Ghost of a Rose

Frimp from BPAL, fresh This one totally took me by surprise! It’s woody, not floral like my usual favorites. I wouldn’t have chosen it myself. But once on my skin, I instantly and permanently fell in love with him. I did notice that it seemed meant for me, because I live on a street named after Robin the legendary forest outlaw. (The BPAL elves didn’t choose it for me for that reason, as I was temporarily using a different address. It was just a delightful serendipity. And a good omen!) It’s definitely a wood scent, but has an unusual touch of softness, (dare I say femininity?) to it. Although remaining unisex, it isn’t assertively masculine. There’s almost a sense of something floral, a few tiny hidden flowers in this forest. Could it be the heather? I don’t remember heather as having any particular fragrance, but it must or why would it be an ingredient in this? Or maybe ragwort? I have no idea what that smells like. Robin Goodfellow went on lovely and stayed lovely for as long as it was detectable (about an average length of time.) It’s my new fave. Dark musk, moss-covered wood, ragwort, heather, and sage. Character: woody, unisex My rating: 10/10

Fresh decant from a lovely forumite. Yes, definitely a Christmas tree, pine with some possible fir and/or spruce. To me, it isn't quite so strong or well-defined as some pine-scented candles that I have are. There's something else in here as well. I don't get the lemon that another reviewer mentioned. To me, it's more of a floral. Or maybe something to eat, something with a delicate flavor like cotton candy or eggnog without the rum. But I could be wrong, and the person who said lemon might have nailed it. Because whatever it is, it's too faint and overshadowed by the pine to really tell. In any case, this is a lovely and realistic pine/Christmas scent. I like it a lot. It isn't astringent, furniture polish-y, masculine, or aftershave-ish, as many pine scents often are. 5 out of 6 stars.

Bottle fresh from the Lab. In the bottle: First comes the yuzu, reminding me of white grapefruit; with a just a breath of white flowers. Then some sour green Granny Smith apple complementing the "grapefruit" nicely. A touch of ozone-y aquatic, not enough to smell like men's cologne. Maybe that's the tea? I'm not that familiar with Angelica, but I understand that it smells green and mossy. I can see that being in here. Overall, the fragrance is mostly fruity, but pleasantly sour, not foody or particularly sweet. Cool and lovely, very fresh. On me, wet:. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Predominant Note:. Yuzu Character:. Fruity, sour, not sweet, unisex, cool, fresh

Fresh, decant from a lovely forumite. I was expecting a mild starchy, nutty scent from the chestnut, somewhat sweet; with some wood and resin, maybe a little floral character, from the oudh. In the bottle, it was immediately evident that I wasn't even close. It smelled very strong and very sour, even a bit acrid. No sweetness at all. There was an "off" tinge, like something just starting to go bad. Phew. When I googled oudh, words like "damp, rotting wood," "rot," "musty," "decay," and "mildewy" kept turning up, so it wasn't just me. After about an hour after spraying it on my blankets and pillows, it started to grow on me a little. Either the oudh lightened up or I got used to it. And there's a faint woodiness. After about 12 hours, and on the second day, the fragrance is much the same but the extreme sourness is gone, leaving only a whisper of something vaguely reminiscent of lemon. But still not at all sweet. The woodiness is more distinct, although subtle. And I can finally tease out a hint of chestnut, the mild starchiness I expected. But it blends smoothly into the background of the wood and overall scent and it isn't noticeable unless I really look for it. This Atmospheric Spray is pleasant now, but it's never going to be one of my favorites. It will be interesting to see what happens as it ages. According to the Internet, oudh improves with age. Predominant note:. Oudh Character: Sour, unisex, non-foody 3 out of 6 stars

