The Phantom Calliope

[blktauna]

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

in the bottle: thick dark cherry and fizz

on me: Franks Black Cherry Wishniak.



Doesn't last long but it's great while it's there.

[Indigo78]

Wet on my skin this is Orange and really - - hoppy? It smells like orange cereal and beer. This only lasts a moment, and the Cassia and Cardomom erupt. No cherries, yet... I am not sure what I thought this would do on my skin, but it wasn't this! What a weird wet stage.

 

This balances rreally well once Cassia and Cinnamon calm down and the Verbena comes to life. Nicely blended, great for someone who doesn't amp spices, because on me they are kind of taking away from these earthy, ripe black cherries I can smell right underneath. Something about the drydown reminds me of a spicier Illustrated Woman - Phantom Calliope is so almost foody, but never really gets there (a good thing, IMO). This is a starry, sweet, sorta nocturnal blend. Nice.

[saykisses]

I do love this scent.

 

In the bottle: Definitely cherry Cola. You can smell the verbena a bit, but no spices.

 

Wet on skin: Still very cherry. You can also detect a scratchy sort of spicy smell. Maybe my skin just hates verbena, but I don't smell it anymore from here on out. Not that I mind. I think the verbena would kind of ruin it.

 

Dry on skin: Very nice. The scratchy spices come through very strongly, so that it's mostly spice with just a hint of fruit. I don't mean that the scratchiness of the spice is unpleasant, by the way, because it's actually very nice and bold. The throw is strongest at this stage. It isn't overpowering, though.

 

After 15 minutes: The scent is the loveliest here. All the scents (except, for whatever reason, the verbena) mingle perfectly to create a deliciously warm perfume.

 

I think it's best for winter or fall, but it could be worn in any season. Also, it did not burn my wrists, but when i brought my wrist to my nose it did make the skin of my nose burn.

 

Overall, I would say that this perfume is daring and powerful but a bit mysterious. It's very sexy and, in my opinion, perfect in every way!

Edited July 14, 2008 by saykisses

[twilighteyes]

I was surprised to like this one as much as I do... I don't always like cherry/almond scents.

 

But the cassia (cinnamon), cardamom, and patchouli in this one warms and deepen the cherry enough that it's wearable for me.

 

However, mostly what I smell is cinnamon cherry. Which is funny, because I love cardamom and patchouli more!

 

This one is excellent in the scent locket - spicy and deep, yet sweet at the same time.

 

I did a decant circle for the Carnval and only have a small amount left over for me -- I might a full bottle before the fabulous freaks leave town.

[marared]

Decant. Whack o' cherry right out of the imp, and then it turns into Red Hots candy and stays there. Verbena doesn't stand a chance. It's even stamping out the patchouli, and that's tough to do.

 

I am going to assume at this point that cinnamon must be another note that my skin likes to amp, because I had the same experience with Bakeneko - all that goodness just turned into HELLO CINNAMON BABY. It also itches just a tiny bit, which is the first time I've had any kind of skin reaction to an oil. It's pretty insignificant, but it's there.

 

I'm glad I didn't go for the whole bottle...

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Jergens original hand lotion, and "Kabuki." Must be that dark cherry note!

 

Wet: Interesting. I get the verbena clearly, a light citrusy herb. But mostly it smells like fruit with cinnamon on it. Where did the cinnamon come from?

 

Twenty minutes: Where does that spice come from? Is it some weird confluence of patchouli and cardamom? The fruit has calmed down a bit, and I still get the verbena. It kind of smells like crunchy candied apples, it's so cinnamon-y.

 

Two hours: Patchouli-fruit, with the verbena note still there. It's not nearly as strong as it was for the first hour. I like it pretty well.

 

Four hours: Patchouli-fruit. Keeper.

 

Five hours: Still yum.

[jewelbug]

Imp: Very spiced cherry, but this cherry is akin to almond to my nose.

 

Wet: I can't believe this spice is cardamom! It smells like a strong cinnamon+ginger to me. Maybe that's the verbena taking it towards lemon to make it more gingery. Anywho, it smells very strongly of ginger at this stage, very little of the cherry I smelled in the imp.

 

Drying: Still predominantly gingery spice on me. Very nice, sorta shub-ish with the deep spice and darker notes underneath.

 

Dry: Spicy, lightly fruity (cherry, presumably) with dark patchouli underneath. Its a very pleasant blend. As time passes, the berries become more prominent, but its more of a subtle, jammy, winey fruit, rather than lollipops or a bright cherry. The spices are equal to the fruit (but less cinnamon-like) and the an incensual patchouli supports it all.

