Phantasmagoria

**Note: I will be phasing out the usual individual picture labels on my perfume bottles to a uniform brown handwritten label, so perfume labels may vary from current listing photos** Inspired by the horror’s of yore, a scent sure to conjure images of skeletons and ghosts, demons and witches, and shadows dancing on your walls! The term Phantasmagoria relates to a form of horror theatre where projectors or other sensory stumuli were used to essentially scare the wits out of an audience. This goes for not only the old time seances and shadow shows; but also older necromantic ceremonies, and more currently, movies. A group of people could all get together and be subjected to strange occurrences; wind, electric shocks, or strange smells while something was being played out in front of them. These extra sensations only added to the overall feel to what they were watching. The term is also related to the succession of fantastic, bizarre, or imagined imagery. A conjurer or sorcerer may see spirits in smoke or fire, or even will them to appear! Is it real or imaginary? Just how far can our subconscious take us? It can take us to bizarre places indeed. I wanted to capture this concept; goosebumps, high strangeness, a gust of wind when all of the windows are closed. The question of “Is it a phantom from another world? Or a trick?!” You decide! Sandalwood, and sweet tonka bean take you to another place in time, a row of old wooden chairs in a dark theatre, wisps of smoke form around your head, fog from a fog machine, a sweet cigar from the magician in charge. A deep and brooding hint of black coffee walks down a dark forest path, to a ghostly rose clenched in the pale hands of a woman in black.