Sunday, January 11, 2015

Solstice Scents - indie perfume oil review

Indie perfume oils are my current obsession. I can't get enough of them! They're so unique and interesting and I want to order ALL THE SAMPLES.

After looking through some of Solstice Scents' catalogue, I couldn't resist ordering a ton of samples. So many, I'm going to have to break them into a few posts! Solstice Scents offers whipped soaps, burnishing glace, body cream, and other items as well as perfume oils! I have only tried the perfumes so far (but I really want to try more, now.)

Today, I have a few samples each from the Manor and Foxcroft collections! I wish now that I'd gotten the entire collections, but I'm going to have to go back and get the rest of them.

All of the fragrances I ordered were sample vials, so they are all in the same packaging. I've included all but one of them in the photo (Maplewood Inn was in my bag), but all vials have a label with the name of the fragrance written on them.


First, I have 3 scents from the Manor Collection. The Manor Collection was created as an addition to the 2012 autumn collection, and is now part of the permanent line.  It's a series of scents inspired by a big, old manor. There are three more scents in this collection I need to try!

Cellar - This is described as "Damp Earth and Stone, Wooden Casks, Cool Fall Air, Crisp Apple, Pear and Broom Corn". I ordered this one out of sheer curiosity. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about smelling like a cellar, and I was a little wary of the damp earth and stone notes. However, this ended up being my favorite scent of the bunch! It is seriously amazing. On first sniff, it is all cold wet earth, stone, and very fresh, real red apples. It is a true, realistic apple scent, and not at all that synthetic and overly sweet type of apple scent that I avoid. It smells exactly like walking into the giant storage room at my local orchard! After it's been on for a while, the hay and wood notes come out a bit. This is a perfect fall scent if you don't want to smell like pumpkin spice. I am in love with this scent and intend to get a larger bottle of it when it is available. I'd also really like to try this one as a whipped soap.

Kitchen - This is described as "Pumpkin, Sugar Cookies, Peach Preserves, Spice Breads, Danishes, Caramel, Vanilla & Sweet Wood Smoke." I drooled over this one for quite a while before I finally went for it. And I'm not disappointed! When first applied, it reminds me of warm pumpkin snickerdoodles, with a bit of caramel. It is sweet and warm and delicious! As it wears, the spice breads peak out, and the wood smoke appears at the end. It is a sweet, subtle smoke and it doesn't overpower. I have to be careful with scents that have spice notes - my body chemistry loves to amp up those notes until they overtake all of the other notes. This one stays balanced, even on my skin. I want my kitchen to smell like this, and this is another I want a larger size of.

Library - This is described as "Leather Bound Books, A Carved Rosewood Mantle, Dying Fireplace Embers, Wood Wainscoting, Cedar Shelving and Aged Paper." Honestly, this is the scent that got me to try Solstice Scents. I LOVE LIBRARIES. I love books and everything about them, and there is nothing I can think of that sounds nicer than smelling like a library. And somehow, they managed to make that a reality! This scent is amazing - it's rich, dark, woodsy, leathery...it smells just like a room full of old, dusty, leatherbound books. It's a bit mysterious and masculine and evocative, in a really nice way.  This is something I want to wear when I'm spending a gloomy day at home, reading. I'm impressed with it!

Next, I have four from the Foxcroft Collection. Foxcroft is a fictional town created by Solstice Scents. The collection is intended to evoke the atmosphere of the quaint little town. So neat! I need to grab the other two in this collection, as well. 

Maplewood Inn - This is described as "Maple, Woods, Amber, Benzoin, A Roaring Fire & A Hot Cup of Frothy Vanilla Chai".  It is a warm and smoky scent! It starts out with the sweet and spicy vanilla chai and woods with a swirl of smoke, and slowly dries down to more subtle woods and maple. It is a very autumnal scent and very different from my usual type of scents. It is a very well done smoky fragrance and it reminds me of a cool morning in a cabin in the woods. 

Blackburn's Parlor - This is described as "Vanilla Waffle Bowl, Vanilla & Chocolate Ice Creams, Sliced Bananas Smothered In Caramel Sauce & Topped With Whipped Cream." This scent is AMAZING! It smells, to me, exactly like a banana split. It starts out with the ice creams (you really can smell both vanilla and chocolate) and sliced bananas (the bananas do somehow smell SLICED). As the banana fades a bit, the caramel comes out. The scent dries down to the vanilla waffle bowl. It is a very well done sweet, foody scent. I definitely need a larger bottle of this.

Maine Moon - This is described as "Crisp Fall Air, Wood Smoke, Leather Seats & Concessions of Root Beer, Popcorn & Chocolate Covered Caramels." This is a very unique scent, reminiscent of a date to a drive-in movie!  It starts out with a burst of root beer and popcorn, which is admittedly a strange combination.  After a few moments, a really nice milk chocolate scent comes through with a bit of smoke. As it dries down, the leather note appears and it ends in leather and smoke. It's a super evocative scent, and probably not one I need a full size of, but wearing it is a fun experience.

Sycamore Sugarworks - This is described as "Caramelized Pear Tarts, Banana Apple Muffins, Spice Cakes With Rum Glaze, Cream Puffs & Maple Walnut Pastries." This is a pure, sweet bakery smell. On me, it is primarily banana apple muffins and spice cakes. The banana note is very much a banana bread smell, rather than the fresh banana of Blackburn's Parlor. This one stays sweet and muffinlike on me throughout wear. Hints of things like the rum glaze and maple walnut peek out at various points during wear, but the muffins never really fade. This is a super sweet, but really delicious scent. I would like to try this in a body cream!

Overall, I am really pleased and excited by my first experience with Solstice Scents. The fragrances are really unique, and I love that wearing them is an experience in and of itself. I have more samples to share in the near future, and I'm just as happy with those. I definitely recommend trying them if you're into unique scents - they do gourmands especially well.

Have you tried Solstice Scents? What fragrances have you been wearing lately?

I purchased these products with my own money and was not compensated for this review.

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