Conjure - Solstice Scents

Details: 
Conjure
Dark Spring 2013
Solstice Scents

Notes: 
A magical blend of Vanilla, Amber, Cedar, Spices & Cauldron Smoke. 

As with Manor, I can smell something a bit leathery in this perfume, even though it's not listed as a note. In fact, this perfume is vaguely similar to Manor - quite masculine but also a bit sweet from the vanilla and amber. The spice smells a little bit like ginger and maybe even some nutmeg. (I have whole nutmeg - nutmegs? nutmeg nuts? - in a jar in my kitchen and secretly I like to just stand there sniffing it - gorgeous).

The dry down is a smooth, smokey woody vanilla. I do like this, but I think it's a bit like Old Cedar Magus, just blokier, and since I already have a beloved full bottle of that I don't think I'd spring for this one. Sillage is medium to high - I was quite aware of it most of the day. It lasted a good while too, I could still faintly smell it 12 hours later.

Rating:
3/5

Day 147!

Spellbound Woods - Solstice Scents

Details: 
Spellbound Woods
Solstice Scents

Notes: 
A soft, incensy blend of vanilla, sandalwood, cedar and amber.

I pulled this one out and immediately smelled amber and sandalwood in the vial, so I was a bit wary of it. However, once applied, it was the cedar that came out – blended with the vanilla it made a sweet, woody scent. Not reaaaaally my cup of tea, but actually quite nice. I kept waiting and waiting for the sandalwood and amber to take over again, but they never did. They were definitely there, but this is so nicely blended that everything just drifted along together. There’s a definite hippie vibe about this one. Longevity is good – I could still smell it 8 hours after applying. Sillage is medium to low – once it dries down it sits quite close to the skin.

Rating:
3/5

Day 123

Trick or Treat - Alkemia Perfumes

Details:
Trick or Treat
Alkemia Perfumes

Notes:  
A grownup confection of black licorice, mandarin orange peel, caramelized brown sugar, bourbon vanilla, candied ginger, tonka bean, blonde patchouli, cedar tips, oakmoss, and sandalwood. Utterly sexy on both men and women... While this perfume smells like a sumptuous treat, it's got a secret trick... Dr. Alan Hirsch (Director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation) did several studies on the effect of black licorice on the responses of men and women. He found that black licorice increased blood flow to *ahem* certain parts of both the male and female anatomy simulating sexual arousal.

I bought this sample late last year, tried it, adored it, and intended to buy a full bottle immediately, but for some reason never got around to it (too many scented distractions, too little time...). I'm moving it up the chain of full bottle priorities because I am wearing it today and I love it as much as I did the first time. In the vial it smells like orange-scented liquorice, very much a Halloween kind of scent with black and orange. It doesn't say in the seller's notes, but I am assuming this was originally a Halloween edition perfume. Once applied, the alcohol comes out - the bourbon vanilla (more bourbon than vanilla), the liquorice, the orange, that tonka warming it all.. unf! This perfume is TO DIE FOR. The tonka holds through the drydown, and there is a woody note as well that I guess must be the cedar tips (though I don't know what the difference is between that and a regular cedarwood note). Thankfully, I don't really get the sandalwood at all - I've been having a rough time with that of late. Blonde patchouli - what the heck is that? Whatever it is, I can barely, barely smell patchouli in the dry down, but again, it is thankfully in the background and not dominating. I could not detect the ginger either, though there was a tickly spicy note that popped up now and then fleetingly that might have been that.

I suspect this would be a polarising perfume - if you hate liquorice or orange, forget it. This is not for you. But if you like those notes, you must try this. It's not like anything else I own or have tried, and seriously - WHY DO I NOT HAVE A FULL BOTTLE YET?

Rating: 
5/5

Day 122!

Old Cedar Magus - Solstice Scents

Details: 
Old Cedar Magus
Solstice Scents


Notes:
Old Cedar Magus is an amazing blend of fresh cedarwood on a bed of mystical incense and soft vanilla. Excellent as a unisex woodsy scent... slightly smoky and very alluring.

One of the most powerful attractants (is that a word? it is now) for me is smell. I don't look at people in the street but if I walk past a man who smells good I will stop dead, whip around and stare as he passes by. He could have a head like a robber's dog but I'll still be attracted. Ironically, my last two long term relationships were with men who hated anything that smelled the slightest bit perfumy - one because he was a hippie skank and the other because he gets headaches from strong fragrances (and also because he was a bit of a borderline hippie skank, it has to be said).

All this is a long-winded Grandpa Simpson way of saying that to me, Old Cedar Magus smells like the PERFECT MAN. It's warm, inviting, a bit sexy but not in that Sex Panther kind of way (you know what I'm talking about).

In the vial it's a freshy woody scent, like walking through a forest in the middle of the day - green and a bit zingy. You know when you go out to the country and you throw your head back and breathe deep and go, "Aaaah, smell that fresh air!" and look around smugly at the people you're with while they stare at you wondering whether you're going to be that annoying for the whole trip? Yeah, that.

Once applied, the warmth comes out - a rich, vanilla resiny wood, mildly smokey, just delicious. The dry down doesn't change a whole lot, but the vanilla comes out more as it wears on. Solstice Scents' vanilla note is just so far beyond anyone else's that it's ridiculous. Go home everyone, SS has got this covered.

Longevity is medium - I finally stopped sniffing myself after about 6 hours because it got to the spritzer hour and more important things were afoot. Sillage is medium - you could keep it subtle with a dab, but if you splashed it about or, say, took it out in the street and threw it on random men, you'd definitely know it's there.

Sidenote: When I tried this on at first I happened to be listening to this song, and the combination of the two conjured up an immediate feeling of warm snuggliness. Weird how that happens sometimes.

Rating: 
5/5 Full bottle ASAP.

Day 86!

Monster Mash - Solstice Scents

Details: 
Monster Mash (discontinued)
Solstice Scents

Notes: 
Monster Mash is a blend of the Mahogany paneled walls in Dracula's castle mixed with a background note of musk and some other dark and mysterious incense smoke and spice. Notes are Mahogany Wood, Amber, Vanilla and Cedarwood combined with Essential Oils of: All Spice, Black Pepper, Sandalwood and Cardamom. All these scents meld together to create a dark, rich wood with a hint of sweetness and a pleasing spice note. 

This was one of the perfumes that Rachel sent me recently to play with, and I was a bit excited because I've really come to love Solstice Scents. For some reason, I expected this to a sweet, candy kind of smell. I assumed that with a name like Monster Mash it would have been a Hallowe'en perfume, and they're generally foody. So I was pretty surprised to sniff it and find it was actually spicy and woody.

I wanted to like this, and in the vial, it seemed promising - a smokey, spicy resin smell sweetened by a dab of vanilla. I can get down with that. However, applied to my skin it's... fly spray. It stays that way for about half an hour and then completely disappears. It was so weird that I decided to try it again a few days later, thinking that maybe something I'd eaten or some other product like a body lotion or soap or something on my skin already was affecting it. The exact same thing happened. I want the scent in the vial, damn it! The second it hits my skin it turns to fly spray and stays that way. It's so bizarre!

Rating: 
2/5

Day 75!