Grandmother of Ghosts

[darkitysnark]

Mania, Roman Goddess of the Dead, Matron of Madness, Governess of the Ancestral Spirits, Bestower of Divine Frenzy. Her scent swirls with a high-pitched tumult of laurel, stargazer lily, splintered woods, peony, mandarin and white musk, and is spiked with pale pepper.

 

 

Straight up dirty musk slap. Ka POW. And that's.... pretty much it. I've gotta try this again, but my first reaction was just a back peddaling "no no no no NO!".

Edited March 28, 2006 by darkitysnark

[theseagrows]

when i first put this one on, it's a floral with a kind of stinging sharpness to it, which i assume is the black pepper. the sharpness fades quickly and grandmother of ghosts turns into an absolutely beautiful bouquet of sweet (but not cloying) flowers. i love it until it dries, then it turns into musky dryer sheets. which isn't necessarily bad, i just love the wet stage so much, that it's kind of a let down. still i may keep this imp-it's such a pretty scent!

[Caltha]

Grandmother of Ghosts

A sweet and fruity scent, warm and musty and as most fruits on my skin, unfortionately quite plastic. It has a certain spicy or sharp bite as well, underneath the fruity sweetness. As it dries it gets warmer and more powdery with a hint of wood, but other than that I can't really make out any notes. I think it's off to swaps, the fruit candy quality is just too much for me, I had hoped for something a bit harsher and more sophisticated with pepper and dry wood.

[provocateur]

in bottle: A little of that familiar bpal "musty and spicy". There isn't really anything discerning at this point except for a spike of the "splintered woods".

 

on skin, wet: citrusy - the mandarin, which, in this blend almost seems lemony. The pepper also kicks out a bit, and the florals are just a twinge of a presence.

 

on skin, dry as time progresses, it becomes mustier, with an underlying hint of something darker. I'd like to say patchouli but I didn't see anything in the description. It might be an effect of the laurel and white musk together, since I've not tried a blend with laurel in it until now.

 

overall: this blend ended up being pretty nondescript for me. It has a pleasant spicy kick but nothing really spectacular about it stands out for me. 2/5

[themerrybaker]

This is one that broke my heart. It smelled so wonderful in the imp: spicy, aromatic, well blended. I thought I'd found the One True Pairing.

 

 

 

It did fine on my skin for a while, and then turned gamey/rancid. This is definitely a skin-chemistry issue here. Grandmother has so much in it to enjoy for someone with the right kind of pelt.

[juniperus]

Bottle: woods and pepper, with a sweetness that I can't pick out quite.

Wet: I think the sweet was the lily, as that's competing with the wood.

Dry: lily and peony, in front of wood. A hint of the pepper left, no musk yet.

Later: green and wood and pepper. none of the mandarin, and little of the musk left. complex, feminine (but certainly not girly) and the lily didn't take over as it often does on me.

[gwyllgi]

There's not a note in this I don't like; the description ensured that I had to try this. On me, though, it's not quite what I'd hoped. It's pretty - mandarin is the dominant note on me, tempered by laurel - but it fades so quickly that fifteen minutes later it's barely discernible.

 

If it had more staying power, I'd absolutely love this. As it is, I like it enough to give it a try in a locket in the hopes that cotton eats it less quickly than my skin.

[PilotKitten]

Woods... meh. White musk is really strong at first... but there's woods. I'm just not lovin' the wood notes.

[moon_lemming]

Okay, there really is no way for me to pick out anything in this one wet, it's blended so well. Dry, Grandmother of Ghosts is a sort of perfume-y pale, delicate musk with a peppery kick. It's not something I'd normally wear, but it's pretty.

 

My skin eats this one quickly, though.

[cranberry]

In the imp: mmm. Very nice. It smells sort of musky and woody, just my sort of scent.

 

On the skin: slightly floral and a bit musky.

 

On the skin, dry: wow, this reminds me a bit of a commercial perfume, not the synthetic aspect, but it’s the more traditional take with florals with an underpinning of woods, and musk. Very pretty. I think that my mom would really like this.

