The Phantom Cow of Yerba Buena Island

[Lamia]

I get no milk out of this scent, just herbs of green and a hot pepper (pink?) bite. Fantastic smell all around me, the throw is delightful. I can't stop sniffing myself LOL

[Aldercy]

Phantom cow milk and oregano! And when I say "phantom cow milk," that's exactly what I mean. It's a distant, cold, aquatic milk. Extremely clever.

 

The herbal qualities are quite sharp and dominate on the dry-down. There's definitely oregano in there (which I love), but also a dusty mint (which is very ominous). I'm not sure about the overall effect. The interaction between the watery milk and harsh greens is turning the scent a little... rubbery... on me.

 

Oh, heartbreak! This was so exciting wet, but now it's smelling like rubber gloves. I'll test it again in a couple days, but it's looking like Nonae Caprotina is still the milk blend for me.

Edited August 30, 2009 by Aldercy

[milo]

I haven't had the opportunity to try very many milky scents, but here goes! This is a herbal, milky scent right off. The milk fades for a bit, then comes back while herbal fades somewhat into the background. Overall, it dries to a very womanly, creamy blend that I'm enjoying quite a bit. It actually reminds me of how I used to smell while I was breastfeeding. I know it sounds kind of gross, not that I leaked milk or anything, just a "motherly", but feminine scent at the same time, and kind of "close to the skin". I like it, but I don't think I'd be reaching for this one very often. Glad to have tried this one though!!

[gingiemay]

Milky herbal in bottle, but a beautiful creamy fresh blend on my skin. It's cool and slightly sweet. Mysterious. It also prompted me to make a terrible joke: How does a phantom cow moo? It goes "moo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!" (like a ghost noise, but mooing). I was worried about the milk note turning sour, but it doesn't. Just smells yummy.

[zankoku_zen]

Milky and herby is right! I get the pale watery kind of milk as I did in Milk Moon 2007, sans the fruit. It's got more of the herbs to it, and oddly enough, something that smells like dryer sheets to me.

 

Pass.

[Little Bird]

I managed to get a full bottle of this one and am glad that I did. I usually hate bpal's milk scents (they smell sour and cloying on me), but I really like this one. Phantom Cow actually smells a lot like Ochosi & Buck Moon do on my skin. It's like a sunny, sweet, soft green smell. It smells like an enchanted meadow, fresh and uplifting. I don't smell any milk notes until this has been on my skin for about an hour and then it's a cool, smooth cream fragrance underneath the greenery. It doesn't smell like any of the other milk blends that I've tried. It's actually quite nice and wearable for me.

Edited October 20, 2009 by Little Bird

[cuervosueno]

*snip*

 

eta a sniff off (MM07, Nonae and Moo): Milk Moon 07 is much sweeter, has a stronger milk note, and is more acid/fruity/pineapple--bright tropical milk. Nonae caprotina is far more round, rich, buttery-milky and leans more towards foody than the other 2. By comparison, the cow smells floral/green/clean, and even a wee bit dusty/woody (huh, I wonder if its a dusty sage note?) and the milk note is less pronounced in cow than the other two(at least, on me). In the context of the other two milk blends, this one smells of dusty sage, citrus-flower (copal?) milk.

 

Just wanted to say that I did the same thing--compare this to other milk scents. I didn't actually try it side by side with MM 07, because that is much more fruity than milky on me, but I did try it with Nonae caprotina, and I agree--nonae is much milkier, buttery, and foody, and this is green, herbal and I also get just a hint of sage.

 

It is not at all like I expected it to be. I was hoping for something like Nonae, or like the original Milk Moon, pretty heavy on the milk. Instead, this is more aquatic. I usually don't like aquatics at all, but because this does have the milk and herbs, I don't mind it. In the bottle, and wet, I get mostly a salt-watery scent softened by milk and very fresh green herbs. I get the oregano vibe too, and it is fairly strong when wet, but when it dries, it sweetens, as if actual yerba buena comes out (which I always thought was mint, but apparently there is an actual plant called yerba buena). It dries down to a sweet green scent, green and fresh like sap, with an herbal (rather than sugary) sweetness, and a hint of milk, though that is in the background. And it's kind of watery (sea water?) scented too....

 

It's also kind of deserty scented, as odd as that sounds in terms of what I wrote above. I guess the green is more the sharp green of arid places rather than a lush, jungle like green. Wait! I got it! Now i know what it reminds me of: Islands in Greece--dry hills spotted with wild oregano and rosemary and other herbs, the sea, and a hint of a milky sweet.

 

At first I was disappointed it was like Nonae, but now I like it, and I may keep it. I can always get a bottle of Nonae too...

[Rheliwen]

I like milk scents, but I don't know where it is in here. Did you all steal the milk from my bottle? I get heavy aquatic irish spring herbs. It smells like a generic salty ocean scent you'd find at BB&B.

[steffanina]

The Phantom Cow of Yerba Buena Island-

 

In Bottle: A soft evergreen with an almost citrus hint.

