This is my first dive into indie perfumes, and if I’m totally honest, I mostly chose them at random. Luckily the descriptions were really clear (check out the Solstice Scents page for more information.)
I know I like sugary sweet scents, and I knew I didn’t want to smell like a head shop or farmer’s market, and I was able to partially achieve that, and really find out what I want to look for in my next round of samples. And there will be one.
I got my husband’s feedback on some of these, since he’s the one who will be smelling me most of the time.
I should have photographed these before I used them, the ink rubbed off on a lot of the samples
This is how I did
SPELLBOUND WOODS (Sample Size) Vanilla, Sandalwood, Cedar & Amber
At first sniff: (Danielle) Sweet chocolatey and a little powdery in the bottle, I was really excited…. but then I put it on. On me this turned sickly sweet, kind of cheap “vanilla fields” (yes, I was a teenager in the 90s) smelling, and the chocolate notes went away. I almost scrubbed it off, but i was running really late. Based on the site’s description I wondered if this bottle was mislabelled. (Husband) “You smell like cake and hippies. But good.” I guessing the hippies part is because of the sandalwood. I find it surprising, since I can’t smell sandalwood at all.
An hour weartime: The chocolate scent came back! It dried down to a sweet, slightly powdery, very very foodie scent. If it were a candy I would have a bite. I really like the way this settled on me, especially since all the way to work all I could smell was sickly sweet cheap vanilla fields smell and I was getting annoyed.
7 Hours weartime: I can still smell the chocolatey vanilla powdery smell, I’m a baked good. I like this, but it’s very sweet and cake like. I’m not sure how much wear I could get out of this.
In an oil burner: This is a fantastic home scent. The cake, chocolate, vanilla scent sits on top of very slight sandalwood and amber and makes my living room smell homey and cozy. It’s still slightly powdery, very vanilla, and lovely. I may buy this in full size so that I can use it as a home scent, I think I like it better this way.
BLACK LEATHER, RED LACE (Sample Size) Amber, Vanilla & Leather
At first sniff: In the bottle this smells like new car. When it’s first on my skin the leather smell is very very prominent, with a tiny bit of Vanilla air freshener in the background. It fades out fast though, within a few mins the vanilla really comes through.
After an hour: The leather smell mellowed out a lot, I can barely smell it at all any more, and it’s because quite nice. The vanilla also doesn’t smell like air freshener now, so I can pretty safely conclude that my mind went right to air freshener because I used to have a vanilla plug in in my car. The amber is really coming out, and I think now I can identify Amber as the hippiesh smell that I seem to be disliking in a lot of what I ordered. I think I can conclude that I am not suited to anything with amber in it. Trial and error I guess, at least I know now!
CHERRY VANILLA AMBEROSIA (Sample Size) Amber, Cherry, Vanilla, Whipped Cream, Orange
At First Sniff: In the bottle it’s alcohol, and very cherry vanilla. As soon as I put it on, all I could smell was almond, in an alcoholic way. I really want a glass of Disaronno right now. This is strange because it doesn’t actually have any almond in it. I really like this, but I think I might prefer it as a candle or diffuser oil in house.
After an hour: And now the amber rears its incense scented head. I wanted this to keep on smelling the way it did when I first put it on, back when the amber was hidden in delicious creamy cherry.
NIGHTGOWN PERFUME (Full Size) Vanilla, White Chocolate, Tuberose & Tiare Flowers
At First Sniff: In the bottle it smells very drugstore cheap vanilla to me. I am not getting chocolate or floral scents. When I put it on, the creamy florals came out, and became an almost but not quite sweet rose scent. I’m getting a poupori vibe, covered with a little sugar. The vanilla is no longer so clearly vanilla, and the chocolate is coming through more.
Three hours weartime: This perfume has staying power! The same rose rose rose floral, very sweet vanilla almost a baked good scent it going strong. I think this smells nice, but I was really hoping that this would be a sexy scent and I get more “Grandma’s Nightgown” than “Agent Provocateur.” Still, it’s pleasant, and I will wear it when I feel like smelling like poupori.
VIOLET TRUFFLE (Sample Size) Dark Chocolate, Violet, Violet Leaf & Vanilla Absolute
At first sniff: In the bottle this smells like a dessert. Chocolate, vanilla, and that’s it. On my skin though, it calms down to a far more subtle, sweet vanilla. This is a far nicer vanilla than the classic Vanilla Fields of the 90s, but still a bit boring. The chocolate is still present but takes a bit of a backseat to the other sweetness. I was hoping for more violet, but it seems like my skin chemistry really magnifies candy scents and incense.
After an hour: (Husband) More cake? Why don’t you just wear regular perfume? (Danielle) I like smelling like cake…. but ya, this is very very edible smelling. It’s pure cake complete with flour, chocolate chips, and butter on me.
Three hour’s weartime: Milky, chocolatey, sugary, vanilla. I like this, it’s a incense free version of some other’s I ordered but with the cake and chocolate amped up as much as possible. I was hoping the violet would come out more but it seems that my body chemistry really likes to magnify sugar and chocolate.
PINK SUGAR (Sample Size)
At first sniff: This does smell very similar to the Aqualina Pink Sugar, a perfume that gives me flashbacks to the nightclubs of my university time.
This perfume is actually discontinued, so I’m not going to do a thorough review, though I will say I’m a bit disappointed since I would probably order this out of nostalgia and love of sweet but not pure candy smells.
BLACK FOREST (Sample Size) Agarwood, Nagarmotha, Tobacco, Chocolate, Red and Black Cherries, Hay, Sandalwood, Whipped Cream & Pink Pepper
At first sniff: Vanilla (probably the whipped cream) and tobacco. In the bottle I wasn’t sure I would like this, but I put it on anyway and found that it very quickly started to smell like an almost floral vanilla with definite tobacco (cigar not cigarette) and pepper notes right up front. The vanilla is soft and smooth and smells more like perfume than a baked good or an air freshener (this is good.) The the tobacco notes, sandalwood and pepper make me think forest and gives the scent a sexier vibe – less sugar pop kid going to a club, more sexy 30 year old woman going to a wine bar (I am the latter, probably minus the sexy, which I hope to make up for in perfume.) I’m really enjoying how peppery sweet this is.
After an hour: The sugary sweetness is faded quite quickly, and I’m getting more and more tobacco with a little sweetness and pepper. When I put my wrist right up to my nose I can still smell Sandalwood, something sweet, and a tiny bit of cherry alcohol scent, but it’s not overpowering at all. I wish the cherry stood out more, but otherwise I really like this. When I get home I’m going to get my husband to smell me to make sure I don’t smell like a cigar, and then (assuming I smell as lovely as I think do) I’m going to order a full size bottle.
Now that I know what I do and don’t want to smell like (it looks like Amber isn’t a good one for me, and I’m going to have to determine what other scents the sugary sweet stuff can be cut with so it smells more perfume than baked good) I think I will have more success on indie perfume purchase round two.
You can get Solstice Scents products here: http://www.solsticescents.com
The turn around time was great, I had these in my mailbox in about a week.
Beauty Cat-alog 