[bellis]

Grandmother of Ghosts: This is sharply woody when I first put it on. It’s all cedar with a peppery spike to it. Then it starts to soften. Still mainly woody, but there’s moss and a bit of light floral as well. I can smell a little bit of tartness which I assume is from the mandarin. This is, however, another blend where the wood takes over completely. Oh well, off to someone else who’ll enjoy it more.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

as soon as i swipe the imp-wand across my skin...

oh, Ugh! this is like Brimstone - New Improved, Now With BLACK PEPPER

I hate pepper. hate hate hate won't use, don't have in my house, can't stand, send it back to the kitchen it has two little specks on it, nevermind i wouldn't eat here anyway, i'm leaving HATE pepper. white, black, pink, red, orange, plaid. don't care. hate.

 

 

about two minutes later, i can relax -- the peppery wet ash smell is completely gone and the scent keeps changing.

for a second i thought i smelled rubber or latex but as soon as i went to sniff again it was gone.

 

something keeps remind me of Blood Pearl. a lot. a really really whole lot. like enough that i dug out an imp of it to compare the oils -- similar, but not enough so that i think they're the same thing.

 

wait, it keeps changing.... incense and lily ? maybe? with just the teensiest bit of citrus (the rind or oil [zest] & not the sweet juice)

 

i like it!

doesn't seem to have much staying power on me, though... as barely an hour after i put it on i have to smoosh my nose against my arm to smell it.

 

final barely-can-smell-this whatever it is, smells so much like a very expensive (i only ever bought one thing -- a pair of earrings) store i lovvvved to go in and just *touch* everything and breathe in that smell....

Edited June 21, 2006 by TrailerTrashPrincess

[Melantha]

Oh, she's lovely. I can smell the woods; they're keeping the peony and lily under control, and the pepper adds just the slightest bit of kick. The only reason I wanted to try her was for the name; now I'm so glad I did!

[HennaFairy]

bottle:

light musk

 

wet:

same, hint of floral

 

dry:

light floral musk… not bad, but not anything special in my eyes. Er nose.

 

overall:

nice but not really me

 

rating: 5/10

[goth_hobbit]

In the bottle: spicy florals with a musky undertone.

 

Wet: Mmm. The pepper blooms instantly on my skin, anchored by something green and herbal – probably the laurel. No appearance of the mandarin yet, but I’ll give it time. The richness of the peony starts coming in.

 

Dry-down: Lily starts blooming as it dries. The sharp note of the pepper has faded into a faint top-note, adding just a touch of spice to the mix. The mandarin doesn’t add much except an impression of juiciness.

 

Mature: This is lovely; it turns into a dry floral that sticks fairly close to my skin. I find that a more liberal application is necessary than with some other blends, but that’s okay.

 

The bottom line: Some people I know might dismiss this as a “little old lady” fragrance, but it doesn’t strike me that way. It has the elegance that many high-end classic perfumes try to project without the overpowering throw. ::cough::y*uth dew::cough:: Grandmother of Ghosts works for me as a good, general purpose fragrance for either day or evening.

[valentina]

In the imp, Grandmother of Ghosts smelled very greenish and floral, but pungent. Once it hit my skin, it was the strangest thing -- it smelled like how I'd imagine a granny's floral-scented vinegar douche to smell. Weird! I think the laurel, mandarin and pepper take on a really pungent quality that smells vinegary, but the florals of the blend compete for attention. After a little while (maybe an hour), that wears off and a totally different smell arrives, and it is really quite nice. I'd say it's woodsy and musky with a peppery quality. It's incense-like and very subtle. Because my wonked-out body chemistry produces the initial vinegar-floral reaction, I probably wouldn't wear this often, but the final dry-down is really very pretty.

[lookingglass]

In the vial I get orange and that nutty scent that follows many wood blends. I am scared. Woods are not good on me, and I WANT to love this one!!!

 

On, the orange is bright and there is a bite of pepper. Sweet and sour and spicy... Love it like Thai food. For a few moments it is all wood and I am afraid that I will smell like a pencil case that someone has spilled juice in. No go.

