The Phantom Wooer

[freyasfae]

A lifeless love song: stargazer lily, bone dust, tomb mosses, buttonweed, moonflower, and honey myrtle.

 

Sharp in the imp, but I am learning that my skin seems to really like sharp scents and softens them so usually sharp in the imp is a positive indicator for me. Everyone keeps mentioning the lemon which is barely distinct on me, it's mostly a lovely, dusty floral with a barely discernible citrus twist. This is right on the cusp of might not need a bottle/need a freaking bottle, and it keeps pushing to the latter.

[Cazzadeathgirl]

tried this one on after a shower, in imp its a wonderful soft grass like scent with overtones of delicate white flowers.

On skin, same but fades really fast on me (only like an hour at most) doesnt have much throw at all either so on me its just a very soft scent of white flowers, grass and at the very end i smell a sweet violet, none in the description though.

 

overall- i really do love this, have an imp ill use up gladly on warm summer nights as a bedtime relaxation scent, id not buy a bottle though due to lack of wear length

so in score form 7/10

[lucycat]

This was a frimp from the Lab.

 

In the imp: Watery floral.

 

Wet, and in the first few minutes on my skin, this is lily and nothing else. Very springlike and makes me think of Easter.

 

As it dries down the lily subsides and another floral comes forward. I think it’s the moonflower, but I’m not familiar with the other floral notes listed, so I can’t be sure. It’s very slightly spicy.

 

I was really hoping for the lemon or citrus that many reviewers mention, but there’s not a hint of it.

[PrinceofcatS]

Someone recommended this to me a while ago as a good gothic heroine in a white nightgown scent, as being ethereal in that dark sort of way. It was definitely on my top list of things to try, but I ended up getting some other imps instead in my last order. And then I got it as a frimp!

 

This goes on with the sharpness I associate with lily (I think maybe my favorite floral note - I have definitely had poor experiences with lily scents, but more often than not, this note really glows on me, and I find it subtle and sweet but not bullied by other notes), and then warms up to this almost buttery sweetness that haloes the flowers. I had to look at the notes list and I think it's whatever the honey is in honey myrtle; it's a really subtle honey note, though. I mean buttery not as in edible but just to describe the richness of it.

 

Stargazer lily has a recognizeable sweet and springy feel to me, always very fresh, and moonflower is similar but has a nearly soapy edge that also smells kind of misty, and always evokes nighttime. Together they're a silvery and almost sharp floral that is really soft and ethereal. I start to detect a bit of moss keeping it from being too sweet or too floral, and which also helps this scent to evoke spring flowers specifically at night. So definitely my gothic heroine in a white nightgown scent, but she's not running from the castle, she's just wandering its cemetery unchaperoned in the moonlight.

 

Finally that tomb dust note starts to catch up to the moss; it's like a very, very soft and dry version of their dirt note, which I adore. I think that might be what other reviews call spicy, since I find the dirt note has a gently perfumey, spicy scent to it (and i love it!). This one didn't have great longevity but I hope that's just because my skin has been really dry and everything's had poor longevity on me lately. It held its own better than a lot of scents have recently. I was thinking "BIG BOTTLE" from the time I put this on, and I'm still thinking it. It's really, unbelievably lovely, and might be a good lily-dominant scent for me, because even though I think the moonflower is just as strong, moonflower and lily have a lot of things in common - their crisp, fresh feel - and they blend together gorgeously.

[joopjoop]

When this first touches my skin it is all lily and rather sharp, but within about 20 minutes the moonflower and moss come forward to join the lily, with just a hint of dust in the background.

 

It is at this point I suddenly feel like crying because the Phantom Wooer smells like my grandparents' house - my grandmother wore a perfume that was lily-dominant and the other notes - particularly the dust - combine to smell just like their house did in the overheated summer. My grandmother recently passed away (she was 99) and my grandparents house has been cleaned out and sold, so is just a memory now - a wonderful one - but bittersweet as well.

 

About 2 hours after application, this veers toward lily air freshener and starts smelling just a tiny bit sour on me. Honestly, even if that weren't the case, this not something I would reach for as a perfume, but I'm so very happy to have the imp. It is a sense memory in a bottle and that is a real and unexpected gift.

Edited August 27, 2016 by joopjoop

[Soupy Twist]

The Lab's jasmine-stamen note in the bottle. Goes on as a lily variant of the stamen, which soon dries to a faint, powdery floral. I can totally see why joopjoop's dear grandmother would have worn something like this. Very much a grandma scent, in a good way.

[Cali]

From the imp, a serene floral. Definately has a ghostly undertone.

