisticated”. They were quite simple, and in fact would probably be accurately described as soliflores–lilac or honeysuckle or whatever. They were intended to be mixed and matched. You could wear just one or a combination of 2 or all 3 at once.

        They did tend to be quite sweet, and were no doubt aimed at a youthful customer, and were in fact quite popular with the teenage crowd.

        They did seem to wear rather close to the skin, so you never got gagged by someone who had put on too much. They were more for the enjoyment of the wearer, which, after all, is why I wear perfume–for my own pleasure.

        I don’t know if you are familiar with the Vermont Country Store, but they have a recreated version of the Sweet Earth compacts. I just checked, and they only have two choices available, so I do not know if they are temporarily out of stock or if they are discontinuing this item. Their price is $25 for a compact with three coordinating scents. I have not tried any of these reissued versions, so I cannot give an appraisal of them.

        Log in to Reply
        • Jessica says:
          8 May 2010 at 9:04 pm

          50, I love the Vermont Country Store! I’ll have to check the site. Thanks!

          Log in to Reply
  3. jorid says:
    8 May 2010 at 3:07 pm

    What a pretty palette and a nice gift idea – especially for someone who is starting to love fragrances. Very cute, and probably more purse friendly than a glass bottle. 🙂

    I’m not a huge fan of solid perfume myself, because of the applying-problem. But CrazylibelluleAtP-sticks are great fun!

    Log in to Reply
    • Jessica says:
      8 May 2010 at 3:36 pm

      Jorid, I think it *would* be a nice gift for someone who wants to play with fragrance a bit!

      Log in to Reply
  4. pyramus says:
    8 May 2010 at 3:11 pm

    Most anyone who was around in the seventies will remember Coty’s Sweet Earth palettes of solid perfumes: there were collections of three or four single-note (or single-idea) scents to be worn singly or mixed and matched–a couple of collections of flowers, one of woods, and one of grasses, I think.

    L’Artisan Parfumeur once did a palette, but it wasn’t exactly solid perfumes–it was compressed powders. If memory serves, the palette was a wooden box like an artist’s watercolour box containing discs of perfume notes, six in all, each a different (very pale, almost pigmentless) colour, with six long, slender colour-coded brushes, so you could mix and match the scents and literally paint a scented composition onto your skin. This would have been probably twenty years ago, and I’m sure it’s long-discontinued: I can’t even find a reference to it on the Interwebs. But I saw it in person (at Holt Renfrew in Toronto), so I know it existed.

    Log in to Reply
    • Joe says:
      8 May 2010 at 3:30 pm

      Interesting history, Pyramus, though the concept of the L’AP isn’t personally appealing to me (and perhaps wasn’t to many others, either, since it’s no longer around).

      Log in to Reply
      • Jessica says:
        8 May 2010 at 3:42 pm

        Darn, those Coty Sweet Earth solid scents must have been fun. Were they meant to be carried in the pockets of jeans, etc.? Very 70s, sort of wholesome! And I don’t even remember that L’Artisan set. Alas.

        Log in to Reply
        • pyramus says:
          8 May 2010 at 4:08 pm

          All the girls in the seventies–I had three sisters–had big ol’ shoulder purses, often of patchwork leather, which invariably contained a large-toothed comb (for those big feathered Farrah Fawcett hairdos) or an afro pick, a large-size Bonne Bell Lipsmacker or roll-on Kissing Potion gloss, and some sort of fragrance–either the Coty Sweet earth compact or a wee bottle of Love’s Baby Soft.

          Oh, those were simpler times.

          Log in to Reply
          • Jessica says:
            8 May 2010 at 4:23 pm

            Ah yes, I carried a Kissing Potion or an Avon lip balm at all times! and my friends all owned Love’s Baby Soft in the early 80s.

          • Aparatchick says:
            8 May 2010 at 5:20 pm

            LOL, pyramus! Exactly correct, right down to the patchwork purse. Simpler times, indeed. 😉

          • miss kitty v. says:
            8 May 2010 at 6:40 pm

            I pretty much used to eat the Kissing Potion. I remember in 6th grade my friends and I would put it on every chance we got, and then lick it off, reapply, lick it off, reapply… Mine was bubblegum flavor, which may explain my total lack of interest in anything bubblegum now.

