Once Upon A Garden

It's a shame this scent isn't getting much love as I think it's one of the best ones from the Haute Perfumerie collection. I think it appeals to me as a lover of Cactus Garden for all it's herbal, vegetal, green-ness. Completely different scent but a similar vibe. With Cactus Garden discontinued, I could easily be satisfied with Once Upon A Garden over CG's replacement Pacific Chill. I get a good fresh dose of mint in the opening and gentle citrus. I thankfully don't get much pink pepper. It usually dominates a fragrance but happily not with this one. As it settles, it's still green from the mint and what I imagine is the raspberry leaf. The rose is there, but as I'm not familiar with sweet pea so much, I can't define it. Overall it's very nice. The patchouli isn't the horrible sharp, soapy experience that I usually get which is great. Usually patchouli ruins a scent for me. In its entirety, it's nicely blended and can't wait to wear it in the warmer months as a freshie. I guess this isn't a safe buy going by the negative reviews and value per ml. However, I've been more underwhelmed by Roja, Amouage etc. at the same price point. I think La Perla is having some financial issues so I've noticed a lot of sellers moving on the range at 50% so that would make it a more attractive prospect. I may consider a small bottle of OUAG as it's really different to what I normally gravitate to, and I do need a summer frag. Performance is moderate though but it suits me as I'm not into 'beast mode' scents that exhaust my nose by the end of the day.

I was very interested to smell Once Upon a Garden after hearing Emma of the Perfume Room podcast mention this little known gem, but I was quite taken aback the first time I tested this scent. There was an initial, strong blast of a potpourri like aroma: a garden full of little dried flowers, with lots of deep purple and dark blue hues. It wasn't terrible, just not what I was expecting! I was compelled to try it again, however, and wow- I’m so happy I did! The second time around I just GOT it. It still had that dried potpourri-like vibe but in a really unusual, charming way: it brought up nostalgic feelings for my 80's childhood when many a household drawer included a potpourri sachet. It was WEIRD, and I loved it! This perfume smells very niche, unlike any other “floral” centered fragrance I’ve tried or own. And don't be scared: after the initial spray the dried flower impression deepens into more of a natural, earthy garden scent. The moist soil is almost present and the rose and raspberry become more prominent as it develops. The mint note keeps things on the fresh side, and combines so beautifully with the mossy, earthy notes here. This is a gardener's perfume: for one who appreciates not just the blooming roses but the damp soil in which they grow. Very unusual and compelling perfume! Update: the La Perla fragrances are being discontinued so if you love this, STOCK UP!!!

I live in Jakarta, Indonesia, and on my skin, this one smells like black tea with a hint of flowers. Although there is no actual tea note in it, that’s what I can smell, and I love it. It’s really hard for me to find a good perfume that resembles the dark, sweet tea scent I want, and so far, this is the best I’ve found. Most other perfumes mix tea with jasmine, which feels cloying to me because I can’t get the depth of the tea that I’m looking for. I was actually confused about why this perfume smells like dark tea with floral notes to me, but when I went to the mall to find a similar fragrance, the beauty advisor also noticed a black tea aroma in it. Yet, I couldn’t find any perfume with even a slight similarity to this one. I love wearing it in the afternoon. And although, for me, the performance isn’t very strong, it doesn’t matter, I just keep respraying it whenever I want.

I really love this. I am not familiar with Sweet Pea as a note, but I am wondering if that's what's perhaps giving the sort of pruney/geranium, maybe marjorum even type of smell? If I were guessing the notes, I'd be way off -- I'd say marjorum, rose, geranium, raspberry, dried apricot, grass (again maybe this is a dead ringer for Sweet Pea, and if I just knew how that smell, I'd recognize it...). It's fuzzy, herby and grassy like marjorum, but distinctly rose, and distinctly fruity. Not at all like anything I've smelled; Very elegant. Smells pruney but also dewy because of the green aspect I get. Great signature scent for someone who wants something pretty and feminine-leaning, but spunky and different. It's safe but it's unique, and I could see it on a teenager as equally as I could see it on a more mature woman.

Very lush and interesting. My first impression was that I appreciated it more than I loved it (more “that’s interesting” than “what smells so incredible?”). It opens soft and soothing, then the peppercorn starts to emerge and adds an intriguing edge. I keep going back to smell my wrist, which may be a sign that I love it more than I initially thought. On me, I get purple flowers, cucumber, and green peppercorn.

In my nose, it smells like iced tea with a floral scent, similar to jasmine tea, but with the aroma of sweet pea flowers instead. It's not the kind of perfume that would attract people to wonder what you're wearing. However, since it smells like tea to me, it's relaxing. This perfume will be more pleasant in colder areas or when it's raining. Hot and humid air won't bring out the beauty of this scent.

Calming floral scent with lots of dry herbs and distinguishable camomile note. For me it’s smells like a realistic camomile flower, because I have never smelled sweet pea. Maybe there are some similarities in this flowers. I can also smell nice fresh rose. Interesting scent! Follow me on IG: scent.guide

A scent that captures the daintiness of sweet pea flowers, the loveliest sweet pea-forward scent 💞💞💞 Green, delicate, light, rosy, fruity sweet, juicy, tender, fresh

Very interesting floral scent. Comparing it to CH is just ridiculous.

