Solstice Scents Maplewood Inn

Brand: Solstice Scents
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: Maple, Woods, Amber, Benzoin, A Roaring Fire & A Hot Cup Of Frothy Vanilla Chai

First impression out of bottle: Liquid smoke/and candied maple bacon. 

Smoky maple syrup

Freshly applied: Same blackened smoke and maple candy.

Drydown: Maple fades a bit from initial prominence but is still there. The woods and smoke come forward and I get a beautiful resinous cedar/redwood. I detect the spicy vanilla chai as well, it reminds me of Sycamore Chai.

Woodsy smoke and sweet chai tea

After several hours: Still beautiful, smoky sweet woods. The astringent red wood you get in Solstice Scents Attic is here, but sweetened up with a dollop of maple sugar and some chai. This reminds me a lot of Deep Midnight A Study in Brown, but with a maple spice character.

Imagine drinking a cup of chai and snacking on maple candy here

Longevity: High, this lasts from the morning till late at night, even with multiple hand washings. If you loved SS Sycamore Chai but hated that it faded so quickly, pick this one up.
Sillage: Also very high, this creates a beautiful spiced foody woodsmoke cloud. I love how strongly this smells.

Would an [X] lover love this? Anyone who likes spice or wood scents definitely needs this. And if you think it smells too bacon-y at first, let it age a few weeks. You'll be shocked at how gentle and gorgeous the woodsmoke becomes.

Would an [X] hater love this? This is quite sweet and spicy, so those of you who dislike woodsy or autumnal scents might not enjoy it. I think it's quite a balanced and original scent though, so if you're afraid of smelling generic, give this a shot.

Where am I? Sitting in a ski lodge, drinking maple chai next to a roaring fire.

Where would I wear this? I wear this to work (but am careful to limit the amount I wear) and it's not too smoky/sexy for daytime. It would be amazing as a nighttime scent in cold weather though. Definitely more suited to autumn/winter than the warmer months.

Solstice Scents Sycamore Chai Review

Brand: Solstice Scents
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: Vanilla Chai Tea, Marshmallow, Ginger, Pumpkin

First impression out of bottle: Chai spice

Freshly applied: Beautiful black milk tea (like the kind you get at a bubble tea place), deep and dusky but milky and smooth, with the best, most intense chai spices ever. I smell NO pumpkin roll or cake note. Just gorgeous black tea with milk and spice.

Drydown: Same as above.

You can smell the black tea, the spice, and the milk

After several hours: This fades and becomes more of a thin black tea with spice, but it loses its initial amazing, realistic creaminess.

Longevity: Low/medium. For such a spicy scent, this doesn't have much tenacity, which is disappointing. I can barely smell this after 3 hours.
Sillage: Medium. This carries a fair bit into the surrounding air, which I enjoy, but like I said it doesn't last all that long!

Would an [X] lover love this? Spice/tea lovers will go crazy for this. The spice is so realistic, and it's one of the best black tea notes I've ever found. Not too perfumey, not too astringent, just realistic and dark.

Would an [X] hater love this? I think anyone who's not a fan of spice will shy away from this, but I hated cardamom before I tried it, and now I'm a believer. I think the milk tea base keeps it from being a heavy/candle-y spice.

Where am I? Sipping a chai tea latte and wearing a tartan scarf

Where would I wear this? I like this a lot for layering. It's not very sugary so it doesn't add another layer of sweetness to gourmands, and the spice goes with everything. I love it in Autumn and Winter but it's pretty versatile.