Today, I have for you my very first Possets review!

Now that the rhyming is out of my system, let’s move along! I recently received my very first circle order from /u/Ajevie, which included some decants from both Blooddrop and Possets. Everything arrived all bundled up with extra caution and the vials have wonderful typed out labels that include the perfume name, notes, company, and year. I decided to split everything into two reviews, for the sake of time, so you’ll be seeing Blooddrop show up very shortly.

As for Possets, I ordered four decants from the Haunting Music collection: Pavane, Night on Bald Mountain, Funeral March of a Marionette, and The Moldau. As a life-long band kid, I love seeing a classical music-themed collection, especially a Halloween-geared classical-themed collection! Alright, readers, come along with me on an adventure in perfume and music!

Night on Bald Mountain:

The Music: Night on Bald Mountain is a composition (or series of them, rather) finished in 1867 by Modest Mussorgsky. However, the version most of us recognize is an arrangement by Rimsky-Korsakov, published in 1886. And I’m probably correct in assuming that most of us find this song easily recognizable because of Disney’s Fantasia.

In the vial: This was my first time smelling chypre (knowingly) and it’s really nice! It’s very masculine and smells, to me, like leather and paper. It’s clean and sharp.

On my skin: At first, this smells like it does in the vial. Leather, paper, maybe a bit musky. Over time, it does begin to morph. Whatever makes this perfume sharp and masculine tones down and it turns into a more feminine scent, in a badass sort of way. The transition period, I’m not so fond of. A very powdery smell came into play for awhile, especially on my wrists, and I absolutely loathe powdery smells. I don’t know why. I just don’t like them.

From Possets: “A swirling strong, heady leathery chypre. Like a brisk spanking. Strong and womanly, the perfect blend when you want to go riding side saddle, taking the jumps and showing the gentlemen how it’s done whilst being the perfect seducing amazon. Surprisingly sexy for such a classy scent. Wear with due caution.”

Random thoughts: The smell in the vial decidedly matches Disney’s short – I watch Chernabog unfurl his wings and the cold whiff just fits. I probably will wear it on occasion – while I don’t enjoy that transition period, I definitely enjoy this perfume before and after. Although, I might just hoard the vial and unstopper it to sniff occasionally before storing it back away. Only time will tell!

Funeral March of a Marionette:

The Music: Funeral March of a Marionette was composed in 1872 for piano, and then orchestrated in 1879, by Charles Gounod. Wikipedia tells me it was the theme song for Alfred Hitchcock Presents, which I did not know until right now!

In the vial: This smells very bright, clean, and a bit woody, but not woodsy.

On my skin: This is a very, very bright scent. It’s very woody, but in a very fresh way – almost like freshly cut lumber that’s had wood polish taken to it. A hint of florals hang around in the background and turns it into an almost-soapy clean smell. I’m not a huge fan of how this mingles with my skin chemistry, but I do feel like I can get the barest hint of brassy metallic, which I find intriguing.

From Possets: “A very woody blend (mahogany, cedar, white sandalwood, wet loblolly), a bit of salt, some orange pekoe tea, a wilted rose bouquet, a whiff of brass from the trimmings of the poor marionette’s casket. He had 6 teddy bears for pall bearers, and innumerable mourners. A sad and showy sendoff, the perfect thing for a little Halloween drama in your best black outfit.”

Random thoughts: I have a side-story for you here! When I was a kid, there was this music box that I loved. My family got it while on vacation in Salem, MA – there was an old witch in the globe and the base looked like a mountain/castle. I loved this thing, and then one day it broke. And I mean full on, pieces of glass laying on the floor, water all over everything, broken. I was so, so sad, and I had absolutely no clue what the song it played was. Since then, I’ve heard it a couple of times in passing, but not enough to get a grip on what it was. And then, along comes this perfume listing. I was listening to each song in turn as I went down the listing, reading notes, and suddenly this song came along. Of all the places in all the world, I found the song my favorite old music box played via perfume listing. So of course, I had to have this one! I don’t regret it, but I don’t see myself wearing this, at all.

The Moldau:

The Music: The Moldau (Or Die Moldau, or Vltava) is one of the six symphonic poems by Bedřich Smetana in a series titled Má vlast (My homeland) . It was composed in 1874 and… it’s beautiful. It depicts the flow of the Vltava(Moldau) River, and calling it a poem really is accurate. You can picture this river – all the twists and turns and changes and different areas – as you’re listening through the song.

This is the Berlin Orchestra’s recording, I believe, and while it’s a tad (and I mean really, just a teensy bit) faster than I like to hear it played, it is still gorgeous!

In the vial: This smells very sweet and buttery, with a hint of something tangy.

On my skin: This is thick, syrupy-sweet, with something a bit tart hanging around. It reads pretty straightforward the whole time I’m wearing it.

From Possets: “Dark syrupy things, things which get caught in your teeth and make your mouth warm. Dark brown sweets with a hint of deeply toasted and fussed over sugar. Fig and molasses, treacle brittle, raisin liquor, and a bit of dark rum.”

Random thoughts: Die Moldau is one of my absolute favorite pieces of classical music! I don’t often see it mentioned anywhere, so I was so excited to see that Fabienne made it a part of her Haunting Music line! Unnffff, seriously. If you did not listen to this song as you were reading, head right back on up there and listen to it. I promise, it’s beautiful. Promise!

Pavane:

The Music: Pavane’s orchestral version was written in 1887 by Gabriel Fauré; it was originally written for piano and a choral version came a bit after the orchestral version. It takes its name from a popular European court dance at the time.

In the vial: Oh man, this is beautiful. It’s light, sweet and creamy, with a slight almost-metallic element.

On my skin: Oh man, again. It’s still creamy, soft, and sweet with a metallic edge. I wrote in my notes that it’s like soft, sweetly metallic cookies. If I remember correctly, sugar cookies were the ones in question here. I also wrote that it’s like walking through a park in the Autumn – but when you look close, everything in the park is actually made of crystal and metal. Yeah, I know. My imagination takes weird turns. So, we’re walking through a park of crystal and metal that looks realistic while carrying a plate of fresh-baked sugar cookies…This perfume, it’s really hard to describe, aside from those few words. Creamy. Sweet. Metallic-ish. I think it might be my new favorite.

From Possets: “Silver Cardamom, the sweetest of the strains of cardamom (something nice enough to put in a pasha’s coffee) and the exquisite Silver base for which Possets is famous. Add a tot of artemesia, and a pinch of coumarin and the result is a fabulously gourmand to tempt even those on a diet against the gourmand world. This is a passionate thing yet something you will wear with a smile.”

Random thoughts: I will definitely wear this with a smile. I loved it in the vial, I loved it on my skin. I cannot stop sniffing myself when I wear this. It’s quite unlike anything I’ve tried before. I almost didn’t get this, until a kind redditor describe the silver base to me, but I’m so very glad I have it. Now, I’m going to buy samples of (almost) every single other Silver perfume possets has!

All in all, these are some truly interesting scents! We ranged the gambit from usurping the throne of my favorite perfume to things I can’t imagine I’ll wear out, but everything was fun! I’ll definitely be ordering some samples from Possets in the very near future (especially since I need that full size Pavane)!