Carnival of Souls

The act of linking scent to cinema is so interesting. I keep fantasising about having a VHS/DVD collection with their corresponding bottles perched in front of each case. I’m trying to place what i’m smelling into the context of its film: it feels like the protagonist alone in her quiet, comfortable room for tea and cream, while something waits outside her window. Something inevitable and persistent. It’s a pleasant, moreish scent, and quietly odd... perhaps that distinctive violet smell is carrying the salt-scalded rust of the pier, dangling gently amidst the sweetness? Something in this perfume is sharpening the violet, making it acidic and subtly startling, and I wish I had the kind of nose that could tell you what. As time goes on it gets sweet and heady, sort of intoxicatingly, seductively sweet, then it fades to a gentle memory that I keep trying to re-smell. What a sad strange film, what a sad strange perfume

Whatever it smells like I'm pretty sure I'm gonna end up buying that perfume. The hand of the water on the bottle creeps me out (for those who know the movie, you will understand) ... I need it. Edit : I got my sample and this is definitely on my to-buy list. This is what I wanted Moth Zoologist to be. Sorry, I love niche fragrances but to me Moth is not wearable, unless you're going to goth dance clubs or an Halloween party. Carnival of Souls is not that. It is soft, slightly sweet and smoky at the same time. It definitely has some sort of vintage style. Think powdery boudoir fragrances but "mysterious" and darkened by incense. It's special enough to be a colder temperature signature fragrance and friendly enough to be worn at the office. I'd totally wear this one :) I need it soon ...

Not beating the unsettling yet wistful bpd baddie allegations with this one. Picture dark circles and powder pink cheeks, steamy breath in an early morning garden covered in dewdrops running from the girls home, bed rotting with all of your ball jointed dolls and blind box plushies keeping you company. It is insanely addicting to me, i cannot stop huffing myself when I wear this. It envelops you in this saccharine and disturbing cloud of cream mixed with that sweet vanilla plastic babydoll smell from your childhood. Not floral, not spicy, not overpowering. completely haunting and the only thing that could be improved is the longevity...but I'm happy to spritz myself throughout the day to keep that weird girl cloud wafting around me

I thought Flaming Creature was my favorite MZ (along with Tragedy Oil, it’s a tough call) but Carnival of Souls is quickly becoming my daily scent as someone who does not ascribe to a signature fragrance. Carnival of Souls is deep, mysterious, beautiful, complex, and I’m still trying to understand it. Like the film, it is something I go back to over and over again because I can’t figure it out but I am addicted. I adore this scent. I didn’t think I’d like a perfume line more than Frederic Malle, but MZ may be my favorite. Another masterpiece by Marissa Zappas.

Carnival of Souls is spooky and spectacular in every which way. I sampled this at Scent Bar in NYC and immediately purchased a bottle from Marissa Zappas webstore after spending a couple hours with it on my skin. The ode this conjures to one of my favorite films of all time depicts its story with masterful thought and intent. The creamy mimosa paired with incense is nothing I ever smelled before and my nose yearns for it. I can’t wait for my full bottle to arrive. MZ you’re a goddess within your craft. Bravo!

The milk cream note intrigued me so I went out to buy it and was pleasantly surprised! I don't really know what I expected, but whatever it was, this perfume exceeded my expectations and more! I like it a lot and it's also very floral and sweet, a bit powdery but the other notes override the powder scent and make it undetectable, at least to me

smoky sweet incense powder with a kiss of saffron. Marissa Zappas tends to have a vintage/old world style to her fragrances that I find fascinating. the haunted doll comparisons are spot on. it’s waking up clouded, wanting to return to a fever dream you were once trying to escape. what a darling strange masterpiece!

I’m in a romance film and carnival of souls is my lover. This perfume speaks to me in ways no perfume has yet. Sweet and haunting and aching and a little unsettling, it mirrors me. Quickly became my signature scent ♥︎

My husband adores this perfume on me. To me, it smells like coconut and earthy richness, and the scent stays with me until the next morning after I apply it.

This smells soft, sad, and beautiful like a gentle ghost. Its damp and powdery with a touch of sweetness and I'm in love with it!

