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Showing results for tags 'The Spirit of Halloween'.
Found 23 results
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John Downman An incense to call the Erinyes: opoponax steeped in black wine, spindle tree sap, nightshade accord, yew needles, and a drop of blood. Black wine with a touch of sticky sap just after application. This ghost is floating in velvety purple darkness. I can detect the darkest, woozy flowers just beyond the moss covered tomb in the midst of a forest. The Ghost of Clytemnestra is elegant and honestly, makes me feel like a raven while wearing it. I can see it being quite useful for ritual or other transformative ventures. Sleek black feathers and rumbling black clouds of fury. I am beautiful and perfect in this moonless night. (Clytemnestra): "I was slaughtered by the hands of a matricide. See these blows, see them with your heart! the mind asleep is given clear light by the eyes. You licked up many enough things from me, libations without wine, plain offerings of appeasement."
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– from Acme Magazine, 1906 Rose dusting powder, night cream, and upturned, scattered irises. The Rose is very--I initially said heavy, but that's not the case-- on this one, but that's definitely not a complaint from me. A very powdery, dusky rose with a hint of very high-end moisturizer-- reminds me of my Shesheido night cream. This is in no way a complaint, it's a clean (can't over emphasize the clean) rose scent that is a little bit powdery. The iris shows up a little but in the drydown, but this is, overall, a nice new rose scent. Very different than the ones I have now, so I'm thrilled. a breath of fresh air from my most recent favorite, Elizabeth of Bohemia. Would recommend this to any rose fans!! Strong throw, lovely scent.
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George Frederick Watts A memory of English oak and iron shrouded in a thick fog, caked with salt, and a tangle of weeds dragged from the depths of the ocean. A Sea Ghost is a cool, crisp night on the shoreline - with something foreboding, like a sudden storm. I could pick up on the wooden note, and the salt of the sea was pronounced but not overpowering. It reminded me of visiting the south Texas coastline in January.
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Creeping ivy and black yew, benzoin, and lichen-crusted bark. At first this was WHOA NELLY green, crisp and fresh and sharp. After it took a few minutes to settle down, however, I think I'm in love with it. The bark reminds me of a long-lamented discontinued favorite, Hesperides. "A Man in Armour" doesn't have that sweet yellow apple, of course, but what it does have is a wonderful fragrance, brought together with benzoin. For me, this is a keeper for sure.
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Utagawa Kuniyoshi Tonka bean, bourbon vanilla, benzoin, pale lavender, and honey clove. The tonka, bourbon vanilla, and benzoin create a nice spicy, vanilla base. It is rich and dry, not buttery or foody. There seems to be honey and clove in equal parts, but they are not super strong. It's a nice sweet and spicy warmth over the vanilla. This reads surprisingly autumnal to me. I get just the tiniest bit of dry, herbal lavender underneath everything. This is so comforting and cozy!
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J.E. Millais Brown leather, tonka bean, guiac wood, and brown musk chilled by white frankincense, eucalyptus, and calla lily. I've not been first before. Hopefully, it is still helpful to some I'm a leather lover, and I like to try every scent that contains it. However, I really don't get any leather from this. It goes on very strong Floral (lily), white, biting, and clean (probably the mix of frankincense and eucalyptus). This does not work well for me, and while I like what the scent settles into, I'm probably won't keep it because the initial smell is abrasive to me. Eventually (an hour or so later) the throw softens -- the initial bite settles and I get a little less floral and a little more wood and tonka...and this continues till the initial floral and white notes are basically gone. This second stage lasts all day and is very pleasant and soft. I guess it could be described as somewhat leathery, but if I wasn't looking for the leather I probably wouldn't think that. I'm really glad I tried it on my skin as it softened to something that I would not have guessed from smelling the bottle.
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The Ghost of a Woman Confronts Her Murderer on a Stormy Night
Shel Healy posted a topic in Halloweenie
Righteous rage thundering from beyond the grave: blackened cypress tar, bleached white cedar, asphodel, patchouli, and night-black musk. In the bottle, this one immediately made me think of a library or museum. It smelled like old papers, dust, and preserving agents. I felt myself descending a polished stone staircase to a room with stone tablets and sarcophagi. On the skin, the tarry scent is strong at first, and then the smell of freshly pulled tubers, the cedar grows and there's a cooling effect to the nose, as it starts to dry, the patchouli becomes stronger. It feels like digging damp soil beneath a cedar tree after a light autumn rain. The musk comes out at the very end and is delicate, dark and not churchy at all. It dries to a solid cedar/patchouli. I'm enjoying this one a lot. -
Henryka Weyssenhoffa Terebinth, fir needle, and smoke. Sooo... I have no impulse control and I had to test it right when I got it even though I know I should have waited. Slathered it on and instantly was sad. It became old bathroom bar soap. But! I tried it later and it was much improved. I don't get much smoke from this, instead it really reminds me of the bloc na nollaig atmo (yuletide in a bottle). It has pretty decent throw but settles close to the skin after an hour or so. I might be wearing this more for winter but it has great layering capabilities for fall I think.
