Ghostdance

Distinctly musky and a touch woody, with a slight whiskey note. There is a blackberry kind of note but it feels rather ethereal, almost like it's a part of the musk. There's an animalic funk that doesn't quite overpower the composition. The entire composition comes off as kind of dusty to me. It makes me think of powdery dry flower petals kind of. Certainly a unique perfume, i'd say it's more suitable for cold weather. To my nose the dusty, dirty and animalic musk is strongest. Be prepared for that note to stand out the most if you're buying this.

The inspiration for this perfume is unusual. The Native American experience combined with a hippie festival. Very creative aspiration by Vincent of Dreamhouse. I was hoping for an ethereal vision, Native American spirits transcending . . . a soulful communion. Instead this is more of a protest, like heckling actors on a stage. If he was going for the negative connotations of their situation, he got it. The distemper of a "mock funeral", making me have images of throwing rotting fruit as a protest, comes through. The first hour is challenging. It might be my skin reacting to the ingredients, not really absorbing the materials. The opening has a very antiseptic side that smells like rubbing alcohol. It must be from the alcohol used to construct the perfume, and I perversely liked that. I have a fondness for antiseptics, although I am sure this was unintended. Perfumers usually use high grade alcohols that don't have an aroma. Only lasts about 15 seconds, and then Ghostdance transitions to a musty, kind of rotting fruit. This rotting fruit smell has layers, and amazing longevity. Like the different stages of decay, the intensity ebbs and flows, giving glimpses of other notes like musk, oud and whiskey. They give different facets to the moldering fruit. It's ultimately softened by a more appealing powdery accord, but the impression of aging fruit being smashed on impact still lingers for quite a while. Doesn't work for me, but again, it could be my skin chemistry. The strong alcohol in the opening suggests that it wasn't evaporating/absorbing on my skin the way intended. Or, as VexedRomance says, it could be a "nightmarish indie fragrance" reflecting the feeling of "The Death of the Hippie" movement getting "WAY out of hand." In which case, this is an interesting way of promoting awareness of a growing sentiment in the San Francisco rally to have unwelcome attendees "stay where you are."

Ghostdance is a fruity aromatic musk with a faint sense of incense hindering in the far background? The theme for this fragrance seems to be Native American, but the fragrance comes off as something that would get you killed by your Native American brethren in a superstitious homophobic rage. The aroma here is something like a soft and stale, powdery dark berry, with faintly animalic musks blurrying the edges. As stated, in the distant background there almost seems to be a faint texture of incense, but aroma isn't exactly pleasant enough to warrant spending too much time searching for it. Should have probably used Cajeput and Eucalyptus with the dark berry and musks. Might have provided the lift needed to make the dark arrangement enjoyable. By the bottom-half of the display image, it almost seems as though Vincent is hinting himself as a cannibal. The bottom half of the face holds a smug expression, and the miserable composure of the fragrance (alongside the high price tag) is nothing short of a cannibalism. This one is another nightmarish indie fragrance that deserves to be thrown in the mass grave with the rest of them.