 

Overall: Considering a bottle of this, as its lovely.

Edited October 1, 2008 by jewelbug

[yewberry]

To say I love Phantom Calliope is an understatement. It's far and away my favorite of the CD scents. But alas, it's not to be. I've heard of people getting instant rashes from fragrances, but despite my sensitive skin, it's never happened to me...until now. Last night I slathered on some PC and headed out the door to a friend's house, but was stopped by my hubby, looking worried. "Your neck is a most unhealthy color", he noted. Sure enough, I had developed an ugly (although, interestingly, painless and non-itchy) rash. I looked at my wrists and inner elbow, where I'd also applied a dab. Similar blooms forming. CRAP.

 

No idea what ingredient or combination of ingredients caused this, but I'm afraid this amazing, complex, and delightful fragrance is relegated to the domain of room fragrance. I'm too nervous even to wear it near my skin (scent locket, etc.). For what it's worth, my rashy skin smelled of cherry cola (that "soda pop" note I love so much in Nephilim--thank you cardamom) whilst wet, and dried down to a warm patchouli-spice with hints of lemony freshness and just the lightest touch of red, ripe fruit.

[ravenrigan]

In the bottle

Musty, overipe fruit

 

Wet on skin

Cherry Cola

 

Drydown

Get it off usss Precious, it burns uss it does! Great stingy red blotches on elbows and neck, OK on wrists and cleavage. That will teach me to slather and go. But once it dries down it smells divine, almost worth the pain. Spiced cherries with a hint of incense and smoke.

 

Wearlength

Medium

 

Throw

Strong at first, fading to wispy close to the skin insubstantiality

 

Finish

Ghostly, elusive wafts of smoky cherry (like very good pipe tobacco on the other side of a large room) drift around me all afternoon fading into the distance about 3.

 

Mood

Bittersweet beauty achingly out of reach. Pipesmoke, on the other side of a cherry wood fire, in the next field, with music.

 

Verdict

I love the way it smells, but I may sell or swap it on because of the skin reaction. I'll try it in a scent locket and as a room scent first though.

[misamisa01]

I'm trying to decide if I like it or not. Almost immediately the cherry is gone when it hits my skin However, a lovely sweet spicy scent takes it's place, like cinnamon. This fades quickly on me. I guess I would like it more if it didn't have such a distinct (in my mind) herbal scent in the background; it's strongest in the bottle, when it's just drying on my skin and the end. It isn't as strong when the spice is in control but there are hints of it.

[sparkybish]

Bottle: spicy cherry

Wet: Definitely cherry cola, with a spicy kick

Dry: The verbena and cardamom come out a lot more to balance the sweetness of the cherry and cassis. This is the first bland I've ever been able to pick out all the notes in! I feel so proud of my sniffer! I don't know if this will give me a headache, but it's definitely getting another try!

[hkhm]

bottle: lemon verbena and spicy cherries.

 

wet: lemon verbena and cinnamon. not bad, but it is very, very strong.

 

dry: this stays pretty strong for a good, long while. i'm gonna age it up a bit to see if the lemon fades with time.

[Dianora]

I got a decant of this as a frimp when I purchased several imps. In the bottle, the sweet smell of cherries and slight tang of citrus make this mouth-wateringly gorgeous. Wet on the skin, the citrus and cherries turn into slightly tangy orange candy, which intensified as it dried until it smelled like a lovely orange candy, but not sickly sweet. An hour or so later, this has mellowed to the point that I can barely discern the scent when I smell my wrists. It is still orange, but the patchouli has added an almost furniture polish element to the scent. It is very faint, and not offensive, but no longer that mouth watering aroma that I'd loved so much within the first fifteen minutes.

 

This is a lovely candy fragrance that seems a bit more adult, but fades very fast on my skin. Fifteen minutes after I'd put it on, I was certain that this would go to the very top of my list for a larger bottle. However, given the very small amount of time it lasts on me, I will content myself with my little decant.

 

ETA: I decided to try layering it with Haunted. At first I thought it was a horrible mistake because the citrus and anise hated eachother. I refrained from washing it off, and when the anise finally went away it actually smells pretty nice. It is Haunted with just a hint of orange under the vanilla and amber.

Edited October 10, 2008 by Dianora

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Thick, sweet spices and a lick of cherry.

 

Immediately on skin: This smells like those Atomic Fireball candies with a little more depth within the spiciness and a hint of fruity cherry. The main spice is cassia/cinnamon with just a touch of the cardamom. The cherry gives this a little complexity, but not much. Wow, this one really tingles on my skin.

