Haunted

[lainevierge]

A mournful, poignant scent, thick with foreboding. Soft golden amber darkened with a touch of murky black musk.

Arg. This smells great in the imp, but on my skin it just turns to spicy baby powder. I wish I could love it, but alas I don't. I'll be putting it in a scent locket though. It's just too lovely to pass up.

[toomuch]

Haunted is lovely. It's my first bottle purchase. The amber and black musk are so sweet and dark. (And this from someone who thought she was a light, floral scent person.) This is not haunted like a nightmare, but like a sweet, old memory that you aren't really thinking of but it never leaves you. Some sight or smell triggers the nostalgia and the memory wafts through your mind and continues on, just leaving you peaceful and smiling. I found this scent a good one for sleeping.

[jehrichardson]

There's something about amber that I kinda love, kinda hate. Like honey, it's got an amazingly rich aroma, plays nicely with others, but has a sharp, odd highnote to it, with a shadow of bitterness.

 

Thus, I generally enjoy amber + vanilla, amber + musk, amber + copal etc. The sweetness rounds out the odd chemical high note, balances the bitterness, and cuts the sharpness.

 

Haunted is the perfect amber. Everything that is great about amber is here. Everything that is great about musk is here. It smells like sex on wheels, debauchery, luxury, victimless sin, indulgence. It's close to the skin, soft, and private.

 

On the bottle list with you, my dear! :D

[angelicruin]

I've had this on my wishlist for some time to try. I was finally frimped some today and OMG, this scent knocked me on my butt. It's a gorgeous blend of amber and musk. Deep, spicy, sweet, but not cloying. Once dry, it's a bit powdery, but in a good way. I will be getting a bottle of this stuff asap.

[stillalive]

Ohhhhh it's like Black Opal but more delicate... I adore it!

[veronicafranco]

this scent is... something seriously antique, upholstered in a dusty velvet so faded you can't really guess what color it once was. greenish oyster beige, a bit darker around the edges.

 

i will attribute the bitterness of this, the first hour or two it's on my skin, to the black musk. sometimes musks and i have issues.

 

once fully dry and absorbed and alchemized with my chemistry - and when it lingers on my clothes and in my hair - this is the loveliest, pure soft spiced amber. i think it's the same amber that's in snake oil, only naked. this is like... if snake oil is an elaborately seasoned indonesian noodle dish, haunted is just the high-quality homemade noodles by themselves, very slightly coated with sesame oil to keep them from sticking to each other.

 

[note from the review police: reviewer veronicafranco has been sacked for excessive simile mixing.]

Edited March 5, 2009 by veronicafranco

[March]

I love this! On me, it's a light, glowing scent with a slightly citrusy tang to it (only slightly, though, and I wouldn't know where it comes from, given the notes).

 

It doesn't morph on me at all, and is still going strong after 6 hours!

[copagirl]

I also love this one! It's sweet musk, amber, incense, cigar, yummy. Still smells great hours later, softer. I wear this one alot and may get a big one of it!

 

ETA: I realized why I like this one so much. The other day I put it on and thought of my mother who passed away 8 years ago. Then I read a post about how Haunted smells like Shalimar. Bingo! This smells like my mother! She smoked and used to wear Shalimar, as did my Grndmother. Very interesting.

Edited April 27, 2009 by copagirl

[milica]

one more ars moriendi scent that's no good for me. I don't have much luck with them.

 

while I get some nice amber from this, musk is going funky on me, something is not right. this is not the first test I did on this, after few months I get pretty much the same scent only amber got better.

Edited March 19, 2009 by milica

[catatonic1242]

In the imp: Soft, pleasantly musky amber.

 

On, wet: Sweet and moist. It smells indescribable but nice.

 

On, dry: Oof, the amber turned on me and now it's all pink baby powder, overwhelmingly so. Do not want.

[riflmom]

Haunted started out nicely musky, mellowed by the amber. Beautiful and warm...

 

But it's turned to mostly powder on me, as I'm finding most ambers do

 

It's way too nice to not wear, so this will be a scent-locket scent. I'll try it in my hair, also, to see if that works better.

[liquidtrance]

Imp sniff: there's something in this that makes it a little fresher than I would have expected. Not at all murky smelling. Worth a skin test.

Skin test: Something bubblegummy/lemon-cleaner at first. Maybe the musk? Maybe due to RMW right now? Smells sort of like ginger. Soft ginger/bubblegum. Musky ginger in the end.

 

ETA: 11/10/09-- Retried my lil imp, and although I got the WHOA LEMON stage on application, the citrus dissipated within five minutes of application this time. The ginger note I was detecting before, I think may have just been the musk. This is rich and soft as it is drying. Almost powdery, but not quite dry smelling.

Edited November 10, 2009 by liquidtrance

[tajana]

There were some great reviews for Haunted, so I really wanted to give it a shot despite my patchy track record with the listed notes.

 

In the imp and just applied, it's so pretty. A warm, sweet, golden amber. Simple and heartbreakingly beautiful.