It's "sad" at first, but it quickly morphs to something a touch more sweeter, with the honey and moss coming through. It's Lulling, almost.

Edited May 10, 2017 by Cali

[LizziesLuck]

I'm pretty sure I have tried this before, but somehow missed reviewing it? Or I'm crazy. Either way.

 

Wet; A soapy, slightly zingy (almost gingery?) floral. I actually quite like it. I have grown away from what I consider to be "white florals", I seem to reach more for the darker florals now, but this is really lovely. Oh. Now it smells like wet cardboard. *sigh*. Thank you for that, lily.

 

 

Dry: The lily subsides, and this becomes a light, spicy floral again. Still a bit soapy, but more in a pleasant, clean way than anything else. This is really quite pretty, and somewhat classic, but in a way that I think some people would class as "old lady". I like it. Likely don't need a bottle, but I like it.

[doomsday_disco]

In the imp: Dust, white flowers, and moss. It's somewhat astringent.

 

Wet: Whaaaaat!? This smells like nail polish remover on me.

 

After a few minutes of that dreadfully sharp phase, I can smell the white sandalwood (acting as the dust) with some of the white florals and moss, but the nail polish remover smell hasn't completely dissipated. Alas.

 

Dry: Sadly, it never loses that sharp acetone quality on me. Aside from that, I'm getting a lot of the dry, white sandalwood note, backed by some powdery white florals and some moss.

 

Verdict: My skin chemistry really didn't like this one. I've never had this happen before! I'm glad I got a chance to try it, but I'm going to have to pass on my imp.

[DryFrogPills]

Tried this from a fairly aged frimp acquired second hand.

 

In the imp: Pretty much all I get is lily.

 

On: The lily softens, and I get a feeling of dust and crushed green weeds surrounding it. For a minute or two. Then it's... where did it go? Did I not put it on?

 

Long term: If I really struggle, for about an hour I can get the sense of a faint, dusty lily-based floral. After that, it's totally gone.

 

Overall, while the age of the imp might have been a factor, this was the lightest and shortest lasting BPAL I've tried. The scent didn't have any notes that really drew me anyway, so I'm fairly unmotivated to try a heavier slather in a location that might hold on to it a bit more. The best I can say of it is that the feel did remind me of a graveyard lily, or maybe even the ghost of a lily.

[VetchVesper]

So I have two different imps of this puppy, and they smell different. 

 

One of them is a ghostly floral that is quite beautiful, and lies somewhere between the sweetness of lily and the dustiness of violet.  I'm guessing there is a touch of orris in here.  There's a misty (but not aquatic) musk in the background, light and dry, but not as high pitched as white musk (reminds me aof China Rain) and there's a tiny, barely-noticeable tinge of something dark and bitter.  I guess it's the wood from the honey myrtle.  This is a running-across-the-lawn-of-a-Gothic-manor-at-midnight-in-your-Victorian-nightgown sort of feel.    I'm down for it, and this is bottle worthy.  

 

The other vial smells sharp, green, and yeah -- citrus.  The same manor, but the maiden is long gone.  Very weird; the difference is quite pronounced.  The myrtle note is more prominent (actually, where I first noticed the note) and the florals are all wallflowers until the dry-down, where they shyly peek out.  The final stage of this one is very similar to the final stage of the other -- mostly misty, dry musk.  This version isn't nearly as nice.  

 

I'm not sure whether the formula changed, or there are batch variations, or The Phantom Wooer just doesn't age well, but the folks describing citrus greens and bitter -- you are not crazy -- and you might want to test a different imp if you get the chance.   

[Biocarbons]

A fart of lemon, limp green weeds from the flower bed burned in a fire pit, and dried out crusty moss. 

 

An absolute, revolting rotting compost heap of a scent thanks to my skin chemistry.

Edited September 16, 2022 by Biocarbons

[patina]

I'm lucky that this comes off as a realistic dewy white floral on me. I missed that this had moss in it and for once the moss isn't smothering. In fact, it might be balancing out the white floral elements. The scent's faintly powdery, but in a cool limestone way. The honey myrtle is lovely. I assume that's the faintly lemony element.

 

This is one of my favorite summer scents. it's low key, appropriate for most settings, and makes me feel I'm somewhere less sweltering hot.

 

EDIT: Just now, reading the poem behind one of my favorite scents was...weird. It made sense, though. This scent might be seen as a little creepy and wistful. (Probably the faint trace of  menthol other reviewers noted.) Not at all a "black cats and little black dresses and darkness and Halloween" creepy but in a "come away o human child" sort of thing.

Edited April 8, 2023 by patina