 

After a little while: Sometimes I’m struck with odd scent memories when it comes to bpal, and this blend reminds me very strongly of a Richard Scarry scratch and sniff book I had when I was little. I think the page that I’m thinking of was one about a bakery. Anyway, on to the actual scent: it’s spicy from the cassia, but there’s also a little more cardamom and cherry to this now. It’s a very bright spiciness though, not very thick or heavy. It has a definite fruitiness, but it’s seamlessly blended into the spices.

 

Overall Impressions: This scent isn’t the thick, rich spiciness of other blends: It’s the bright red spiciness of Red Hots and Atomic Fireballs. It’s spicy, but not really rich. The amount of cherry that comes out in this is pleasant and not cough syrup-like at all. This is a fun, candy-like spice and cherry blend. Mostly cinnamon though, so if your skin is sensitive, watch out!

[Suu4LC]

In the imp, this is a sweet cinnamony floral scent. Nice!

 

Whoa, tingly spicy cinnamon on the skin. Stay away from this if you are sensitive to spicy FOs. It has this weird undertone to it though...not sure what it is...some kind of floral scent...? I get just a teensy bit of the cherry which gets stronger as this dries down...

 

This whole blend was just a bit odd for me. When I want my warm cinnamony/patchouli CD mix, I'll grab for Clemence

[jencallisto]

In the imp: Darkly sweet and spicy, like a black cherry soda with extra kick.

Fresh on the skin: Lots of spice, and a sort of dark candy... Actually, it reminds me a bit of cinnamon Altoids. Mixed with sasparilla. Huh.

5 minutes later: A surprising mixture of caramelly spice candy and powder.

15 minutes later: If they made cinnamon-cardamom-clove altoids instead of just cinnamon ones, I think the inside of the tin would smell like Phantom Calliope. It's also, somehow at exactly the same time, reminiscent of Reed's black cherry soda, strong and dark and fizzy, and not too sweet. I quite like it.

20 minutes later: It's quite close to the skin, but it does have a nice subtle throw that I approve of.

40 minutes later: It's starting to smell like a spicy, somewhat fruity candle of some kind.

2 hours later: Powdery spice. It does have a sort of fizziness to it that makes me think root beer, but is otherwise unremarkable.

3 hours later: It seems to be powdering down to spicy laundry, maybe with a little musk? It's actually reminding me a little of a sweeter, lighter, cleaner Illustrated Woman. This is... not ideal -- the Illustrated Woman didn't work very well on me and hung around for nearly an entire 24 hour day smelling like armpit; I guess this is at least the right direction, though.

4 hours later: Huh. And now we're edging into a sort of sweeter, lighter version of the sandalwood soap one of my exes used to favor. I'm so confused. I mean, I guess this must be the patchouli. But where are my dark red fruits? Mrph.

5 hours later: Light, slighty soapy, musky patchouli.

6 hours later: Faded patchouli and musk.

7 hours later: Almost gone.

 

Verdict: I liked this rather less than I expected, though the very beginning stages were nice. I think I'll try it again and see if I'm more in the mood for it some other time. I suspect part of the problem is that I've used Lush's deodorants for so many years that I've started to associate patchouli with armpit and sweat. Oops.

 

One word: patchouli.

[Schmoozy]

I wanted to like Phantom, however the patchouli did me in. It starts off ok - Very cherry and cinnamony but when the verbena and patchouli come into play they create a very oddball combination of scents that has me thinking of spicy dirt almonds. I like cherry, but not enough to get past the rest of the scent, and unfortunately this is making me ill. Need. to. wash. off. now.

[WidgetAlley]

I had an Imp of this once, and have either mislaid or swapped it....

 

As I recall, this was a lovely deep-red musk and cinnamon blend, overlaid with black cherry. Very nice, but so similar to Red Phoenix that I (apparently) didn't feel the need to keep it. As I remember, it was a touch juicier, but vanished fairly quickly on my skin.

 

[edit] Aha! I have found my Imp of it, and so I shall do a real review:

 

Imp: Yum! Some kind of delicious hard-candy, cherry and cinnamon and spiced cardamom and lovely lemony verbena. It's all underlaid by a very mild, very pleasant patchouli note, more like a dark polished wood than hippie-stank.

 

Wet: Big old blast of cassis at first, then the sweet round cherry, lemon verbena and cardamom come up to round it out. It's a lot like Red Phoenix, as I remembered, but sweetier, fruitier and less smoky. I like it a lot!

