The Phantom Calliope

[lanablade]

Ghostly, glowing, sweet and dark: black cherry, patchouli, cassis, cardamom and verbena.

In the imp: ...almonds? and a bit of cherry.

Wet: ...cinnamon? and cherry. For a bit when I first put it on, it smelled like a cherry cordial without the chocolate. Then the cinnamon took over, and yes, it smells like red hots. It actually reminds me of Serpent's Kiss in that way. The throw is more green... I'm guessing the herby smell I'm getting is cardamom and patchouli. It's not bad, actually.

Dry: As it dries, the cherry pops back after a while as a sweet note behind the overwhelming cinnamon, but the cinnamon continues to dominate as the smell fades. On me it lasted an INCREDIBLY short amount of time. As in, I put it on to start writing this review, and within about fifteen minutes, it's nearly gone. I can't say I'm not relieved about that, though.

This does indeed remind me of it's name. The throw is very whispy and hard to track, then as the thing comes closer, it gets more dramatic until the ghost stands before you and it's down right terrifying. This imp was part of a Christmas gift from a friend, and I can with great confidence and zero guilt pass it on to someone else. Edited December 19, 2006 by Lana Blade

[monsteralice]

This one was a disappointment, because it had no staying power on me. It was completely gone in 2 hours.

 

Wet: Cinnamon and cardamom. No fruit, oddly enough.

 

Dry: The patchouli came up, but little fruit.

 

Finish: Slightly fruity, with strong cardamom.

 

Throw/Duration: No throw and the scent disappeared quickly.

 

Off to the swaps wit' ye!

[jarvenpa]

If I have learned anything in my experiences with BPAL fragrances it is that I haven't a clue, really, as to what will work or not work on my skin. Well, I have a few clues, but...

 

the generous cuervosueno (er, no, wait, I think it was OdetteOdile..I got a couple packages of deliciousness at the same time, bless both of them) sent me a bottle of Phantom Calliope, and I daubed some on without recalling at all what the scent notes were .I'd read all the CD descriptions when they came out, and noted the ones I particularly wanted to try, starting with Mme Moriarty, based on descriptions and what I thought I knew worked. Phantom Calliope never made my list, nor would it have. I mean, Cherry? never.

 

So, innocently unaware of the notes, I daubed and sniffed. What I thought was: hmmm, sweet spiciness, very nice. Initially a cinnamon (I thought) hit, and I do love cinnamon. Swirls of delicate sweetness, settling to what seemed to my naive nose a burst of sweetened lemon underlaid with amber or vanilla or something that was warm and misty and delicious and wholly indescribable.

 

Must remember I seem to love verbena.

 

This is an utterly delicious, long lasting, sexy fragrance, and one of my very favorites ever. Purely enchanting.

Edited December 31, 2006 by jarvenpa

[Voleuse]

The cardamom leaps out at me on first sniff, spicy and glowering. Yum! The patchouli is in the background, lending a pleasant dirt note that never overwhelms the sweet spice. I don't smell any of the other notes, but I'm happy with cardamom and patchouli. This is a gorgeous scent, dark and sensuous, and more powerful than I expected.

 

After a very long while--five hours, I think--this becomes sweet and heavy incense on me. The throw isn't very much, but it's definitely long-lasting.

[Ghost_Light]

I just got an imp of this from Shug today and I could not wait to try it.

 

I put some on each wrist (since I have discovered oils will smell different on each hand). It was very cherry, but with a dark, mystifying undertone. It was wonderfully spooky.

 

I put some in the crook of one elbow. It was totally different - all cherry and licorice at the same time. No spicy, no dark, but still wonderful. The scents were so different that even my hubby commented on them.

 

Then the crook of my elbow started to burn. My skin turned bright red.

 

Genius that I am, I thought maybe I might have dabbed on a scratch. Let me just put a dab on my other elbow, I thought.

 

Redder. Itchier. Hubby took one look and suggested I go wash it off.

 

I looked at my wrists. Bright red welts there as well. Hubby told me to go wash it off. Now.

 

I loved this one so much! I am so upset I had such a bad reaction to it. But I am glad that I didn't go with my first instinct and dab it all kinds of places to see how the scent would change.

 

Keeping the imp?

 

Bottle?