            Oh, and I totally remember the Coty solids. I have some of those, but I can’t for the life of me remember what scents they were.

          • Haunani says:
            9 May 2010 at 12:27 pm

            Thanks for the memories! 🙂

  5. Haunani says:
    8 May 2010 at 3:19 pm

    These are cute! I’m always tempted by solids – love the concept, but almost never actually buy or wear them.

    Log in to Reply
    • Jessica says:
      8 May 2010 at 3:40 pm

      Haunani, Solids do have such potential for cute packaging. I wonder whether there are collectors who concentrate on solid perfumes, old and new.

      Log in to Reply
  6. Aparatchick says:
    8 May 2010 at 3:20 pm

    I was around in the 70’s and that’s when I first encountered the Coty Sweet Earth solids. I loved them (I had grasses, flowers, and woods – pyramus, you’re quite correct !) and carried them with me at school every day. Now I like the Pacifica solids and especially the swivel-up packaging of the Crazy Ls. These look interesting – and pretty!

    Log in to Reply
    • Jessica says:
      8 May 2010 at 3:39 pm

      Another Coty fan! I wonder whether the Love, Me people were aware of those and owned any, back in the 1970s. And yes, the Crazylibellules are so much fun to use.

      Log in to Reply
  7. Thanna says:
    8 May 2010 at 3:32 pm

    I agree that the solids are convenient to carry. They certainly weight less than carry a full bottle in your purse. Still not a fan though. Although I don’t want sillage that knocks over my friends and coworkers the solids wear so close to the skin that I can’t smell anything. I do like the Pacific solids for layering purposes but they’re too wimpy on their own.

    Log in to Reply
    • Jessica says:
      8 May 2010 at 3:38 pm

      Thanna, solids *are* especially useful for offices and other close, not-well-ventilated quarters!

      Log in to Reply
  8. Joe says:
    8 May 2010 at 3:36 pm

    These do look like they make cute gifts, though my favorite solid for gifting are Pacifica.

    The one solid I own is CdG Rhubarb and I just don’t use it much because solids don’t agree with me (I like to apply around the neck and they’re too waxy/oily feeling on my skin). I find I get a much better scent experience from a scented lotion or cream.

    I’m curious about Molinard concretas — have been lemming Nirmala — but they’re fairly expensive (though I just checked eb*y and there are a few there at around $30).

    Log in to Reply
    • Jessica says:
      8 May 2010 at 3:37 pm

      Joe, I saw a vintage poster for some early Molinard “concretas”… 1920s, I believe. They were fabulous! Check out eBay for some examples and information about them. 🙂

      Log in to Reply
      • miss kitty v. says:
        8 May 2010 at 6:42 pm

        I just want the poster!

        Log in to Reply
        • Jessica says:
          8 May 2010 at 9:06 pm

          They were so prettily packaged! Let me look… here’s a link, to cut and paste! (My own photo, via Twitpic.)

          Log in to Reply
          • Jessica says:
            8 May 2010 at 9:10 pm

            Uh, let’s try that again.

            http://twitpic.com/f99eg

  9. nozknoz says:
    8 May 2010 at 5:24 pm

    Jessica, thanks for this review and a new topic – solids. I’m curious about whether your Youth Dew solid is current or vintage. I’ve seen a lot of cute solid compacts on ebay, but I tend to assume that the solids would be more likely to “turn” than alcohol based perfume, etc. Have you or anyone else here had experience with the vintage solids?

    Log in to Reply
    • Jessica says:
      8 May 2010 at 9:08 pm

      Nozkoz, My Youth Dew compact is a holiday edition from three or four years ago, with a “cameo” lid. It’s strongly scented for a solid, and very true to the liquid fragrance. I don’t own any vintage EL compacts, but I wish I did!

