Haunted

[metaldog32]

I again received this freebie imp from the Lab..thank you!!!

 

Haunted was something I would not have thought to try..simply because amber and I have a somewhat shaky relationship..however lately..by way of BPAL I learning to be more open minded with this particular note. Musks, especially the darker ones, have never done well on me..but I figured I gotta try..take the leap and see what happens...

 

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

 

Okay..already with the murky black musk description I am a bit cautious..but here we go...

 

Sniffed from imp: I get the amber...and I guess the musk...beautiful together in the vial..I don't get overwhelming animalistic vibes from the musk...so far the only thing to evoke that for me is civet..but there is nothing in this that I register as animalistic..at least overbearingly so...

 

Applied wet on skin: It's all amber and musk...but ChupaChup also stated there is a whisper of something like lemon...I register this too..but I don't get the Lemon Pledge lemon..no,no,no..it is a fresh albeit very soft whisper of the lemon on the tail end..like I get it at the back of my throat when I inhale deeply...I don't usually like lemon in my fragrance but this smells so unbelievable...golden, deep and provocative. It definitely makes me want to sniff my arm more and more...

 

A couple minutes dry/drying on skin: The whisper of lemon is gone..and I am left with the amber and musk...it is really beautiful..as many other reviewers have stated, the notes meld wonderfully together.

 

Dry: It's roundedness has softened..leaving me with soft sweet spicyness...this is the amber I believe..which I never, NEVER thought I could grow to love so much. Darn you BPAL...I am forever besotted with your amber blends...

 

This has unbelievable throw and lasting power...WOW...but then again my skin seems to be loving amber...

 

I also never thought I could do black musk..just goes to show you..a dog can learn a new trick..YAY

 

Bottom Line: I so LOVE this imp...I am seriously thinking about getting this. For me, this is definitely a fall/winter scent. Golden goodness that, when worn, could haunt the wearer and anyone else for that matter..it catches you off guard..and makes you want more of it..

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): It doesn't smell too bad at all. I wasn't sure from the description. We shall see how it plays out. I'm not a huge musk person, except maybe the lighter ones. If my skin likes it, I won't complain though.

 

Just On: Ahhhh something isn't happy right now. I'm going to guess the musk, because amber has usually been real good to me. It's smelling a bit sweet now. I'm not sure I get darkness or foreboding from it. It's kind of tickling my nose, in a maybe not good way right now.

 

An hour or two later: I don't think I'm getting very much amber from this one. I almost feel sneezy when I catch a whiff of it, which doesn't bode well for keeping this scent around. I'm guessing it's the musk, and it may just be that I am so not used to it, because I do have a very sensitive nose. I'm not necessarily good at picking out notes or anything (mostly because I have no idea what they smell like on their own), but I can usually smell very clearly.

 

Around 6 hours: It's faded quite a bit, but still not the powder I usually get from amber scents. I think I can smell a hint of lemon in here, and it would be so great if it would come out and really play. No Pledge scent, just a barest hint of lemon, perhaps the rind. I don't think this is a bottle scent for me, but it might be okay as an imp. We shall see.

 

12 hours: It's still here, still faded, and feels rather sharp. As in, I don't so much smell it as feel it when I sniff. It's like I'm standing at a crossroads, and one way leads to amber, and the other leads to dark musk... and I'm getting both scents, not together, but not seperate. It actually makes me shudder just a tiny bit when I go ahead and sniff it closer. I just stuck a bit of Hunter Moon over it to see if it will help it stay there and not bother me so much. With fresh Hunter Moon, I can barely smell it (but then again, it's been on for all day). After Hunter Moon is dry: it smells reasonably good, just the barest hint of Haunted with a mild dose of Hunter Moon. However, I'd rather wear the Hunter Moon alone, so Haunted is not MY scent.

 

Overall: I got this as a frimp, and I didn't have it far up on my list at all. I just thought it would be awful on me. Instead, it's not so bad, and I could possibly wear it if I were to layer it. If it didn't give me a burny feeling in the back of my throat, I might say I really liked it. I think on the right person this could smell incredible, but unfortunately, that person is not me. I'm gifting it with a swap. (Pay it forward kinda thing anyway, so that feels good to do.) I just can't love it the way it needs to be loved. Poor Haunted, your name drew me, but your scent repelled me.