Ooh, I love most of the Atmospherics, but this one might be my most favorite of all! Although I've attended many Catholic masses, inluding Christmas, Christmas Eve, and Easter ones, they were usually modern in tone and didn't use incense. Only once have I ever noticed incense being used, at a funeral mass that was more formal and traditional, and even then I couldn't smell it. They must have used only a little and didn't keep it burning long. I've been in some medieval European cathedrals, too, and didn't notice any scent of incense. I think church personnel are aware of how many people are sensitive or allergic to it, or have respiratory problems, so they don't use it anymore. All this is to disclose that I have no idea what church incense smells like. It's not at all what I expected. Not headshop-ish at all. In fact, it's more like a fine perfume, the best perfume ever. If this is what real cathedral incense smells like, it must cost a fortune, because I've never had any incense like this! Even the trace of smokiness is delicate and perfumey. Because this is so beautifully and smoothly blended, it is difficult to sniff out individual notes. But right at first, I get a whiff of rose. The the incense kicks in, with a hint of resins, but more rose and fine perfume. And right after that, the elegant smoke note. The best incense ever. After a fairly short while, within an hour, the incensey resins and smoke dissipate. The fragrance is still much the same, but now it's all fine perfume and the rose-and-amber scent of baby powder. The most gorgeous and most expensive perfume ever. The don't-even-think-about-buying-this-you-will-never-in-your-entire-life-be-able-to-afford-it kind. With a note of honey - costly, beautiful, smooth and soft beeswax candles. And the loveliest baby powder ever, powder for an infant princess. I know I keep saying, "the best ever." But that's deliberate. Because it is. Very late in the day, and on the second day, the honey note has been replaced woth clove. Although the overall scent remains much the same. This is breathtakingly beautiful, elegant, luxurious, and formal; from start to finish. Definitely not your neighborhood parish church incense. Reserved for grand cathedrals and royalty only. So how lucky am I, to scent my home and bed linens with it?!! 6 out of 6 stars. A masterpiece.

2018 version, fresh decant from a forumite. To my nose, there is coconut and vanilla. But these are overwhelmed by a strong chemical whang that smells like a soft plastic toy newly removed from its shrink-wrap. I think that is the snow/aquatic note blended with the other notes, but it is off-putting to me. I don't get any flowers per se, but could see that they might be a component of the plastic smell. Not for me, but I'm not too disappointed. I have the perfume oils and knew that I greatly prefer the Rose Red. But how could I deprive her of her sister? The scent doesn't last long on my hait, but the next day I could still smell it on my comb. And it was gorgeous. The chemical whang had completely gone and it was all beautiful fresh white flowers. I'm hoping that the same thing will happen to the scent in the vial with aging. 3/6 stars

Lab frimp, aged about 4 - 6 years, aged under poor conditions for the past year or two. (I accidentally left it in my car, where it has been protected from light but endured cycles of heat and cold.) I'm not doing my usual minute-by-minute review for that reason. Wow, I expected this to be ruined, but it has held up astonishingly well! The oil is pale amber, like some kinds of beer. In the imp and in the throw, it is decidedly a salty aquatic with tones of citrus (maybe grapefruit?) and especially floral. There is nothing at all reminiscent of a men's cologne, an issue I have with most aquatics. Yay! Thanks to all the flowers, it is more feminine. Finally, an aquatic I really love. I've always been drawn to the concept, but in the end, I am put off when I end up smelling like aftershave. Not this time! On my skin, it's all a gorgeous and realistic floral or floral blend, not one I can identify. I love, love, love this. I am surprised and delighted that not only is it still okay, but exceptional. If anything, the rough treatment only made it even better! 6 stars