Edited March 17, 2007 by Ghost Light

[filigree_shadow]

This is sweeter than I thought it would be -- I had sort of assumed that the cassis and cardamom would run riot over everything else, but they don't (although they are prominent). It smells mainly like a spicy verbena scent, which is an odd combination but not at all unpleasant, with a very rich patchouli underneath.

 

Overall this is too spicy for me to wear, but I do like the scent.

[theseagrows]

all i smell in this is cardamom and rosewood, or some other kind of wood and a slight hint of patchouli. at first i thought i was cinnamon, but now after reading the description i realize it's cardamom. i really can't smell any black cherry or verbena at all. interesting, but not really my style, so it's off to the swaps with this one.

[wikkidraven]

so. good.

 

it's cherry! it's spicy! it's spicy cherry cola!

 

i don't know how i overlooked this scent. must have more.

[kat15lee]

I get a wet patchoulli, drenched in cinnamon smell. Seeing there's no cinnamon, it must be the cardamon.

 

Patchoulli gives me a headache... so off to the swaps it goes.

Bummer... I loved the label too!

 

2.5/5

[penemuel]

Eep -- my first review!

 

In the bottle this scared the heck out of me. I thought OMG Cherry cough medicine yikes!

 

But then I braved it and put some on, and it was lovely! The cherry is much softer and warmer than it is in the bottle, and for an instant there's a bright flash of verbena. I wish it would stay there longer -- it's a lovely sharp lemony counterpoint to the cherry, but on me it fades in under five minutes.

 

And then the scent morphs into a wonderful warm cherry/patchouli/spiciness (must be the cardamom-- it's delicious!).

 

I put some into a fragrance free hand lotion I bought, and I love it. I must have bottles of this one -- an imp will not last me!

[mspixieears]

What a curious gourmand mixture this is that I can’t seem to fully define but what delight. Almost baby-soft in its scent but very feminine and adult in its allure. Unbelievably there is that funny lemon verbena antiseptic note that hates me and yet it smells delicious in conjunction with all the other lovelies wafting! My mother loves this scent on me and felt compelled to ask me what I was wearing when she went past me and I ended up reapplying my imp of this half a dozen times. I needed it, and ordered it as soon as I was able! What started off as a delicious gourmand fragrance ends in a gentle floral that really lingers on in the day!

[metaldog32]

This was the one..the one I had pined for first when CD came out..and then after reading the reviews struggled about as well. Although the black cherry, patchouli, cassis and cardamom had me hooked..it is the lemon verbena that kept me away.

 

Lemon verbena amps on me like you wouldn’t believe..until it turns into Lemon Pledge nightmare. I couldn’t risk it. I waited..I tried not to think about it..but I kept stalking the reviews on Phantom…hoping I would read something that would tell me it would be okay to possess her..

 

I finally bit the bullet. I bought a decant off of a generous forumite. I have had said decant for several months..and now..finally..I am going to give it a whirl.

 

Initial sniff from decant:Dark fruit..hmmm… and the patchouli giving it an earthy slant..no complaints..I do smell something a tad bit citrus-like..but it’s on the back end..so I am hoping that once this hits my skin..I won’t become a human can of furniture polish….

 

Applied wet on skin:Dark fruit is there..and right behind it is the patchouli/cardamom duo giving it depth and a touch of spice..and there is lemon verbena at the tail end..still being held in check I might happily add…so that it just adds a wisp of something fresh/tart…I am still keeping my fingers crossed.

 

Couple of minutes on skin:The cherry and cassis kind of left the party..where did you guys go??? I am left with a cardamom/patchouli combo which is nice..but I was kind of hoping that the black cherry/cassis could have stayed around longer..maybe they will show up again??

 

Ten minutes laterIt’s all just the spicy cardamom/patchouli party…which isn’t bad at all..I just wanted the fruit to stay longer.

 

What IS kind of bad is that I started to itch on my wrist where I applied Phantom Calliope. I am developing some sort of hive..darn.

 

Drying on skin:Well..I put some salve on my hive and now what I am left with is again the spicy duo of the patchouli and cardamom. I like it well enough..but I was really hoping for that black cherry/cassia tag team to be more assertive in the fragrance. I only was able to hold onto it in the first couple of minutes and then they slid through my grasp…wispy little fragrance!!!!

 

Lasting power on me is 3+hours with throw on the soft side.