Perfection. Dank, dusty, floral, and feminine. Adore.

weird and off putting just like me

Carnival of Souls brings together three of my favorite things: perfume, film, and being from Utah. It’s a scent inspired by a film I adore that was shot on location in Salt Lake City and at Saltair - a long abandoned dance hall on the shore of the Great Salt Lake, where my great-great-grandparents once danced and swam - before it burned down. The eerie history of Saltair is very present here. Some might associate the notes in this scent with the car crash in Carnival of Souls, but for me it evokes the smoke and dust of a long-forgotten (and most definitely cursed) place. I get a hit of ammonia at the top, but it burns off almost immediately. The drydown is soft powdery florals, cream, and just a tinge of incense haunting the background. Some reviews categorize this as bizarre and ultra-niche, but I don’t see it. And I don’t think I’ve strayed so far from the light of designer fragrance that I wouldn’t clock it. It’s just a pretty and interesting scent! Lastly, Marissa Zappas couldn’t have planned this, but I love how closely the colors of the notes mirror the movie poster: Mary Henry’s mimosa-yellow hair, the violet background, the black incense-y lines of the dancing ghouls. Even Fragrantica's “milk cream” note with its whipped cream and cherry perfectly echoes the poster’s red and white. Cute! Smells like: sweet spectral smoke Looks like: an abandoned lakeside pavilion Sounds like: a sinister organ dirge

Rich, eccentric, and slightly spooky – the kind of scent I feel I have to wear a floor-length fur with. This is scalded condensed milk, ladled to your lips on tarnished silver. Nurturing but intimidating. It makes me want to re-read some Lemony Snicket. There’s a wealth of notes here: leathery saffron, smoky incense, dainty violet, sweet vanilla, etc... but carefully blended, with no one element overpowering another. Patchouli usually scares me, but it plays nice in Carnival, adding a layer of shadow to the picture. The cream is leaden, just beginning to caramelize. Divine. It’s also got that “antique shoppe” dust accord I love so dearly (see Byredo’s Bibliotheque). When it comes to performance Carnival is a slow, steady burn. Doesn’t leave much of a trail, but lasts a good four hours on skin and all night long in a fur coat. Mental Snapshot: You’re an orphaned waif trembling in the foyer of your long-lost great-great aunt’s estate. It’s a dagger-gabled Victorian, painted in shades of shadow and curtained in ancient brocade. Your aunt’s face is obscured by an enormous raven-feather fascinator but she greets you in a Transatlantic croon – “Crumpet! Darling! Pet!” – and swaddles you in her mink. “Thank the stars you’re here. I just put a kettle on.” She won’t say what’s in the kettle, but whatever it is smells intoxicating. tl;dr: A Series of Fortunate Scents 🕰️🕸️

At first whiff, this just smelled like old lady to me. Upon revisiting it I get a little more of the original vision- it's ghostly and cold, reminding me of dead, dry, colorless flowers with a hint of sweetness from some coconut tea cookies. The coconut is there but not tropical at all. The musk is maybe what gives it that stale abandoned-grandma's-house quality, and I don't get a ton of the mimosa cream on my skin unless it's the thing conveying a very subtle sweetness. I think it's a very interesting and haunting scent but am still unsure of if I want more than a sample.

I like this perfume more than expected. The coconut really adds interest to a perfume that would otherwise not intrigue me due to being so heavy on the florals. The milky note, saffron, and incense come together beautifully. It has a faint pleasant powdery note that reminds me of a newborn. The only things stopping me from wearing it is the unsettling feeling other people report when smelling this. I'm not sure I want to give off "creepy" when I'm out running my errands.

Very strange. It has the softness of innocence which reminds me of the dolls from my childhood. But there is something that feels a bit melancholic in there. The violet is blended very well imo, without being like those violet pastilles that I always get from other violet perfumes. It's sweet but mellowed out from the whipped cream. I dont even know how to explain it. I like it but its not necessarily me. Especially cozy for bedtime.

Doesn't smell bad but its really reminescent of someones grandma or mom. It lasts a good long while. Very sweet and floral but dimmed with the best powder scent. I usually steer clear of florals and sweet scents but the powder calms those harsh scents down. It's very very grandma-like though which isn't a bad thing.

