Ghosts In Love

[verbranden]

GHOSTS IN LOVE
"Tell me, where do ghosts in love
Find their bridal veils?"

"If you and I were ghosts in love
We'd climb the cliffs of Mystery,
Above the sea of Wails.
I'd trim your gray and streaming hair
With veils of Fantasy
From the tree of Memory.
'Tis there the ghosts that fall in love
Find their bridal veils."

- Vachel Lindsay

White sandalwood, tobacco flower, lily of the valley, white carnation, and magnolia blossom with tea rose, labdanum, and oudh.

First impressions were that it was a very light and mildly soapy. While it was wet on the skin, it kept that soapy quality, but as it dries, seemed to be less flowery-soap and more damp florals with a touch of sweetness. It reminds me very much of Niflheim, but I'm not sure if is that similar smelling or that the two just evoke the same feel for me. I'll have to do sniff tests with my bottle of Niflheim when I get home. I don't really notice the sandalwood in the blend, which is good for me since I'm not a big fan of the note and it kind of had me on the fence as far as ordering a bottle of this or not. The rose also doesn't seem to stand out, which is nice as I tend to amp rose so much it drowns out some other notes - though since this is white rose, it is probably not as bad.

This scent stays very close to the skin and is very, very light. Because of this, this scent doesn't feel like it has a lot of staying power. I can smell it now a few hours after application if I put my wrist right up against my nose, but I don't still smell it like I would with a stronger blend - though admittedly this could be because I tend to apply scents I'm testing quite sparingly.

Overall, I really like and light, damp floral scent it has - the only drawback for me is that it just doesn't seem to last as long. If you missed out on Niflheim before it was dced, this would be a good one to get if you don't mind a bit of a soapy phase as it dries.

[Ghost of a Rose]

My imp is a decant from schackjj, The Goddess of Decanters (to borrow a quote from another participant in our decant circle.)

 

In the imp: Oil is clear and a beautiful salmon color. I smell sandalwood first, then flowers, especially lily of the valley, magnolia, and rose.

 

On me, wet: It is more perfumey, like a classic, elegant, and highly refined floral perfume. It's a designer scent, in which no particular element can be identified.

 

On me, just dried: I'm startled by how quickly and to what degree most of the scent has vanished. The fragrance on my wrist might be more apparent to others, whose noses didn't just smell it wet and full strength four minutes ago. But to me, there's hardly any scent left there at all.

 

After 10 minutes: Although very soft and delicate, the scent that remains is beautiful, still a classic floral perfume. But more natural, without the chemicals and alcohol. I can now identify some specific flowers, especially magnolia, lily of the valley, and rose; in that order of strength.

 

After 30 minutes: Still the same basic perfume scent, but now there is an underlying hint of the white sandalwood and the spiciness of the carnations beginning to come out, and the overall scent is less sweet.

 

After 45 minutes: Rose has taken over as the primary floral note (but there are too many other notes of nearly equal strength to consider this a rose-based fragrance.) Everything else is the same as above.

 

After 1 hour: What little scent still lingers is mostly soft sandalwood and carnation. It's gone rather plastic-y, but that doesn't matter since it's barely there now.

 

Verdict: Beautiful, feminine, and very formal. This is going on my wishlist for a bottle. But wear it in a perfume locket if you want it to last for more than four minutes with any significant presence, throw, or longevity.

 

My rating: 5 stars

 

Added later: I wrote the above review while testing the scent on my left wrist. Later, I wore it on both wrists. I was astonished to find that it was different on my other wrist, although I used equal amounts on both. On my left wrist, it was again the same as above. On my right wrist, the scent was stronger, had more throw, and lasted longer. It also went through a stage of about 45 minutes during which a gorgeous natural rose was the main note, obvious even from about 2 feet away. It made me love this blend even more. (On my left wrist, the rose note was barely detectable, and even then, only for a very short time.) I've noticed before that fragrances can smell slightly different on the inside of my elbow than they do on my wrist, but I've never realized that even which wrist you wear it on can make a difference. (Because essential oil blends are so much stronger than perfumes containing alcohol, I normally wear only one drop on one wrist. I only wore this on both wrists tonight because it had been so weak on my left wrist alone.)

This goes to show the wisdom of the advice I've seen from several reviewers on these forums: to try a scent at least twice before you make up your mind about it!

Edited October 21, 2011 by Ghost of a Rose

[angelicruin]

Light fragrance. Sandalwood, tobacco flower, and tea rose are the dominant notes on my skin. Very ethereal.