 

Bottom Line: Phantom Calliope is a wispy fragrance…but not an invisible one. I do enjoy the patchouli and cardamom in this blend..despite my little skin reaction..and the fruit..though fleeting on me..smelled amazing. This would work well in the fall and winter. I am still on my quest to find the most perfect black cherry or dark fruit scent though..one that can stand head to head with my beloved Queen of Spades. This one had promise..but didn’t quite seal the deal. I am definitely keeping the imp..and will try this once again before coming to decision regarding a 5ml purchase.

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: Cherry musk

 

On Skin: Bananas?!?!

 

On Drydown: Burnt sugar, cherry and woody musk

 

After an hour: I think I smell the cassia (which is probably translated into my head as slight woody/spicy) and the patchouli underneath which give the smoky undertone. I get an occasional whiff of the cardamom around the edges, which amps up the spicyness.

 

Verdict: If the sweetness of the cherry had stuck around for longer, I would be mightily pleased. This is more of a spicy/woody smell on my skin. And honest to god, I smelt BANANAS for twenty minutes while it was on wet.

 

Wonky skin chemistry FTW.

[CrazyPretzel]

What a strange animal!

 

In the bottle: eek! My first thought was 'smells like a witch's potion!' Something you'd brew up to put a princess to sleep for a hundred years. There are cherries in here too but I have to sniff pretty hard to find them -- nothing at all like Monster Bait: Bloody Mary.

 

Wet: Hm, still peculiar. Getting nicer though -- I can smell some definite fruit in here now, something a little alcoholic (probably the cassis).

 

Drydown: Oh, now /this/ is lovely. All the spices that smelled so dangerous at first have mellowed slightly into a beautiful, very mysterious blend. Really not getting much cherry from this now (but that's okay, Bloody Mary supplies me with plenty of cherries for now.) Medium throw.

 

Winner!

[Electra]

Ha. I wasn't kidding when I said I amped "all citrus, including verbena, to screaming deafening levels."

 

Wet, in the decant and immediately upon touching my skin -- strong syrupy cherry.

 

Drydown, for about five minutes -- no more cherry, now lots of spices.

 

Drydown, after five minutes -- all I can smell is verbena. It's drowning out everything else.

[luna65]

Thanks to kmasden for the decant.

 

Vial: The cardamom and cassia are entirely overpowering on first sniff.

 

Skin: The cassia is very strong at first, it makes me think of Underbed except with fruit.

 

Drydown: This turns into a wonderful black cherry incense on me, the fruitiness atop a lush base of patchouli and verbena. Something unexpected and yet utterly gorgeous.

Edited May 14, 2007 by luna65

[captainecchi]

I think I'm the only one who noticed this: the description mentions cassis. To me, cassis is the French word for "currant," and I assumed Beth was using it in the sense of creme de cassis, a well-known currant liquor that is used to make the popular cocktail kir royale.

 

So yeah. I was expecting something VERY different. I'm pretty sure now that cassis is a typo--it should be cassia. I can tell, because there are red spots on my arm, which is a reaction I only have to cinnamon or cassia.

 

But anyway... onto the review! I got a decant of this from a swapper on the forum. I agree with whoever compared this to Dr. Pepper--on wet, this is a very strong, cherry cola and spice smell. The reaction I had appeared very quickly, burning even my wrists, which is usually not a problem. I had to wash it off my wrists and inner elbows, but was able to leave it on my neck and cleavage without a problem. After a while it becomes hard to separate the cherry from the cinnamon... one leaves off where the other begins. Alas, the cardamom seems to be MIA in this one, or it's blendy supremely well with the cinnamon and cherries. That disappoints me, as I was most interested in the cardamom in this blend.

 

This smell reminds me strongly of Eclipse, complete with the splotchy reaction. If I want to smell like Dr. Pepper, I think I'll pick a GC scent to do that. I don't think I'll be buying a bottle, alas.

Edited May 30, 2007 by CaptainEcchi

[stardreamer]

This sounded so promising! Sadly, the cherry overpowers almost everything else, and there's something in there making it smell sickly-sweet -- "cherry cough syrup" is the phrase everyone seems to be using, and it's pretty accurate. I get some cinnamon-ish notes, and some incense (that would be the patchouli), and occasionally something a bit almond-ish (the cardamom?) but overall it's just CHERRY.