 

The lilies, peony and musk are thankfully close behind, becoming deep, creamy, clean and sweet, while the pepper gives this a smokey edge. This is a more complex, deeper play on everything I love about Ouija. It is a translucent floral with sex appeal, but a little heavy on the wood for my chemistry.

Edited July 16, 2006 by lookingglass

[portalkat]

This is mainly lily, musk and pepper on me. I checked it every half hour for about 6 hours, but the woods never did make an appearance. It remained predominantly lily and pepper with the musk . The only noticeable change on me was the musk which grew stronger. It was pretty, but I was really hoping for the wood notes.

[edenssixthday]

Grandmother of Ghosts was, on me, extremely underwhelming. It was obviously a light floral, but even while wearing it, if I looked up the Lab description, I could not identify one single note in the blend. It was soft, subtle, and well, ghostly. It stayed very close to my skin and had lasting power of about one hour, at most. An unimpressive scent, this one went to a better home quite some time ago.

[filigree_shadow]

Mostly a slightly sweet floral with wood undertones. I'm not usually a floral fan, but I like this one. The pepper makes it a little bit spicy, and the white musk is pretty. I would only be able to tell there was mandarin in this by knowing that note was in it ahead of time -- there does seem to be a fruit in there, but I wouldn't have guessed mandarin.

 

Overall a floaty sort of pretty flowery blend with a little spicy kick to it. It doesn't have a tremendous amount of throw, but for this particular scent I would say that's a benefit. I think this could be a bit overwhelming if it were stronger. Very nice! It does smell more like regular perfume than most BPAL oils do, but it smells like a really good perfume.

[mirutai]

This smells very complex to me. There's hints of white florals, plus woods, plus musk, with a strange edge that I can't quite put my finger on (maybe the pepper?). The only thing I don't get is any hint of fruitiness or citrus - can't smell the mandarin at all.

 

Despite the complexity, this is a very light scent, not heavy or deady. I like it a lot!

[nevermore]

I don't know what note it is, but there is something in Grandmother of Ghosts that reminds me of the solution used to set perms. I find it's very noticable when wet, but as it dries, it becomes less prominant. Oddly enough, the first time I wore it, I got none of the "perm" note, just a light floral (which was very nice). But the past few wearings (over a couple weeks) have all ended in me washing the perfume off because the perm note bothers me. I think this one may have to be swapped, alas. I had such high hopes for it.

[cindyrella]

Wet:

This is a fresh scent, not what I was expecting. The name Grandmother of Ghost sounds a bit dusty to me lol.

I’ve peeked at the ingredients and I think I smell the mandarin at first. This is what makes this scent fresh.

Drydown:

But very soon after drydown, this turned into soap. This must be the lily and peony. I’m so sad, because I thought this could be something, but now I think it’s too floral for my taste.

I like flarals like rose, but the white florals are not my kind of thing. When I’m writing this, the soapy floral scent turns up more and more. I’m not liking this anymore. I alsmost can taste the soap in my mouth

[Saliekat]

In the imp -

Dusty flowers...the dusty must be pepper, I think. Slightly repellent.

 

Wet on the skin -

My skin warms up the floral and gets rid of the dusty notes.

 

Dry -

It's cooled down again! It's a fresher, greener scent but it reminds me of fabric softener. Peony? Amsterdam has the same fresh linen scent. G of G reminds me of the laundry room in my halls of residence at uni, though. Odd socks everywhere. Maybe it's Bounce I can smell, rather than Lenor.

 

Le hub says -

"It started off smelling vaguely of cherries, and the then subsequent sniffs brought through the odour of paraffin. It's not hideous. 6 out of 10."

Edited September 2, 2006 by Saliekat

[arachne]

Mandarin? I don't get any citrus at all, thankfully, for I don't care for it much. That being said, I love Grandmother of Ghosts, if not just for the name! I get a soft floral, that is slightly dusty and which has a certain twang to it. Must be the pepper.

 

The scent works wonderfully with my chemistry and I find it to be very long lasting. I will certainly be getting me a 5ml of GoG.