The Ghosts of the Year

[zankoku_zen]

White musk, lemongrass, neroli, white pepper, lavender, white cedar, oakmoss, dandelion sap, and white amber.

[VetchVesper]

Musky, lemon-drop candy!  It's nice.    Bright and cheerful.  Lemon grass tends to go sour and swampy on me, but so far, this is behaving itself. 

 

The bright lemon burns off, and I get sort of a musky, fresh herbal that makes me think of sunny kitchens, or the outdoors on a cold, clear day.  It's hard to pin down specific notes because they're well blended.  There's a bit of sweetness from the neroli, and a hint of lavender.  Maybe some fuzziness from the white amber and pepper.  I was expecting something sharper, but this is sort of light and airy.  I'm only getting a teeny bit of cedar in the crook of my arm, where it's warm.  I don't smell any on my wrist,  and I'm not getting the slap of "green" I'd expect from dandelion sap.  The fragrance stays close to my skin, but I've been wearing it over an hour and it's still hanging out.   Over all, the ghosts of the year seem to be surprisingly pleasant fellows!  

[groovyrooby]

Dangit this just did not work for me. Tested from a decant that's been resting about a week.

 

Lemon-y notes are one of those groups that can go either way on me - either they sing (anxiously ordered Lemon Peel, Marshmallow, and Orange Blossom before they take it away, I love the bergamot in Figure in the Attic Window) or they scream. This is a screamer on me, drowning out all those other beautiful notes. All I get is LEMON of the harsh cleaning product variety. Once the lemon finally quiets down, I get a whisper of musk, but that's about it. Doesn't last long on me, which was good in my case.

[puellacaerulea]

This starts off as a combo of bright lemongrass, neroli, and white musk, emphasis on the lemongrass. This isn't just cleaning-product lemon, though -- there's a distinctly herbal tone to it, which I'm guessing the lavender is helping to provide. As it wears, the lemongrass settles a bit, and the cedar and oakmoss come out more, giving the scent a bit more backbone. This is still primarily lemongrass and white musk to me, but with a slight herbaceousness and woodiness that grounds it. It's like Phantasm with a little more oomph. If you like scents like Phantasm or Embalming Fluid, you'll probably also really enjoy this. I might need a full bottle to fill the Phantasm-shaped hole in my heart.

[torischroeder9]

In the decant: White musk, lemongrass, and neroli. 

 

On my skin: 

 

Wet, it's bitter neroli at the forefront. As it dries, it remains neroli-dominant on me. I have to wonder if the neroli is riding on the white musk, as I usually amp the musk more and neroli less. As it settles, something happens that makes the one-note dominance fade, and Ghosts of the Year develops an almost "fuzzy" musky quality. I think part of it is the white pepper adding some grit to the scent, but I can't swear what other notes might be at work here as I can't pick out other individual notes in the blend at this moment. 

 

And then there's a phase where it's simultaneously "fuzzy" and gentle, round, sweet citrus. This stage is very skin-close on me, which is a shame, but it is quite beautiful. 

[trinitysite]

I get spicy oakmoss, musk, and amber. There's a little bit of citrus from the lemongrass right at the beginning, but it fades quickly, and the lavender is just harmonizing, not prominent at all. There's some similarities to And Sing, And Sing, but this is softer and sweeter. I wanted to try this because of the oakmoss, which I really like, but sometimes it just amps like crazy -- and the oakmoss seems to be more settled here. I like this, but it's not distinctive enough that I want a whole bottle.

[zankoku_zen]

Lemongrass, neroli, amber, and a whiff of cedar. This smells very lemony citrus on wet, and as it dries, you get slightly more spicy notes, and the cedar coming through. Every so often there's also the ghost of lavender. It's bright, sunny, lemony. Good throw and wear length.

[donkehpoo]

Wet: Lemongrass and musk! 

 

Dry: Really surprised by this - it smells identical to the wet stage, throw and all! Musky, bright lemongrass.

 

For me, this is a good pick-me-up type of scent. A cousin of Embalming Fluid, maybe? Gives off that same type of vibe.

[bambi]

In my decant, I get an herbal, musky, lemony scent with a slight nose-tickle from the pepper and a hint of earthiness. On my skin, this smells like musky lemon-scented floor cleaner, but not in a bad way. It smells like freshly washed wooden floors with the window open to let in the sunlight and breeze. It kind of reminds me more of a summer scent than an autumn one. Or maybe very early autumn. It's light and airy, and the musk and amber gives it a bright, fuzzy feeling. I end up mostly with lemongrass and woody notes, and I really like it.

[ghoulnextdoor]

-This does smell deeply of the “April-clear” feeling referenced in the poem this perfume is inspired by; of daisies and dandelions, tremulous in a grassy spring breeze.
-A frank, appraising stare from the ghost of one’s self. Uncomplicated and uncompromising and free of all sentiment. Lemongrass smells like a cross between citronella and geranium to me, and that is the powerful core of this scent, a truth that you must get to the heart of and climb inside and ultimately embody…in order to properly meet the gaze of this other version of yourself.