Sweet Grass

I first tried Sweet Grass in its (now-discontinued) oil form and very quickly decided I needed to try the EDP as well. It opens up herbal, almost apothecary-like, but settles quickly into a warm, dry, incredibly realistic hay backed by the most wearable, natural touches of musk. Somehow, Josh has perfectly captured a hot but breezy late-summer afternoon in the country- and I mean really, really in the country- without going into either dirty-wet-earth territory or sweet-cottagecore-floral territory. Instead, Sweet Grass is a perfectly unisex, very, very wearable dose of pure, golden-hour nostalgia. Like Libertine's whole line, this isn't exactly an entirely bright and happy scent; it's peaceful, but a little melancholy. I see where other reviewers are coming from when they say this is strictly a summer fragrance (and it does really perform wonderfully in hot weather) but I wouldn't limit it to that- I think with the right weather and the right outfit, Sweet Grass could work beautifully in spring, fall, or whenever you need a bit of relief from civilization. It also layers so well with incense, musk, and woody scents. It's an icon of indie perfumery for a reason- even if you personally don't want to smell like this all the time, you should absolutely sample it just for the experience.

Oh Heaven, just Heaven! Olfactif was having a wonderful sale and I'd been eyeing this for a few years now. It's supposed to be my Christmas present, but shhh! I opened it and sprayed it on. Using four sprays, I was taken back to summers and early Autumn in New England when the smell of bundled hay was in the air all around. My daughter and I would roll down the windows and stick our noses out the window like little doggies trying to catch the smell in the wind. This is everything, and I mean everything I wanted in this perfume! I don't always like the smell of perfumes from small Indie perfume companies. (don't hate me!) I've been burned too many times so I was hesitant but this is high quality and has the smell of several different kinds of grasses bundled up for hay. It does remind me of First Cut by St. Clair scents, but I asked for that for Christmas too and I think they're different enough to own both. I'm already thinking of a back up bottle of Sweet Grass in case they stop making it!

I’ll start by saying how much I appreciate Libertine (now called Paraphrase) perfumes. Their scents are all so unique and well blended. This was my favourite out of the discovery kit because it’s so soft, herbal, and sweet which is perfect for everyday wear. I smell the hay and the tobacco first followed by the sweet tonka and mimosa. My mum smelt this and was transported back to playing in the hay at the farm she grew up at. It does read slightly “masculine” just because hay sometimes resembles vetiver which is commonly used in a lot of classic men’s colognes. As the user below says there is a cinnamon and nutmeg undertone (for them it’s all they smell) which makes it warm and comforting. This reminds me of being outdoors in the fall when the grass starts to die and a chimney burning sweet applewood wafts through the air. I ordered a full size of this and can’t wait for it to arrive.

I sprayed this on a piece of paper to sample and quickly overlooked it, disappointed, as it was the one I was most looking forward to. When I got home later and sifted through my paper strip remains, I kept smelling something wonderful from where my hand had gripped, wondering which perfume was the culprit. As you may guess, yes, it was Sweet Grass. I just love how it dries down, and it's staying power is fantastic. I can put on a sweater from a week prior and smell it still, subtly. I've never smelled the plant before, and don't know how accurate this is to sweet grass. I find it very warm, fuzzy, hay-like, definitely. But something in it is very evocative of cinnamon, perhaps cinnamon bark, nice and dry. Really lovely to me, and has even brought about some compliments! I've only got my sample still, but would absolutely get a full bottle.

I have been searching for the perfect sweet grass inspired fragrance for ages, and this is it. Hay and tobacco are the most prominent notes throughout. The tonka and ambrette mellow this out little and give it that subtle powdery sweet base that is very reminiscent of actual sweet grass. Of course, nothing will ever smell exactly like the real thing because it is such a unique aroma. This is the closest I have found without being a boring, one more fragrance. It reminds me of driving around the prairies when I lived in Kansas. I'm a huge fan. I think it's a masterpiece, honestly. Projection and longevity are good. It isn't overwhelming, but it's noticable. It lasts a really long time on clothes. I sprayed it on myself last night and my robe still smells like it this morning.

I purchased a sample pack of Libertine fragrances thinking Eros Fig would be my favorite--but Sweet Grass won that slot, hands down. It's hay without the barnyard, it's humble yellow florals, it's somehow both easy and sophisticated. I wouldn't personally call it green, since that word usually evokes a fresher scent. Instead, Sweet Grass is sun-warmed, like sitting in a patch of dried lawn and dandelions during golden hour in late summer. While the hay note is prominent for an hour or so, on me the fragrance dries to something sweet and warm and unbelievably cozy in a way that suits all seasons. It also lasts the entire day (though definitely a skin scent by the end). All in all, it's now at the top of my to-buy list, apologies to my bank account I guess.

