Ma Lon: Ghost in the Can

This is my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE d.grayi scent, my sister says it gives her heartburn and that's enough for me

Ghost in the Can smells to me like a specific emotional experience. It's an achingly delicious sadness. That delicate sweet spot post physical injury where tender self-nurture is demanded. Sniffing blind (and perhaps influenced by the word "can" in the title), my nose detected rusted tin and, by extension, a mouth full of fresh blood. There's a shrill but not unpleasant high-pitched soapiness, like a sudsy bar of vintage white soap laced with warm spices that teeter on Chilli-heat. This combination of wounded flesh busted up metal and what I perceive as aldehydes transported me straight to a bath. I've been injured and the pain is still acute, the scents and sounds of the trauma fresh in my mind and memory, but the danger has passed and I can enjoy this short-lived moment of tender self-pity. This fragrance then expands out instead of drying down. Sour sweetness appears then intensifies against the searing backdrop of still-singing metal and soap, and the blood dries to a matted clot. I like this stage of the fragrance less than the opening. It is reminiscent of the sensation I get from Bulls Blood by Imaginary Authors; animal hair, musk, and the sticky wet stench of death. When I found the note "cadaverine" listed on D.Grayi's official website, I wasn't at all surprised, and it only served to increase my attraction to the sheer artistry of James' Nguyen's creation. The story of him as a child playing the ghost game Ma Lon with his cousins in Vietnam as a child made me smile, it is so endearing especially the way he has sculpted the fragrance on their improvised materials; a found cigarette and some tamarind candy. On skin, and especially contrasted against the scent of clean clothes dried in humid climes, Ma Lon's smokiness positively billows. Hours later it's wearing very close to the skin, and a distinctively cassis-like note appears. Maybe it is the civet accord, maybe my cat peed on the handbag strap I've slung over the same spot? Either way, it just works.

I got a sample of this because the story behind it sounded so interesting and unique. I was wary of how this would smell because of the unusual mixture of notes, but it weirdly works for me. I definitely get the salt and ashy cigarette notes, but there is still a subtle brightness that makes it more wearable. There is an unexpected aquatic quality to it as well. I really like it. Definitely worth a try. You won’t smell anything like this.