 

After reading other reviews: Looks like this was a huge hit with a lot of people. That's awesome. I'm glad to know that this scent will be loved, because it deserves it, but I can't give it what it needs here. I love the name, but I was sort of right in that this will not work on me. I'm game to try more musks though, because I'm pretty sure there are some that work on me. I've gifted this in a swap.

[anmorata]

Haunted:

Wet: incense, but faint. Musky incense. I'm waiting to get hit by the Amber wave, but it isn't happening.

Drydown: after about 10 minutes, there it is: amber, in great waves. My skin loves amber. In fact, it loves it so much that it's all I'll taste for about 2 days. Ugh.

Longterm: Not for me. Maybe someday I'll learn to appreciate amber, but not anytime soon.

[nineveh]

Ooh, I love this one.

 

It starts off like lemon incense, but the lemon note fades after a while.

 

This is somewhat powdery but deep, like flour sprinkled over something dark and wet. It's very warm and smooth and thick, but slightly sweet and spicy. It doesn't smell like food but it definitely has an edible feel while still being dark, mysterious, and sexy. I think it would also be quite alluring on a man.

 

I will probably get a big bottle of this one.

[Thorne]

In the imp this smelled like straight out 7-Up. The soda. Yeah. I don't know. Anyway, once on, it was a heavy, incencey scent, with a little lemony zing to it. It's a nice blend, but not for me.

[olympia301]

 

I got this one in a swap and had stayed away from trying it out because of the dreaded "black musk" in the formula. I was convinced that all musk smelled like laundry detergent/Jovan "Must" Oil/some musty "cheap perfume" smell.

 

I got the imp and saw that it was a pretty brown and thought,"Oh, gad, this is going to be trouble. It will hate me, hate me I tell you!"

 

I took the plunge, opened it up and sniffed. I didn't smell much of anything. Then I put it on my hands and sniffed. I thought I smelled a very tiny scent which was really beautiful. But it was so faint. I went back to work and that little wispy scent kept on traveling by my nose. I loved it. So reticent. I thought,"This is another of Beth's performance arts, this scent is almost undetectable and it haunts you like a ghost." But the more I did housework, the more little trails of scent captivated me. It kept on going. I was amazed that this wee little smell could keep after me and still be out of reach.

 

Then I had to wash my hands. I reapplied Haunted right after I had done that, my hands were still wet. Wow! Big difference, the scent exploded! It was big, robust, full blown, it was powerful to say the least!

 

What does it smell like? I guess I am getting a few of the notes sorted out in my head. I recognize Black Musk from Snake Oil and Phantom. The the amber shown through making it less overwhelmingly BLACK MUSK. It is a very perfumy smell, certainly gender neutral (nothing stuffy femme in Haunted), there is a real cheery perfume to it all around.

 

Goodness, this blend lasts and lasts. I can go anywhere, although I don't think I would choose it for anywhere you don't want to be noticed. I love it. So perfumy, tricky and gorgeous. It is a BPAL classic which, as one fellow reviewer said, should be tried out by everyone. There is not waiting period to get used to it, it's just fabulous out of the imp.

 

I love Haunted so much that I made the icon out of my favorite self-portrait as the ghost which is haunting.

Edited May 31, 2005 by olympia301

[quikslvr]

Impressive start, but very mysterious. Hard to identify. The amber's there, and feels a touch medicinal due to a citrus note on the back end, but I can definitely catch the musk, too. Hmm. I'm getting Snake Oil from this today--probably the musk. Aw, shoot. Now I smell baby powder. I don't think this one's for me. Then--wait, is that Black Phoenix or Morocco I smell? Aw, man. Well, the aforementioned two work better on me than this does anyway. Strikeout on this one.

