If you are anything like me, looking at Conjure Oils‘ website makes your head spin (and maybe strains the eyes a bit). But I powered through (and even got a few decants of Starman from Ajevie), and found a set of samples I wanted to try. I’ve always heard great things about Conjure Oils so I’ve been quite curious for a while.

My only complaint, so far, is the wax. I’ve already broken a nail trying to get enough off to be able to open the vial. Rocking the top seems to help, but then I noticed there’s oil under the wax so I’m worried that it will leak now that the wax is off.

Starting with the Starman scents, which were a tribute to the late and beautiful David Bowie, I have Anisocoria. That is the medical term for the condition of his eye which was permanently dilated. It’s notes are listed as Dried tobacco, willow, Parma violet, Egyptian Sandalwood, aged oak, blood cedar, marionberry and persimmon.

In the vial I get a lovely soft violet with a hint of oak and something watery. On my skin the tobacco comes out and is brown yet slightly brittle. The sandalwood is freshly harvested and still alive, yet fragrant enough to give off scent. I get a bit of sweetness from the marionberry and persimmon, but nothing overwhelming and it does well to enhance the blend rather than detract.

This dries into a very soft floral scent with a touch of berry-like sweetness. The oak, cedar, and sandalwood give a fragrant base for the sweet florals to rest upon. I get a very feminine feel from this blend, but not old-lady type feminine, more a modern feminine with an edge of something … different. I really like it much more than I thought I would when I first put it on. It’s developed into a beautiful fragrance and while the throw isn’t huge, I do get the occasional hint waft up to me.

Longevity wise, this particular blend is wonderful. I’m going on about 3 hours now and it’s showing no signs of fading.

The other Starman scent I chose is China Girl with notes of: Obsessions and moodiness are balanced by night blooming jasmine tea, China musk, notes of rain beating loud as thunder, yuzu, hinoki, rose geranium, clary sage, osmanthus and tender bamboo leaves with Neptune influenced gem and flower essences of Labradorite and Grass Widow.

I may or may not have China Girl and Major Tom memorized. And shame on you if you don’t! (Kidding)

Jasmine is a loved note of mine, and somehow with the tea it’s just beautiful. I also get a touch of bamboo and rain from the vial. On my skin the China musk is very apparent, though soft and slightly powdery. There is no mistaking this for anything other than a deeply Oriental perfume, soft, floral, and flowing. While still slightly wet the throw on this blend is crazy. It is not a shy blend for sure.

Unfortunately, as this has dried it has become something of a soapy scent. Not a bad one, rather a very nice Oriental floral type soap scent that I wouldn’t mind having in my guest bathroom (or even my own). But it’s not particularly something I like wearing on my skin. Also, the throw is massive and it’s a tad overwhelming.

Samia is part of the Conjure Caravan and contains notes of: playful and flirty lilac and sassy dianthus bask in the sensual glow of golden sandalwood, white opium and amber.

This is the vial that began leaking as soon as I removed some of the wax and honestly, the scent that transferred to my fingers is awesome and I want to put some on. The vials for the general collection (I guess that’s what it is, hard to tell) are about 1.5 ml’s but only filled about 1ml.

Sniffing the vial I get this intoxicating scent of opium, amber, and sandalwood. No wonder I was drawn to this blend! I love opium. On my skin I get those gorgeous florals as they float and flutter around the base. This isn’t a dark blend, far from it. It’s light and gossamer.

I could really see myself using this as a sleep blend. It has that drowsy quality to it and almost smells like something out of a dream. I’m kind of sad though, that the longevity on this one is somewhat lacking. Though, for a sleep blend I suppose having it only last a few hours is okay.

Venomenon, which is fun to say, contains notes of: Sugared Victorian tea rose, candied violet petals and sweet pink strawberry tea with cream obscure a dark heart of subtle red peppercorn and blackest amber.

It appears I bought these while I was on a violet kick. In the vial I get creamy violets with a hint of something darker, likely the black amber.

The violets are soft, powdery, and not really candied to me. I’m not getting any strawberry really, but a bit of a sweet cream with tea. The peppercorn is adding just a touch of spiciness while the amber gives a sense of a darker tea and has a hint of resin in it.

This blend doesn’t particularly call to me as I seem to be over my violet stage, but I can’t deny it’s beautiful and soft. Definately Victorian in feel and extremely feminine. It almost feels … chaste, if that feeling can be brought out in a scent. The throw on this is very good and wafts up around me nicely.

Guardian Angel proves I have some foresight! It’s notes are: Thirteen vanillas, butter cream, angel food cake and layers of heavenly coconut cream – and that is what I’ve been craving lately (though minus coconut but we’ll see how that goes).

