The Ghost of a Ghost’s Ghost

[zankoku_zen]

Now, suppose this is to be accepted as the rational and scientific explanation of all the phenomena of this order which have been observed since the human race began to conserve records of its own experience. To what conclusion should we be logically forced? The believe in the objective reality of apparitions under such conditions would have to make way for a new conception, but the point which is really at issue between the materialist and the spiritualist would remain untouched. That issue relates to the permanence of the human personality after death. The spiritualist will point you to his own experiences as affording evidence of the permanence of personality. The materialist is certain that all the experiences of which the spiritualist is conscious result from the operation of natural law. But the eternal question of the soul – “Am I an immortal thing?” – is not to be decided either by the proof of the existence of whole armies of ghosts, or by the rational explanation of all apparitional phenomena whatsoever. The spiritualist falls into an easy error in the supposition that a continuance of personality on a new plane implies a permanence of continuity. What guarantee has a ghost of being immortal? Me not he also perish out of his appointed sphere? And why might we not fancy a whole procession of lives in phantom state – each more ghostly, more attenuated than its forerunner – the ghost of a man, the ghost of a man’s ghost, the ghost of a “ghost’s” ghost, until the thin thing fades into nonentity and slips back into the universal element? The materialist falls into an error parallel with that of the spiritualist when he conceives that a rational explanation of all ghostly phenomena has disposed of a belief in immortality. The concept is as independent of evidence, and as unsupportable by evidence as it is indestructible by evidence. We can neither prove nor disprove, but the balance of reason is still upon the side of the believer and it favours strongly the hope of a continued existence and a continued growth. We can but argue from things known. In all nature we find the clearest evidence of law of progress.
– the Occult Review, January 1905

 

Falling into nonentity and slipping back into the universal element: pallid oakmoss and earthy patchouli tumbling into a void of misty lavender, cistus, and white agarwood.

 

Misty lavender, oakmoss, and a whiff of patchouli. Misty is right! This is wispy, ghostly lavender. Medium throw and wear length.

[Dark Alice]

I really love this. This is the most unique lavender I have ever smelled from the lab.  Bottleworthy for sure.

[cyborgutena]

In the bottle and going on, it's got that sharp lavender smell with a sort of herbal-woody background. The herbal is only a tiny bit sweet, which is what I prefer. The wood in it isn't harsh or dominating at all. It's sort of soft and floaty.

 

It stays sharp for a while, developing into something nearly citrus without the fruitiness. The herbal-wood scent emerges as time passes. At the end, I'm left with a nice oakmoss-patchouli blend with lavender. The lavender starts off sharp but really does calm down to something that 'misty' is a good description for as it dries. Soft and clean and mysterious.

 

The throw and longevity are in interesting! This sort of pleasant clean scent hangs around for ages. It's kind of subtle but really nice to sniff.

 

This is very but it's not really in the realm of things I actually wear, so I'll be swapping in when I can be bothered.

Edited January 4, 2020 by cyborgutena
update on longevity

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

this smelled so familiar when i was decanting it, and i've narrowed it down to that it reminds me of an old* Lush product.

 

(*i love the smell of a lot of Lush stuff, i was a loyal fax-and-mail-order customer of The Body Shop, ordering overseas from their UK office, starting way back in the late 80s, then followed through the various incarnations. up until a couple of years ago when i just couldn't justify the expense anymore.  still love the smells. still using up stuff from my ancient stash. haven't bought anything new from them in 2+ years now, though, and still have never set foot inside a Lush store. maybe someday! even though there's [at least] one in Atlanta now!)

 

whatever it was that i think this reminds me of was yellow, with either dandelions or chamomile or tiny yellow flowers of some sort embedded on the top. i think it was a hair product.  but i didn't use it as shampoo or conditioner as it was intended, i used it as either soap or a lotion block. probably why i can't remember what it was called. 

 

i tested this tonight and i'd have sworn this was some sort of chamomile, white tea, maybe tonka, kinda thing.  i never in a zillion years would have guessed this was oakmoss, lavender, aloeswood, patchouli & rockrose. 

 

i do adore aloeswood, though. and patchouli.  

 

if the idea of a light, clean/crisp/refreshing sort of could-be-soap smell, that's chamomile-y, slightly astringent without being bitter, and yet just a little bit earthy sounds good - don't be afraid of giving this one a try.  if you're not a fan of oakmoss or patchouli don't let that scare you off.  i like both and still never would have guessed they were in this.

