The Season of Ghosts

[Saya]

A scent created to burn away sorrow: bergamot, frankincense, rose geranium, ginger, lemongrass, and blood orange.

This is primarily a bright, strong, citrus scent. It's on the sharp side and is reminiscent of cleaning supplies. I'll pass on this one.

[Ravenclaw79]

Weird ... reading the notes, I get none of that. What I do get is a powdery sort of scent, sort of like something you'd smell in a bathroom (in a good way), soft and almost a little Ivanushka-y.

[milo]

Somehow, I'm getting jasmine out of this, and of course citrus. After a bit, this gets somewhat powdery, which makes me think there actually is jasmine in here, as it does go powdery on me. So this turns out to be a powdery citrus, but fades FAST. So not bottle worthy due to it's jasmine or jasmine/like note and the fast fade. I'll stick to Embalming Fluid for my citrus fix.

[Suusje]

Well this is quite disappointing. All I get is citronella. It might work to keep the mosquitos away but not on me as a perfume.

[juniperus]

Bottle: orange, bergamot, and the edge of frankincense behind.

Wet: sweeter and less sharp. I can just catch a hint of lemongrass.

Dry: much the same, but with a hint of ginger.

Later: it's lovely, cool and sweet without being foody, and the frankincense is balanced perfectly... and of course it's one for which I didn't buy a whole bottle.

[anomie]

In the imp: Citrus! Bergamot and lemongrass and a hiiiint of ginger.

 

Wet: Beautifully fragrant citrus blend. And yet there's something fuzzy about this.

 

Drydown: There's a sharpness to the citrus that makes my fillings hurt, and voom, it's gone like that. Probably going to pass it along.

Edited December 21, 2009 by Nomie

[DeltaCat]

Citrus soap. Like Dawn cirtus or Joy dishsoap. Not bad. Very bright and cheery.

[HamletsKeeper]

This is a bizarre scent. I can tell its citrus but something about the blend keeps giving off a caraway smell. Lets just say it’s not really interesting to me and kind of reminds me of bathroom cleaner.

[Kimbernunk]

This started out a very bright citrus and then faded into a combination of rose geranium and bergamot, with a hint of the frankincense, blood orange and lemongrass behind it). It's clean, bright and happy. It reminds me a bit of bathroom cleaner while it's in the bottle, but my skin turns it into a pretty citrus floral combo. I love citrus floral combos,* so this is a good thing.

 

 

*see:

June Gloom 09

Orpheus

The Zieba Tree

Shanghai

etc

[laslibres]

I was expecting this to be a bit like Angeronalia...one of those winter scents to remind you of the sunnier months to come. But it really wasn't like that at all, except vaguely the same mood.

Season of Ghosts is very orangey, probably the orangiest BPAL I've ever tried, and hoo boy, do I ever love that note! It's sort of powdery and juicy both at the same time, and it's sort of a flowery orange, too.

 

I smell a wee bit of rose (?), frankincense, strangely a little drop of honey (???), lots of lemongrass, but mostly ORANGE. Actually, you know what's the best thing I can compare this scent to? An Orange Julius. And I love those, so this is a tremendous compliment. This is turning out to be the unexpected need-a-bottle scent of the Yules...I really haven't tried anything close to this in the general catalogue.

[aquazoo]

Bright citrus! As it fades, though, it goes through a bit of a rotten fruit phase. Then the soft incenses appear, and a light floral.

[FandF]

does not smell bright like I thought it would. It's complex, kind of dusty powder. Orangey notes but not like the fruit. I kind of don't like this! WTF? Its like taking orange baby aspirin and crushing it up and mixing it with old lady perfume. I think the frankincense is the undertone of odd that i'm detecting on my skin. The super dry down is a bright, weird greenish scent that is altogether not unpleasant.

 

[Wwindy]

Thai green curry.

 

Seriously.

 

I think I'm getting almost entirely ginger and lemongrass out of this, and it smells like Thai food. Fascinating -- and delicious! -- but probably not what I want for my personal scent.