Decant from a lovely forumite! In the imp:. Oil is very clear and practically colorless, just the palest of yellow tints. It smells floral, but like a flower I've never smelled before. I've had plenty of experience with hibiscus, worn them as leis and have even grown them myself, but never noticed any scent from them. It doesn't have the fruity smell of hibiscus tea, either. Flor de Maga must be an unusual one. It's very intriguiging and beautiful. A little soapy, but too unusual for that to matter. On me, wet: On my skin, it smells much more familiar. Either jasmine or ylang-ylang, perhaps both. But there's still an undertone of something different. At 5 minutes: It has developed an aquatic note, but without the men's-cologne vibe that such scents usually have. This is too floral for that. The jasmine has already calmed down noticeably, as has the ylang-ylang or whatever that is, allowing the mystery flower (which I assume is Flor de Maga or Flor de Maga accord) more leeway. At 10 minutes: The same. The aquatic note gives it a sharp, bright edge. i looked up the flower on the Internet. No wonder it smells different than a hibiscus. Although the flower looks exactly like an oversize hibiscus flower, and is related to that, Flor de Maga is actually more closely related to cotton than to true hibiscus. At 20 minutes: Much like before, but it has warmed up a little and the jasmine has continued to fade. It's even lovelier than before. Gentler, less assertive, without the strong jasmine. And with the retreat of the jasmine, the soapiness has gone too. At 30 minutes: Ooh, more gorgeous than ever. All mystery flower and aquatic. I'm going to need a bottle of this. At 45 minutes: The aquatic note is trying to muscle out the floral. 😥 And the whole thing suddenly went much lighter. The flower is still hanging on, though, and I'm still loving it. At 1 hour: Pretty much the same. Fortunately the aquatic is starting to lighten up too, before it managed to edge out the floral completely. The aquatic is very dominant in the throw. At 2 hours: Much weaker now. Mostly the aquatic, but there's still a trace of the flower. At 3 hours:. All aquatic. Which makes it cologne-like, but it isn't aftershave-ish. And it's very light. At 4 hours:. Virtually gone. Although, the fading of the aquatic note lets a hint of the floral through again. This is more short-lived than many BPAL's. But some notes are just like that, and when you are trying to create a single-note accord, you can't add base notes to make it last longer. (I wonder if the aquatic note wasn't included for that reason - to stretch out the life of the fragrance without changing its character too much.) Plus which, it does last as long as most traditional alcohol-based perfumes. So I'm okay with that. At 5 hours: I am surprised to find that a little scent still lingers. Not only that, but it has returned to the more floral-dominant gorgeous fragrance that it had earlier. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Predominant Notes: Flor de Maga (accord?), Aquatic, Jasmine Character: Unusual floral, aquatic, feminine 6 out of 6 stars. The late drydown is more cologne-y than I would prefer, but I love the "mystery flower"/Flor de Maga note so much that it deserves 6 stars anyway. (And it does return to the floral in the final drydown.)

This is one of those that come across as a blend - the notes mix to become an entirely new and different scent - rather than any individual notes standing out distinctly. Without looking at the notes, I get a very sweet and somewhat feminine incense-and-resins fragrance in which other notes are clearly present but unidentifiable. Lovely. And unusual for an incense perfume, to be sweet and feminine rather than unisex and headshop. After looking at the description, searching for those notes in the scent I get mostly the sandalwood, with a breath of cinnamon. There's plenty of copal as well, but I'm not that familiar with it so it reads to me as just resiny. The sweetness is definitely the myrrh, with the fruits probably contributing to that as well. I don't specifically detect any actual fruit or wine, but I do get a mental picture of red fruits, so obviously they are there in the mix. But to my nose, this is not a fruity perfume. And as always, I don't smell any blood. And it does have a red vibe. How intruiging is that? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Predominant Notes:. Sandalwood, Copal, Myrrh Character: Incense and resins. Blended. Sweet, somewhat feminine. 5 out of 6 stars

Bottle fresh from the Trading Post. Three of my favorite notes: What's not to love? And sure enough, I do. But it did manage to surprise me! I've come to regard perfumes as falling into two main categories: 1. Medleys Like a vegetable medley, or a song medley, or even a musical chord. Although they are combined, certain components (or all of them) stand out distinctly. Each vegetable, melody, or musical note, or one or more of the perfume notes, retains its own characteristic identity. You can say, "This is peas, corn, and carrots," "Oh, this is a rose and musk perfume," or "This is a I, maj III, V, VII chord." Most BPAL perfumes are of this type, and that's one of the reasons why I'm a BPAL addict. I've always especially loved perfumes that smell like real things. i include perfumes in this group even if only one note is distinct, and all the other notes blend together into a mystery scent. If I can say, "This is a cedar perfume," or "This is a rose perfume, with other things I can't identify in it." (In BPAL oils, though, there are usually at least two, and often more, distinct notes.) 2. Blends These are things that blend together to make something new and completely different, in which individual components lose their identities. Like vichyssoise soup, and secondary colors. Although an experienced palate, eye, or nose may be able to detect some components, they have to "look" for them. And to the average person, it isn't potatoes and leeks, or blue and yellow, or synthetic aldehydes and orris root. It's vichyssoise, or green, or Chanel #5. Most traditional perfumes are of this type. So, all that is to say, this fragrance is a blend. I was expecting a rose and patchouli perfume, with amber in the drydown. It doesn't smell like rose or amber or patchouli. I can detect each of of those notes (with amber being the strongest), but I have to read the description and work at noticing each one. This scent is really just its own self, something new and different. And it's absolutely gorgeous! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Predominant Note(s): None that stand out Character: Blended, sweet, feminine 6 out of 6 stars

