Phantom

[lapetiteflower]

Myrrh, dark musk, attar of rose and ylang ylang.

rich resins.....thick, rich almost syrupy they are so strong with an undercurrent of spiced roses and faint florals. a very heady scent, like being enveloped in a cloud of incense. this scent conjures up the image of a gypsy queen in spangles and velvet, reading her cards in a perfumed tent.

[Skirt]

In vial: Definitely ylang ylang, very strong. Kinda unnerving.

 

Wet: VERY rose - nearly pure rose, just a touch of myrrh.

 

Dry-down: Rose and then ylang ylang in the same sniff, then back to rose again. Very complex.

Edited August 4, 2007 by Skirt

[Tulliver]

In the Vial: I got mainly myrrh and rose with a very slight hint of the ylang ylang in the background. No musk though, which I thought was odd since I tend to pick up on musk fairly quickly. But then I've discovered recently that my skin REALLY loves to amp rose.

 

On the skin, wet: Fresh on the skin and it's ROSE!!!!! with myrrh and ylangylang waving on from the background. I did mention how I amp rose, didn't I? Not that I mind over much since it's a scent I do love.

 

Dry: The rose has receded a little and let the myrrh and ylang ylang through now, which is wonderful since they work incredibly well together. I still get no musk though, which is honestly very very odd. I don't amp musk so much, but I do seem to retain it along with a couple of other scents. Its abscence is somewhat intriguing.

 

After 1 hour: It's faded a little bit, but not too much. The myrrh seems to have receded slightly and the main notes now are the attar of rose and the ylang ylang. I THINK I'm now finally getting a little of the musk through, too. This... is utterly beautiful.

 

After 3 hours: I can still smell this without moving my arm up to my face. I keep getting the most glorious wafts of it while I type. I still can't get a lot of musk here, but I'm guessing that's why it's lasting so long. The musk is anchoring it to me somehow. What I can smell is gorgeous. Attar of rose and ylang ylang.

 

You know, I haven't tested that many scents at all, but the way I feel about this one, I may just be very lucky and have found "MY" scent. I adore this. I have nothing negative to say about it whatsoever. In fact, I could STILL smell it, although barely, fifteen hours after applying it. I like MANY of the scents I've tried, but this one is in a class of its own. It's utterly perfect for me and I can't recommend it enough.

[aquazoo]

Very pretty. It's a complex floral scent. Nothing icky is popping up. :-)

[ImperatrixMundi]

Oh well... Inspired by a few of the reviews I decided to give my imp of Phantom an other try. It is one of those I really wanted to like but it does not happen here.

 

In the vial there is a lot of ylang ylang with a bit of rose and a musky sweet background.

 

Unfortunately, if you are one these people who turn dark musk into baby powder and on whom rose will kill anything else you might get the same as me. A powdery, sweet old lady rose blend. The ylang comes through during the initial stages but then it goes all wrong. This has a lot of throw too and I can constantly smell it on myself and it makes me very uncomfortable.

 

I hope someone will take this off me and give it more love because on the right person this can be a pretty and elegant scent, it just does not go well with my skin at all.

[ophidiae]

I tried this on Sunday night and smelled florals like many other reviewers, sweet but not cloying. As it dried, it took on a rich scent, very earthy and comforting. It reminded me of a lighter, gentler version of Haunted, which I loved.

 

Today I put it on, and it immediately went sharp. As it dried, it became spicy, almost like cinnamon, with an undercurrent of soap.

 

Please note, this is the exact same decant I wore before; the only thing that has changed is me. I'm deep in PMS-mode now, and it appears the changes in my body chemistry have affected how this reacts with my skin. Guess I'll just have to make a note not to wear Phantom at this point in my cycle unless I want to smell like cinnamon soap. Otherwise? It's a lovely, lovely scent.

[TereFaerie]

In the imp I smelled rose and myrrh.

 

On my skin the rose amps way up for the first 15 minutes, then the myrrh takes over. The attar of roses fades from rose to sandalwood/incense and it becomes just a little cloying on me. Not an everyday scent. I can see myself wearing this out to a club, but not to dinner.