Now Paraphrase Perfume, Sweet Grass (Grasslands) feels dry yet sticky - reminiscent of dried sap, or a forgotten pipe (pulling from the tobacco note). Various waxy elements at play, allowing the scent to automatically appear vintage. Herbaceous elements bring in a fresh air feel, lightening things from the heavier and nostalgic lasting scent. Scratchy in your throat from the hay, somehow capturing an old photograph of a field into a bottle. Sweet Grass feels very personal to the wearer. Paraphrase fragrances have all been extremely well crafted in my experience with them. Sweet Grass was one of those scents that I smelled in store and thought about for months until I was able to return!

A Very nice Fragrance indeed! I enjoyed putting this on and getting the reaction of that natural grassy effect. Reminds me of Demeter! Sweet grass is definitely the essence here, but the smell of dried grass, leaves and hay are very apparent. I get a sweet airy sense in this fragrance in the heart note that reminds me of Davana, but as the notes speak Ambrette and I have no real reference to it, I would say that it must be the contributing factor! The rosemary dances around through most of the heart too, almost a bit like thyme as well. These features give it a green quality! Very nice, I rather enjoy this fragrance! It lingered on my skin around 4 hours before it became a skin scent,

I was hoping to love this, having read the reviews saying it smells natural and grassy, but on me it smells a little too cologne-y and synthetic -- will try wearing in warmer weather to see if that changes! Sadly, a bit of a disappointment for me. I feel like the "man in the elevator with cheap cologne" that another reviewer mentioned below! Will keep an open mind and update if that changes. Edit: i like this. less cologne-y, less sharp; OK for the office, even.

A perfect summer day, running through a field of yellowing grasses. It's late in the season and the crops are starting to smell dry but their lush quality still lingers enough to sweeten the warm air. You are so very far away from the harsh sounds and smells of a city. This is deep countryside, rolling hills, haystacks, clover crowns, chewing on a stick of wheat, simply drunk on sunshine! If this is your scent profile, it doesn't get better than this!

It seems impossible to improve upon actual sweetgrass, but somehow this scent does, through the magic of perfumery, bring it alive- like technicolor sweetgrass. Once driving through the Canadian prairies I saw a giant neon teepee sign for a casino, and this is that, in the best way possible- coming out of the night fields of dried hay, glowing in the dark.

I just got a sample of this and it’s better than I could’ve hoped. It really smells like sweetgrass and warm hay on an unusually warm and sunny autumn day. It’s a beautiful natural earthy smell without smelling dirty, wet, or “hippie”.

The warm, green, comforting smell of sunshine and autumn. The hay note in this is sweet and delicious, just wished it lasted more than two or three hours on my skin.

Very realistic sweet hay scent! I’m not sure if I would wear this daily but maybe as I’m hanging around at home doin chores. It’s a very comforting scent.

doesn't exactly smell as sweet as sweetgrass, but the smell is as comforting as a watching the prairie grass wave in the wind and smells like it too.

Fragrant hay and tobacco. Although it is unisex, I would personally like to smell it on a man. I think it's great for cuddling your loved one.

I really liked this one. I get the image of laying on a wagon in a field of hay with the sun high during the summer. It's completely a unisex scent, but something about this really reminds me of growing up in the countryside. It's mildly spicy and smokey, and feels really well blended. I don't typically gravitate to herbal or fresh spicy scents because they usually remind me of being stuck in an elevator with a man bathed in cheap fragrance, however, this one feels different. I thoroughly enjoy catching this on my skin. As it dries down, a part of it kind of reminds me of my late friend's aftershave. It's nice to have that around. Maybe not an everyday scent for me, but I'll revisit this in the summer.

I'm testing it in November, but it's not a fresh outdoorsy fragrance for me. It opens up green and herbal and becomes sweeter and warmer with time. When I smell it on me I'm inside a old countryside house, somewhere in the middle of the field. It's sunset. Someone smoked a pipe in there not so long ago, but they left. There are some herbs drying in another room. The house is a little drafty and you can catch a strong whiff of the wet hay from the outside. This fragrance is a true unisex for me, the herbal tobacco is balanced out with a beautiful sweetness. It's warm, dreamy, comforting and easy to wear.

This is an incredibly lovely smell but not necessarily a perfume to me. On my skin, there is something about it that turns to cherry or almond extract but on fabric it is so grassy and nice, I do want to smell it all the time. It clings to fabric really well so I think I might start using it as a pillow spray. It’s definitely what I want my bed to smell like so I can feel like a sun warmed lamb taking a nap. I’ve also worn it with other perfumes and enjoyed that. I’ve tried it with other simple grass smells like memory of kindness and it pairs really well with complex stuff like cowboy grass.

