Possets Churpz Review

Brand: Possets
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: Named after the marshmallow chicks so common at this time of year, Churpz is all fluffy puffy fun and nothing instructive, corrective, or refined. Churpz is simple all-out pleasure in things which are sweet and gooey and a mental orgasm (ed: translation- marshmallow)

First impression out of bottle: Plasticky sweetness

Freshly applied: Plasticky sweetness

Drydown: The plastic calms down and I get a really fluffy marshmallow- really just like the classic Peeps smell. Not a sophisticated, expensive vanilla marshmallow, but a puffy grocery store treat. There's almost the suggestion of fake food coloring- that not quite sweet not quite bitter trace smell. Interesting!

After several hours: Same plain synthetic (in a good way) marshmallow sweetness.

Longevity: Low
Sillage: Low- this scent barely has any throw at all

Would an [X] lover love this? A marshmallow lover might want to have this in their collection, but with the paltry throw and longevity, I'm not sure it does much for me. 

Would an [X] hater love this? I don't think even a marshmallow hater would be offended by this, because it's so damn subtle. But they wouldn't want to wear it I don't think.

Where am I? Opening a box of Peeps on Easter morning.

Where would I wear this? I wouldn't wear it unless I wanted to apply a perfume and not be able to smell it.

Possets Iowa Review

Brand: Possets
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: this one starts out with a crystallized vanilla...then there is a hint of turbinado sugar, and a large dose of an accord based on wheat...and a small amount of a whiskey-like addition

First impression out of bottle: Brown sugar and salt.

Freshly applied: Salty, savory cornmeal crust with oozing melted yellow butter. 

Melted butter on cornbread

Drydown: Very much the same, with less assertive saltiness. This smells like an overcooked, crunchy cornbread cookie with a ton of butter. I'm surprised I enjoy the butter in here- it smelled rancid in Cream and Mrs. Rabbit's Carrot Cake, but it fits well in here. Like luxurious fresh salted butter, not the unpleasant microwave-popcorn note I got in the past. I love that this smells like the brown underside of cornbread- not the yellow fluffy middle part, but the crispy edge!

The scent of browned baked goods

After several hours: Still crispy browned cornbread edges. I'm so shocked that this has basically no sweetness! The turbinado sugar is there as a crunchy/brown feel but NOT as a sweet element. It kind of reminds me of whole wheat toast. Like a hybrid of salty corn muffins and buttered brown toast.

Longevity: Medium. This doesn't disappear, but it doesn't stay full-strength for long and fades after about 5 hours. It also becomes a leetle bit flat. But I like the toasted darkness.
Sillage: Low-Medium. I was expecting such a bold gourmand to have more throw, but this one settles down and stays pretty close to my skin.

Would an [X] lover love this? Gourmand/savory lovers would probably enjoy the beautiful toasted savory note in this, but it might not hit the sweet notes that you foodie lovers are used to.

Would an [X] hater love this? I think a lot of people will find this weird. It's very edible, savory, and straightforward, which are all attributes that can turn people off.

Where am I? Eating leftover cornbread and rolls from Thanksgiving.

Where would I wear this? Daytime, dinner, home, colder months

Possets Capezzoli di Venere Review

Brand: Possets
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: Start with a perfectly roasted chestnut for a smooth and proper base for the softer things to come. Around that wrap ganache made of buttercream and gardenia kissed mocha which will melt your heart as it expires from love in your mouth. Enrobe with bitter dark chocolate. 

First impression out of bottle: Hazelnut mocha frosting.

Just the frosting

Freshly applied: Sharp nutty frosting mixed with something sweet and floral

Drydown: The notes start to blend a little better, I get a beautiful mocha cream with a creamy white floral note. Unfortunately, I think it's the buttercream aspect, it gets a bit sharp, almost like cherry or something, and I wish it would smooth out a little because it's getting synthetic and plasticky.

After several hours: Ok I do like this, but with reservations. It's a beautiful, unexpected foodie-floral blend that marries the disparate sugary frosting notes with white gardenia. Unfortunately something about the mix does have a hint of sunscreen/plastic about it that prevents it from being a total knockout. I think this is a case of the gardenia being a tad bit cloying. It's sort of straddling the line of meh and pretty. Kind of like Solstice Scents Nightgown is on me too. Some days I adore it, some days I detest it. Very confusing.

White florals and chocolate with something a bit artificial like sunblock

Longevity: Medium-high
Sillage: Medium

Would an [X] lover love this? Gourmand-floral lovers who like Nightgown should try but with caution.

Would an [X] hater love this? If this sounds at all icky or you hated SS Nightgown, run away! This is a tricky one.

Where am I? At a bridal shower with too-sweet/girly decorations, food, and floral arrangements.

Where would I wear this? I probably won't, but if I do it'll be strictly for daytime during not-too-hot spring months.

Possets Courtly Love Review

Brand: Possets
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: Coconut (here used more as a serious element rather than a novelty) dances with apricot and a light kiss of vanilla and a very sweet, not stinky, jasmine. 

First impression out of bottle: Apricot jam

Freshly applied: Mm this smells just like KIND bars- Apricot & Almond flavor mixed with the Almond & Coconut flavor. The apricot is  jammy on me, like semi-dried fruit with a concentrated flavor.