 

As it dries down, though, my worst fears are confirmed. Muskiness is identifiable for just a brief second, and then the dark musk and amber disappear. Nothing but extra-sweetened baby powder. Various ambers and also occasionally dark musk blends have turned rather powdery on me, so I guess I half expected this outcome.

[catattack]

Imp: Tart, yellow, amber.

Wet: Citrus-y amber.

Drydown: This is initially an earthy, resin-y citrus scent on my skin. About 30 minutes into drydown, the amber amps and the black musk appears, obliterating all the bright citrus notes. It's awesome. I love my black musk!

Overall: Although I'm not sure about the initial stage, I love the black musk in the drydown. I'm hoping that as it ages, the citrus-like note will fade/mellow.

[Tanya]

You know, this ain't bad. I put one a little from a recently obtained frimp expecting the worst. This has turned into a sweet but soft, not too powdery scnet. Amber does not always work on me and I generally do not like powdery scents. On, it smells elegant and rather cheerful. These ghosts are in a good mood!

Edited June 28, 2009 by Tanya

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

 

Imp: soft…kinda musky…

Wet on Me: amber immediately went to baby powder on me

Drying Down: Still Baby Powder. Man my skin just does not like Amber….altho Baby powder foes not smell bad perse…it’s just if I want to smell like baby powder I’ll reach for the Johnsons’s.

Dry: Alas…still Baby powder. I’ll just re-home this.

 

[lilacea]

There's a cool citrus tone on the opening of this, like a little ho wood, there's also a snapped twig scent coming in here too. It's not a super heavy black musk, but it is a prominent musk element none the less. I'm picking up cardamon also. Once this dries, the amber does it thing, which on some people is disasterous, but on me, fortunately I've got skin that turns amber into a soft, sexy, warm, swoon-worthy skin scent. Very close to the skin, I do have to slather this to get a lasting impression. I'm not too in love with the wet stage, the piquant cardamon is a little odd with the amber here, but it softens eventually making a lovely scent that melds together into something soft and luxurious, not powdery, but velvety smooth and subtle. I can imagine aging this could turn it inot a real thing of beauty.

[sarajane]

It's not offensive, just not me. On my skin, the black musk overpowers the amber, but not in a bad way.

 

I agree with the previous reviews saying that Haunted smells like Shalimar.

[Venneh]

In the imp, this smells darkly spicy, which I'm going to pin down as the black musk (yay for only two notes, thus making this easier!). On my skin, though, that dark spice gets a bit lighter, which I think is the amber coming into play.

 

Aaand like King of Hearts, this is gone almost instantly on me. Ten minutes, now, and I get a really faint dark spiciness, but not a lot. To the swaps.

Edited October 8, 2009 by Venneh

[cinderfallen]

This smells exactly like Snake Oil on me, but with a slightly citrus-powdery twang. This is super aged. I must really amp amber as I instantly recognized the same note--what I was mistaking for vanilla in Snake Oil. Sweet yet has a note that has me thinking of citrus cleanser--the black musk perhaps? Or another note? On full drydown, actually, it's not so bad. Mostly spicy-sweet amber, though, with citrus/almost tea-like something airy swirling over it.

Edited October 17, 2009 by cinderfallen

[Yoginispirit]

I've always loved the name of this but avoided it do the black musk.

 

Wet: This begins as something quite medicinal (black musk ) but with a powdery, lemony sweetness as a base.

 

Dry: It smells rather nice. Kind of a deep, lemony vanilla. Like a more evil dorian. It also has just a touch of cologne and verges on gender neautral. I like this though and can see myself wearing it when I want something dark.

Edited December 4, 2009 by Yoginispirit

[kunoichi]

This is a lovely deep rounded musky scent in the vial, dark, gentle and encompassing. This changes into a much brighter, and almost woody, musky amber on my skin, still lovely yet quite different. After a few hours it seems to round out even further and the wood-like note becomes much a smoother amber musk - delightfully smooth.

[badseed1980]

Ooh, this one might have to be a bottle purchase!

 

I absolutely love Haunted! I got it as an imp. When I first opened it to sniff, it had a definite lemon note. But that first opening seems to have scared it away. The second time I opened it, it had a very perfumey smell to me, like an older-style perfume of the kind I tend to love, from the '20s and '30s. As soon as I put it on, I got, "Oh hi, I'm amber! Nice to meet you!" and it was gloriously sweet and spicy. Now, three hours later, the musk has come out. It's not a heavy musk, but it's not all light and powdery-sweet on me, either. There's a very slight and pleasant bitter edge to it. What a lovely blend! Amber and musk are usually good on me, and this is pretty much the quintessence of both. Gorgeous!

Edited February 22, 2010 by badseed1980

[hkhm]

imp: sweet dark amber and musk.

 

wet: on the one hand, this is very dark amber and black musk but on the other hand i'm getting a hit of bright lemon. very unusual.

 

dry: unfortunately, the lemon scent never leaves and instead turn this whole blend strange. darn.

[SophieCedar]

Wow. very impressed by the simplicity.. yet how alluring it smells to me! The combination strikes me as nutty, warm, and soporific. Very strong bursts of musk when wet and in imp, however like another poster stated, this becomes golden on drydown.