Ghost Fire

THIS IS SUBLIME. if there is any one singular alkemia scent you should try, it's this one. this is such a fascinating and ethereal scent. you'd think it would be linear based on only having one supposed note (white amber), but its blending and scent profile makes it feel like a transformative your-skin-but-better-scent. people kept saying this scent smells like an 'angel'. before i got it, i rationalized those comments thinking they were just exaggerating because cmon.. what can smell like an angel of all things? how can you even know what an angel smells like? but somehow they were absolutely right. the best way i would describe this scent is: a wispy vanilic perfume reminiscent of a cold night's breeze over a lake. it is so aptly named because it's so close and intimate to you, but breezy and whispery at the same time. it's on you yet all around you, so close yet so far, cold yet warm as it sits in pillowy crisp shushes on your skin. it's almost nostalgic, but 'new' smelling all in one. it really is a ghost fire. i 100% agree with the review right below me. it transforms and can seriously be worn under anything, WITH anything, with any season. the versatility is remarkable and incredibly unique. it's inoffensive but unique and 'close' all in one. i can't recommend this enough, and i literally just unboxed it 10 minutes ago as i write this review. i will update regarding it's performance and longevity.

It took me months (or close to a year) to finally get this fragrance. I think part of it was because it needed to macerate a bit longer, so I came back on trying it on every few months. Every time I was like "yeah, it's okay but.. not *that* good". Than, a couple of nights ago I tried it on for the first time in a while and I was speechless. This time I didn't get the usual smell (which I found was kinda oriental smelling but not in any special way); instead I got a warm and sweet, ethereal smell. (It's weird, as I still can feel that this is the exact same fragrance I smelled before - but at the same time my reaction to it was totally different). I went to bed and I kept smelling my wrist, I just couldn't get enough of it. It's so comforting and calming, and I finally get what other reviews meant by "ethereal". It feels like a warm hug from a divine creature (and not in a religious way). It's very hard to explain. I think this can be worn day and night and in any weather. But I think I'll keep using mostly at night as my comforting good night scent. If you have this and you are not convinced by it, just keep it aside and put on a reminder to try it again 6 months or more. You might be surprised!

This sample sat in the back of my perfume closet for about two years before I started seriously sampling it. To my nose it contains all of the facets that a white amber could have. It definitely has an aquatic aspect, a lightly sweet, fluffy aspect, it gets more musky and balsamic upon dry down but at no time does it become syrupy, or become animalic like a darker amber would. Suddenly I found myself obsessed! I had to order the ultime - I am in love with this stuff! It's fluffy, it's sweet, it's aquatic, it's musky. It really has this quality of "my skin but better," a category I have really grown to appreciate since COVID quarantining. When I wake up in the morning I can still smell it and it really is a sexy scent more than a comforting scent (partner agrees).

GF is a total people-pleaser perfume. As with other white ambers, it is a totally different animal from your usual "amber" seen in other perfumes. They're light, airy, cooling, and sugary-sweet, with a distinctly breezy quality that kind of tickles my nose. They're not exactly like vanilla, but they are is vanillic, sometimes veering a little into VS body spray territory, though I find that that depends on the scent context and house. Alkemia's white amber is the best I've smelled. Overall, GF plays nicely, giving us all of those lovely facets without smelling like cheap spray. It works excellently in the heat too, and layers beautifully with warm scents to lighten them.

On my skin, this has a light, sweet, ethereal scent. It reminds me of melted sugar but with a warm, light base that dries down to a sweet skin scent on me. Someone said it reminded them of unflavored rock candy and I agree! It also has an interesting quality that reminds me almost of gasoline in a way. Anyway, I love this scent for how easy to wear and happy it is. It's amber without being at all heavy or incense-y, it's a skin scent without animalic notes, a sweet scent that stays sweet without ever being cloying or turning to powder (a problem I have with many fragrances). On me, this isn't buttery or creamy. It's a harmonious, optimistic, but unobtrusive fragrance.