Cocoa Pink Winchester House Kitchen Review

Brand: Cocoa Pink
Availability: General Catalog Autumn/Winter (N/A in Spring/Summer)
Notes: The distinct aroma of autumn in the Winchester house kitchen with notes of aged oak, fresh baked pumpkin pie, 5 fold orange essential oil coated in the warm essence of light muscovado sugar, fresh ginger, sticky gobs of benzoin, warm buttery caramel simmering on the stovetop and just the barest hint of clove.

First impression out of bottle: Crystallized ginger

Freshly applied: Whoa knock you down crystallized sweet ginger mixed with fresh citrusy ginger. 

Drydown: There's a hint of oak playing around with the ginger scent. This is such a fresh and zesty scent- it makes me think of an Asian spa, not a warm haunted kitchen. I can sort of smell the sugary bits trying to get out, but it's still overwhelmingly a fresh ginger scent. I think the orange essential oil is helping that zestiness be at the forefront. 

After several hours: Mostly wood now with some hints of ginger. I honestly never smell any of the other dessert scents.

Longevity: High
Sillage: Medium

Would an [X] lover love this? Fresh ginger lovers need this- it's not your powdered spice cabinet ginger.

Would an [X] hater love this? Ginger haters will despise this, and citrus haters too. 

Where am I? Smells like you used ginger-based organic room cleaner to clean out an old wooden house. The smell of ginger kind of lingers in a pleasant, clean way but isn't overpowering. 

Where would I wear this? Daytime, to clean the house, work, a brisk fall day that's not too cold yet.

Cocoa Pink Golden Morning Review

Brand: Cocoa Pink
Availability: General Catalog Autumn/Winter (N/A in Spring/Summer)
Notes: Cool vanilla wrapped around honeyed, pale pumpkin gently grounded with white oak, tonka bean finished with the barest hint of copal.

First impression out of bottle: Honey

Freshly applied: Sweet honey and copal resin.

Drydown: Oh wow, this is heavenly. It smells like a NAVA perfume- like a shop full of Egyptian antiquities. It smells like honeyed resins and fine earthy woodsy notes. I get no pumpkin really- just creaminess. The tonka and oak combine to make a gorgeous woodsy background, but the main attractions are the sweet vanilla, honey, and copal.

After several hours: Still the same. Very perfumey and lush. Like I said, reminds me of NAVA, and actually also of some old BPAL perfumes I remember. Really sexy, mature, sweet, and elegant. Totally unlike some of Cocoa Pink's foodie/youthful offerings.

Sweet, resinous, woodsy like a romanticized library in Egypt

Longevity: High
Sillage: Very high.

Would an [X] lover love this? I think anyone who's a fan of sweet resinous scents would enjoy this. It's quite feminine, which isn't necessarily the case for many woodsy/resin scents, but it's so beautiful. Also I may add that the honey scent in this is not really ostentatious. Indie honeys are tough and I have had my fair share go plasticky/soapy on me but this honey wraps around the vanilla and wood notes so perfectly. 

Would an [X] hater love this? I think people who dislike resiny/syrupy scents will find this to be too strong to their liking. It settles into a very perfumed scent, so it's not a "natural" woodsy scent.

Where am I? Helping Rachel Weisz sort through ancient manuscripts.

Where would I wear this? I would wear this primarily in colder weather, and it could go either way in terms of day or night. A bit too syrupy/perfumey for warm weather though.

NAVA Black Santalum Cider

Brand: Nocturne Alchemy/NAVA
Availability: Limited Edition Halloween 2015
Notes: Rich Black Sandalwood drizzled into an old oak barrel found just outside deserted castle and filled with sticks of cinnamon, tart apple slices, cardamom and nutmeg.

First impression out of bottle: Beautiful dark cloudy apple cider, like the fresh-pressed cider you can buy from the farmer's market.

Mmmm, fresh apple cider

Freshly applied: Something a little more resinous and perfumey is peeking out to complement the bold apple cider scent. Love that the spice in this isn’t your generic Autumn Spice blend. It’s infused in the murky brown apple cider. I can tell my beloved Santalum is in here somewhere, but it’s not a woodsy scent right now. There’s a hint, like I said, of gorgeous resin that’s swelling and making the apple cider more interesting, but it’s not reading as WOOD at the moment. 

Drydown: Simply gorgeous, resinous apple cider scent with some deep blackened-brown notes lurking under the dark gorgeous apple. The Santalum note is coming out now, drier and more golden than the resiny note alone. At first it smelled like just straight apple cider from a mug, and now it smells like the cider plus the barrel it was brewed in.

Dark, resinous woodsy cider

After several hours: Resinous, a hint of cool murky apple cider, and a very blackened feel. This is resin-woodsy but not plain-woodsy. 

Longevity: High
Sillage: Medium

Would an [X] lover love this? Apple lovers NEED THIS. The apple cider scent is perfectly complemented by the wood and resin notes, so it's not a fleeting shower-gel apple, but a real murky juicy apple that lasts and lasts.

Would an [X] hater love this? This is a definite realistic apple cider scent, but it smells wet and juicy and earthy, not like a generic apple spice perfume. If you have a grudge against fall perfumes because they smell like a Yankee Candle store to you, this one might surprise you.

Where am I? I'm sitting in a cider house, smelling the pressed apple juice and old wooden beams. I’m perched on an oak barrel getting drunk off of spiced cider.

Where would I wear this? Work, weekend, autumn, winter. It's surprisingly elegant, but definitely not a sexy/girly perfume. Probably wouldn't wear for a date.