Lab frimp, aged about 5 years. I'm not going to do a play-by-play description of this one because it is utterly consistent, in the imp and from start to finish. I do get very realistic steel and leather. But when I think about it from another perspective, this sharp, bright, ozonic/metallic scent screams, "100% drugstore aftershave!" to me, as such scents always do. (Even though that last sentence was a pretty accurate description of a sword, LOL.) I'd probably quite like it if I'd never smelled men's cologne. But having raised three sons (not to mention a husband) I can't get the aftershave out of my head. That's not what I want to smell like. I don't get any blood note at all. But then I never do. The Lab's blood note is not as authentic as many of their other notes. Which no doubt is a good thing. If it smelled like real blood, it would probably make me and many other people nauseous. The musk appears only as a slight sweetness. I'm pretty certain it isn't red musk, since my chemistry corrupts even small amounts of that into something extremely nasty; and that didn't happen. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Predominant notes:. Leather, steel Character: Men's aftershave, cool 3 out of 6 stars for me, but it would probably be very nice on a man. And refreshing in hot weather.

Goblin fresh from the Trading Post. Sprayed on fabric, at first it is all rich, wet, loamy, black, spoil. After about 10 minutes, it transforms into spices that make me think of pumpkin pie, Dutch Apple pie, or mulled cider except without the apple or pumpkin (which makes it surprisingly non-foody.) Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, allspice? For most of the fragrance's life, I get both the soil and the spice. It's a very odd juxtaposition, and the notes don't blend, instead sort of just sit next to each other, but the affect is somehow quite pleasing and lovely. There's something very watery in here, too. But I don't get any men's-cologne (or any kind of cologne) vibe. It's quite unisex - no, "neutral" feels like a better word. Like, gender references don't even apply to it. This blend is far lighter and more short-lived than any of my other Atmospheric Sprays. I like them strong, but there are some people for whom, and some times when, a subtler scent like this one is just the ticket. i don't get any sense of a laboratory at all. (And I know labs, I was a microbiologist.) In fact, I can't come up with ANY association that fits this odd combination of notes. But that doesn't matter because it is so pleasant. And it's fun to let my imagination just roam freely while sniffing this, just to see what random images might turn up. To me, the wet soil note makes this clearly a rainy, outdoors scent. But how do the spices come in to that? So intriguing . . . Another odd thing about this spray: it doesn't work in my CPAP machine. Because pleasant smells make me sleep so happily and well, in the past I sprayed Atmospherics on my bed linens. But using the CPAP makes it impossible to smell them. So I switched to spraying them on the air filter of my CPAP, which works great. Many of the scents last even longer that way - several days before I need to reapply. But not this one. I can't even detect it when fresh, in the CPAP. So I spray it on my towels to scent my bathroom instead. 4 out of 6 stars. I would give it 5 stars if it had more throw and longevity.