Smells like an overpriced fruit and nut bar

Drydown: There's now a little more "perfumey" scent, not so much the straight food scent that it was at first. The coconut pops out too, it smells very much like the coconut in the LE Silver Coconut from Possets, which is a bit musky and vanillic. Mmm now I get a really nice pure jasmine note, very soft and tropical. I think it's mingling with the coconut to give me that beachy/humid feel and I love it. Not stinky or spicy at all! The apricot is still there, but it's almost like a background note now. I love it. The apricot comes back out to play, stronger than the jasmine again and this is my favorite part of the transformation. It's a sweet, pure apricot with nutty nuances from the almond/coconut and a hint of delicate jasmine.

YES, Apricot Jasmine Macarons exist and that's exactly what this smells like

After several hours: The strongest remaining notes are the apricot and jasmine. Super delicious, swirly, and feminine. The mix of notes on the drydown almost makes me think of jasmine tea, in addition to the jasmine/apricot macarons from before. 

Longevity: High. This 
Sillage: High. This has amazing throw for a fruity-floral! Intense, sweet, floral, and powerful.

Would an [X] lover love this? Fruity-floral lovers need it. It's more unusual/unexpected than your mainstream fruity-floral but it's totally beginner-friendly.

Would an [X] hater love this? I think this could appeal to jasmine-haters but they'd need to try a sample first.

Where am I? Having a tea party in a secret garden.

Where would I wear this? This is a spring/summer scent for sure. I'd wear this to a wedding, garden party, or other romantic/girly event. It's super fun and that perfect combo of perfumey and edible that I love so much.

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.

Solstice Scents Foxcroft Fairgrounds Review

Brand: Solstice Scents
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: Cotton Candy, Cream Soda, Vanilla Taffy, Gridling's Funnel Cakes, Powdered Sugar, Crisp Fall Air, Woodsmoke & a Tendril of Incense

First impression out of bottle: Cotton candy and cream soda. 

Freshly applied:First, cotton candy, but not like Solstice Scent’s discontinued Pink Sugar. It’s a little deeper, not so fluffy. I think that’s the cream soda making it deep/creamy golden. There’s a hint of earthiness/airiness from the smoke and fall air but not so much to make this a dark scent. 

Luxurious sweet cotton candy

Drydown: I smell the powdered sugar now, and it’s amazing that it’s not a generic sweet smell. It’s the actual scent of powdered sugar when you get it wet. Smells like making royal icing! The whole thing is less overwhelmingly sugary than other cotton candy fragrances, there’s a coolness that comes from the crisp air (really does smell like November air) and the smoke/incense. I’d say it’s at least 70% air/earth with only 30% foodie notes, definitely not a straight-up gourmand. 

A perfect, powdered sugar-laden funnel cake joins the cotton candy

After several hours: A little incense peeks out on the later drydown and mingles nicely with the funnel cake/powdered sugar but it’s not a heavy spiced scent. I thought I would be meh on this but it’s actually lovely.

The foodie scents are combined with the best autumnal air scent ever

Longevity: High. This lasts the whole day
Sillage: High. It goes down to medium-high later in the day but is still very noticeable

Would an [X] lover love this? I think a gourmand lover would like this a lot. I usually like traditional gourmands, but this has a different, earthy twist that works so well.

Would an [X] hater love this? I think gourmand haters need to try it, because it's very unexpected and not sweet in a cloying way.

Where am I? This isn't a busy/clamoring scent like being RIGHT in the middle of a fair. It's like you're standing on a hill just above the fairgrounds, smelling the edible treats wafting through the air, a touch of woodsmoke on the October/November breeze, and a hint of incense from a fortuneteller's caravan. It's right when the sun is setting and the air is cooling off.

Where would I wear this? Work, weekend, even maybe a night out. It's not a light scent but it's also not heavily dark or spiced, so I think it's very versatile. It's one of my absolute favorites.

13 Gypsies Xocolatl Review

Brand: 13 Gypsies
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: cocoa absolute, patchouli, coffee

First impression out of bottle: Bitter roasted coffee with a hint of dark chocolate.

Freshly applied: DARK chocolate with earthy espresso and a twisted patchouli base.

Drydown: Dark chocolate coffee with more prominent chocolatey patchouli. This is an exquisite chocolate/coffee scent. It's not quite gourmand and not quite earthy. It smells like a very expensive 90% dark chocolate bar from Europe. 

Bittersweet, earthy dark chocolate and coffee

After several hours: Still the same expensive bitter cacao scent, much less coffee than when it was first applied. The coffee manifests as a bitter, roasted gritty dark smell, so it's almost indiscernible from the chocolate/patchouli. It's all just well blended together.

Dark, expensive chocolate with earthy herby patchouli

Longevity: Middling. lasts for 4ish hours before it turns soft.
Sillage: Medium until the 4 hour mark, then quite low. Never disappears completely though, which is nice.

Would an [X] lover love this? I think any patchouli lover will cackle like a happy witch over this blend. It highlights the awesomeness of patchouli without falling into the trap of mustiness/rubbery scents.

Would an [X] hater love this? I don't think of myself as a lover of patchouli, but this made me fall in love with it (along with Sixteen92's Wicked.) The patchouli makes this a true, earthy chocolate scent, where so many indie chocolate scents turn into Cocoa Puff/dusty Hershey bar nonsense.

Where am I? This smells EXACTLY like an expensive gift shop around Halloween time. The scent of some dark witchy candles and decorative herbs, mixed with expensive boxes of chocolates and the smell of freshly-ground coffee beans drifting over from the attached gift shop.

Smells like a Halloween emporium

Where would I wear this? It's work-appropriate as it's not too strong, but it's also wicked and twisted enough for a night out. I love this for cooler weather, but since it's got a nice earthiness, it doesn't smell weird in hot weather either.