[tajana]

Ghostly lily of the valley, glowing in a dark, starless night. The dark resinous base, mostly labdanum on me, smells inky and shadowy, but it's not heavy at all, it's dry, cut with the austerity of white sandalwood. The floral bouquet becomes more complex as it passes through the drydown, and smells very sophisticated, with the slight smoky sharp sweetness in the blend of carnation, tobacco flower, and tea rose. Classy, classy, classy! Romantic and melancholy. Sadly, rose can be fickle with me and went sour and musty after about 30 minutes of wear, so this is a no go.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

oh my heavens. i LOVE this. it smells SO MUCH like the *dusting powder* in the Ginger scent, from Lush. not exactly, by any means. but near enough! and that's my favourite form of that fragrance.

Ghosts in Love is, like, halfway between the Ginger dusting powder, and Mrs. Meyers' Rose Geranium fabric softener.

both of which are things i absolutely adore.

[Little Bird]

Ghosts in Love is mostly tobacco flower on me, which isn't a favorite note of mine (like a soapy, cold, gritty/smoky white floral). I get that, a little bit of sweet rose, and a touch of powdery/creamy softness from the white sandalwood. It'd be very pretty for someone who likes the lab's tobacco flower note.

[countessmouse]

I am so, so happy I got a bottle of this one. It's all spicy florals (yay white carnation and magnolia!) with just a hint of sandalwood and has an excellent throw. I smell good!

[Incendiare]

This was one that I worried about because white sandalwood is usually far too dry for me, but in the vial, I luckily don't get that. The rest of the notes dominate and it is white, soapy, and heavy on the lily of the valley. On me, it's the same for the first five minutes. After after, the spiciness from the carnation makes a modest appearance, and there's also a whisper of something darker in the background. It's a little too sharp and white floral-y for me to handle when I smell up close, but when I wave my hand, the wafting scent of this is glorious. Very classy.

[TheIceMaiden]

When I first got my decant of this, I was very iffy about it - too much wood, not very floral. But even so, I brought it on my trip to Salem, MA and wore it out one night on a trip to The House of the Seven Gables. And it smelled so wonderful now!

 

Ghosts in Love does start off with a lot of oude, balanced by rose, and in this stage it reminds me a bit of Pumpkin II 2009 (without pumpkin, of course). As it dries, it gets a bit more floral with a touch of carnation-spice. The dry stage is a soft, slightly-smokey floral. This has good throw too and lasts quite a while. Its become one of my favourites of the 2011 Halloween scents.

[angelmecha]

In Imp: Most of what I'm getting is sandalwood and tea rose. It smells like incense, in a good way. Soft and like a warm and inviting metaphysical shop.

Wet: Hmm! Dry sandalwood-y-ness with veils of vibant florals. I wish I knew florals better so I could pick out what it is I'm smelling. I think it's carnation and magnolia; I don't really get a lot of tea rose (which I *do* know the smell of!) now.

Drydown: This is so warm and soft. I'm really not a floral person and I've thrown many imps to the wayside because of it, but I'm really really liking this. There's something soft, ethereal... yes, just *ghostlike* about this blend. It's an elegant perfume wafting through sheets of earthiness. The sandalwood is amping a bit as it keeps drying.

Verdict: Likey. 3.5/5 ETA: After an hour or so this morphed into way too much powder. I blame the white sandal, but it lost all of it's other nice aspects. I guess it's a good thing for my wallet, but... Sorry, GIL... 2/5

Edited November 6, 2011 by angelmecha

[puck_nc]

Origin: decant circle

 

Initial Thoughts: I love carnation, I love magnolia, and I had to try this.

 

In the vial: Strongly sandalwood with an earthly undertone that I think is the oudh.

 

Wet: At first it's quite strongly sandalwood, but in a moment a gentle soapiness hints at the flowers to come.

 

Drydown: The florals try to peek out, but I'm getting mostly sandalwood and tobacco flower. If I sniff really hard I can get a touch of carnation and magnolia in the background.

 

Verdict: Alas, this is not what I was hoping for.

[Jammies]

I was really hoping for the carnation in this one to be strong, but no luck. The sandalwood predominated, but while this is not the same musk as The Zoom, which makes me think of clean baby skin, this also dries down to a soft musk on me, very dry and powdery.

[theseagrows]

this starts off very woody and resiny, mostly sandalwood and oudh, i believe. then later on the tobacco and florals come out, and this becomes a smoky, yet powdery floral-resin scent. very dark and pretty. i wish the carnation was stronger, but still this is quite nice. essentially it's tea rose, tobacco and maybe labdanum on my skin. i will definitely keep my decant.