 

And the Perversity of the Universe is in full force again. Of course this one would turn out to have Super Staying Power -- 12 hours, and out all afternoon running around in the heat, and it's still very noticeable.

 

Bottom line: it's a swap.

[LadyCrow]

In the imp: Cherry, cardamom, verbena.

 

Wet: Cassia! The clean-ness of the verbena, while at the same time the patchouli makes everything very deep.

 

Drydown: The patchouli almost begins to swallow the cherry, but in fact amps it through the other notes. The cassia is the top layer, giving that familiar light burn on my skin and contributing a cinnamon-like note to the considerable throw. This is one to be used with caution and care.

 

I can't really call this foody because of the resin and unfoody spices -- in fact, it's got a near-incense quality to it. Not a bottle I need to dive into, but an interesting and complex scent.

Edited June 20, 2007 by LadyCrow

[roxyhead]

Cassia, cardamom, and something cold, empty, and haunting. Like if the Undercity had a little country store that even the undead were no longer inhabiting. I didn't think of cherry or patchouli at all until I read the description for it, and even after doing so, I *still* can't smell either in it. I don't know if I like it or not. Hollow. But because of that, it's incredibly fitting, too. Even though I'd like patchouli and cherries better. Empty, empty, empty. I should wear it to work tomorrow night and see what one of my friends there smells it as, he's good with that sort of stuff, unlike my family. I think I'll keep it, even if the cherries and patchouli never show up.

[eatingthesea]

cherry. spicy cherry. i love cherry. it hates me. you know what it does to me? it BURNS ME SKIN ugh. while this would be a perfect candidate for a locket, i'm so frustrated that i can't put this on any part of me without turning red and spicy myself, i'm sending it off. so sad :/

[Extispex]

It looks like this one is turning into another favorite. Wow... incredible. This is nothing like I expected it to be.

 

First sniff, its a bit frightening. Not because of the scent, but because I got a bit on my nose and it burned like hell. But of course, that doesn't stop me from dousing my wrists with it. In the bottle it is a bit medicinal smelling, as some have mentioned. Like cherry cough syrup. Its also slightly boozy, which is, I suppose, the cassis, and I can catch a hint of the verbena lurking.

 

First on, wet, its a dirty, dark spicy patchouli cherry. Which I absolutely love. Its gorgeous, but it quickly morphs as the verbena asserts itself, lending an herbal lemony glow to the darkness of the aroma.

 

As it dries, it gets spicier and spicier. I just love cardamom, and the cardamom quickly grows to dominance. This is a very very spicy blend on me. But its such a dark, complex spice. An earthy, grounded, almost menacing cinnamony scent. This isn't the candle-shop at christmas. This is something much headier, richer and deeper than that.

 

Of course, I keep sticking my nose to my wrist, and this oil does burn the skin of my nose, but its worth the pain. And the oil doesn't burn my wrist at all.

[funkmoppet]

Straight up this is strong cherry. It's got that medicinal edge, so I know it'll take drying down before I can really get into it.

 

And it's lovely when it does. Cherry is the dominant note on me, though despite the note's strength, the patchouli grounds it nicely, and the verbena adds a lemony zing underneath. The cardamon finally comes through once it's been on for a while, and spices it all up nicely.

 

A beautiful cherry blend. Not a CD love yet, but definitely worth hanging onto this decant and see how I feel about it later. I've had a number of blends grow on me, so I think this one just might do that.

[alicia_stardust]

Almond + cherry! I love this! The patchouli lends it a sinister air and that sort of scares me off, but until then this is love, pure love. Very spooky and ghostly.

[nethien]

I was really looking forward to this scent, all the notes struck me as something I just had to have. So I opened the bottle and took a big sniff. OMG it brought tears to my eyes. Straight up cardamon and cinnamon.

Not to be put of I dabbed a tiny bit on my wrists. Not so overwhelming now, but no cherry or patchouli.

Then my wrists started to itch.

Still, I'm a determined soul, and two huge red welts were not about to disuade me. And I am so glad they didn't. Once the spice settles the other notes poke their heads out and I am left smelling of earthy spicy cherries.

This is the perfect scent to celebrate what appears to be the end of the British summer.

Edited August 14, 2007 by nethien