Grandmother of Ghosts

[sarahmarie]

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.

I didn't really expect to like this, but I like wood and pepper smells, so I gave it a whirl. It's much lighter than I expected, and the florals don't hit me hard like they often do. I hate to make this comparison, because I really don't like equating any of these oils with the everyday smells they remind me of sometimes...I think that can be demeaning. But this time I'm going to have to say that it smells like clean laundry to me, at least on the surface. A lot. It's nice and gentle and soft, like that, but there's still something biting about it, even with that quiet softness. Something in that pepper that comes out underneath....

I'm honestly not sure if I'll wear this, but I am definitely much more fond of it than I expected to be. It's a strange, pretty, slightly menacing scent that you should try if you like light, gently floral smells.

[hangingfire]

Thanks to the lab for the frimp!

 

In the imp: A very busy fragrance: green, floral, woody, musky.

 

On, wet: Not so floral now; mostly about the green and wood notes. I'm not really getting the mandarin at all. The blend is underscored by the musk, which gives it a nice sweetness.

 

Drydown: Green, foresty scent, although not in the same way as Black Forest -- no pine, for one thing. Also, there's the sharpness from the pepper.

 

I appreciate this one from the craft standpoint -- it's well-balanced and blended, no mistake. I'm not completely sure if it's for me, but I'll hang on to it for the time being and see how it works.

[aedes]

I really love this one. On the prowl for a bottle of it, but I think I'll hold off for spring. "High-pitched" really describes it well, for me. There are lots of bright, kicky scents going on in it. I picture the shrieking laughter of children running through the house. I can't pick out anything individually, but I would say it's a bright floral with a good woodsy base.

 

It actually reminds me a lot of Morgan de Toi which was my favorite perfume until my skin got sensitive, only a little more... soprano.

Edited October 22, 2005 by aedes

[summer]

Wow, this is very nice. I did not expect to like it as much as I do. It's a very light, sweet perfumey scent, like the faint whiff that is left behind after a woman has left the room. It is indeed woody -- kind of a sweet, wet wood with a bit of tang from the pepper.

 

Not something I normally would go for, but this just smells wonderful on me.

[tinyvulture]

No one ingredient really stands out in this pleasant floral blend. At first there’s a hint of spice and then, after it dries, a greenish undertone (could be the laurel). The stargazer lily is sweet and pretty as usual, and I don’t smell any mandarin at all (a plus for me). I like it, but florals aren’t really my thing so I’ll swap it to someone who may love it.

[Little Bird]

First on, smells sort of like peppery grapefruit juice that quickly dries down to dry woods and pepper. I had weird scratch and sniff stickers that smelled like this when I was younger.

 

This is one of the first/only perfumes that I've tried where I can actually smell the pepper. I love this smell

 

After a half hour... still pepper and dry woods, but with something soft and sweet lingering in the background. Perhaps it is the poeny, it is a sweet floral scent.

 

The staying power of this one was amazing for me. It lasted for 8 hours until I took a bath, with the pepper going strong the whole 8 hours. It actually starts to smell like a sexy men's cologne after an hour or so, and loses the floral edge.

 

I definitely like Grandmother of Ghosts and am pleased with the way it turned on my skin

[greywind]

This was a frimp from the lab, but very fortuitous because it was on my order list for my mother. She found she couldn't wear it, and passed it on to me.

 

In the vial: musky wood and something sharp

 

Wet: various woods, and is that patchouli hovering over top? Usually this isn't good because patchouli turns my stomach. This is O.K., though, tempered by the other notes.

 

Drying: emerging green and madarin and the spiciness of the pepper. My goodness, I KNOW this scent. It's very similar to YSL's Opium, which I also love. On a bad day, there's something in Opium which will give me a headache -- and there's something in Grandmother of Ghosts which is tickling my sinuses.

 

Dry: More of the sweet flowers come out over top of the mix of spicy woods, greenery, and pepper. This actually smells very nice on me, complex and interesting while neither being floral, woody, nor spicy, but containing elements of all three.

 

Final verdict: the patchouli *is* very faintly upsetting my stomach, and there is something else which is very slightly perturbing my sinuses. It's not enough to actually make me ill, but it is enough to prevent me from buying a bottle. YSL Opium lovers should take note of this scent though -- it has a lot in common with Grandmother of Ghosts!

[Abbie]

In the bottle: Vanilla and brandy and musk and patchouli and a WHOOOOLE lot of other stuff. It's hard to pick out notes, but overall I'd say this smells like a flavored brandy.

 

First on: My skin just does not do much with musk or patchouli, but it always brings out sweeter scents, and this is no exception. It's brandy. Quite nice, although a little masculine for my tastes.