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Paul Gauguin Tahitian gardenia and vanilla orchid, wild white ginger blossom, coconut, tiger orchid, and a skin-prickle of white musk. I really like this! Fresh from the spray top it smells very sweet, almost honeysuckle-ish, altough that's probably the awapuhi/white ginger blossom. The gardenia also is apparent but not the front and center player. I can detect both the sweetness of vanilla and a slightly citrussy orchid floral mixing together, it's definitely an exotic mix. The coconut does start coming forward... I was driving in my car today and sort of thought about LUSH Alkmaar, with the coconut twang and meatiness. The white musk is probably there but I can't really say it's super prominent. I'd love to save this for a tropical vacation.
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Joseph Werner A summoning: dragon’s blood resin, olibanum, galangal, bdellium, and myrrh. Inhaling the scent of this blend brings the biggest smile to my face. (Olibanum does that to me.) The dragon's blood and olibanum are the first two notes I notice. They blend very well together with the dragon's blood being somewhat subdued. The other notes add to the overall incensey/resin nature of this oil but I have to mention that the myrrh really adds a soft and atmospheric aura to it. I can close my eyes and imagine how it evokes the label art. The resins give it an aged vibe you might experience in a stone cathedral or tomb but the dragon's blood gives it that pop of awakening energy, the myrrh that etheral ghost rising up. Beth did a beautiful job translating the art for this into scent.
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Upturned grave dirt, English ivy, black moss, drooping pine, dried cypress, blackthorn, and candle wax. In the bottle this smells very similar to Graveyard Dirt. Wet: this is really heavy on the Grave Dirt; its rich and damp and oddly sweet. I can smell beeswax which I'm guessing is what is sweetening the grave dirt. Dry: Grave Dirt fades back a bit allowing the other components to come through. Dark greenery, woods, beeswax, and a bit of camphorousness from the pine with that strange sweetness playing over everything. This scent is so odd but so compelling. I love its strangeness and know I'll wear it often in the Fall. It has a lot of throw.
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A spectral musk echoing the memory of neroli, rosewood, and frankincense. This scent is very interesting for how simple the notes would suggest. I definitely get frankincense and rosewood. Frankincense to me can be very gritty and bright, but it seems more subdued here with the rosewood. The musk is light (but it doesn't smell like white musk to me) and sweet, it hovers over the other notes and does kind of subdue them. Dry I can find just a touch of neroli if I really search. It really does smell like the traces of another perfume in musk. It's quite haunting.
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Illustration for Robert Blairs The Grave Rivulets of beeswax and amber flame illuminating a pale blue midnight, eddying with phantom violets, olive blossom, and moss. I'm surprised no one has reviewed this yet, it's just lovely! If you're a beeswax fan, definitely check this out. Upon application this is sooo much sweet beeswax. The olive blossom is the next most prominent note, it has a somewhat green sweetness that blends so beautifully with the beeswax, making this so bright and alive smelling. The violet is light, adding a hint of powder. I get no moss really, although I love it and was hoping for it, it's often present as a binding type note.. As time goes by the amber begins to show itself more, adding a delightful hint of spice. The brightness fades and this is a sweet, soft powdered scent with the nuances of violet and amber. I think this will appeal to fans of beeswax for sure, and also those who enjoy "baby sweetness" type blends-- soft creamy florals, body-powder like scents, skin musk, soft, snuggly, comfy blends.
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Henry John Stock Oleander smoke, white jasmine, ambrette seed, and cistus. I knew immediately that I would love this scent, and I do! Sniffed from the bottle, and on immediate application, it is quite a 'humid', light floral, with the sweet jasmine most noticeable to me in the top. Drying down, a beautifully clean, misty smoke accord comes forward, blending with the floral note and muting it - like flowers in a cool fog. The ambrette seed lends an interesting tobacco-like scent to the final drydown, while the cistus helps to ground the base with a sweet earthiness. What a gorgeous blend this is! Cold, ethereal, dreamy, yet utterly wearable.
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Pale, moonlit musk, sea salt, and ambergris. I couldn't pass up a perfume with a moonlit musk note. The sea salt and ambergris make for a classic aquatic, but that moonlit musk really makes this wearable for me. As it dries down, it gets sweeter and brighter, until it smells less like a wave and more like a moonbeam...like it crashes over and over until it thins out and gets lighter. This is a clean smelling blend, the kind that I think I could easily wear a dot of to even the most scent-averse workplace.
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Askel Waldemar Johannessen A haze of verbena, lemon rind, transparent amber, ectoplasmic green musk, ti leaf, and bamboo. Freshly applied, i smell lemon verbena , followed by green musk, which progressively makes its presence known. A refreshing zesty green musk blend for summer days.