This is quite lovely, a very uplifting fresh hay smell. For the first couple of hours, it's a little thin and one-note, more like a CB I Hate Perfume- or Demeter-style "sensory experience" than a typical fragrance. Later the tobacco and ambrette pop up and give it a little more depth, whereupon it is still beautiful but less of a photorealistic fresh hay scent. I'm sort of collecting hay fragrances--St. Clair Scents First Cut and DSH Agrestic are the other two that I've really loved--so I may end up picking up a bottle of this after I finish my sample.

Smells like a sunny day, walking through an mid-season wheat field. It's a very specific smell memory for me - when the wheat is still a little green. The flowers in the ditch are in full bloom, there's a very light breeze wafting through them. Looking out over the great prairies and admiring what will be a prolific harvest. There's also some gently sweetened spices in the background. You can definitely feel Josh's Albertan influence in this fragrance. Overall very pleasant, a little bit too herbaceous for a conservative workplace in my opinion.

I'm waiting for later in summer to try this again. Received a full bottle for my birthday (in December...) and wearing it in the winter, it gave off such a powdery cinnamony spiciness that I fear I will have more of a Christmas association with it rather than the late summer haystack vibe I wanted. Read very feminine, powdery, and subtlely spicy on me - not masculine at all, unfortunately (for my expectations).

Weirdly smells like a snickerdoodle, but undernotes of grassy sexiness. Will wear this when it gets hot out I think. From Etiket's SFW sample set

This smells of outdoor materials. A faithful rendition of a woven basket, warm from sitting in the sun. The note of hay is a bit sweeter and different than real life hay. I think the name, sweetgrass, is simply accurate. Skillfully rendered, however, this is not how I want to smell at this point in my life. It's a bit sexless. Not so much a perfume, as a smell. I would imagine the woman to wear this to be very no-nonsense, norm-core GAP jeans, white button down shirt, capable, pony-tail or smooth chignon kind of middle-aged woman. But the act of spraying perfume is too much a luxury for the image of this woman. The woman who would wear this, wouldn't wear perfume. She moves with quiet and easy confidence, and needs no perfume, nor does she even think about or want it. ETA: the drydown is the unfortunate smell of generic male cologne, à la Polo Ralph Lauren. Hard pass for me.

For the first hour or so, sweet strong hay dominates. It's very dry, and a bit sweeter than hay is in real life. As it dries down, it takes on an earthier, herbal quality from the rosemary and tobacco. It's pleasant and relaxing, like sitting in a field of dry grass in autumn. The last lingering dry-down isn't my favorite, not a scent I can name, kind of a "your skin but worse" smell, though thankfully very faint. Oakmoss is listed as an ingredient on Libertine's site, but missing here. (I see that hay-forward scents are often categorized as green here, and I must say this perfume exemplifies why that's started to bother me. Green makes me think of fresh, juicy, living plants, whereas hay is dry, soft, and sweet. I'd put it under herbal, woody, or powdery before even thinking of green!)

It's pretty heavy on the hay. Like it smells good but not something I want to smell like? REALLY grassy. Summer grass and fields. Nostalgic smell, but not for just walking around trying to live your everyday life, unless you always want to smell like you've just mowed the lawn. I wish the tobacco were actually a bit stronger, I can smell it, but the grass keeps smothering it.

Oatmeal, with a bunch of cinnamon sprinkled on top

This is a very unique fougère with a strong vintage/apothecary feel. The first spray gives off a strong medicinal vibe to me, and while it abates over time it remains always present. Then the mimosa kicks in, providing a subtle sweet honeyed note in nice contrast to the coumarin. I've become quite a fan of hay fragrances but the hay note in this one comes across more perfume-y than realistic (and i tend to prefer the latter one)... reminds me of the smell of the diptyque candle "Foin Coupé" (most disappointing blind buy yet...) rather than the hay notes in Hendley's Mown or St. Clair's First Cut (some of my absolute fav perfumes - and truly evocative of the countryside). Overall, i had high hopes for this, being a hay and mimosa lover (and the mimosa here is used beautifully) but for now the sample will go in the maybe box - as it might grow on me: it has an "acquired taste" aura about to it - or just in case i'll be in need for a scent for a Victorian themed party. Pretty linear and decent longevity. I'd recomend to try a sample.

Wanted so badly to love this one, but it just isn't for me. Was hoping it would smell like photorealistic, green, sweetgrass-- which, to be fair, it really does!! -- but something about the combination of notes make this uncomfortably cloying on me. Instead of the fresh, green sweetgrass scent I was hoping for, I got: trapped in a hot, dusty, 1994 Toyota Camry full of hay bales. Luckily, I purchased this as part of the Libertine sample set and found others that I really do like and can see myself wearing. Even though I was most excited for this one I ended up falling in love with Gilded. Funny how that happens sometimes. Highly recommend testing before purchase!