 

Dry: This is one of those scents where I wonder what the hell I am smoking that I smell something so different from everybody else. With time the sweetness faded and I'm left with Myrrh, but... it isn't woody. It isn't floral. It isn't peppery or citrusy. It's brandy. With Myrrh.

 

Overall: I quite like it but I am annoyed by the fact that I'm smelling something completely other. I may try this on the bf and see how he does with it, as it's a little heavy for me.

[Fefferbella]

This scent is very herbal and peppery SHARP.

 

In the vial it's almost unpleasant. Musky and old smelling.

 

I was hoping for some more light florals, but sadle they didn't come.

[PurringPulsar]

Grandmother of Ghosts

 

In the imp: pepper and sweet fruit! A light sprinkling of pepper with a herbal note (laurel maybe) and mandarin.

Wet on skin: is that stargazer lily and peony I smell, rising to the surface?

Dry on skin: wow, this is such an incredible scent. there's a deep, rich, musky floral scent of lily and peony-and for some reason, the white musk scent is almost red in this, probably from the flower scents-and there's also a bit of pepper and herbal laurel and possibly a woody base to this. The overall scent is fruity, sweet, deep, slightly herbal-spicy and headily floral, so complex and very nice.

After a while: I'm pretty sure the musk in here is red…it's too deep and fruity to be merely white…or maybe it's bonding with other notes to cause this olfactory illusion? Whatever it is, I love the effect it has. The floral notes are very sweet and rich, and the laurel and pepper add a very interesting edge to the scent. I think there may be sandalwood in here as well.

Verdict: another one of those unique and unusual scents that Beth does so well. this scent has many aspects-spicy , herbal, woody, floral, and musky…heady blooms of lily and peony with the edge of pepper and laurel and woods and musk…and for some strange reason, the musk note in here is almost like red musk more than white musk. this scent is deep, rich, full and complex, quite different from anything I've smelt before. I like it a lot-not sure if I want a bottle but I do want to keep the imp.

[Kittyflop]

In the imp – wood? Something bitter, like a dark closet. Bitter wood dust.

 

On wet - Definitely grandmother-y. (But I don’t mean old-lady-scent. Not at all.) I can’t put my finger on it – dark wood furniture, with liquor spilled on it. Oh my this smells is so familiar and yet I can’t… quite….

 

Dry – it’s becoming a dark floral as it settles down, the woodsy smell recedes a bit. Still familiar. Damn. I can’t pin it down. OK I’m caving and looking at the notes in the description… Laurel and splintered woods, maybe, is that what’s in the forefront? If so the peony and mandarin are finally peeking their noses out.

 

Whatever it is it’s gorgeous. I love this madly. The throw is quite strong (says my coworker).

 

3 hours later – still going strong! This mellows, sweetens and blends as it ages on my skin. It's fabulous.

[malanna]

When I put this on, I was convinced that Grandmother of Ghosts had vetiver (with a drop of dragon's blood in it). It really does smell like vetiver, although in the later stages, I start picking up more woods--lily and musk on a background of white woods. After more than six hours, the woods aren't so apparent. It smells like a manly gentleman's cologne. It's mostly white musk, pepper, and lily at this point. I got this hoping that the stargazer lily would be the dominant note, but alas, it is not.

[zenvodunista]

oh, my poor wood-hating skin. This scent flips between a gorgeous, elegant, seductive and unusual scent, and B/O. when it's good it's a richly dark scent, edged with peony and mandarin, so well blended that they cannot be picked apart.

 

if your skin supports woods, i HIGHLY recommend this scent. it's truly a masterpiece.

 

n.

[Lit Chick]

When first applied, this smells really interesting (in a good way). Musky, dry, floral.

But, as it dried all it turned into musky wood. Sometimes those notes are fantastic on me, sometimes not. This was a not.

It turned into a dusty, airless, claustophobic smell. Ah well, they can't all be winners.

[SeaMonkey]

Beautiful!

 

I get the splintered woods with a little laurel. The pepper comes in, but its not over powering. The stargazer lily sweetens it a little.

 

I love woody scents. Not just foresty wood, but like wood furniture. This the perfect wood furniture scent

 

ADDED Jan. 16:

 

This is beautiful. Woods and white musk. It has fairly good lasting power, but not a lot of throw. I can smell it if I bring my wrist up to my nose, but not any other time. Its very very soft and woody. I LOVE woody blends. I think I'm going to mix this with alchohol to make a spray to see if that makes it stronger.