So haunting. Coconut is usually an anti-perfume for me, however the coconut lingering in this offering feels cold and dry-lactonic and slightly unsettling instead of like a pool party. I’ve been reaching for it as a melancholy foggy morning scent.

On my skin, mimosa sweet cream and saffron. The saffron gives latex (or doll’s head) occasionally. Honestly this is the more grown (& haunted?) version of Annabel’s Birthday Cake - my juvenile elder-millennial crushed soul prefers ABC to this.

Violet milk and incense. Weird, whimsical and smoky. There’s something nostalgic about it that I can’t quite put my finger on... it has a vintage cosmetics quality to it. Like putting on old makeup at a dusty vanity while incense burns nearby.

Sweet yellow floral with a soft leathery iris. There are a lot of layers here and I find them all to be enjoyable. I know it’s not the intent or in the notes but this reminds me of latex balloons in a good way

Haunted is a good word to describe this one. If an crumbling old box of Pretty Pretty Princess had a scent. There's a sweet creaminess, but also a sort of plastic undertone. Decent staying power.

smells like the floors of an old ballet studio that just had a class of young girls who were all wearing agua de violetas. its a nice nostalgic powdery scent, I get a lot of the violet.

plastic doll head, frothed milk with sugar, and vintage powder cosmetics

This is nice but if you are trying this for the first time I wouldn’t go into it with too high of expectations even with all the imagery from previous reviews. I love poetic fragrances, but imo this is not one of them. This is smokey, incensey baby powder that stays relatively linear as it dries down. I get a slight rubbery/waxy smell (someone said waxed floors) as well and that’s basically it. Nice if I had the money to spend on “likes”, but for the price point I don’t think I’d buy this as there are plenty of other powder/incense fragrances that do it better for a fraction of the price.

The base patchouli is pretty overwhelming in this for me. If I close my eyes and inhale, I do get the faintest whipped cream, and a few hours in there's a lighter powdery floral scent, but this just leads way too strongly with an amber patchouli that feels pretty nondescript. Generally this just isn't as exciting as others describe. I do not feel mysterious :(

I know there's a different fragrance from this house called Violette Hay but this one has the violets and hay. Plus a dose of cool whip (not to be confused with real whipped cream) and cinnamon. Idk, I maybe kinda like it but I'm yet to be convinced.

wet/amniotic miasma stirred by spirits, latex balloon smothered in thick whipped cream floating beyond a meadow of lilies watered by ghosts

Our experiences with perfumes can really skew whether we like them or not. Unfortunately, I was wearing this one during a life altering car accident and the smell of burning coolant, and dusty airbags actually meshes TOO well with Carnival of Souls. I wore this again recently and it gave me such bad vibes because memory is really tied to scent so I don't exactly want to remember being in the ER... Without being subjective, I find Marissa Zappa's perfumes are WAY too basenote forward as in I find this perfume way to masculine/unisex for me. It's unsettling, dirty, and almost metallic. None of the Violet and Cream comes through the loud foghorn of leathery patchouli. I feel like this perfume was more about the protagonist's unwanted zombie beau in Carnival of Souls and less about the protag which is disappointing because I really like that movie.

Smoky and spicy with a dusty dark academia vibe about it. Whilst I love the sound of this description, the scent is not for me. Definitely an acquired taste. A haunting and mysterious incense fragrance that could be divisive.

unfortunately way too powdery and floral for me. gave me a headache and had to scrub it off. was hoping to get that ghastly creamy incense but i just smelled like an entire perfume aisle.

I adore the film Carnival of Souls but I do not adore this. Linear incense and dirt, does not capture the eerie yet spellbinding atmosphere of the film in the slightest. 😞😞😞

Not a fan of baby powdery scents. Not the worst one but totally unremarkable, IMO.

creepy coconut, sweet rot, plasticine, tv static. i never really understood what people meant by an unnerving fragrance until i smelled this one. she smells like psychosis in black and white. a real puzzler.