[Ajila]

Wet this really does live up to it's name, there's a definite sense of something that's not quite there, or possibly something which has been there and has now gone. About an hour later and things are a little less estoric, for the first time I really get what people mean when they say that something smells of their skin, this is the scent of my skin but somehow amplified into a perfume. Two more hours and it's morphed again and become the sort of caramelly, creme brulle vanilla that I'm coming to expect when a BPAL amber works on me. As others have said there is a citrusy tang to it, but it's just outside the range of my nose, if that makes any sense - it's like when you catch something moving out of the corner of your eye, but you can't quite see it, only with your nose . Close to my skin it lasted for well over 10 hours, which is a long time for me, but never had much throw.

[inbigtrouble]

I really like amber. I really like musk. However, this combo, while a great sniff in the bottle, turned icky on my skin. After a couple of minutes, I was only haunted by the scent of powder and soap. Not what I was hoping for...

 

Bad chemistry, bad chemistry.

[Dark Seraphim]

Bottle/WornSmelt like bread, pumpkin and earth. Weird. Not bad, just not what I expected.

 

Burnt: Loved it in burn form. Truly excellent scent. Same as above, only it fared far better in a burner than on my skin. It was basically like walking into someone's house while they're baking a pumpkin bread.

 

I loved this scent in a burner and I would buy a 5ML for that reason alone. If it could only be worn, then I wouldn't. 8/10.

[Chrysis]

Went. Straight. To. Baby. Powder.

 

Too sad.

[arabella]

First impression: There must be amber in this one because I really like it and I've learned that most scents I like have amber in them. There's something else in here to but it's not floral or aquatic or green or fruity - can't quite tell what it is. It reminds me of my mother's vanity, when I was little, with the light powdery scent wafting in the air around it after she'd gone out for the evening.

 

Dries down to: More of the same.

 

Additional Comments: Description lists just amber and musk. This is really simple and truly hauntingly lovely. Very evocative of its name.

 

Lasted: Overnight, but was very light by morning.

 

Rating: 4 out of 5

[Janie]

A darker, more subterranean amber blend, this one has almost resinous note to it. A very haunting oil which wears beautifully. Good sillage, and lasts reasonably well. I am catching wafts of it as I go about my chores.

 

Very nice indeed.

[Eros]

First it's sharp and crisp. Another one that reminds me of designer/dept. store type perfumes...I get more of a bright, summer day than I do mournful, piognant and foreboding, though. It mellows after a few minutes to a slightly darker, rounder scent. Still has that "bright" feel to it, however. Then it goes medicinal, then gone.

Also gave me a headache

[cupide430]

Haunted

 

Fairly light scent. Smells like some Lush ballistic. Hmm, the notes say Amber and Black Musk. This smells so familiar and yet I just can't place it. It is much much lighter than I would have anticipated after reading the notes. It's a little bit sweet, but not in a foody way. I'm tempted to go sniff every ballistic I have to figure out this scent, but I'm still not sure I'd figure it out. This scent would be nice for when its just turning into fall. It is light, powdery and warm.

[magdalene]

in the bottle: gorgeous soft musk, with a slight sweetness to it.

 

wet on skin: is that vanilla? The musk isn't overpowering and the amber intensifies the warm scent.

 

dry down: everything settles down nicely with my skin chemistry, as most musky scents tend to do with me. I'm still unsure if that's a vanilla note I'm smelling or if it's the amber pulling everything together. There's some sort of citrusy scent I'm picking up, but I don't know what it is. This is a great scent, I'm just not overly fond of musky perfumes. It's a gorgeous blend, though.

[walkingundine]

Haunted was a freebie in my first order, some time ago.

 

In the bottle: This is going to be way too strong to wear. It's cloying and really heavy and not my friend. It's not the patch of floor that's been in the sun all day; it's the darkened area right under that window. It's sunshine-by-proxy.

 

Wet: Brighter and lighter than I expected. The musk is still quite strong, but it's not a weapon of olfactory destruction as I feared it would be.

 

Drydown: Haunted settles into an earthy-yet-golden incense scent. It's like a lighter, non-aquatic cousin to the scent I wear in ritual. It doesn't have the same rush of energy I associate with most incensey/resiny scents, but that's not a bad thing. It's... calming.