[sophia_helix]

I found this incredibly hard to describe. In the bottle, I think I mainly smelt laurel, since it reminded me of Delphi (that slight sourness). Wet, it was muskier, but it quickly developed something that reminded me unpleasantly of body odor. That went away, and there was a lovely balance for a while -- laurel, pepper, and lily -- before the florals started taking over and sweetened this up too much. Very unusual, and I think it would work well on someone whose skin isn't so apt to amp up sweetness.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I admit, I wanted to try this because I want to know what Beth thinks I smell like (i.e, "laurel"). Presumably a green plant, because the flowers don't really have a scent.

 

On first application--Cathedral! Sorry, all wood blends say "Cathedral!" to me; it was one of my first BPALs and made a big impression. This isn't high-pitched in the way that Szepasszony (sp?) is; woods are always so grounding to me. Waiting for the flowers. *taps foot* Still waiting for the flowers. The flowers are not coming. The drydown is softer, but I can't pick out the notes except for that dash of pepper. So, this is a spicy-woods scent; rich but rather masculine for me. This is not a tea-drinking, knitting Grandma. This is Ghost Grandma whacking your behind with a home-whittled switch!

[gingersnapp]

This is a very soft blend without a whole lot of throw, and it appears to be a quick fader on me. I'm getting the peony most of all, and I'd say the white musk and pepper are in the background spicing it up a little bit. A very little bit, as this is mostly floral and not really much else.

 

I don't know. I just don't get much out of this blend.

[kettu]

Grandmother of Ghosts is Yummy! It smells very dry to me and reminds me of maybe a slightly more floral Omen. I can't think of any other ways to describe it... I don't really smell spicy pepper or fruity mandarin, high florals or even medium florals. This is not to say that they aren't there -- just that it all blends so well with the wood. Makes me wish I knew what laural smelled like so that maybe I could give a better description.

 

Regardless, it's a winner for me!

[Miss Lynx]

This one starts out interesting -- dry and spicy and not overly sweet. I was expecting it to be more floral, but the flowers are fairly low in the mix, even on my floral-amping skin. Mainly I get pepper, and a faint trace of mandarin, over a dry herbal/woody base. During that phase, I kind of like it.

 

Unfortunately, the spicy and fruity aspects of it fade fairly quickly on me, leaving just the drily aromatic base. At that point, while not unpleasant, it's also not very interesting. And then, within an hour or so, it's pretty much gone.

 

Oh well. Seems to work well on Kettu, but obviously not meant for me.

 

Grade: B-

[Wench457]

Grandmother of Ghosts: a scary very dark brown - it smells earthy with a hint of spice.

 

On: Earthy and woodsy - reminds me just a bit of Gnome, then it starts to sweeten up - I'm guessing the peony trying to assert itself as peony tends to be quite lovely on me.

 

Dry: sweet and spicy - I can definitely pick out the pepper, but it fades very fast, and never really settles down to a distinctive smell on me.

[mandragora]

In the vial: Smells earthy and spicy.

Wet on me: Spicy and musky floral, the peony is coming out.

Drydown: Very green earth, like the wet mossy ground in the forest. Turns slightly peppery.

 

Unusual scent. It's nice but not quite my style.

Edited February 12, 2006 by mandragora

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: Something indefinable, it is so soft my nose can't get a hold of it.

 

On me: Hm. That is the first time that ever happened to me. I got a whiff of peach or apricot (neither of which seems to be in this blend), and only if I sniff directly on my wrist, and absolutely nothing else. After less than half an hour, it is completely gone, I can't detect any of it on me anymore.

 

Off to the swap/sell pile so you get to someone with more agreeable chemistry, granny!

Edited February 14, 2006 by Diva Urd

[slave1]

In Bottle: Dirt and floral

 

On Skin: Wow, a much deeped scent than I imagined. I think that’s the musk creating a nice thick base. The lily is quite strong but not overpowering. The laural gives a lush middle note with the peony darting in and out. I don’t smell the pepper yet. The mandarin gives a slight citrus twist, nothing too “orangey”. And lastly, the woods. I left them till last because they give the scent a beautiful depth that I’ve never smelled in a floral before. This scent is sweet, but also a bit sharp. Kind of like my grandmother used to be. It is very light, not much throw, but I like leaning in and smelling it. It is very feminine and a great scent to wear anytime, I love that it is also comforting and soft. Not a scent that I’d buy a bottle of but I really liked reviewing it.

[Ciircee]

I smell the florals, but I can't say much about them because the pepper makes my sinuses go 'BLORK' and then I sneeze. Everybody here likes the scent a lot (spicy flowers, says Mr. Circe and Sister-of-Circe says it smells like incense and flowers) but all I get is the sharpness of the pepper and then I sneeze.