CAKE! Glorious, sweet, and slightly spongy cake! You CAN have your cake with 0 calories! This is a gorgeous spongy angel food cake heavy on vanilla with a dollop of sugary cream that in no way gives me that coconut I so dislike (and so dislikes me). There’s nothing here to detract – no spices, no berries, no flowers. This is straight up midnight feasting guiltily on as much cake as you can grab before someone wakes up and hears you. Only there’s no real need to worry see. They can search that kitchen top to bottom and not find that cake they swear you had because it’s perfume!

I only have one real complaint … I wish there was more throw to this. I know, it’s vanilla and cake and making that have a throw can be hard, but a girl can wish, right? Luckily the longevity is nice. I got about 4 hours before I felt the need to slather on some more.

The Dark Mother sounds perfectly dashing with notes of: white narcissus, black orchid, aged neroli, Indian patchouli, red roses, the darkest of sandalwoods and the blood of the heart of an innocent, er, I mean bloodroot.

In the vial I get the most glorious of dark woods, likely the patchouli, sandalwood, and perhaps bloodroot. I love narcissus for the almost narcotic quality it adds. The orchid is dark and lovely, soft and velvety while adding it’s beautiful fragrance. I get roses, and they are heady and full in bloom, but they don’t overwhelm the other florals in the blend like they sometimes can do. Neroli is hugged against that narcissus and giving it a little bit of a kick.

This isn’t quite that dirty and gritty patchouli, but it sure isn’t a softie either. This patch is dark, yet smooth, sleek, and refined. It does a lot to enhance and add to the dark sandalwood. There’s almost a smoky quality to the blend, but it’s not smoky at all.

You get a true sense of something dark yet beautiful with this blend. The throw is fairly good, but isn’t overwhelming – it floats like a feather on the wind to tickle your nose instead of punching you in it like some roses can do to me.

Every now and then I find a blend that draws my wrist to my nose and I find myself almost unconsciously huffing. This blend has done that. I can’t stop smelling it!

The longevity on this blend is to die for as well. Working on about 3 hours now and it’s still softly wafting about. It’s smoothed out a lot but not lost any of what I love about it.

Wolf Moon (February) is said to be A fragrance fit for the young love of Lupercalia – Ethiopian frankincense, violet, bay laurel and a soft heart of Indian sandalwood.

Wolf Moon in the vial is, to put it bluntly, simply overwhelming and hit me with a blast of violet and bay laurel. Enough so that I jerked back and almost dropped the vial! Oops! Maybe that’ll teach me not to take a smaller test sniff first.

On my skin this is mostly violets with a touch of bay laurel. I’m not getting any sandalwood or frankincense. Unfortunately it seems this blend is not going to give anything other than violets and bay laurel. I would’ve loved some resins or smokiness from the frankincense and that smooth wood from sandalwood and I think it would’ve helped the blend, but it’s just not working on my skin for some reason.

Win some, lose some.

The Shadowy Shawl has some intriguing notes: sweet patchouli, amber incense, ginger musk, moonflowers and black sandalwood.

In the vial I was greeted with the soft gossamer sweetness of moonflowers with a backdrop of dusky sandalwood. On my skin the patchouli comes out and combines with the resinous amber. There’s a definite ginger undertone, but nothing strong, just enough to give it a bit of oomph.

This blend is quite enjoyable, almost cozy, and makes me smile to myself. There is a definite sweetness about it without there being anything sugary or vanilla-like. I love how smooth the patchouli is. Shadowy Shawl is an apt name for this blend.

There is not much of a throw to this as it stays fairly close to the skin. It’s very dusky and comforting and the longer it wears the more I sniff it and find another aspect I enjoy.

I think this blend is all about that unique ginger musk! It’s very different. The longevity is on par with most of the other blends so far, though it has a very low throw.

Rounding out this set of reviews I have The Befuddling Fan with notes of: white opium, ginger lily, Eastern temple sandalwood and a gentle haze of violet fog.

Just looking at the notes I wonder how this will relate to Samia. Another blend that is heavy violets in the vial.

Wet on my skin it is still heavily violets and I’m not getting any of that beautiful opium, lily, or sandalwood. Even after this has dried on my skin I’m not getting anything other than the violets.

Even as this dried down and I wore it for a few hours I, sadly, did not get anything other than those violets. Mind you, they were nice violets – soft, velvety, and slightly powdery – but it was not the full spectrum of the perfume.

Overall I’m enjoying Conjure Oils and I look forward to exploring more of the catalog in the future! I definitely plan on getting at least a bottle of The Dark Mother, if not Guardian Angel and Samia as well. And of course, no order is complete without a few samples to ride along!