Hearts for Ghost Friends

[Anaire]

Lilith named this one, and I think it’s absolutely perfect.

I know I’ve told this story before, but the kindness behind it means so much to me that you’re all going to have to bear with me while I tell it again. The privilege of being the narrator!

While we were at Lafayette Cemetery this spring, Lilith discovered all the beads, toys, and trinkets that people leave on the crypts. As she wandered through the cemetery grounds, she arranged the beads that she found into hearts and pillaged my purse (and Ted’s pockets!) for change and small items she could leave for the ghosts. She told me that people leave things like this for their ghost friends so that the spirits know that their “people friends” are thinking about them, and so they won’t be lonely while they wait for more people to come visit them. Lilith and I still talk about the ghost friends she met in New Orleans that day. Evidently, some of them have taken up residence in my basement and behind our bar because she couldn’t bear to leave them behind. The more the merrier, right?

Friendship beyond death. The scent of ghostly companionship, and imaginary friends that might not be quite so imaginary: oleander and frankincense with white rose, soft carnation, spectral white musk, and velvety magnolia.

I've never done a first review and don't quite have the nose as some do around here but here goes:


In Bottle and Wet on skin: White rose with a hint of something (frankincense?)

I received my bottle in a week ago and I was waiting for it to settle a little bit but Hearts for Ghost Houses, on me, it starts almost entirely as Rose and wears down to a nice velvety floral and then eventually the frankincense/musk take over and it becomes almost sensually spicy with a hint of floral.

Overall like it, think I might love it more when it ages a bit and blends in with the other florals present. While this rose does not go soapy like other roses on me I admit I primarily bought it due to the magnolia and oleander in it and am a bit sad it's not a major player yet.

[izile]

I keep testing this one because I can't quite sort it out. It has some incredible staying power, and a good bit of throw.

 

In the bottle: definitely white flowers, not so rosy, probably more carnation and magnolia

 

Wet: hi magnolia! You're my friend! Other florals give it a less specific but still "white flower" smell which I tend to like

 

Dry: it's really dancing between white florals and strong magnolia with a powdery baby-powder of doom edge on it. That white musk is just going to do that to me. It's not enough to completely take over and kill all the other notes, but it's trying really hard- magnolia is just putting up one heck of a fight.

 

Overall drydown to a kind of magnolia scented baby-powder.

Edited October 15, 2014 by izile

[spectrum-in]

Old-lady perfume! Not exactly sure what I was expecting w/the notes, but I really do think my grandmother at some point wore this sort of scent all the time...

[Monster]

Out of the vial this is indolic white flowers, my death note. However, I'm committed to stepping outside of my perfume comfort zone so here goes the skin test!

 

Wet on my skin, yep, indole. It's such a distraction but underneath I think I can pick out a bit of white rose and maybe the white musk?

 

After a few minutes of letting this dry and madly huffing my arm, trying to drown out the sounds of my brain screaming "DIAPERS! BAND-AIDS! DIAPERS! AHHH!", I start to pick out the sweetness and tenderness of the white floral notes. There's a bit of spicy carnation in here as well along with a beautiful base of white musk and sandalwood.

 

This is definitely a white floral dominant scent. It's supremely feminine and lady-like. There's also a classic perfume vibe to this. It's not my style at all, but I can appreciate it for the story behind it's creation (I totally teared up while reading it).

Edited November 1, 2014 by Monster

[zankoku_zen]

Oh god, this is a very lush white floral. Heady magnolia, oleander, carnation and frankincense.

 

This is a quiet, contemplative, blend that would have been right at home with the Funereal Oil line.

 

Lovely, classic, white florals.

 

ETA: Huge throw. Like massive. This sucker apparently loves my skin and one dab is very very heavily scented for me.

Edited November 6, 2014 by zankoku_zen

[EphemeralFey]

Purchase: Directly from the Lab

 

In the bottle: Absolutely wonderful floral blend!! Light, airy with a smidge of sweet and spicy. The only notes I can’t really pick out any individual florals, the only note I can pick out is the frankincense.

 

Test Area: Inside crook of elbow

 

Wet: Instant sweet beautiful magnolia! The frankincense quickly follows and seems to be taking over. No other floral notes at this point, but I’m hoping they appear soon.

 

Dry down: Still primarily frankincense, but the other florals are peaking through!

 

1 hour later: The frankincense calmed down enough for the florals to emerge! This is a wonderfully warm, spicy, incensy floral smell. It’s not super heavy scent; I think the white musk is keeping this lighter, and a little airy. I can’t stop smelling my arm!

 

Thoughts: I really love this scent and see myself getting a lot of use out it in the coming colder months. I didn’t get the white flower heaviness that other people reviewing got, which is a little saddening cause I love white florals, but I have other scents that fill that need.

[Scylla]

Wet, this is all rose and magnolia on me, which morphs into a baby powder / hyper-floral perfume. It mellows out after a few hours, but the throw is MASSIVE.

