Bone Orchard Atmosphere Spray

[degaussingcrown]

Back in prison, Low Key Lyesmith had once referred to the little prison cemetery out behind the infirmary as the Bone Orchard, and the image had taken root in Shadow’s mind. That night he had dreamed of an orchard under the moonlight, of skeletal white trees, their branches ending in bony hands, their roots going deep down into the graves. There was fruit that grew upon the trees in the bone orchard, in his dream, and there was something very disturbing about the fruit in the dream, but on waking he could no longer remember what strange fruit grew on the trees, nor why he found it so repellent.

Clacking white sandalwood bones, grave soil, and the bruise-purple fruits of death and decay.

Gah! First yet again!

I've been getting more and more into sandalwood lately, so when I saw this I jumped at it. I haven't had a lot of experience with graveyard dirt/grave soil just because if spooks me a bit (pretty sure that's the intention) so forgive me.

When I sniffed right out of the mail, this was mostly the fruits/florals and sandalwood. Very pretty! Dry sandalwood as the description implies, so don't be too worried of the mixture turning foodie.
I haven't sprayed this around yet but I did a bit of a skin test and the florals/fruits seem to REALLY come out then and leave sandalwood behind. With just sitting on my shelf for a few weeks, the sandalwood has really become a bit more dark (perhaps mixing with the grave soil?) so I'm excited to see how this ages.

[alterosen]

My decant of this spray is very soil dominant - I notice some sweet fruit at the beginning but not the sandalwood which is disappointing. I was hoping for a dry cool sandalwood with some supporting fruit & a slight bit of graveyard dirt but I got the opposite proportion. Dirt lovers rejoice!

 

The bruise-purple fruits seem a bit like creamy raspberry to me which I find odd rather than creepy but YMMV .

[Little Bird]

I get lots of black soil, damp and slightly perfumey, like it has an aquatic and white floral note swirled into it. The fruitiness is purple and tart, like hints of blackberry and tart red currant. Reminds me of The Premature Burial perfume oil. After a while, it's a clean, tart fruit scent, with the soil fading away.

[sophie-au]

So I've yet to actually spray this one, because I had a hard enough time even handling Bone Orchard for my decant circle.

 

A bit of background: I can't stand mushrooms, because they smell and taste like rot and dirt in the worst possible way, and I'm not keen on gardening because of the moist, yucky side of it, (and my intense dislike of creepy crawlies.)

 

I only wish this smelled like dry, white sandalwood and purple fruits!

 

Instead, all I detected was rich, rotting, stomach-churning soil. Even just opening the bottle was a horrendous experience for me.

 

I'll give it some time and try again another day, but I'll almost certainly be swapping this one away.

 

If you can't stand the smell of soil, STAY FAR AWAY from this one! <insert vomiting smiley>

[VetchVesper]

Grave dirt is an apt description. A moist, dark earth, rich with decay, piled over hints of dry, floral sweetness -- that's my first impression. I'm pretty sure the "bones" in this are orris. 

 

After the initial loamy burst, Bone Orchard becomes exceedingly dry. Desiccated sandalwood and orris. I'm guessing the purple fruits include plum. Maybe black currant?  Something purple lurks in the background, but this is not a juicy, succulent plum. This is overly ripe, bruised, fallen to the soft, dank soil to be the sustenance of worms and beatles. 

 

Overall, this one's very atmospheric, but not something I want a full bottle of. If you like earth notes, or dry resins, this is worth a sniff. Those looking for something fruity might be disappointed. 

Edited May 28, 2020 by VetchVesper