In this review, I am testing and comparing two different frimps from the Lab. One is aged about 6 years. The other is a fresh frimp from the Lab, that I received just a few days ago. In the imp:. The fresh oil is a clear golden amber color. The aged one is also clear, but much darker; a deep brown-amber. - Aged: Before mixing, I could smell vetiver and saffron strongly, with a backdrop of wood. After rolling the imp to mix the oil, it is 100% cedar. - Fresh: Wow, this is a totally different perfume! Tangerine and cedar, which go very well together. And I like that this is very clearly tangerine, not just plain old orange. But something in here is super sweet, much too sweet for my taste. - Later ETA: I found another imp of this. I received it recently, but don't remember if it is a fresh frimp from the Lab or a possibly aged one from a forumite. I only sniffed the imp. No tangerine, so it's probably aged. But there is a strong whiff of cat pee., pee-yoo! It may be past its "expiration date." But I know that it could smell differently on me, or change over time. So I put it in the duplicates box. How interesting that all three imps smell completely different. It goes to show how much perfumes can change over time, and/or from different batches. On me, wet: - Aged (left wrist): Mostly cedar, but there is an accent of something bright, almost tangy. But definitely NOT tangerine. It's kind of chemical-ish. - Fresh (right wrist):. Tangerine, with saffron - ah, that's what I was smelling in the aged oil. It just wasn't as defined there. At 5 minutes: - Aged: All cedar. - Fresh: Still mostly tangerine and saffron. And smoky - that's the vetiver, of course. And things I can't identify, which is strange since I know all the listed notes. It IS a strange scent, like nothing else I've ever smelled. Nice, though. Sweet, but not too sweet. At 10 minutes: - Aged: For a little while I smelled something else, too. Something slightly sweet. I couldn't identify it, but it was lovely. But it's gone now. Back to all cedar. - Fresh: Same as at 5 minutes. At 20 minutes: - Aged: Pretty much still all cedar, but there's a subtle undertone to it now. - Fresh: The tangerine is fading, lighter and less realistic, but still citrusy. The cedar has appeared, and together with the saffron, is the main event now. The two notes blend together beautifully. There's still some smoke in the background. It is no longer so sweet, or mysterious. But still lovely. At 30 minutes: - Aged: Still mostly cedar, but it is a gentler cedar. A fine old cedar chest rather than fresh pencil shavings. With touches of smoke and amber to warm it up. I liked it before, but like it a lot now. It is more nuanced, as well as being gentler and warmer. - Fresh: This is becoming much more similar to the aged version. But it is still slightly sweeter, and there is still a faint hint of citrus. And the cedar is a little fresher, sharper. At 45 minutes: - Aged:. Same as at 30 minutes: A gentle, aged cedar with touches of smoke and amber to warm it up. - Fresh: The tangerine is completely gone now. The cedar is a little sharper and smokier than the aged version and the scent is slightly stronger. Otherwise they are much the same. At 1 hour: - Aged: Gentle aged cedar with a little smoke. - Fresh: Freshly-cut cedar with more smoke. At 2 hours: - Aged: Except for the lovely addition of a little powdery amber, no further change. - Fresh: The cedar note has mellowed, and no longer smells fresh-cut. But it is still slightly sharper than the rich aged cedar of the older version. There is some powdery amber here, too. It is a little stronger in the fresh perfume, but here it is also masked to some extent by the sharper cedar. At 3 hours: Azathoth has surprised me. I expected the two versions to keep getting more alike, until they were identical. Instead, the difference has become more marked than it was an hour ago, probably because the aged cedar note has lost a lot more strength than the fresh one has. - Aged: The amber is now equal to the cedar, maybe even a little stronger. There's just a breath of smoke left, like a memory. The scent on this wrist is prettier than ever! - Fresh: The cedar-y sharpness now seems strident, compared to the aged one. It continues to overwhelm the amber. The vetiver smokiness is also stronger than in the aged version, but not nearly as strong as the cedar. The fragrance lasted many more hours on my skin, but with no further change, just a slow fade. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Predominant Notes: - Aged: Cedar - Fresh: Cedar, tangerine Character: - Aged: Woody, smoky, warm. Unisex leaning towards masculine. - Fresh: Fruity and unique at first, then warm, woody and smoky. Unisex. 4 out of 6 stars. This isn't really me - I'm more of a girly-girl. But I do like it a lot. I like that it has no men-'s-aftershave vibe, and will enjoy it as a variation from my usual florals. Comparison: For the first twenty minutes, I like the fresh one best. I love the unusual authenticity of the tangerine note, especially when wet. And even after drying, the brightness that note gives, goes so well with the saffron and cedar, and helps restrain the fragrance from veering from unisex into masculine. And the very unusual and mysterious scent that occurs at five minutes is fascinating. The overall fragrance is much more nuanced and interesting than the almost single-note scent of the aged oil during this time. From 30 minutes on (once the tangerine note has burned off), I prefer the aged version. It is smoother, gentler, richer, more blended and polished. It is a subtle difference for a while. But in late drydown, I much prefer the aged. It allows the amber to come out clearly, and has none of the sharpness of the fresh cedar note. The tangerine note was completely lost from the aged oil. Which is just what one would expect. Citrus notes don't have a long life expectancy in perfumes, either on the skin, or over time in the bottle. The cedar note improved with age, losing the sharpness while retaining its identity. The vetiver changed very little in character, but lost some strength, mellowing over time. (Which many people consider an improvement. I like it both ways.) The amber also lost a bit of strength but was otherwise unchanged. I couldn't tell if the saffron note changed, since it was not a very distinct presence in the blend.