 

A word on staying power: I find that any scent involving words like 'amber', 'musk', 'golden', 'resin', or 'incense' last forever on me. I used the tiniest amount of Haunted, and it stayed with me for over eight hours.

 

I didn't try Haunted for a month after I got it; I was that afraid of what I found when I uncorked the imp. Having finally done so, I think I could definitely learn to enjoy it. It's not in the swap pile, and I may consider adding it to the bottle list.

[Tesseljoan]

I thought that Haunted was a no-go for me. Roses to that to me, and with amber? I thought it would be a hippy-shop scent and never gave it much thought after that.

 

I stand corrected.

 

This is a beautiful scent, on me it turns into lovely lingering incense, but no one has said it smells like incense yet (which is what I hear most when I wear BPAL) but just that I smell nice. And I do!

[dcmo]

Smells so lovely in the imp, but unfortunatley fades away to nothing within a very short time on my skin. Love amber though and for those whose chemistry this works for, it would be great. Unfortunately, it didn't like me

[AngelFireHeart]

Haunted:

 

For me this is the scent of old houses with musky attics, a place where seance can be held. It's a mounful dry scent & quite dark. There is a sense of wistfulness & longing these are not happy ghosts haunting your house but sad lonely ghosts who long for life & so haunt you because you have what they don't - life.

 

It is an old scent from a time long since passed, that is replayed everyday & night an inescapable time loop that takes you back to the victorian era or maybe before.

 

Very melancholy.

[Miss Lynx]

This was one of the first batch of four oils I received, from a forum purchase, and it's by far my favourite of the four. I've always liked amber, and this is one of the nicer amber scents I've tried.

 

The musk gives it depth, and tones down the sweetness a bit, and the scent seems to blend into my skin over time so that it smells like a sort of warmer, sweeter version of my own skin-scent. It's very... not quite sexual, but sensual on me, and it works nicely in the summer heat because it's such a warm scent, and blends into that slight sweat scent that everyone has during weather like we're having now.

 

Every person who smelled it on me said it was really nice, and that's taking into account that the various friends I extended my wrist to to sniff have widely varied tastes in scent (so to speak). But they all agreed it suited me. I suspect I will eventually have to order a big bottle of this, though I think I'll wait until I've tried more than just four scents... But this is definitely a winner so far.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 0/5

Summarised in a word or two: Dirt.

 

In the imp/bottle: Heady amber and a dark, sharp musk.

 

On skin, wet: Warm, musky amber. I usuallylove the way amber compliments (and is complimented by) musks, but this musk is too heavy and sharp for me.

 

On skin, dry: Dirt? Definitely dirt. Amber and dirt.

 

Conclusion: I love most ambers, I like musk, but in Haunted, something goes wrong. Not my thing.

Edited December 17, 2005 by Aredhel

[Orodemniades]

Wet: Roses and amber and soft goodness...yet roses aren't in this??

 

Drydown: Hmm, something's gone powdery, probably the amber because my skin does bad things to BPAl's amber...oh, I really, really, really want to love this...please don't go bad!

 

Overall: Ah, a day later and this is simply fantastic. I suspect this is a quiet scent, good for very close friends and lovers. I think a 10ml is in my future.

 

 

Oro

[Fyre_in_Winter]

I had the opportunity to try this at paperdoll's house last weekend and it was immediate love at first sniff.

 

Fresh one it has a slight citrus tang to it, perhaps bergamot or something similarly dry along with a "perfumey" amber smell. Veery soon after this it dries down on me into this grgeous, round amber cloud that just glows off my skin. I also suspect there may be another resin in here that has a comes across as vanilla without actually being vanilla-y. I cannot express in words how beautiful this scent is on me. It is sophisticated yet warm and sexy, and I would feel appropriate wearing it anywhere.

 

Aquisition of an enormous bottle is definitely in my future. It also lasts a good 12 hours on me, which is amazing.

[tinyvulture]

this is the most beautiful scent i’ve tried so far. the amber is so warm and smoky and rich on my skin and the myrrh is sweet and dark. heartbreaking, mournful, romantic, lovely. i think it's too pretty to wear every day, but i still want to wear it every day! my new favorite.