MA LON: GHOST IN THE CAN [Toad Fruit & Forest Cemetary]

OLFACTIVE NOTES:
Top : Cadaverine, Clay Tincture, Toad Fruit, Chili Salt
Heart : Incense Smoke, Jasmine Rice Tincture, Cigarette Ash
Base : Vietnamese Oud, Oakmoss, Tamarind Candy, Civet Accord, Herbal Salve

WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT ?

Ma Lon Ghost in the Can is a tropical wood scent with a darker haunted background.

This scent is inspired by a ghost game I use to play with my cousins in the rural villages of Vietnam, called Ma Lon.  It's a ghost game but it wasn't the kind of that sticks around and curse you...  instead it is suppose to be a friendly one that just shows up to troll you for the duration of the game. 

 I remember my cousins trying their best to find the materials to play.   A metal can (like the ones from canned foods with the top cut off), some fruit offering (we used tamarind candy instead), and some incense sticks (we used a cigarette we found laying around). 

We met up in the forest near our home.  It is especially scary there because there were small tombstones there.  My cousins marked the boundaries using a stick they found and used sand to set up the can.  The candy were given as an offering they burned the cigarette to start the game. 

The goal was to avoid being hit by the can before the cigarette is finished burning.    It was close to midnight and I remember it being very cold.  I didn't know what to expect but when the can started rattling and moving towards me, I ran.  I didn't look back.  I jumped over the boundary line and rushed home.

I never finished the game and probably never will, but I always remembered that night. I use to think it was a unique prank my cousins made up, but later found out it is a common game in Vietnam.  Usually people use rice and incense instead of the sand and cigarette, but the rules stayed the same.  The can can only move in straight lines and you have to dodge it before it smashes into your leg and bruises you.  The last one standing or the person who lasted before the timer end wins. 

I'm not sure how the can move but people who played it before can describe everything in great detail.  They recall how fast the can moves and remember how long their bruises last.  

Creating this memory in scent form was very fun for me.  The project started with a molecule called  Cadaverine.  It gives off  a scent like fruit skin and bodily fluids. reinforcing the memory the fruit offering and forest cemetery memory.  The featured fruit here is toad fruit which smells green, unripe and fresh.   It is paired with chili salt which gives the opening a spicy lift.  In the background you will smell a hint of oud incense combined with cigarette ash.  It is surrounded by a tincture of rice, oakmoss and tamarind to capture that night time vibe in forest. An herbal salve accord wraps up the scent story, like care after playing the game.

Concentration: 28.8% Perfume + 21% Tinctures

Naturals: Tamarind, Gurjun Balsam, Rosemary, Labdanum, Cedarwood Virginia, Vietnamese Oud, Frankincense, Oakmoss, Cumin, Catechu, Spirulina, Hinoki, Atractylodes macrocephala, Birch Tar, Pine, Ylang Ylang, Tuberose,

Green Szechuan Pepper, Goji, Cedar Leaf, Paprika, Ginger, Jasmine Rice