 

Dry: Eventually all the notes meld into one lovely spicy-fruity melange that smells like Southern Comfort tastes without the booze. If you wanted to like Red Phoenix but it was just too dry and harsh on you, get your hands on some of this, stat-- it's great!

Edited May 13, 2009 by WidgetAlley

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Light brownish amber coloured oil. Sweet, spicy, earthy but also light and fresh. Black cherry and cardamom jump out.

 

Wet: Not really sweet, despite the strong black cherry note. The cardamom has amped, and reminds me greatly of chai. A bit of soft patchouli coming through. The verbena is faint and more green than citrusy.

 

Dry: I'm pretty sure there's also cinnamon in this, something with more of a bite, more heat than cardamom. It's a light touch, though. Still not getting any cassis.

 

Later: The patchouli has emerged a bit more. It's still light, not dirty or rooty. Overall this is a very unisex scent. The cardamom has taken on a dry, almost cedar-like edge.

 

Summary: Black cherry, bright, woody-dry cardamom, and lighter hints of spicy cinnamon and softly earthy patchouli. Great throw & good lasting power.

[Andrea912]

wet: spicy black cherry; I can't tell if that's the cassis or cardamom producing that effect...

 

not for me, but not terrible...

 

ADDED June 7:

 

Oh no...it hates me the black cherry and cassis turned to juicy fruit and almonds...kind of rotten though, like the smell of a sour infection with pus...will keep for my cd collection, but will not be aiming for a bottle...

Edited October 12, 2009 by Shollin

[ShadowsDance]

In the imp: Huh, what is that? Cardamom?

Yeah, cardamom on my skin.. almost a single note! I can get little hints of cherry and patchouli at times.. It's interesting. Sweet, a little spicy..

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

I tried this on a whim because, honestly, I expected not to like it very much. Cherry? Scary!!! But, from the second this touched my skin I knew it was true love...soooo lusciously spicy and red and warm and delicious! My boyfriend took one sniff, declared this in his top five BPALs on me ever, and said he was going to buy me a bottle because I needed to wear this one all the time! <3 To me, this smells almost like a holiday scent...like a spicy hollyberry or a mulled red wine. The spices are soft and blend well with the red fruity elements. Nothing is too sweet. No one note stands out over the other ones. Overall, this is heaven! Sexy, exotic, and warm and comforting all at the same time.

 

:love!:

[sylvanusurban]

In bottle: Spicy/woody. Patchouli! Cassis! Cardamom! Verbena! IN YO FACE!

 

On me, wet: Still not getting the cherry. A pretty nice, but potent, woody/tea-y/licoricey blend. Definitely a dark scent.

 

On me, drying: I guess I can smell the cherry, faintly. There’s a sort of licoricey spiced cherry thing going on here. I suppose it’s nice for what it is, but I don’t think it’s really my thing.

 

Verdict: Yeah, I can recognize that this is a well-engineered scent, but it’s too heady for me.

 

[rayvn1]

This was an admitted loooooooong shot because cherry and me just can't seem to make friends I was drawn in by the patchouli and verbena notes in the description though. The first time I tried it was epic fail - cough syrup cherry that made me feel a little gross I'm glad I gave it a second try though, because one it had sat for a littel while I started to get more of the cassis and a little less of the cherry. Probably not one I'll reach for very often but glad I tried it! Gives me hope for other blends with cherry that I should give them a chance too.

[surlygurl]

I had purchased a bottle of this unsniffed in the far distant bpal past, long before I was aware of decant circles . Back then it was all "Scary Cherry and his toady Lemon Verbena attacking innocent people with their cardamon/cassia baseball bat & taking their money". So I set it in my swap box & forgot about it.

 

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. Just on a hunch, I opened the bottle and took a sniff.......

 

In Bottle: Hmmmm......... not quite as scary as I remember it. Kinda warm & soothing.

 

On skin: Cherry & Verbena have grown up and are no longer bullying the neighborhood kids, but they're still not the type I'd invite home to dinner. The spices are no longer weapons grade. They do flare up at first, giving the scent a craft store candle feel, but they melt into they background within minutes.

 

Drydown: Once the spices sink into the background, this turns really pretty. The cherry & verbena, both mellowed by time, come together in a sort of dance. The patchouli & spice provide the background music. It's really quite beautiful.

 

If this were a color, it would be dark red clouds with golden yellow light breaking through in places as well as illuminating the outside edges. Dark & somewhat sinister, yet hopeful. Always hopeful.

Edited October 12, 2009 by Shollin