      Log in to Reply
  10. Iranperfumer says:
    8 May 2010 at 6:19 pm

    but you better know in ancient IRAN kings have liquid Fragrances and this subject is illustrated in lithography Perspolice buildings

    Log in to Reply
    • Jessica says:
      8 May 2010 at 9:08 pm

      How interesting! Fragrance is really an ancient art form, isn’t it.

      Log in to Reply
  11. Kari says:
    8 May 2010 at 6:35 pm

    I always love solids. Since I travel, they’re functional. And, they’re usually small, so you can have more, right? The Pacifica solids are my favorites, but I enjoy a few of LUSH’s solids, and Fragonard. Love the uniqueness of these, but I agree that the packaging is less convenient than a tiny pot for carrying around in a pocket or purse. Wish I could have grown up in the 70s and tried those Coty solids! Instead I had to be a teenager during the late 90s so everyone was drenched in Victoria’s Secret Lovespell and B&BW Raspberry sugary sweetness.

    Log in to Reply
    • Jessica says:
      8 May 2010 at 9:09 pm

      I own Potion from Lush! I’m a sucker for anything carnation, of course. I’ve tested a few Pacifica lotions during my Sephora visits, but never the solids.

      Log in to Reply
  12. Kari says:
    8 May 2010 at 6:39 pm

    Oh, and of course Harajuku Lovers

    Log in to Reply
    • Jessica says:
      8 May 2010 at 9:09 pm

      Oh, THE DOLL HEADS! Those are more than adorable. I know someone who succumbed to the cuteness and bought the set… cough *robin* cough. 😉

      Log in to Reply
      • Haunani says:
        9 May 2010 at 12:28 pm

        🙂

        Log in to Reply

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Advertisement

Search

Browse by...

Topic

Perfume talk New fragrances
Shopping Books :: News
Body products Home fragrance
Polls Another subject

Date

August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023

Prior months

Author

Robin Jessica
Angela Kevin
Erin Guest Author

Tag

Celebrity perfumes
Cheap thrills
Collector bottles
Perfumista tip series
Video
The complete tag index

Recent reviews

Atelier Cologne Love Osmanthus
Moschino Toy Boy
Arquiste Misfit
Diptyque Eau Capitale
Zoologist Bee
Parfum d’Empire Immortelle Corse
Comme des Garcons Series 10 Clash
Frédéric Malle Rose & Cuir
L’Artisan Parfumeur Le Chant de Camargue
Yves Saint Laurent Grain de Poudre
Régime des Fleurs Chloë Sevigny Little Flower
Chanel 1957
Gallivant Los Angeles
Amouage Portrayal Woman

Blogroll

Bois de Jasmin
Grain de Musc
Perfume Posse
The Non-Blonde
More blogs...

Perfumista lists

100 fragrances every perfumista should try
And 25 more fragrances every perfumista should smell
50 masculine fragrances every perfumista should try
26 vintage fragrances every perfumista should try
25 rose fragrances every perfumista should try
11 Cheap Perfumes Beauty Outsiders Love

Favorite posts

The Great Perfume Reduction Plan
Why I Love Old School Chypres
New to perfume and want to learn more?
How to make fragrance last through the day
Fragrance concentrations: sorting it all out
On reformulations, or why your favorite perfume doesn’t smell like it used to
How to get fragrance samples
Perfume for Life: How Long Will Your Fragrance Collection Last?

Upcoming

List of upcoming Friday projects

23 September ~ swapmeet

3 October ~ damage poll
7 October ~ fall reading poll
21 October ~ splitmeet

Back to Top

Home
About Now Smell This :: Privacy Policy
Perfume Reviews
New Perfumes
General Perfume Articles
The Monday Mail

Glossary of Perfume Terms
Perfume FAQ
Perfume Links
Perfume Books

Noses ~ Perfumers A-E :: F-K :: L-S :: T-Z

Perfume Houses A-B :: C :: D-E :: F-G
H-J :: K-L :: M :: N-O :: P :: Q-R :: S
T :: U-Z

Copyright © 2005-2023 Now Smell This. All rights reserved.