Lab frimp aged about 4 years. Oil is a clear, pale amber. In the imp: I first notice a very distinct and authentic cocoa. Then flowers, equal in strength. A very unusual and interesting pairing! I don't normally like foody perfumes, but the realism of this cocoa note intrigues me, and who doesn't love chocolate? Besides, all the florals prevent the overall fragrance from being foody. I think I'm gonna like this. On my skin, wet: Plenty of cocoa, but not as strong as in the imp. And it vanishes all too quickly - in less than a minute. The new scent is pretty, though: leather and flowers. At 5 minutes: Leather and flowers, with the leather dominating. Which seems fitting, right? At 10 minutes: The flowers have seized control, but the leather is still making a statement. I can pick up some patchouli if I look for it, but it is surprisingly discreet in this blend. At 15 minutes: The scent continues to evolve, with the florals taking a backseat to the patch and incense. It verges on being cloying sweet (could there be some red musk hidden in this?), but isn't quite. At 30 minutes: Decidedly incense and patchouli. I'm not liking that almost sickening sweetness, though. But it may be lightening up. The patchouli isn't dominant enough for this to be headshop - it's more just incensey. At 45 minutes: Now mostly incense, with that spiciness that other reviewers have noticed. It's not a foody spice, though, it's an incensey one. The sweetness backed off a little, but not enough. At one hour: Almost the same as above. I like the spicy incense, but not the sweet note. It did lighten up a bit more, though. So hopefully it will go away. At 2 hours: Yay, the sweet note has disappeared almost completely. The scent is now a lovely warm spicy incense. At 3 hours: Considerably faded. The spiciness has mellowed into a more subtle and gentle incense. At 4 hours: Almost gone. Just faint traces of incense, flowers, and cocoa (in that order) remain. It is interesting how, as the incense faded away, echoes of the florals and cocoa returned to say goodbye. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Predominant Notes: Leather, patchouli, incense Character:. A real morpher. Flowery for a short time, then incensey. Sweet. Unisex. 3 out of 6 stars. I love how perfectly it fits the Ancient Mexico theme. But the slightly-cloying sweetness that it develops on my skin spoils it for me. It smells like the unpleasant thing that my chemistry does to red musk, so hopefully that won't happen to other people.

Bottle from The Trading Post. Aged about 6 years. For some reason, I didn't write a review before. This is just gorgeous. And very realistic - it smells exactly like a freshly-cut bouquet of mixed flowers (no roses) with some greenery. Or the garden itself. Like most other reviewers, I can't identify individual floral or green notes either. I do see a resemblance to the Dandelion SN oil another reviewer mentioned, and which is another one of my favorites. And I also pick up a light touch of honey to further sweeten the flowers. In the bottle, the sweetness is almost cloying, but it is lighter and lovely when sprayed. The strength and longevity seems about average for an Atmospheric sprayed on fabric. it does an interesting thing that I don't expect from a linen spray. On the second day, the fragrance has lightened up quite a bit and I think it is just about gone. But on the third day, a distinct scent of honey comes in loud and clear. With a touch of the original florals in the background, this is just as lovely as the fresh scent was, but very different. I can't decide which way I like it best! And days later, after I think the scent is long gone, I get occasional swoon-worthy whiffs of BPAL's single note honey. This blend is fabulous at every stage. The artwork on the label is very beautiful too. Predominant Notes: Florals, but none that I can identify. Which doesn't mean there aren't any. There may be ones I'm not familiar with. Honey later on. Character: Mixed florals. No rose. Sweet, very fresh. Spring and summer. 6 out of 6 stars