 

[VetchVesper]

Nice, calm, misty lavender up front, with soft white musk.  Kind of reminds me of the Lillith, Waiting, at first, and it's pleasant, but I could take it or leave it.  Lavender's not really my thing.  

 

THEN the oakmoss, and earthier notes come out, turning this into a very nice, gender-neutral chypre on my skin.  It's still light, wispy, and unobtrusive.  This phase lasts for hours, finally drying down into the lab's soft white musk. 

 

I could see this being a great work scent for a man or woman.  I don't know that I would get enough wear out of this one to justify a bottle, but I wouldn't mind another decant.  Very pretty.  

Edited January 18, 2019 by VetchVesper

[torischroeder9]

In the decant: Oakmoss with lavender. 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, oakmoss is still dominant with the lavender still detectable and becoming a bit sharper as it dries. 

 

About fifteen minutes later, as it settles on my skin, lavender is in the forefront. Now the patchouli is also detectable as a grounding note. I can still pick out the oakmoss tying these scents together, but the "pallid oakmoss" descriptor is apt. It's just barely there enough to be a unifying presence. 

 

Given additional time to settle and warm, it becomes lavender as a top note for something almost powdery on my skin. But, like, very fine, high-end, grown-up powder -- not the baby powder I sometimes get when a note like amber doesn't play nice on my skin. 

 

Much later (sorry, I left periodic arm-sniffing long enough to cook and eat dinner), the scent is a very light, powdery floral. The top note is something like a very light rose. (A quick Google tells me cistus is rockrose?) The lavender is detectable as a base; at this point, I cannot detect any patchouli or wood fulfilling this role. I can't tell what's leading to the powder note on me (none of the listed notes usually do this, and the quality of the powder is different than I've ever experienced from perfume oil). 

 

Once it's in powder-lavender-rose stage, the throw is pretty low, but the wear length seems to be at least average. 

[annemathematics]

the lab is brilliant with lavender scents. I have sooo many that I almost excused myself from trying this beauty. glad that I didn't!  opens with sheer veil of lavender over chewy, tweedy patchouli.  dries down to a snuggly cologne-ish blend with patchouli and oakmoss being the most prominent. the lavender contributes a brightness without screaming it's own name. the oakmoss gives the whole thing a rather velvety texture. (aka leans powdery, for those who love or fear this texture in their scents).  I get no barn from the oud (I honestly can't really detect the agarwood at all).   

[doomsday_disco]

This was originally cut from my decant list, but when I saw a leftover decant available, I had to grab it.

 

In the decant, I mostly get the oakmoss and patchouli, backed by the lavender.

 

On me, the oakmoss and lavender are the stars of the show, with a gently earthy patchouli. The lavender really does have a misty quality to it, and it's really nice, but eventually the oakmoss asserts itself and becomes the dominant note, backed by the lavender, patchouli, and a touch of the white oudh, which just contributes a woody warmth to the scent. I agree with VetchVesper's comment about this being a gender-neutral chypre, although in the end, it leans a little masculine on me due to the oakmoss being so strong on my skin.

 

I do not think that I need a bottle of this, but I plan on keeping the decant!

[Casablanca]

Well-misted lavender and oakmoss on a soft earthy background like slightly damp, decomposing leaves on the forest floor. The soft forest-floor earthiness has a patchouli hint and reminds me a lot of Earth Mother (patchouli, clary sage, dark mosses and lichens, wild grasses, warm acorns, dammar, burgundy pitch, pine needles, mandrake root, hay absolute, sweet vetiver). The white oudh is probably contributing, but it doesn't stand out for me.

 

The oakmoss in this smells up front and detailed -- as if I can see its pale, spidery outline against the bark when I inhale -- but it's limned in lavender.

 

This is really lovely at first.

 

As it starts to dry, though, it turns a bit cologne-like, and also powdery in a white-musk way. I still find the lovely lavender-oakmoss in it, but there's too much of the cologne and powder for this to work on me.

[Lucchesa]

Ghost of a Ghost's Ghost is lovely and unusual, a light, fresh lavender that becomes more masculine on my skin against a backdrop of oakmoss and patchouli.  I'm not really appreciating any oudh, which is fine, as agarwood occasionally ruins a scent for me.  Unfortunately, as with nearly every BPAL that has the word "Ghost" in the title, my skin eats this up in a couple of hours.