Released in August 2019, Arcana Wildcraft Night-Tripping Fairies collection focuses on the fairies from Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It features eight scents, each bright and cheery, but yet distinct. Julia, the creator of these fragrances, extracted many of the ingredients herself, as well as wild-harvested and distilled all plant ingredients labelled as such.

My parents have always gathered various berries and other plants in the wild, including juniper berries and spruce tips. Making anything edible out of them takes literal weeks, so I appreciate the effort and time Julia has put into making this collection.

You can buy Arcana Wildcraft’s Night-Tripping Fairies on their website for $6 (1.11 ml), $26 (5 ml), or $76 (15 ml).

These perfumes were sent to me by Arcana Wildcraft as a gift. All opinions shared are my own.

Titania

Freshly baked vanilla cakes, sweet honeysuckle blossoms, and a soft, warm bed of summer grass.

Titania begins as super strong grass, which takes me by surprise. It smells like sitting on freshly-mown grass and eating vanilla cakes that you baked just an hour ago. The honeysuckles are shyly fluttering their petals in the background, almost as if they don’t want to be noticed.

8 hours in, Titania evolves into a sweet sponge cake scent. Having little throw, it’s very cosy at this stage when the grass has disappeared. I can smell the vanilla icing mixed with cake crumbs. Actually, if Titania had a stronger throw, it would probably make me hungry. 🙂

Moth

Lilac-infused champagne, wild-harvested juniper berries and boughs, white iris, dry vanilla bean soda, silken wings, and cool water.

The juniper tickles my nose, carrying soda on its pine-like wings. It’s very fresh and fizzy but not too floral when still wet. Despite its clear pine character, it never crosses into the air freshener territory. You might think this smells like gin, but Moth is actually more fresh and bright, and not nearly as dry. Perhaps it’s because of the water note?

As Moth dries down, the sweetness disappears and I do eventually get an impression of dry gin, hovering over my skin. Considering I like my G&T, that’s not a bad thing!

Cobweb

Pistachio gelato and vanilla ice cream over soft forest mosses and wild-harvested fir tips.

Cobweb opens with the sweet pistachio and vanilla ice cream. This combination smelt slightly plastic-like when the fragrance was still fresh but it has mellowed wonderfully in a few weeks’ time.

While some perfumes are »just scents« and not much else, Cobweb tells you a story. When I apply it, I imagine buying the pistachio gelato in an ice cream shop before going on a stroll through a forest. I can almost feel the vanilla ice cream melting, making my fingers sticky and sweet. I stop to look at tall fir trees, their tops slowly disappearing in twilight’s veil.

The forest moss feels dry and understated, providing some additional coolness to the overall scent but I wouldn’t call this fragrance neither warm or cold as both qualities are melded into an interesting whole. I imagine I’ll wear Cobweb often.

Peaseblossom

Blushing sakura blossoms entwine with delicate orchids, pink patchouli, wild raspberries, and gold pomelo.

Peaseblossom opens up with a melange of the pomelo and raspberries. These two notes are sour in a pleasant, but unexpected way. This is a fruity-fresh scent and not as floral as I had thought it would be. In fact, this perfume smells like a refreshing summer cocktail, and its colour is definitely pink.

As Peaseblossom dries down, the shy florals come out, together with a smidge of bright (but not dank) patchouli. I can’t quite distinguish between the sakura and orchid, mostly because I’ve never compared the scents of these flowers in real life, but I can say that they’re both gentle and not heavy. On my skin, they’re mostly there to temper the fruitiness of the pomelo and raspberries.

Mustardseed

Jasmine sambac, amber resin, woody amber accord, ambre blanc, dragonsblood resin, and a curl of smoke.

When Mustardseed was still fresh, the jasmine had a slightly plastic hue but I’m happy to report its calmed down and unfurled its beautiful floral notes. Only slightly heady, the jasmine is drenched with dragonsblood, which reads like a juicy, dark cherry on my skin. At this stage, Mustardseed is similar to Witch Dance by BPAL but I find this fairy to be more complex.

This is a lovely, dark, autumnal scent. After it dries on the skin, it becomes dry-ish. When I smell my wrist I can imagine embers glowing eerily in the dark. It’s a combination of wood and smoke trailing over the resins. At this point the jasmine stands a bit further in the background but it’s strong enough to balance out the smoky notes. Later, most of the notes disappear to leave behind a gentle, floral red musk, which I like a lot.

Oberon

Wild-harvested pine needles, wild sweet orange, Atlas cedarwood, cypress leaf, fir branch, pink pepper, wet stone, honeywood, and shimmering salt crystals.

Oberon is a joyous blend of pine and cypress, laced with orange juice. This accord plays really well with the pink pepper, which is more or less the same note as in Haint. I’m really happy that this fragrance opens with the cypress – a note that is, in my experience, rarely done just right. Oberon is a balanced mixture of the three evergreen notes, although the cedar and pine seem to be stronger. I’m also happy to report that none of these notes turn into »pencil shavings«.

The pink pepper disappears quickly, leaving behind the evergreens and a hint of orange. This blend is quite complex and lovely! I’m positively surprised. Despite the addition of the fruit, Oberon is more or less cold but it’s not a full-on winter scent. It could work well on warmer days, especially if you don’t mind sharper pine-y perfumes. Later, the orange flesh turns into bitter orange peel. It still plays well with the other notes, adding some non-sweet juiciness to the mix.

Puck

An impish, confounding blend of cotton candy, green fig, coconut milk, cannabis bud, mugwort, Indian sandalwood, Omani frankincense, brown sugar, and a sprinkle of fairy dust.

Puck is hard to describe. When it arrived, it smelt like some sort of herbal Coke. Strange, right? I figure the mix of frankincense and cannabis bud was playing with my nose. A week or so later, it’s still herbal but it doesn’t remind me of Coke anymore. The whole thing smells quite boozy on my skin. It’s dry but juicy at the same time.

The sugar and cotton candy are hanging out in the back, adding a sweet vibe to the blend. I can’t really smell the fig – I usually find this note to be sweet, rich, and smooth, but Puck smells cold and slightly sharp. It does mellow out with time and it becomes sweeter – just like cotton candy.

Quick Bright Things

Sweet lavender absolute, French vanilla, wild orange, ruby grapefruit, sandalwood, amber resin, a dash of cognac, and a hint of green violet leaf absolute.

Quick Bright Things is so gentle and sparkly. It opens up with a bright orange, vivacious and vibrant, mixed with the grapefruit. The violet leaf slowly shows up its green sombreness, taming the perfume just a little bit. On my skin, the lavender is barely there. You can sense it around the corners, seeing its violet dress peeking through the grapefruit and orange veil.

For what it’s worth, I don’t consider Quick Bright Things a night-time scent but I would wear it during the day whenever I’d need to banish the doldrums.

Which of Arcana Wildcraft Night-Tripping Fairies tempts you the most? I usually prefer slightly unusual gourmands like Cobweb, or fruity-floral offerings, but Mustardseed steals the show for me. 🙂

Read more Arcana Wildcraft reviews here.

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