 

ETA: OK, because I embody the definition of insanity I've tried this a couple more times, and for some reason a little more complexity is showing up on my skin now. It still starts out like Thai green curry, but with little drops of rosewater -- and over time the frankincense comes forward. I'm still not getting much by way of orange out of this. I have to admit I kinda like the resinous, yet still bright and refreshing frankincense-ginger-lemongrass combo!

Edited January 20, 2010 by Wwindy

[rayvn1]

I was really hoping for blood orange out of this one, but ended up with a soapy, astringent, cleaner smell with lots of ginger and lemongrass I guess I'll let it sit and revisit it later.

[Sawasdee]

Herby citrusy, uplifting, with the lemongrass and bergamot standing out. I did not get a whiff of any orange. Then this gets very soapy and stays that way. Not a fan of this wet or dry.

[Thursdae]

I can't quite remember the name of the oil Season of Ghosts reminds me of. Was it the Haunted Palace? I loved that, and remember it as rich and lemony. Season of Ghosts is lemongrassy rather than lemony, and somehow that endows it with a foody aspect to my nose. Not a cookie/cake thing, more savory than baking. I can imagine wearing it in hot weather. That is, if I ever get over my obsession with Shanghai in hot weather. Because Shanghai rocks a summer afternoon like ocean foam splashing your feet as you walk along the beach, carrying a tall glass of tea with ice from top to bottom.

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

 

Decant: geranium, ginger and the faintest tinge of the blood orange

Wet on Me: definitely geranium. Mostly geranium

Drying Down: I'm getting the geranium, and the Frankincense, and the gergamot.

Dry: heavy Geranium. Not really for my tastes. Will swap.

[Mishinka]

Season of Ghosts

 

In the bottle: Wow. Orange. Really strong orange. But funny orange. I suppose it must be blood orange, because they have this almost bitter tartness to them, and it smells rather like that. Or maybe it's the lemongrass. It's not quite cleaning fluid, it's a little fruitier and a little more pleasant than that, but the longer I hold it under my nose, the more it heads in that direction. I don't dislike it, but...

 

Wet: It's still orange, but it's more of a natural, fresh-peeled orange. I think I maybe smell a little of the geranium in the background, but the orange mostly drowns it out. I'm not getting ginger or frankincense at all.

 

Later: This ends up fancy soap on me, geranium with a little bit of orange behind it. It's not an unpleasant scent, but my mother got a fancy soap set for Christmas that smells exactly like this. It's fancy soap. It's a really stubborn scent on me, too. I spent the next six hours after I put this on helping a friend who's moving pack the truck. I kept getting pretty strong whiffs of orangey, slightly dusty geranium right up until the last half hour or so.

 

I don't dislike this scent, but I think I'm trading it for something else.

 

Edit: Though now that I've spilled nearly the entire goddamn bottle, I have to say it does quite nicely as a room scent. For some reason I'm smelling a sort of smoky vanilla undertone.

Edited January 17, 2010 by Mish

[fairnymph]

Citrusy, herbal, and surprisingly spicy-resiny. Much more depth than I would have expected. A hint of soap and a hint of powder. The lemongrass, ginger and frankincense stand out, but there are some other strong notes I can't pin down.

 

Brighter, tarter, juicier. Finally the bergamot and blood orange! I get the lemon dishwashing soap powder of Delousing Powder. And...unfortuntely I recognise one of those strong notes - coconut. My roommate says 'it smells like the beach', and he's not wrong.

 

Very strong throw. Where are all the fresh, bright notes I was hoping for? Instead this is very resiny and almost sickly sweet, with hints of powder and soap. The herbal notes are more earthy and harsh, not green and refreshing as I'd hoped for. I do get the geranium now, but it's just overpowered by the frankincense, coconut, and other unidentifiable smoky resins. The bergamot and blood orange are long gone, the ginger is delightful but woefully faint, and the lemongrass is the sour-hay sort of note I dislike. And where the fuck did the soap and powder come from?