 

I'll finish the imp, but I'm still looking for the perfect rose scent.

[naeelah]

I was a little surprised and sad to see this one in the list of to-be-discontinueds. I always looked forward to trying it. I checked out my spread sheet, and it turns out I already have an imp of it. Huzzah!

 

I hoped this would be like Rose Cross, but deeper and richer, from the musk. I didn't try them side by side, but this does strike me as being quite similar to Rose Cross, especially for the first hour or so.

 

Myrrh seems to be less assertive than Frankincense, giving a softer, smoother, slightly smoky resiny base. The musk is dark, and seems to be very similar to the musks in the most recent Hunter Moon and Brown Jenkins. It's smooth and warm, and it blends well with the myrrh. The rose is a rich red rose, and it balances well with the myrrh and musk. At first, I like this a lot.

 

After an hour or so, it begins to get on my nerves. I seem to be amping the musk, which is slightly sweet, and there's also a lighter, soapy quality that has crept in. I think it's the ylang ylang. I always have a hard time immediately identifying ylang ylang as ylang ylang -- I always think, "There's the bright, soapy floral." I guess it doesn't like me.

 

So before long, I've got musk and ylang ylang, with myrrh and rose in the background. I guess I return the ylang ylang's dislike, because I wanted to wash this off. I'm relieved that I don't need to stock up on a discontinued (at least, not until Rose Cross bites it). This has given me the idea of layering Hunter Moon with Rose Cross, and I think that will give me the kind of effect I wanted from this.

 

If you like Rose Cross, or if you like Rose with dark musk, I recommend giving it a try before it goes away. It's a good scent, if you like ylang ylang.

 

The throw is good. It's noticeable but not loud. The wear life is above average. After about 3 hours, the throw remained noticeable. It also survived washing up for bed (the scent was on the back of my hand), and even this morning, if I sniff my hand, I can still smells the trace of the myrrh.

Edited December 18, 2007 by naeelah

[theseagrows]

i mostly get musk and rose from this, and the myrrh adds a nice warmth to it. ylang ylang and rose are hit or miss on my skin, and sadly, i find them unremarkable in this blend. rose either smells great or just so-so on me, and in this blend it's so-so and a little bit sour. i think maybe it depends on what sort of rose is in a blend. i'm glad i tried this though, as i like most of the notes.

[taramarie]

First on, Phantom is musk, myrrh, and a little rose. Very sexy. Then the rose turns to floral soap and I can't smell anything else. Someone else can enjoy this.

[voodoocatwoman]

In the imp: Spicy- myrrh?

 

Wet: Rose comes blaring out at me.

 

Dry: Spicy powder, sort of reminds me of Opium powder... and is making me slightly queasy.

 

This is one of the soon to be discontinued blends. I wish I liked it enough to buy a bottle. No can do.

[puddingirl]

My second round of imps. This is the first bottle I open to sniff and I can smell the rose quite heavily, thankfully I have just recently gotten into rose scents! I dab a bit on my arm, and can smell it even when it's by my side! It's smelling very strongly and reminds me of some sort of candle! I think I am smelling the musk in it now, as it dries this musk smell gets stronger. It's now dried and still smells quite heavily of musk (and as someone else mentioned; a floral soap), unfortunately I am not too keen on this scent so doubt I will be wearing this very often.

[DifferentDances]

Imp: Dark sexiness.

Wet: Myrrh.

Drydown: Myrrh with a punch of floral.

Dry: Myrrh

 

My rating: 1/5. I'm not a big fan of myrrh.

[hkhm]

imp: myrrh and musk. sexy.

 

wet: damn, here comes the rose to ruin it all... it's a rosy myrrh scent, not bad but not great on me.

 

dry: not too bad once dry though the rose does go very powdery rather than soapy for once. it is still quite heavy on the myrrh though.

[djsiberia]

at first application i can really smell the myrrh and dark musk. it fades away after a couple hours though and then the rose starts to peek through. it's a very light scent and i think i prefer la petit mort over this one.

[twilighteyes]

This is one that smells pretty much the same in the bottle as it does dry on my skin.

