Solstice Scents Smokewood Apiary Review

Brand: Solstice Scents
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: Smoked Honey, Creamed Honey, Beeswax, Amber, Wooden Frames, Ginger & Vanilla (VEGAN, only synthetic beeswax/honey notes)

First impression out of bottle: Blackened BBQ smoke.

Freshly applied: On first application, this is like the blackened char on really good BBQ ribs + smooth creamy honey. It's not meaty or savory but it's smokey and not too syrupy. 

Sweet BBQ scent

Drydown: Pure honey + dry wood and a whisper of smoke. That "wooden frames" they describe is absolutely apparent, it's a soft dry neutral wood like split planks on a homestead. I just sniffed my wrist and accidentally bonked my nose and ACTUALLY felt a ghost of "stickiness" as if I had real honey on my wrist. There's something about this honey that's fresh but warm, it has that tinkling high crystalline note of good fresh honey when you inhale it. No flower notes or grassiness. The smoke, which is prominent at first, fades to be a nice ashy note but it isn't like WOAH smoke after a few minutes

Pure honey with a gorgeous pale wood note

After several hours: Still mostly the same as initial drydown. I love the multiple honey notes because I get ALL OF IT, crystallized, liquid, and creamed honey all in one. It's like a combo of honeycomb and beeswax, very realistic. There's still a touch of dark resinous smoke, but nothing overwhelming. I have to say I love the smokey beginnings but I'm grateful the smoke dissipates quickly, because this quickly becomes a true rich natural honey, and I can always add smokiness back in using an incense note or my SS Whispers in the Night. I think the ginger in here adds to the realism of the honey, but it's not noticeable as a standalone note, and same goes for the vanilla.

Fresh, gooey, waxy honeycomb

Longevity: High, I can smell this all day with only a dab.
Sillage: High, I get comments when I hug people but also when they walk by.

Would an [X] lover love this? Yes, I have tried SO many honey scents, mainstream and indie, and this is the best of the best. Honey lovers need it.

Would an [X] hater love this? I don't know. It all depends on why you dislike honey. Maybe your skin chemistry turns it cat piss-y, or plasticky. In that case, give it a try because my skin chemistry does similar things with other honey perfumes. If you just don't like the smell of real honey, then maybe don't try it.

Where am I? It reminds me of those pioneer/colonial reenactment villages where you go on school trips (or, as I did, on one single weird date) and see the actors tending to beehives, making bread, and sweeping up hearths in linen dresses and bobbin caps. 

Colonial village honey

Where would I wear this? This is equally good for daytime or night, as it's a little sexy and warm but not too heavy. It's wonderful as a summer perfume, and transitions nicely into the autumn months.