 

This has insanely strong throw and it's making me feel a little queasy. This nothing like what I'd hoped and expected, and the few listed notes that I can detect at all are either woefully faint (ginger, geranium) or unpleasant (frankincense, lemongrass). This is all heavy coconut & smoky resins -perhaps the most FRANKINCENSE heavy scent I've ever tested, and I HATE frankincense - with soap, powder, and sour lemongrass.The most epic fail and disappointment since Lilith vs The Giant Crab. Ugh. And it won't wash off, of course.

 

 

EPIC FAIL AND EPIC SADNESS.

Edited January 19, 2010 by fairnymph

[GardenCat]

By all accounts, this should be a blend I love (all the notes are winners - I think?) but it goes wonky on me - I was smelling a soapy crayon in the car (on the way to work), now I'm getting the beachy/coconut smell. I was hoping for a more complex orange, but it's not working on me. Still too soapy.

 

oh well, I always have the Maltese Cross of St. Germanus to fall back on.

[voodoocatwoman]

I love this. It starts out very citrus, not specifically lemon or orange but just bright and sharp. A toned down lemongrass emerges and then the geranium comes out to play. The result is stunning.

[Argentwolf]

A pretty, cheerful orange-lemon blend that also smells (to me) like fresh flowers.

[tajana]

Wet: Wow, upon first whiff, it's quite nice. A pleasant, glowy, soft edged citrus scent. If I whiff more closely I can easily recognize the components. Elegant bergamot, zippy fresh ginger and lemongrass (which together, give this an "in the kitchen" kind of feeling), sweet orange, and rosy leafy rose geranium that helps round this out beyond a simple lemony smell. It doesn't remind me of cleaner or soap, as some people have remarked, but I'm just REALLY familiar with all of the listed notes, so perhaps the way I parsed and dissected this scent prevents me from getting that impression, lol.

 

Dry: The citrus medley tones itself down, but thanks to the bergamot lemongrass, it stays citrusy and bright for a long time. The blood orange, too, seems to hang on for a long time. The rose geranium is subtle and adds a breath of complexity. The frankincense is a lighter variety, and has a very smooth, almost powdery finish that strongly tempers the other notes. After a while on my skin, a creamy quality pops through and I get distinctly vanilla overtones. Very gentle and comforting in feel. Unfortunately, after a long while, it starts morphing sweeter, and ends up at a bland but potently sweet stage.

 

Overall: This surprised me. It's actually really nice, much less astringent than the note list seemed to imply. For the first hour of wear, it reminds me of earl gray tea and candlelight on a winter evening. It really does have an interesting feel to it: a somber, nostalgic frankincense lit by starry-eyed hope. Sadly, it somehow manages to go really sweet and powdery on me after a while (it turns to that generic vanilla-powdery-incense BPAL smell my skin manages to squeeze out of a lot of things, only The Season of Ghosts manages to pack a whole lot more throw than usual).

[SueTigger]

The initial impression out of the bottle is a light, citrus flavored scent. The lemongrass and blood orange rule the air. As the scent dries on my skin, the ginger and bergamot start to come through. I detect a bit of cinnamon, too, but that could be the combo of the frankincense and rose geranium. It's becoming a more ephemeral scent that's teasing and delicate. Very nice.

 

ETA: I'm starting to be disappointed in this scent. It's dissipating and leaving a vaguely soapy smell. Not a bad smell, but not what I"m looking for. Maybe I need to apply it more liberally? Thoughts from my fellow BPALers?

[shrink]

I just slathered it and I am so glad I picked this one up. It is sooo good and yes it is astringent but in a very good way. It is also quite different from all the stuff I have

 

ETA: I can't believe this blend isn't more popular! I just wanted to add that after several months of aging it is definitely less astringent and I keep getting compliments on it. I have to say that initially when I was testing my Yule decants I almost dismissed it as just another citrus blend. I am so glad I retested, otherwise I wouldn't get a bottle of this yummy juice! It actually has quite interesting depth once the citrus blast fades (and it doesn't take long). I definitely prefer The Season Of Ghosts to Carnaval Diaboliqe (I find both blends to be somewhat similar).

Edited September 18, 2010 by shrink