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Frederick Smallfield Beeswax, candle smoke, yellowed paper, leather bindings, and cake with a death-chilled sliver of ectoplasm. Just got this in the mail, sprayed it onto a Halloween bar towel. I can definitely smell the beeswax and candle smoke! I'm getting a really cozy smell overall that is like a whole candelabra of lit beeswax candles in a warm room. I can smell a little bit of the cake baking in the kitchen, but it is pretty far off. I am smelling crumbling paper as well, and what must be leather giving it an edge. But mostly, this is warm beeswax! It's just lovely. I don't smell ectoplasm, but I'm not sure what that is supposed to smell like.
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Alfred Kubin Brown kelp and red algae streaked with black vetiver, driftwood, and sea moss. The vetiver isn't too strong here, it's really well blended actually. This makes me think of taking a warm shower with fancy expensive man soap after a day of exploring the cold gray outdoors or swimming in the ocean in winter. Salty, clean wood
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The Drowned Man’s Ghost Tries to Claim a New Victim for the Sea
Dark Alice posted a topic in Halloweenie
Thorvald Niss Black kelp and opoponax, silt, and dark things dredged up from the depths of a seabed. Tried at NYCC: This is a dead ringer for one of the Irish Bard scents Cucuthulian fights with the sea. *I may have this wrong* on my skin. It has a lighter sea note, but it is a watery ghost rising from the sea. Since I have something that is too similar in nature, I am going to pass on this one. I may find a partial though. Review created. Thank you! -
Sir Philip Burne-Jones Thick snow banks, wet soil, and frost-caked wood shrouded in opoponax, labdanum, and birch tar. Ok, so I like this a lot! This definitely has almost a cool, Yule-like feel to it. It smells like mud, in a good way, kind of loamy and sweet, but not as pungent with mushrooms as Graveyard Dirt. So it's a bit rich, like Penny Dreadful-level soil, a grittiness. The wood is kissed with mint, but only enough to bring the snow/slush note forward. The tar component may be like a vetiver-ish smokiness smoldering under the surface. I can definitely detect the labdanum in the drydown, which mingles with the opoponax to create a pretty unique gummy resinous base. Over time it hovers in the air a smoky resin, more than an environmental scent, and it's a lovely darkness.
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George Romney A brazier aflame with Carthaginian olibanum, Ethopian myrrh, galbanum, onycha, and lingum aloes. I don't see stone listed in this... but it is one of the stronger notes I am detecting. It reminds me a lot of a scent from a few years back: Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion. Though they don't share the same notes, the feel is rather similar. But this one has a very realistic brazier of incense in place of the bubblegum (lotus). It goes on a little sharp, it doesn't stay that way but never smooths out as much as you'd expect resins to. It smells more like an incense stick. While it gives the sensation of burning, it doesn't have any smoke notes. More that the incense has a light and airy quality to it that evokes incense smoke. It has a very thematic and strong ambiance, but not overbearing enough that it isn't wearable most places. Also it's wearing power is somewhere near forever without losing the lighter/ top incense notes.
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A Kneeling Child Watching a Ghost, Devil, and Puppet Making Mayhem in a Room
suki posted a topic in Halloweenie
After: George Du Maurier A chaotic, clanging scent – shadowy, sweet, and discordant: black licorice and teakwood. Full disclosure: I got this for my partner, who adores black licorice scents. But while I'm not the 'target audience' in this scenario, why not test it anyway? In The Bottle: All black licorice, all the time. It's not overpowering, though, which surprised me. Wet On Skin: The teak is mellowing the licorice a little- smoothing out the edges, as it were. The black licorice is becoming more 'earthy' as a result. For me, this is a blessing, as BL generally sells like NyQuil to me, and this, blissfully, does not. Dry Down: A rich, smooth, decidedly "masculine" scent, the teak balances the licorice and makes it rich, earthy and even a bit sexy. In All: Possibly a black licorice scent for those of us that despise the note! At the very least, I will enjoy smelling this on my beloved without fear -
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert A swank affair: moss and dead leaves – amber-gilded, wrapped in balsam and cracked leather – crowned with mums, with a shard of gleaming, bone-white orris root. Alas, The Ghosts' High Noon is a bit of a disappointment for me. I was wanting amber, balsam, and leather, but this is predominately a "dead leaves" scent in the bottle and on me. It reminds me a lot of last years "Dead Leaves, Black Pepper, and Sandalwood." Perhaps my nose is getting a similar dryness from the orris as it does from sandalwood? It gets a creaminess to it as it dries down, but it's still very much dead leaves, and dead leaves just aren't my jive. That said, it smelled really nice when I tested on my husband, and if dead leaves work well on you, this might be really nice. My chemistry just isn't bringing out much complexity. To the swaps page!
