The Nose Knows When to be Afraid

ACHLUOPHOBIA
Fear of darkness. "Oppressive, stifling, suffocating, blinding: black patchouli, tobacco absolute, opoponax, and inky black musk."

Very, very black. It captures the adjectives describing it very well. After giving it a few minutes to settle, it's a mix of dirty and sweet that's very inky. It wears heavy on my skin making it too dark for me. This mixture of notes conjures up a dangerous darkness, definitely something to be afraid of.

NOCTIPHOBIA
Fear of nighttime. "The vast, endless canopy of the night sky, dotted with cold, harsh pinpoints of light under a bulging white moon."

This scent is very soft. After it dried I immediately put on another coat. Still practically too faint to smell. On close sniffing I can pick out some pine / fir, whiteness, and a bit of dark blackness (that's not heavy), but it's hard to place since it disappears on my skin. It's even hard for me to smell in the bottle, but what I smell there is slightly different than on my skin. From what I can gather, it seems to fit nighttime well.

PHASMOPHOBIA
Fear of ghosts. "Whispers in the darkness and cold breath upon your neck: calla lilies, white sandalwood, snow rose, white amber, and iced wine."

Rose is an evil note one me (making this unwearable), but I really wanted to smell this blend. It's really, really lovely. If you look at the notes and thinks, "ooh, that sounds good," then you should definitely try it. It's very white and floral in a wispy sort of way I find fitting for ghosts.

PLACOPHOBIA
Fear of tombstones. "Jagged claws of crumbling stone thrusting through tear-soaked moss."

At first it's "oooh, very intriguing." The moss is a dense note and there's a stone-like note that's almost earthy (but not really). It quickly shifts to a blue, slightly-heady scent that's rather aquatic (but not salty like tears). The moss is still there, but the stones claw at my nose and sinuses. This does seem to capture a tombstone -- and one that I'd steer clear of.

SAMHAINOPHOBIA 2013
Fear of Halloween. "Menacing Haitian vetiver, patchouli, and clove with a shock of bourbon geranium, grim oakmoss, and dread-inspiring balsams pierce the innocuous scent of autumn leaves."

The last version of this I tried was 2011. Like that one, it's a soft floral and incense mix with a vetiver spike. The clove turns a bit piney, giving it a clean edge. This year's does give me a bit more patchouli and maybe oakmoss. I like this year's better, but it's still a bit too sharp for me. Overall, it's very fitting for the Halloween season, though the floral note and clean edge throw it off the beaten path.

ACHLUOPHOBIA
Fear of darkness. "Oppressive, stifling, suffocating, blinding: black patchouli, tobacco absolute, opoponax, and inky black musk."

When I first opened this, I thought "venom," particularly venom from a spider. Acrid, and evoking desert spice. I almost thought this could have been better named Arachnophobia. As much as the image this of spindly spider with deadly venom presented itself, the scent pretty much disappeared from my skin.

NOCTIPHOBIA
Fear of nighttime. "The vast, endless canopy of the night sky, dotted with cold, harsh pinpoints of light under a bulging white moon."

This musky, spicey scent pleased me almost immediately. I immediately pegged this as a masculine scent, but in a very good way. On my skin it became mellower and more pleasant. The scent made me feel a bit sleepy, like I would fall asleep in the arms of some comforting male presence.

PHASMOPHOBIA
Fear of ghosts. "Whispers in the darkness and cold breath upon your neck: calla lilies, white sandalwood, snow rose, white amber, and iced wine."

I was hit with a bright, crisp aroma that became more ashy to me. On the skin it didn't change much, but gave a hint of sweetness. The one thing that struck me is that this seems like a perfect scent for Casper the Friendly Ghost. You know the ghost is coming, but it is a bright presence, not a scary one.

PLACOPHOBIA
Fear of tombstones. "Jagged claws of crumbling stone thrusting through tear-soaked moss."

Dust and stone immediately came to mind when this aroma hit me. I could easily see myself wandering the confines of a cemetery or mausoleum, encountering broken stone, harsh moonlight, and cold fog enveloping me. Although this made an immediately impression, it was not long lasting in my mind or my skin.

SAMHAINOPHOBIA 2013
Fear of Halloween. "Menacing Haitian vetiver, patchouli, and clove with a shock of bourbon geranium, grim oakmoss, and dread-inspiring balsams pierce the innocuous scent of autumn leaves."

Out of all the scents, this was by far the most frightening and an appropriately named of the scents. I thought of a rotting forest with a cauldron, surrounded by witches, all stirring a heady concoction that spoke of danger, rotting magic, and dread. I would definitely be struck with fear at what lies ahead if ran across this scent. And it the aroma was just as strong on my skin as it was when I first opened it.

