The Ghost of a Woman Confronts Her Murderer on a Stormy Night

[Shel Healy]

Righteous rage thundering from beyond the grave: blackened cypress tar, bleached white cedar, asphodel, patchouli, and night-black musk.

In the bottle, this one immediately made me think of a library or museum. It smelled like old papers, dust, and preserving agents. I felt myself descending a polished stone staircase to a room with stone tablets and sarcophagi.

On the skin, the tarry scent is strong at first, and then the smell of freshly pulled tubers, the cedar grows and there's a cooling effect to the nose, as it starts to dry, the patchouli becomes stronger. It feels like digging damp soil beneath a cedar tree after a light autumn rain. The musk comes out at the very end and is delicate, dark and not churchy at all.
It dries to a solid cedar/patchouli. I'm enjoying this one a lot.

[annemathematics]

I've had this bottle for about four days and it feels like it's still going to shift and change with time, but I'm going to share current impressions.

 

there's something soft and bright at the outset: I'm guessing it's the asphodel because it's reminding me of the beautiful orpheus charming animals scent from the unicorns. there is some dark complexity from the musk and cypress, but these three notes all fade within the first hour of wear.

 

when this scent dries down, it's a stunning marriage between the cedar and the softer patchouli that I smelled in wild woman with unicorns and the dream. these two really do play so wonderfully together. this is a soft, warm dry scent that I would consider unisex but on me it feels feminine but not in a classic perfume sort of way. I'm honestly not a big fan of cedar on me but this is so beautiful that I've been wearing it several days in a row now. I don't get any rage or thunder or tragedy/murder. just a beautiful soft warm patch/cedar scent. good throw and wearlength.

if it stays like this as it ages, I like. if the opening notes end up lasting more and participating in a bigger manner, I also like.

Edited October 21, 2016 by annemathematics

[Atrous]

I wanted to review this fresh out of the mail but when I put it on it smelled dark and angry. Seriously, like it wanted to hurt me or something.

 

So, I've given this scent some time to just calm the F--- down and its much better now for it.

 

Ghost of a Woman kinda reminds me of Streets of Detroit because I get a similar gritty/dirty, black musk.

This is a dark, dark musk melded with earth and woods. But, something bright comes out, during the dry down, piercing the darkness. Its smells of white floral. After smelling this I went to look up Asphodel and found that it is indeed a white flower. It's a really lovely addition to get wafts of light floral in with that dark, gritty muskiness. I really love this one and am hopefully that it only improves with age.

[Little Bird]

I missed the asphodel somehow when I first read over this description, and was confused at the screechy, sharp, white floral tone in this. It cuts through the black musk, which is slightly powdery, almost resinous, dark and cologne-like. It smells black and inky, around the white floral perfume. The patchouli is more noticeable in the drydown - earthy, black and damp. I just don't like the floral.

[Jenjin]

The white, sun-bleached cedar note is strongest to my nose along with dirt, patchouli and tar. It's just a bit harsh to me like sticky resin on my hands after handling sappy pine planks. I'm starting to doubt if black musk is something that I can wear. It never goes the way I expect it to, and perhaps what i'm thinking it should smell like, just isn't what it is.

The white floral note is cold and doesn't really resonate with the heavy, stormy and resinous notes. I'm imagining this floral represents the woman's ghost and her smite against the person who stole her life. I'm getting a definite conflict.

Edited November 8, 2016 by Jenjin

[zankoku_zen]

Cedar, patchouli, and musk. This smells like a dirty pencil. BLEGH. Cedar. Good throw and wear length.

[mrsrevshamwow]

I was ambivalent about this one until I layered it with Hecate. That combo is stunning and everything I want in my life.

 

On its own, Ghost of a Woman is a scent that seems nice for someone who doesn't like white florals in general. I understand what others say about the juxtaposition of the asphodel mixed with the other earthy notes, but that's what draws me to this scent. The sharp cedar and the sharp floral work really well together while wet and on the dry down.

 

In the middle, it does turn into pencils, which is why I originally was indifferent to it. I like that scent, but it was a little strong. Thankfully short lived, though. Layering with Hecate eliminates this problem.

 

Many hours later, the black musk that I love takes over and lasts forever. Hecate does a similar thing, so it really is the perfect combo.

 

I'm kicking myself that I didn't pick up a full bottle in time...

Edited January 25, 2017 by mrsrevshamwow