It has taken me a few months to review this perfume because I can’t quite put my finger on it. I am going to describe this without reference to the movie, although I understand that was the inspiration. I sampled this for a week before I purchased the lovely full bottle. When my friends smelled this on me (early 20 somethings ) they said .. ‘WOW, that smells expensive!! It’s so soft and creamy with round edges.. what is that?! That is different than what you usually wear, softer, more blended “!!! It took me by surprise because I usually wear niche and high end mass appealing fragrances- I was happy to be complimented.... But I bought it because I loved how I felt wearing it... soft, I see clusters of yellow yarrow flowers, happy sunshine, on a hike in the high altitude Sonoran dessert surrounded by dry flowers- which is the exact opposite of the movie and the images of the 60s creepy, wet, sweet, horror classic! My nose smells saffron and mimosa (I own Francesca Bianchi’s Angel Dust which has mimosa and is wildly sexy and reminds me of a pink powder puff from Moulin Rouge) this perfume reminds me a teensy bit of angel Dust but -this is lighter, less powdery , airier, more contemporary and not as blatantly sexy. This has an Iso E Super base according to the ingredients on the back of the package-yep my nose understands that note in this. This has gotten more potent after 3 or 4 months.. To me it’s year round.. I smell powder in this.. but others don’t smell that.. idk Please enjoy getting to know this scent. I love the bottle with the little black bow. It reminds me of Annick Goutal’s classic perfumes. All that to say: This is classic with a quirky twist😊

There's a lot of fancy-pants metaphorical word-smithing going on in the reviews below. I get it. There's an edge to this fragrance that makes you want to write an epic poem or a scholarly essay. For me, it's rather more simple. The mimosa cream is what makes this unique. It is beautiful and feminine - but it still has that edge. It's just pretty, soft, and a little spicy. The creaminess is comforting while the spicy aspects are more disconcerting - but the concern is fleeting as the overall feeling is one of comfort. Carnival of Souls was featured in a sample pack that I purchased and I first smelled it in the parking lot of a high school where my daughter was having a symphony rehearsal. So, the parking lot. The high school. The darkness. The incredible music drifting out of the open windows. It was also a week before Halloween and I was in a spooky mood. This fragrance seemed like it had been made just for me and that moment. Honestly, it's the scents that I don't really love but can't stop smelling that get me. That's the case with this one. I didn't love it - yet I squeezed every drop from that sample vial. And I keep sniffing the empty vial hoping to get more. That's probably a sign that I should go ahead and buy a full bottle.

Marissa Zappas Carnival of Souls An involuntary grimace quickly smoothed into polite blankness, a gagging masked by a throat-clearing. "Is everything ok?" "Oh, it's nothing, I'm fine" and proceeds to throw up in mouth just a little, not too obvious. Honeyed floral cream turning sour, saffron like dried grass mixed into warm milk that's started to separate. Coconut cream sweet and plasticky with oddly-spiced grave dirt patchouli sediment settling at the bottom. An eerie seriousness that doesn't land and instead evokes a wobbling, wonky naiveté, dewy-eyed and desperate so much as to be repellent. I've found everything I have tried from Marissa Zappas too subtle, too fleeting, stories in which the characters and plots are instantly forgettable, leaving you wondering if anything ever happened at all. Carnival of Souls continues this pointless parade of almost-perfumes.

The fragrance begins with a delicate coconut, cocooned in the creamy warmth of milk and the earth spiceness of patchouli. As it unfolds, the ghostly remnants of a fading bouquet — mimosa and saffron — emerge, fragile and fleeting, like petals desperately clinging to life after tumbling onto a wet, windswept shore. I imagine Mary Henry clutching her pearls, caught between waking and dreaming as she envisions her fate. Not even coffee could stir her fully awake. The creamy florals wrap around her like a ghostly embrace, filling her with both illusion and desire. Yet, amid, the haunting visuals that Carnival of Souls presents, it transforms to a comforting kiss, a dance with the devil and a fear subdued. No other fragrance this year has made me feel both alarmed and loved. It's a morbid beauty, and it deserves to stay in Zappas's collection. ❤️

