A big Solstice Scents order got here today. It was actually a few orders and it all got a bit out of hand. And spurred on by how successful every sample I got from SS last time was, I got a bit…adventurous with scent selection. This first impression review is going to be all over the place. I did mostly stick with gourmand scents, as I’ve yet to find an SS gourmand that funks up on my skin, and I’ve found them all incredibly vivid. But as I said, I branched out a little.

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I got full sizes of Snowmint Mallow, Blackburn’s Parlour, Blueberry Muffin Batter and Kitchen (x2). The samples are Sun Warmed Honey, Tenebrous Mist, Sycamore Sugarworks, Sugarvale, Smoked Apiary, Heat of the Night and Kitchen.

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I’ve previously talked about Snowmint Mallow, Blackburn’s Parlour and Kitchen over here. Kitchen was such a success that my sister made me order her a rollerball, and I picked up a sample of it to give to my mother who loved it as well (not as much as she loved Alkemia’s Antares which I bought in full size for her birthday). I also have tremendous amounts of love for both of the others - so good I needed them in full size. When Sycamore Chai restocks, that’s going to necessitate a full size as well. The rest were blind buys and blind sample selects.

As per review standard, I described these on blind sniff, on the skin and then after a while and reviewing the notes on the website. My first impressions are all copied off of some crap I wrote on a notepad so they’re authetic and also I’m terrible at describing scents.

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I am wearing so many perfumes right now.

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Bluberry Muffin Batter

My cold sniff note was “sharp artificial blueberry buried in something hearty and strong” but after application the baked blueberry scent smoothed out and became a lot more real. The notes say “Blueberry, Brown Sugar, Vanilla, Cane Sugar, Batter” and you can definitely pick out each individual note but it does smell lovely and blended. Now I’ve had it one for a while it’s sort of sweetened up but also smells strangely…warm? The description does say “It loves to be warmed up by your body heat. Yum!” and it’s not wrong.

I probably could have made do with a sample size of this but I’m not mad that I have the full size. I can see this getting used more come colder weather.

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Sun Warmed Honey

At first sniff I was decidedly not into this scent. My notes say “strongly floral and slightly herby?” and I was not getting honey anywhere. After application I picked up something musky, but couldn’t be sure if it was the scent or just me - it remained staunchly floral but I got the honey peeking through and that deepened musk. The notes are “Honey, Apricot, Strawberry, Chamomile, Kunzea, Ginger, Orange Blossom” and I think what I’m smelling is that chamomile-kunzea-ginger blend - from google, I learnt that kunzea is an australian myrtle and I can definitely pick that up - it smells like a park in the blue mountains on a brisk day.

I’ve had this on for a few hours now and it’s growing on me. It’s definitely not something I’ll reach for every day - I’m definitely not a floral gal - but it’s bringing back some really strong childhood memories and I’m feeling a bit teary.

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Tenebrous Mist

I picked this semi-blindly liking the concept, but didn’t pay much attention to the notes so had no idea what I was smelling here. My note is “herbs, sharp, and ocean and cold wind”, and it lost the herbiness on my skin and stayed sharp but I started to pick up the musky notes in a way that I surprisingly…didn’t entirely hate. SS describe this as “Musk, White Amber, Sea Spray, Sandalwood, Bay Rum, Tea, Smoke” and I for sure get the sandalwood and smoke and yeah, sea spray. It smells like doing the coast walk on a cold day with the waves going wild.

It’s super complex but got lost to the stronger fragrances, so I wouldn’t say it’s one of those BAM scents - it’s more subtle, but it’s also decidedly interesting and unisex. This will definitely not be a frequent reach for me, but it shares that evocative solstice scents trait that brings me super vividly to a place and time, so I know it’ll get used when I want to get there.

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Sycamore Sugarworks

Now we’re talking. My notes say “Sugar. Sweet spicy pastries coated in sugary syrup.” and once I’d applied it all I could muster was “candied fruits and danishes”. I’m pretty pleased, considering the website’s notes are “Caramelized Pear Tarts, Banana Apple Muffins, Spice Cakes With Rum Glaze, Cream Puffs & Maple Walnut Pastries” and yeah, that’s it. It hugs skin closer as it wears. Now it’s been on for a few hours, it’s less definite notes and more a vague sense of sweet spicy bakery goodness (but it lacks the strong mix of spices that makes Kitchen so special to me).

I like this a lot. The pear note is more noticeable now it’s been on for a while and I don’t hate it. It’ll be nice as something to wear when Kitchen needs a rest.

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Sugarvale

Sugarvale came out of the vial smelling like straight up caramel popcorn. That’s all I had written down. As it went on, and as it continued to wear down, the carmel is less overpowering and mostly this scent is…nutty. Actually, I wrote “Nutty! Toasted almonds and walnuts? I’m not good with nuts. Sparing sugary toppings. Everything is warm.” which I think is a pretty adequate summary, except that the notes are “Candied Pecans, Butterscotch, Buttered Rum, Brown Sugar, Maple Syrup, Hot Pralines & Milk Chocolate Cocoa" so clearly Ithink walnuts and almonds smell like pecans. I don’t get the cocoa but I definitely get the butterscotch - that’s the strongest note at first - and the buttered rum is distinguishable as well.

The nuttiness is strong, really strong, but it’s so warm and real. If you don’t like nuts, or want the sugar to overpower the nuttiness, don’t get this one.

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Smokewood Apiary

This one is the real winner of the order for me and I’m incredibly surprised by that. I had an inkling that I might like some subtle smoke when tempered by honey and I’m glad I followed that up. My initial notes say "Thick smoke, with glimpses of a sticky dripping creamed honey” and I’ve got to say, I wasn’t thrilled - I thought the smoke was too strong and the honey too buried. But then on my skin…“Eating creamed honey from the jar, licking it from finger tips, sitting beside a crackling fire somewhere deep and woodsy”. Clearly I love smells that make me feel things, and I felt things for this scent. The notes are “Smoked Honey, Creamed Honey, Beeswax, Amber, Wooden Frames, Ginger & Vanilla" and I don’t get the vanilla but I smell like a campfire and warmth and smoked out sweetness.

If I judged on blind smell, I would have passed this scent right on. And sure, if you don’t like smokiness, the honey isn’t strong enough to take over the smoke - it’s primarily smoky. But this scent is kind of…awesome.

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Heat of the Night

This was a total wildcard. It’s strongly floral, but musky? I was hoping there would be a strong warmth and sexiness to this. I said "Sweet summer fruits in a bed of white and pink flowers” from the bottle and was kind of ambivalent, and then on the skin I started picking up the more subtle musky fruity airs. I noted “why am I getting melon? Frangipanis and toasted coconut and something tropical but musky.” - and the actual notes are “Vanilla, Mango, Coconut, Orange, Sandalwood, Amber, Orange Blossom, Edge of the Night Base” (edge of the night is a musky, woody heart) and okay, no melon, but I got the coconut!

It’s a little more patchouli than I’d like, a little more sexy potpourri. But for certain moods? I could get the hot musky sexiness of it.