Phantom Time Hypothesis

[Gwydion]

A traditional Medieval perfume that never existed: balm, benzoin, damask rose, gumdragon, lignum aloes, orange water, ambergris, and vegetal musk.

In bottle: This has two notes I amp and twist, so I’m not skin testing. It’s rose, balm and aloe dominant, with the effect of rose scented sun tan lotion which is weird, but interesting. This is not my thing, but I can see it being an unusual summer scent on the right woman.

[Venneh]

In the decant, I'm getting almost single-note orange blossom. This will probably not turn out well. On my skin, yep, that's orange blossom. Fades quick, not for me.

Edited June 5, 2010 by Venneh

[alterosen]

Orange water & thick musk to start, then gets all incensey but not in a way that appeals to me

 

The rose wasn't apparent to my nose but may have contributed to the heaviness of the musk in the beginning.

[PurringPulsar]

Phantom Time Hypothesis

 

In the imp: traditional sweet powdery rose and ambergris. Very pretty!

Wet on skin: the rose blooms, and there’s orange. This is gorgeous.

Dry on skin: Turkish delight! Yes! This reminds me of Turkish delight in rose and orange flavours, right down to the dusty, powdery scent, reminiscent of the icing sugar dusting on those squishy loukhoum cubes. This is really lovely. It reminds me of a TAL-maybe Amor-as well as Seraglio and Haunted Palace. I wasn’t expecting the orange to be so strong but it is. I don’t know why I smell sandalwood but I smell a bit of it and combined with the rose, it also reminds me of Lush’s Fever. I also smell neroli, again, not a listed note, but it seems to be in here. But it mainly smells like Turkish delight and rose scented powder, and I love it.

After a while: this then turns into a gorgeous rose-sandalwood powdery scent, powdery in the best way possible, in the way that reminds me of a historical perfume-I’m surprised there’s no orris in here, as it has that dusty pale feel to it. It then changes into a gorgeous soft incense-resin type scent, a rosy ambergris powder dusted onto the skin, with some hints of crushed resin-the mysterious balsams and gums, I think. It’s very different to other rose-resin scents though, not at all like Parlement of Foules.

Verdict: this one is another winner in the Helicopter series. I love roses, oranges and incense, but I was pleasantly surprised when this turned to Turkish delight on me! The scent of rosewater, orange (fruit, definitely, but I also smell the blossom?) and a pleasantly powdery sweetness reminded me of that yummy exotic sweet treat. Though the loukhoum stage doesn’t last, the drydown is equally delightful. this is when it resembles some of my favourite rose-based scents. Though totally different to most resinous rose scents (and very different to Illuminati Cotillion), this reminds me of roses and mysterious incense and a touch of dust-and I mean a pleasant dustiness here, and something like sandalwood. It’s somewhere between Three Brides and Seraglio, I’d say. I have a feeling that aging will make the scent stronger and even more beautiful.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? definitely a one or two bottle scent.

If you like this, try: Seraglio, Bess, Whoso List to Hunt, Haunted Palace, Lucy Westenra, Shadowless like Silence, Three Brides

[yamiko]

This, sadly, just ends up being soapy on me. I had hopes that this would be a rosy scent on me, but that was not the case.

[sarielswish]

In the vial, it's a very traditional smelling perfume, as the description says. Mostly, I'm getting orange water and rose. Ugh. Color, pale rose.

 

Wet on my skin, it's all orange water. Maybe a little bit of musk. Not a good scent on me.

 

10-15 minute drydown - Huh. It's turned to straight powder. Not unpleasant, but I'm not buying a bottle of it.

[ravenscanary]

Source: Fresh decant

 

In the decant: Sharpish ambergris and rose. It's already reminding me of Ren Faire perfumed roses.

 

Wet: Ambergris and rose still predominate, with a musky green undertone and aloe present as well.

 

Dry: This scent alternates for me between feeling historically proper herbal sweetness and a bit too medicinal for my tastes. It's just not working quite right as perfume for me.

[Lucchesa]

I am a total sucker for any medieval or Renaissance scents, despite the fact that they don't always work on me (I wanted to like Bess so much that I ignored the fact that my skin was turning it into Dimetapp). I love the inspiration for Phantom Time Hypothesis, and luckily it is beautiful on me. Rosewater, ambergris, a hint of citrus, a breath of musk -- oh, so lovely, so cooling for the hot spell we're having right now. Rose doesn't always work on me, but this feels more like rosewater, which is better on me. I see that damask rose is also the rose in Maiden, which is a favorite. I wonder which rose is in Alice?

 

There are no sharp edges to this scent (the benefits of eight years of aging, perhaps); I get nothing medicinal from it. If you have an unloved bottle at the back of your BPAL drawer, you might want to pull it out and see how it's aged for you. I find it very feminine, light but not vanishing (it held up very well during yoga today), evocative of another time yet utterly contemporary. I'm so delighted to have gotten to try this one!

[bellumed]

A soft, dark rose scent. On skin, powdery rose over a dark base of musk. I'm used to rose amping up a lot, but this rose is very demure! It's not one of those blends that disappears on skin, it's just modest, it stays close. Old-fashioned without (in my opinion) bringing to mind any dreaded old lady perfume that sometimes gets mentioned around in rose reviews. This is pleasant. If you like rose but sometimes experience it as overpowering, I highly recommend giving this one a shot.