Once Upon A Garden is an unusual, slightly challenging floral scent. Sweet pea, a flower I adore, is very prominent to my nose, bolstered by sweet raspberry. Pink pepper adds nice rosy spice too, but the mint is very strong, making the other notes jostle for attention at the early stages of this scent. As it develops, sweet rose comes to the fore, becoming increasingly powdery as it develops. The mint remains, still discordant but mellowing ad the scent develops. I get a lovely tea note at this stage of OUAG, a pleasant surprise. The drydown is earthy, led by patchouli which complements the rosy florals nicely. There is a synthetic ambroxan-like note in the base, which I'm not a fan of, but it is subtle enough that it works, detectable after it fades. Sillage and longevity are moderate. An interesting take on the tired feminine floral, there is much to like here. It doesn't fully work for me, but bonus points for creativity. 3/5.

I'm not usually one for rose or floral dominant scents. However, as my nose matures and my tastes grow ever more diverse, I must admit I REALLY like Once Upon a Garden! OUaG piqued my interest due to the Raspberry (my favorite fruity note) in its heart notes. Along with Rose and Peony, I get a tea-like aroma and it's lovely. The entire composition is breezy yet sophisticated. Romantic and minimalistic. It's a little more than a skin scent. It has a presence and aura which conjures images of summer weddings, garden parties and gauzy dresses. I've also tried Invisible Touch, which is my favorite, so far. I see at least a 30ml bottle of these two in my immediate future for Spring/Summer '22.

Like walking through a lush garden under the moonlight, full rose bushes, crackling crushed granite underneath your feet and dark rich soil everywhere, and all of the surrounding plants. I really enjoy this scent and I have a lot of rose scents at this point. I like that others compare it to tea. I do not get a tea note, but it has an ever so slight pungency of tea and isn't a jammy rose, but rather a very fresh perhaps dewy rose. I don't have a clue where I should wear this so not fb worthy for me as some others in this collection, but I do enjoy it.

To me it smells like chamomile teabags, straw or hay. Also, a dose of grans dried potpourri. The name is clever as that's what it smells like to me. That it was once a garden and now its dried down. I like it though, it's really interesting take on green and floral.

I've never smelled actual sweet pea flower before, but the strangest thing is that this fragrance smells almost exactly like the metallic "Red Jade" black tea from Taiwan, making it rare, exotic, & nostalgic to me 😄

This is a nice green floral scent, but it's not very long-lasting, so it's not FBW for me.

Floral scent, which always turns out a little too sweet on my skin. If I close my eyes and open my imagination, I swear there is tiny bit of mint. But most prevailing is rose with sweet pea. Not for me.

🪲 I was lucky enough to get a tiny mini bottle of this for only $10, but Im so disappointed with how this performed on my skin! I was really looking forward to a gorgeous garden scent, and really hoping to get the tea scents that a lot of the other reviewers were mentioning! 🪲 From the name and notes I was really expecting to be transported to a garden where I feel moss between my toes, and can smell the scent of the flowers waking up to droplets of morning dew. 🪲 Unfortunately, despite getting a bit of the lovely notes of dried petals and mint at the beginning, almost like a floral tea bag, it just got worse from there. It dried down in a horrible musky way with an overpoweringly strong smell of wilted flowers. It almost smells like potpourri, but in a much stronger and unpleasant way.I didnt get any of the green notes that I adore in a fragrance like this, just the scent of accidentally tearing open one of those floral sachets that you leave in your underwear drawer. 🪲 Im hoping to try this again, since I really want to like this scent! It might be the type of scent that grows on me, since many times ive needed to wear scents a second time in order to truly appreciate them. It might also just be the kind of scent that doesn't work with my skin.

This fragrance smells nothing like a garden to me and everything like a dusty old bowl of dried potpourri. Straight up brown leaves and shriveled rose petals. It’s not an offensive smell but under no circumstances would I wear this. It’s nostalgic like my great aunties powder room from the 90s. I adore some of the others from this line but this is a definite “no” for me.

I was hoping for noticeable mint in this, but I did not detect any. There was also no raspberry on my skin. For a couple of hours it was all Sweet Pea + floral amalgam, akin to the scent you are met with when entering a Bath and Body Works store. The dry down is a lovely sweet floral musk, identical on my skin to the ending of the original Jour d’Hermes. If you’re considering purchasing a sample set, every fragrance I have tried from my La Perla Haute Perfumerie sample set has been more interesting than anything in the Estée Lauder Luxury Fragrance Collection sample set. The La Perla fragrances seem like bold acrylic paintings to Estée’s demure watercolors.

Doesn't smell like CH good girl AT ALL. I see the bath and body works comparison, but this is more unique and refined, nuanced. I have the sample set of this whole line sitting in front of me and I'm amazed, everything is BEAUTIFUL. I pick up sweet pea for sure it's a pretty bold sweet/green opening, a slight touch of very light watery and spicy rose, and then i also get what must be the mint but it smells like the dried mint leaves before you brew tea, not the fresh green mint you would pluck from the plant. It's not for me one bit, but i can definately appreciate it. Just like lots of others in this line, not always for me but i think they are amazing.