 

Wet: Softly evergreen.

 

Dry: A slow fade of that evergeen-like scent. Pleasant, but not one I'll covet.

 

Overall: Pleasant soft evergreen scent.

[myoubi]

 

IN THE IMP: a soft, sweet, milkiness with a touch of dried herbs overtop

 

ON SKIN: much more herbaceous. it's mostly grassy-green herbs, I think I smell some sage in there, but they are layered over something -- which is probably the milk, but I can't actually smell it. Just that there is a sweet-ish base note for all this green herby business Nonetheless, it's quite pleasant.

 

25 MINUTES: mmmmmm... herby milky smoothness. I really like this scent. it's very quiet and undramatic, unlike many of the scents I wear. It's this sort of soft, gently-sweet floaty presence -- the milk has come back, and it's mingling with the herby notes which have receded a bit so it's not just HERBS. It's sweeter than I expected, but not too sweet. I really like this scent. It reminds me of original Milk Moon, but better, because Milk Moon was too sweet on me; here, the herbiness heads off the threat of overwhelming creamy sweetness. Yummm.

 

I will cherish my decant, and maybe even hunt down a second one. ^.^

[lizzyshoe]

I bought this bottle because of my love for two other Convergence:XV scents (Ghosts, Sailing Stones), and because of the story and locale behind it (you should read it if you haven't yet).

 

In the bottle: It smells like milk! Or cream or butter. That's the biggest note. It's sweet, but in the background I smell some of the greenness of the herbs.

 

Wet: The milk tames way down, and now I'm smelling something...some kind of sharpness, that i also pick up in Ghosts of Arroyo Seco Bridge a lot, and a little in Sailing Stones of Death Valley. Some kind of wet cement, but that might be the herbs I'm smelling. The milk has sweetened up dramatically.

 

Dry: This has got a lot of throw and a lot of stay, especially the sweet milk note. Most of the herbs are gone, as is that wet rain smell I like.

 

Milk is not my favorite scent, but this is nice enough to keep around. 4/5.

 

 

[cyanidenoir]

Out of the bottle, this smells exactly like what comes spewing out of my 6-month-old's mouth and some sort of weird lemon-y stuff. But once it is on my skin it smells a LOT better (as other people have mentioned.) Creamy, citrus-y, sunny. Reminds me a bowl of Fruit Loops with milk.

Edited April 19, 2010 by NeonGreen

[countessmouse]

Sweet, creamy herbs that only got better as the day wore on. Strong throw with a great staying power. Soooo glad I got a bottle of this one!

[totheo]

Strangely reminiscent of Tissue. Has something similar in there. But I like Tissue a whole lot better than Phantom Cow. I get lots of sour milk, blegh.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

5mL from the lovely MidnightAeval.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

Honestly, I bought this one almost purely for the name. The notes sound interesting and it does have the potential to work, but my real reason for snagging this was because the name makes me laugh. Also, I love ghosts. And cows. So ghost cows are like a mega dose of awesome. True story.

 

First sniff:

 

Hmm...this isn't bad. It's actually kind of pretty. I'm not sure I would have pegged this as being a milk scent if I sniffed it blind. It has a sweet, grassy scent to it, like a field of clover and a hint of fresh mown grass. I like this so far (I wouldn't say I love it, but it's nice enough), but I'm not sure how good it's going to smell on me.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Oh, there's the milk! The sweet clover/grass scent sticks around, but there's something milky underneath. It's a little sour smelling, but milk scents often go through that stage on my skin. This is definitely unusual and not in a bad way.

 

Dry down:

 

Mostly milk now but with a soft layer of clover underneath. I actually really like this, although it's not one of my favorite BPAL scents. It smells like an old-fashioned dairy farm (which I'm familiar with), but without the more unpleasant barnyard smells. This is like the field where the cows are grazing. It's summery and milky and green and highly unusual.

 

The bottom line:

 

I would have kept this no matter how bad it smelled on me because I want it for the name, but the scent is a keeper, too. I don't think I'll wear it often, but I will wear it. I'm thankful I don't get oregano from this like some other reviewers have because that could have ruined the scent for me. Phantom Cow was a pleasant surprise all around.

[welcometothefamily]

Well idk why I'm not getting milk like everyone else, but this smells like citrus and herb household cleaner to me. Nope.

[freyasfae]

I hunted this one down because I saw it recommended somewhere for those who like milk and cream scents, but this is more sweet cream butter than milk, with a touch of lemon and some herbs, then it shifts and starts to go aquatic (makes sense being an island). Being that I adore My Baby and a Baby Goat, I think I was expecting more of that from this scent, but this is much more subdued and less warm than that one. As time passes, it becomes increasingly more herbal and less of the sweet cream which is what I was really looking for out of this.

[Cali]

Herby milk indeed. How odd!! Very sweet, creamy. Goes rancid on my skin after a couple of minutes unfortunately but this is pretty pleasant other than that!