 

eta: ooh ooh, the carnation came through! (one of my favorite notes) and it's lovely! reminds me a bit of gypsy queen, but less rosy and heavy. definitely a keeper.

Edited November 8, 2011 by theseagrows

[edenssixthday]

Ghosts In Love - This is a really pretty scent. It's a very classic-smelling "floriental" scent. It's impeccably blended and the various notes are all in perfect balance and compliment each other beautifully. The white sandalwood gives it a bit of dry woodiness, sweetened by the florals, specifically the tea rose. The lily of the valley provides a bit of greenery to the scent, but also a faint trace of soapiness. The magnolia fills out the scent, making it heavier and header than it would be otherwise. It's a really, really pretty scent, very feminine. It has a nice level of throw and on me, has about average staying power.

[Dark Alice]

Cooling pretty gardenia with the barest hints of tea rose. There is something in this that evokes a beautiful cool breeze. It is a classic floral and it is gorgeous...but thankfully it is not something I Need more of.

 

ETA: and this dries to tea rose soap. So glad I don't need anymore of this.

Edited November 11, 2011 by Dark Alice

[Eemia]

This is my Halloween sleeper hit. In the bottle it smelled very strongly of dragon's blood to me for some strange reason, and I can only wear that in light doses. Once I wore it all I was convinced that I must have been crazy every time I sniffed it straight from the bottle.

 

On my skin it's all soft, dry woods and tobacco. There's a drowsy effect, like everything is coming together slowly and in a hazy kind of way. I really love the way the carnation sort of amps up over the other florals. It smells powdery/spicy like only carnations do.

 

It feels refined and beautiful. Wears well, lasts for a long time before sort of melting into a wispy incense on my skin.

[lilyliza]

On me, it's white florals and a sharp note from wet to dry. There's a little bit of sandalwood. It reminds me of a high-end perfume. I like that it puts a twist on a traditional white floral perfume by adding a little bite, but there's so much of whatever this sharp note is that it's close to giving it that tang I hate so much from incense. Otherwise, it's very pretty.

Edited November 15, 2011 by lilyliza

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Cool pale florals with a hint of something aquatic.

 

Wet: Much the same as when sniffed.

 

The dry-down: This scent doesn't really morph, which is nice. I was really worried about the lily of the valley, as that can turn sharp on me (leaving a sort of brown scent--I can't describe it any better than that!), but the other florals, along with the slight spice of the sandalwood and the sweetness of the magnolia (not a heavy note, here) and the rose, are keeping this lily note in check. I like this scent, but don't think that I need more. It's a subtle skin scent, for when you want scent, but don't need every one else to know that you are wearing perfume.

[mimieux]

I am sort of indifferent about Ghosts In Love so far. I don't love it and I don't dislike it. It just smells nice. Very floral and on me, I get a ton of rose with hints of lily of the valley and carnation peeks in to say hello on dry down. It's a gorgeous salmon color, so pretty! Minimal throw thus far, and I tend to really amp rose, so we shall see with age.

 

I happen to be CRAZY about Rose blends, so I have hope for you Ghosts In Love! Don't let me down!

[surlygurl]

The notes looked so good....

 

Fresh on: OH LOOK! SOAPY ROSE!!

 

On the drydown: softened soapy rose

 

I sense a pattern...... When will I learn?

Edited November 18, 2011 by surlygurl

[Rshields]

Sadly this turned out to be dusty, nauseating carnation/rose and bar soap smell on my skin.I had to wash it off. It smells like a dust covered old bar of soap with a cloying grandma smell.

[stellamaris]

When I first got this one, I thought it was a ghost, as I could hardly smell it, but a couple weeks later it has turned into a gorgeous light floral. So glad I have a big bottle, it's lovely.

[coldandsleepy]

This starts out as a really sharp sandalwood on me. Almost single note. Over the course of about 30 minutes, it morphs from that into almost single note rose with the tiniest bit of spicy carnation.

 

Weird. I genuinely wouldn't have known there were any other florals in this if I hadn't checked the notes again. I'm sniffing and sniffing but nothing's coming forward... just the rose with a hint of carnation.

 

It's a *nice* rose, a good clean tea rose. Not too sweety or cloying. But I don't know that the scent is overall particularly interesting to me because on my skin, it is just SO one note.

[kelpsoda]

Somehow the rose finds a way to overpower everthing. Too bad. I'm sure it's beautiful on someone else, but it's just soapy florals on me.

[zankoku_zen]

Mildly soapy white florals drydown to mildly soapy roses. I have to just resign myself that I am going to amp up every single rose note ever in a blend.

 

Rosy, white, clean.