ACHLUOPHOBIA
Fear of darkness. "Oppressive, stifling, suffocating, blinding: black patchouli, tobacco absolute, opoponax, and inky black musk."

The crisp smell of linen mixed with a favorite candle is marked by the soft tinge of smoke as the wick is nearly spent. This scent embodies the creeping dread that comes with taking a deep breath and extinguishing the light. As the other senses parse the world denied comforts of visual logic, the eyes cannot adjust quickly enough. The musky afternote teases out the primal root of this fear. What is tamed and domesticated in the light becomes a touchstone to our former selves. They are not the nocturnal beasts who saw the restorative value of the dark, but those who came shortly after. They saw the dark as death in miniature, a thing to be fought in order to keep from losing the hard-won progress of the daylight hours.

NOCTIPHOBIA
Fear of nighttime. "The vast, endless canopy of the night sky, dotted with cold, harsh pinpoints of light under a bulging white moon."

The first note that hits is surprisingly sweet and spicy. There is a tweediness to it that mellows into a lingering, subtle floral scent. This final note brings to mind gardens that adorn the night with blooms glowing eerily, giving off a perfume that seems to hang in the air. The devas who guard these flowers sense your longing for the comfort of first light and wait patiently for their spell to take hold. You think it's fear that makes your heart race, but they know it's more: a velvety intoxicant that will draw you into the night's deep, secretive embrace in spite of your deeply ingrained revulsion of the darker hours.

PHASMOPHOBIA
Fear of ghosts. "Whispers in the darkness and cold breath upon your neck: calla lilies, white sandalwood, snow rose, white amber, and iced wine."

This fragrance hits your nose with a cool soapiness. The lingering sweetness of the sandalwood mixed with the calla lily seam to linger, aura-like, leaving the impression that it's not just you wearing the perfume. It is unsettling because it is so close to being familiar and yet there is something extra, a frisson of almost unidentifiable coolness that hits the senses like a frigid spot in an otherwise warm house. The intellect wants to reason that the mix of sensations is simply a mind trick; but the heart and soul are both piqued and unsettled.

PLACOPHOBIA
Fear of tombstones. "Jagged claws of crumbling stone thrusting through tear-soaked moss."

Earthy and botanical, this aggressive perfume hits the nose the way a slamming cemetery gate will reverberate to the soles of your feet. Unlike the other perfumes in this line, every scent in the profile seems to stay with me. There are no subtle shifts where parts of the composition seem to assert themselves. What is interesting about this is how it embodies what it must be like to fear an object as opposed to a quality or an entity. To encounter something that scares us must create a sort of PTSD-like retinal burn. The nature of it, the grain of the stone, the weightiness, the lack of life cannot be unseen or erased from our experience.

SAMHAINOPHOBIA 2013
Fear of Halloween. "Menacing Haitian vetiver, patchouli, and clove with a shock of bourbon geranium, grim oakmoss, and dread-inspiring balsams pierce the innocuous scent of autumn leaves."

What you'll notice first is the sharp tang of chalk dust, bonfires, and the last gasp of anything verdant still left before cold weather sets in. Then you are reminded of incense, the household preparations of the neighborhood healer lady who reads palms and reminds everyone that the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is thinning. The light layer of floral scent confuses as it inspires sense memories of graveyard flowers and the potent essences with odd labels and big promises made with intention and shipped from places in Florida and Mississippi. This night has promises of its own and you wonder if you are strong enough to welcome what might come to pass.

NOCTIPHOBIA
Fear of nighttime. "The vast, endless canopy of the night sky, dotted with cold, harsh pinpoints of light under a bulging white moon."

This was my favorite scent of the three I was sent to sample. The first scent is of pine, which evoked some chill. Otherwise, a floral arrangement that smelled a little to me old fashioned, especially as it mellowed on my skin. Perhaps a touch of powdery violet. A long lasting scent, which I could detect into the next day. Very comforting. Perhaps it's because I love the nighttime, especially on a crisp, clear night so I can see all the stars. 4.5 out of 5.

PHASMOPHOBIA
Fear of ghosts. "Whispers in the darkness and cold breath upon your neck: calla lilies, white sandalwood, snow rose, white amber, and iced wine."

This was a soapy scent that was a little too clean for me for the first few hours, but then softened into a soft floral I quite liked. Nothing about this scent reminded me of anything ghostly! 3 out of 5.

SAMHAINOPHOBIA 2013
Fear of Halloween. "Menacing Haitian vetiver, patchouli, and clove with a shock of bourbon geranium, grim oakmoss, and dread-inspiring balsams pierce the innocuous scent of autumn leaves."

This is a strong, unisex scent that took a while to settle into my skin and mellow. The vetiver was what stood out to me most on first scent, but eventually was a woody floral. This scent lasted a long time on me. Again, nothing about this scent evoked Halloween or anything remotely menacing. 3.5 out of 5.