For this year's spring Solstice Scents

release, I went all conservative and just bought samples of the three new scents: Whispers in the Night, Chrysalis, and Cameo. I also got my free sample in Courtyard, which I've tried before and really like, but only enough to keep a sample on hand for the times I'm in the mood for it.









My envelope came with a new edition of the Foxcroft Bulletin . I really, really love these! I love that there's a cohesive mythology to their scents that they've carried through multiple collections, and I appreciate the detailed storytelling involved. I see in this newsletter a mention of the Smokewood Apiary's exotic honey tasting event. I'm hoping this is a hint at a potential future scent- some kind of rich, smoky honey scent sounds really nice!









And my thoughts on the new scents:





Whispers in the Night

Jasmine, Tuberose, Vanilla Orchid, Coconut, White Amber, Sandalwood, Amber & Ylang Ylang on a base of Edge of the Night





I'm discovering that I enjoy heady white florals like jasmine, in small doses. This one on cold sniff and first applying is all jasmine with a touch of creamy tuberose, but the jasmine is really strong and indolic to me. I don't care for it on cold sniff. It does calm down after a few minutes and smells almost tropical...the woods and coconut? The coconut and tuberose remind me of Tropical Moon, which is one I actually like a lot. I can almost detect the Edge of the Night base but it feels softened, muted...dialed down. Not the bombastic floriental of the original. This one manages to be soft and a touch sweet and yet still feels heavy and pervasive on me, bordering on mothball-y. This scent just reminds me that I still need to get a full size of the original Edge of the Night- the newer incarnations have been interesting but the original one is brilliant and hands down my favorite.





Cameo

Almond, Rose, Yellow Cake, Tonka Bean, Coconut, Ginger and Green Orange





Whoa. For such a delicate sounding scent this baby has tenacity. Serious staying power and some impressive sillage. I wore this at work and even though I enjoyed the scent, I started feeling self-conscious, like, this is way too much. I washed it off and I still felt it wafting around me. This smells like sharp almond at first, and then I can quickly pick up cakey things, pale pink roses, and billowing tufts of tonka and the tiniest nip of ginger. This scents smells like sweet, pink, puffy clouds filled with mounds of cake and shredded coconut. It also smells quite a bit like Haus of Gloi's Valentine scent, Come Hither, but more gourmand. I like this, but I feel like the tonka amps on my skin and becomes almost cloyingly sweet and much too strong for me to comfortably wear. G once told me that his mother (rest her soul) used to have a saying..."too sweet to be wholesome." That's this one. I will use my sample up but will pass on any other products. I'm going to try layering Rose Mallow Cream, Lemon Ginger Creams, and Haus of Gloi's Twice is Nice and see if I can evoke this scent without the toothache.





Chrysalis

Orange Blossom, Grass, Bitter Green Orange, Vetiver, Patchouli, Amber, Yellow Mandarin, Rose de Mai Absolute, Sandalwood and Indian Attars - 5ml





This one here is a morpher! I get sharp, almost peppery green grassy notes paired with a bright, warm orange blossom note on cold sniff. A tiny bit bitter but pleasant and very fascinating. As it dries down it becomes more earthy and woodsy, actually very exotic smelling. The scent stays warm-toned throughout. I imagine this scent in colors as a bright verdant green and fiery orange with a touch of golden brown. The morphing here is pretty dramatic to me. I wish that initial green phase lasted a little longer, but the dry down is heavenly. I know Angela used mitti attar, which mimics the scent of sun-baked earth before rain, so as much as I like this- it's not quite a "spring in a bottle" scent to me. I imagine one of those to be very cool-toned, dewy, with light grassy notes, delicate florals, soft breezes, that sort of thing. But maybe that's my geographical bias talking. Expect this one to feel more warm and exotic, perhaps a spring-into-summer scent? As the name suggests, almost cathartic. I feel like the dry down smells a little like Cascade of Gold, so if you enjoy that one, you might like Chrysalis. I definitely want a full size of this.



If you would like some more rambling thoughts on scents from previous spring releases, look HERE.

(Sorry, not all the scents in this review are available anymore, but I do comment on Courtyard, Chantilly Cream, Chiffon, Cascade of Gold, among others that are still around!)