Unfortunately the powdery musk is particularly strong on my skin. It's all I could smell for sillage and for the first few hours before it faded to a realistic hay scent. A couple hours later I can't smell anything at all. An interesting smell, just doesn't work for me

Masculine leaning musky synthetic hay that smells like a designer perfume almost. Could've passed as a generic freshie in a boring blue bottle if there were some more woody ambers in the mix and the brand's marketing was less successful.

Very masculine, dries down to a saliva smell. How I imagine it smells when a man drools on your pillow. Happy to stay lesbian.

Libertine Sweet Grass is a scent that ticks all my boxes and tickles all my fancies and I am not trying to sound like some sort of horny perverse gremlin about it, but those are the phrases that best describe how perfect I find this particular combination of notes. It’s a dusty honey, dried tobacco, and a sort of balsamic oakmossy ambery situation that all smells very much like something glamorous trying to play it lowkey. Like Sofia Loren in a farmgirl apron napping in a hayloft in the heat of a late summer afternoon. Sure, that’s a threadbare gingham dress she's wearing and there’s chicken feed in her hair but come on, you can’t pretend that’s not Sofia Loren. And that’s a bit how this fragrance makes me feel, both uncomplicated and easy-breezy, but utterly beguiling and drop-dead gorgeous at once. And actually...now that I think about it, shouldn’t that be the criteria we use when looking for a fragrance? Something that feels so simple to slip into and yet yields an incredible wow factor? That’s what Sweet Grass does for me.

I have been searching for a true sweetgrass scent to remind me of home on the prairies. This one does well in the bottle but I find that the hay and tonka tend to separate on the skin. First I huff tonka and then a soft grass. In order for this to really work, the scents need to be more layered or synchronous smells to achieve the illusion of sweetgrass. A good effort from an interesting studio. edit: I tried the atomizer version and I would say that the two are very distinct from one another. The spray is much soapier and the notes are far less discrete from one another. I have also had the experience of two bottles of the same fragrance smelling entirely different (perhaps an issue with shipping them?). I own a roll on of their Troubled Spirits and I wonder if that scent, too, would but much different in the spray version...

Every perfumer has a fragrance that anchors the whole and this is his. Of the four samples, I expected the least from the one from a quick arm test. I wore about four sample sized sprays last night to a cozy whiskey bar in Manhattan and three ladies much younger than I noticed and asked me what it was. Hard to categorize the scents but its definitely complex and natural and something you want to stay close to. Really nice and original but not for boys this is a man’s fragrance.

I got the sample set and while I liked a lot of these scents on paper and in the air, they smell terrible on my skin. This one smells GREAT off my skin- you really get the sweet hay. Reminds me of the summers where I grew up, how the grass smells in the heat. Again, on the skin immediate BO and not in a pleasant way. :( This is one of the three I really liked from the kit (soft woods and troubled spirits were the others) but it just doesn't work for me! Too bad!

I've been waiting for years and years for someone to do an authentic "sweet grass" fragrance. I often burn the dry, braided, Native American sweet grass like an incense. Naturally there is a "smoke" note that happens when you burn the actual grass, but this fragrance only slightly alludes to smoke, and keeps to the lovely smell of the actual plant. Its quite photo-realistic and, like I said, I've been eager for some fragrance house to do this. Bravo Libertine!

One one hand, I'm impressed that this smells exactly like real sweet grass. I get that cozy, almost cinnamon-y vanilla, a slight smokiness, and the herbal greenness. And yet, I now realize I don't want to smell exactly like sweet grass. I guess I was expecting sweet grass + some kind of je ne sais quoi to elevate it beyond what I could get from a simple sweet grass hydrosol. Alas. But it is a marvel in its own way.

A fresh harvest on a hazy, sunny day. Beautifully herbaceous and green with all the notes working together harmoniously. It becomes a little dusty on the drydown, giving me a really strong mental image of pollen or hay particles floating through the air, illuminated by streaming sunshine. Longevity is about 12 hours, though projection is light. Overall a lovely and very interesting scent.

Didn't love this the first time I tried it but my tastes have changed since then. All warm colors. Powdery not in an old lady way. Tonka/Coumarin are front and center, warm spice. Everything about this is soft and warm like an unusually warm day in the late fall with the sun and wind carrying up the smell of dry dead grass. I feel like I'm up in a hay loft eating a stroopwafel.

A delicate, dreamlike memory of a late summer field captured through 35mm expired film. Refracted sunlight glinting like crystal onto softly sweet bed of golden hay and lavender. It’s late in the afternoon and you have to go home but you would rather lay here forever, gently swayed by the tide of the breeze.

Cary Grant buys a ranch in the wild west, stoking a campfire in a double-breasted Saville Row suit. City elegance meets rustic country. Immediate love for me.

I definitely get dried hay/grass with a woody metallic aspect like cedar and a hint of dried wild flowers. Nice! Very well done.