[Aviatrix]

I am getting an indistinct floral that I think is predominantly the magnolia + white musk. Not really getting any frankincense from this. It feels very somber and beautiful, but also very "white" in a way I'm not sure fits me very well. I was also hoping for more carnation than what I'm currently getting.

It lasts a decent amount of time (around 4 hours) on my skin, and the throw is good.

 

I'm just not sure it's for me, as pretty as it is. It is, however, a rather mysterious scent, and I can definitely relate it to a ghostly friendship!

[lady_pandora]

I was really touched by the story behind Hearts for Ghost Friends and knew I had to try it. I think Lilith understands more about the connection between the living and the dead than most adults, myself included!

 

Right out of the vial I get a strong blast of magnolia, but that quickly fades to leave a dominant floral note I can't identify. It reminds me of some lily scents I've tried, though that's not listed here. It reminds me of another perfume oil I have, a non-BPAL, that has carnation as its only listed note in common with Hearts for Ghost Friends. But carnation is usually said to be spicy, and this doesn't register as spicy. I'm tentatively thinking it might be oleander. But I don't know. Anyway, it's a soft lush floral note, and I think I can sniff a little rose and white musk underneath it.

 

I can definitely see this as a mournful scent and as a NOLA scent. (I'm in the middle of my usual winter reread of The Witching Hour, and I think this scent would be at home in some scenes of that book, such as Deirdre's funeral or even just some of the garden scenes.) It does have moments where it reminds me of something my grandmother might have worn, but as my grandmother is among my ghost friends, this is a feature and not a bug. Very evocative of the concept, and definitely an oil I'll wear when I want to honor the dead.

 

ETA: A ton of staying power too. It's still going strong in the morning, still mostly that big unknown flower, now backed up by frankincense in place of the rose and musk.

Edited December 29, 2014 by lady_pandora

[becca_s]

At first this is a heady magnolia/oleander mix on my skin. As time goes on the carnation takes over and the magnolia has moved to the background. It becomes a spicy, lush floral scent. There is a bit too much carnation here for me, but others who are fans of carnation will like this.

[doublehelix]

When the update was released, I loved the story behind this scent, but didn't think the notes would work on me. I was frimped this by a lovely gal, and my goodness, what an unexpected love! It's delicate, feminine, and floral, and softens up so nicely after the drydown. The musk is the main note on me, followed by a collection of milky white flowers. This reminds me of a Lush bathbomb, actually. It's beautiful!

[Minh Scent]

Admittedly, I bought this for the story. It starts out pretty white flowers on me, but then starts morphing like crazy. I can pick out the individual flower notes of oleander, rose and magnolia at different tines. Then the frankincense. This is so ethereal, so beautiful, so fitting for spirits. I love it and love this whole line. Every Lilith has been such a winner for me!

[claudia6913]

Soft and ethreal. It has a sweetness to it and the frankincense gives it a flowing base. Once dry it has a sweet and comforting feel to it. It's cozy and warm like a hug.

[milo]

Whoah floral! Heady white ones. Strong and in your face. I'm going to have to wash this one off.

[iskhavin]

I blind-bought a bottle of this because I liked the sound of it and I knew that white musk works well on me. What I didn't know at the time is that my skin amps rose like crazy, and that indolic white florals aren't my thing. I also, back then, didn't know about the forums (hi all you lovely people!) or decant circles or swaps, so it has sat in my drawer for a year. After a year of aging, the indoles have mellowed considerably, and I can get a little of the frankincense and musk, but I still amp the rose pretty hard. My daughter, who is Lilith's age, adores it.

[roseus]

Beautiful heady florals, the white musk is clean but the blend never smells soapy to me. A really soft and innocent scent. I mostly get white rose and magnolia. This strikes me as a beautiful bridal perfume.

[DiZZysTARdust]

I randomly added this in cause I didnt want to buy only one bottle. That note list- I couldnt help myself <3. After collecting a number of Lilith blends by accident I see why theyre so well-loved. This is so beautiful and classy. It reminded me of like an old fashioned gardenia based scent right off the bat. In the bottle this smelled like your average melange of florals. The rose seemed very prominent at this point but maybe because I was expecting it. First on the rose was definitely there, but almost immediately either the oleander or magnolia or both took over. This became the most beautiful well blended scent. It has a great throw. I can smell it wafting around me as im walking around (this might be cause I lost control of myself when putting it on.). For a few brief moments when fresh there was a hint of plastickyness. Not sure what it was but it was more prominent close to the skin and further away it was more perfumey. After 3+ hours its still a gentle floral but the resin base is coming out. Less throw but still there. Total keeper.

Edited July 13, 2018 by DiZZysTARdust

[Zorra]

It's aged now of course so it probably smells different from when it was fresh. But when I put this on there's a blast of jasmine. It wasn't until I looked at the notes again that I realized jasmine is not a not. Well, apparently one of the other notes has jasmine as a component, and I now have full proof that I amp jasmine. I went back to sniff the bottle again and there's no jasmine when I sniff it. But on my skin, hardly anything else. I'll see if it morphs during the day.