The start was amazing, it was a soft subtle violet and mimoss which gave it a fairy-garden like floral mixed with a delicate milk and whipped cream and i loved that but only seconds later I am definitely getting the latex and unfortunately it really takes over which is a shame. After the latex hits it smells like a water balloon complete with the smell of the hose water and the dries down again to the smell of whipped cream on a latex cat suit that is shined with a soft floral silicone lubricant. Perfect if you are into latex kink and want to smell like a ✨️latex fairy✨️ but it isn't my niche. I must say as someone who gets headaches from rubbery/latexy notes, this is so soft and delicate and feminine and polite that I am having zero issues wearing this and am actually enjoying it.

whipped cream at the end of the word. a lactonic sort of saline coconut, almost like the fetal embryotic fluid of secretions magnifique. i don't get much incense or spice, but rather, the plasticine warm spicy delicacy of perfumer's saffron mixed among various desert sundries and powdery yellow florals. a very delicate and gorgeous use of mimosa, as if emerging from a harsh winter's frost with hope and perseverance. if this is horrifying, as its textual referent might suggest, it is only so through an abundance of sweetness - like mary henry's illusory nightmares, a spoonful of hallucinogenic sugar makes your visions of a ghoulish, pale-faced figure go down.

Scored an early sample of this beauty from Ministry of Scent and tried it earlier this week. It’s beautiful! I didn’t know the notes when I sampled it, but my nose registered it as a powdery, lactonic, sweet mix with patchouli and vanilla in the dry down. Looking forward to revisiting it again to pick out the established notes. P. S. I’m also in love with Dream Sequence which I tried a few weeks ago and will be getting a FB. Both excellent offerings for the violet and vanilla inclined...nay...obsessed!

Marissa truly is a master at plasticine scents. There is a slight waxiness that I get from the yellow florals that adds depth to the lactonic note without turning it sour. The resulting milk cream is suspended in time, neither fresh nor old. There's a very Ms. Havisham aura to this scent, like a beautiful wedding spread still and untouched under layers of powdery dust. This scent is not synthetic, but definitely not natural. A haunted dollhouse of a fragrance.

This is an unsettling fragrance, and I’m not just saying that because of the name. It’s pretty yet repulsive—lactonic, sweet, rotting wet mimosa, soil-y, creamy, and leathery. It doesn’t project and fades rather quickly, like many of Marissa Zappas’ fragrances, but I think this scent is more suited to being soft and intimate. Perhaps my favorite of her line (and I love many!) despite the off-putting first impression it made on me.

Redolent of a sad porcelain doll laying forgotten on waxen floors. The mimosa cream is heavy and honeyed on my skin. I don't get much incense at all, but this affords the fragrance a lighter weight, a balloony, buoyant quality - the fine ringlets on the doll's head are rising by some slight violet static. I do like the eponymous film. The scent evokes rather a Mary pre-tragedy, happy organist she could have been.

Wore this in the winter last year while I was playing academic weapon as the oldest person in a first year English class. I wrote poetry into my essays and would go to my professor’s office hours to talk about love and authenticity. Felt like I was scaring people on the bus with this, good morning u all the haunt is here; loved the ritual, I miss herrrrrrr it is everything to me.!

Carnival of souls is the familiar, mournful feeling which seems to hit you out of nowhere and which you can never seem to place. A mimosa cream embraces washed skin like a thin, white lotion; incense curls through stale air, a violet bouquet grows powdery mildew on its stems in a vase of unchanged water, and Mary Henry emerges from the murky river.

This is so damn interesting. Complex, powdery, sweet, creamy, and faintly smoky. Soft as can be - truly such a unique take on the gourmand scent profile. Something kind of plasticky creeps in, but I don't mind that. Evocative to the max - love what Marissa is doing with her line.

this is the most beautifully haunting fragrance ever. Literally can't stop sniffing my wrist. It's like an airy and powdery candied violet, dusty amber and whipped cream with just the perfect amount of sweetness. BRO I NEED MONEY SO BAD I NEED THE FULL BOTTLE DAMN IT

Soooo beautiful omg. This is probably the most I’ve ever loved a fragrance upon first smelling it. I’ve never been the type to have a signature scent, but if I did this would be it. It’s old fashioned and glamorous. It makes me think of velvet and lipstick.