 

It's kind of a dark powdery smell. Musky. Lots of of myrrh and ylang. I can barely get a whiff of rose in the background.

[zankoku_zen]

Oh man, this mix so does not work on me. It's dirty roses and ylang ylang. At the beginning, ylang ylang was pretty strong and sharp, and then it mellowed out. The musk in this is semi-sweet on me, which combined with the roses just makes this sweet rosey musk.

 

Ah, if only I loved roses.

[hlinspjalda]

Wet: I get a dark spicy floral off this, like clove plus carnation.

 

15 minutes: it's very intense, possibly too strong for me, but I'm still loving the blend of it. The myrrh is not as bitter as I expected, the rose not as dominant; instead it seems to be mostly the musk and the ylang ylang. If this ramped down a bit, I could see wearing it for special occasions.

 

30 minutes: It's settled down some, but is still quite powerful. I still love the blend of it, though.

 

One hour: It's calmed down some, and sweetened a bit, but is still strong. It almost smells like it's over a base of honey; maybe that's the ylang ylang? More musk, less myrrh than initially, but still spicy. The blend of floral and spicy is pretty complete, with neither one dominating.

 

One of the first I ever tried, and still my favorite. I was crushed that it was discontinued, but now I have two bottles of it so I don't feel so bad.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Dark musky myrrh and a hint of rose.

 

Immediately on skin: This scent is very dark and resinous, but also quite sweet. It has a bit of musk, but that doesn’t help to temper the sweetness that much. The blend has almost a cola syrup-like quality to it. There’s also a small bit of rose, but it’s blended well with the other notes.

 

After a few minutes: Wow, holy sweetness! This blend is VERY sweet and strong. The myrrh is screaming in this blend, but it’s blending nicely with the dark musk and attar of rose. It still has a cola feel to me, but I think that’s the myrrh and rose blending together.

 

Overall Impressions: If you don’t like myrrh, avoid this blend; the note is very strong in this. I’m testing this alongside Penthus, and that is a slightly less resinous and smokier (but just a smidge) blend than this one. The feel is nice and creamy, resinous, and dark. I’d imagine this would be the type of scent people would notice on you if you wore it.

[maika]

In the imp, musk with a hint of rose. Very deep and very beautiful.

 

Wet, it's all about the myrrh, but that in itself isn't a bad thing. The ylang ylang jumps out almost as quickly too.

 

Dry, this is warm, and rich and beautiful. The myrrh and musk are there, but not as heavy as they would ordinarily be...the rose and ylang ylang seem to be drifting over them and softening them. Sadly though, it's turning powdery and old-ladyish on me...so off to swaps with this, I think.

[Iceblink]

Sob. This is so gorgeous I wish I'd never tried it since it's unavailable now. It opens with a soft, powdery, dried rose (is it yellow rose) that settles down into musky rosy myrrh. It's wonderfully refined and feminine and ladylike--and sexy! Beautiful. I wish I had more!

[asciident]

Wet: Soapy.

 

First on: All ylang ylang soap.

 

Dry: Ick. Scrubbing this off.

[rayvn1]

Rich, smoky dark musk and resin. I should love this...but for some reason it's not quite hitting on all cylinders for me A hair too strong and sharp on my skin without the depth I get from alot of musks. Too bad.

 

 

Edit: Hrm. Tried again a few years later - all powder all the time now.

Edited September 4, 2011 by rayvn1

[angelicruin]

Sniffing the imp, it's mainly musk and ylang ylang.

 

Wet on my skin, I can smell the myrrh, musk, and ylang ylang. Very sweet scent. No rose though.

 

As it dries, it remains much the same except I can smell the rose now, but it's dusty and definitely not a dominant note on my skin.

 

I like it, but not enough for a bottle..

 

[ljshepherd]

I was confused when I received this as a freebie from the lab last week, as it is being discontinued?

 

I loved the smell straight out of the bottle - mmmm, ylang ylang. But as soon as I applied it to my wrists, it turned very sharp and gave me an instant headache. This is the first scent from BPAL that has ever done this to me. It then morphed into stinky soapy rose smell. Ah, well... I don't think florals and I mix well.