Water Ghost

[patina]

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

[zankoku_zen]

Sea moss, algae, and kelp. This one is a straight up aquatic on my skin. Like a better version of Irish Spring. Neutral to masculine on me. Good throw and wear length.

[Carolan Ivey]

I got a decant of this based on the cool name and label art, crossing my fingers that the vetiver wouldn't overpower the sea/aquatic notes. I'm happy to share that the vetiver stays far enough in the background that I'm not compelled to immediately relegate the decant to the "sell or give away" pile. (Vetiver is usually one of my death notes)

I smell kelp and driftwood and moss, and a surprising freshness I didn't expect. On my skin I pick up a hint of evergreen.

 

Overall, it might be a tad too masculine for me, but I do enjoy the scent on my skin. The longer it sits on my skin the more I smell the driftwood and fresh sea air. It's quite nice. I think I'll keep it.

[Blood onmy hands]

No wood, vetiver or moss on my skin; this is a full-on, laundry detergent, intensely soapy aquatic.

[Elspethdixon]

Wet/in-the-imp - A light, smoky vetiver reminiscent of Beanman and Beanwoman plus something cool and fresh and damp. I like it.

 

Freshly applied - Sadly, a soapy note starts to emerge as soon as it hits my skin. On someone else, this would be gorgeously atmospheric - even on me it conjures up images of an empty beach full of wet stones and drift wood, on damp, heavily overcast day. But, like, if you took that scent and turned it into a soap.

 

An hour in - The wisps of vetiver smoke keep bravely wafting up through the soapiness, but overall, the laundry detergent/soap aspect is winning.

 

This is probably one of the least-awful results I've had with an aquatic scent thus far, but even with a usually surefire-winner note like vetiver in it, it can't completely escape my skin's aquatics = soap curse.

[VetchVesper]

I have little luck with aquatics, which generally turn strait to soap on me. I love vetiver though, and the ingredients here seem non typical aquatic and are very off the beaten path for me, so I wanted to give Water Ghost a whirl.

 

This opens with loooots of dark, charcoaley vetiver, a la Smokestack, balanced with a salty damp wood smell. There's a bit of soapy aquatic hanging out in the background. Overall, it makes me think of a sunken ship - murky, salty water and damp, rotting wood.

 

After a few minutes the soap factor starts amping up on me. There's still a bit of vetiver and saltiness in there, and sometimes it spikes up just enough to perk my interest, but then it just goes back to soap soap SOAP.

 

This would probably be really nice on a guy who wears aquatics well. The beginnings were promising and it's different from other aquatics I've smell, but definitely NOT for me. :-/