Floating Candles

The scent opens with a scent that makes me think of a gothic candle. It smells like a candle, but also not quite. The name probably influences my imagination here, but i get a long old hall, with candles burning. Although the "Main Accords" say Amber, i wouldn't say this is in any way a typical amber. Dark Tales Website calls it a "Dark Amber". Amber is a constructed fantasy note, so it's hard to say what it is. I smell churchy incense and Labdanum in the dry-down, along with a metallic note, and violet in the background. Definitely some kind of moss and/or woods. Long lasting, pretty strong, but not room filling. Probably not an office scent, as it is particular. And, although it's not unpleasant, it's not exactly a sexy scent either. It's a mood scent, and i love it. As a transportative scent, it hits the mark perfectly. I very much get a long, gothic hall, with hundreds of candles along the walls of the corridor. The lively light of the candle flames, lighting up the gloomy, antient hall. Personal score: 9/10. I'm tempted to give it a 9.5/10, as i truly do love the scent, and the way it smells truly gives me vivid imagery, a cozy, yet gloomy feeling. Maybe in time, my score will go up. The score won't go down.

Finally something that actually smells gothic! I have a full bottle of Gothika, that just smells like roses, then I have testers of Macabre, Gothika (the original), Black Waters, and Floating Candles. Macabre and the original Gothika are very similar and have nothing special about them. They don't smell strongly or have much of a character. But Floating Candles! Ah! My friends say it smells like a witches shop when I walk in. The smell is not so much like incense, Floating Candles smell like burnt out candles. I've had it for almost 2 years now, and it has started to mellow out into a sweet candle smell, most likely owing to the same base used for Gothika. This is the scent I put on when I go to the goth club and want my darkest, most gothic and witchy perfume. It's profile contains mostly only the dark and mysterious candle smell, so it's great for layering (especially with gothika, since gothika isn't goth at all).

These candles are not floating in your regular Catholic cathedral, but rather in a small Orthodox chapel in the middle of the woods. There's rich incense and there's that extra special smoke that fills the room when you put out a lit candle. Imagine all that with just a hint of violet on a mossy base. Sounds weird, I know, especially the smoke part, but somehow it all makes sense here, creating a strange and unusual but definitely divine harmony. After three or so hours, violets really take the stage. There's no thick smoke anymore, just a reminiscence of incense and a delicate violet base which envelops you into this daydream of late spring forest undergrowth. This thing develops, and by god, it develops marvelously.

Ghost trapped on a church This perfume surprised me the most, even after reading the notes I couldn't imagine the scent. It smells like old chapel, melted wax, old clothes, but also has a slight sweetness to it, almost powdery. It's a deep and dark scent but it doesn't overpower your sense of smell, you can really feel the incense notes once you put it on your skin. Absolutely unique.

One of my all-time favorite perfumes! Very nice church-like smell: incense, but not in a harsh woody way. The candle wax notes add an interesting touch as well.

The opening smells like an antiquarian bookshop, brings me right back to being a teenager, digging through boxes at the very back beyond the endless rows of bookshelves, looking to complete my comic book collection and perusing through old books to admire the craftsmanship. As the scent settles, it's reminiscent of a wooden building that was on fire at some point in it's history. It reminds me of that blackened, bubbly charred wood that instead of being replaced was left visible on the exterior as a sort of scar, hinting at the buildings age and rich history, just treated and tarred to prevent any further decay to the already damaged wooden exterior of a house that is still cherished as a home. It's furnishings traditional, yet eccentric, a vase of fresh flowers on a round antique table and the windows decorated with lace curtains and strange trinkets. It's a beautiful and dark scent, but without being heavy in the slightest. I wasn't convinced from sniffing the bottle and wasn't going to try it on, but I accidentally spilled a little so tried it on rather that waste it, and boy was it a positive surprise, very different on the skin.

Interesting opening. This is a very incense forward fragrance in the beginning and I'm also picking up on the moss and violets. The description of notes on their site corresponds well with what I'm smelling. This is nice, giving library in and old house feelings. As it begins to dry down the violets become more apparent together with what feels like spices. The drydown is very nice but you have to like violets and spices. Very longlasting. 6,5/10

Waxy... absolutely, but it also radiates a kerosene-like aura, plus a smell resembling burnt butter. I liked how strange it is, and you can pick up violet's cottony, powdery smell too. It's like Elizabeth Báthory's chamber, clean and powdery boudoir smells on one side, and on the other, candles dripping everywhere, smoking as they burn... Tag(s): waxy, kerosene, burnt butter, powdery, smoky, weirdo, gothic