As if a Halloween release tease isn’t enough, I also bring Sixteen92‘s Fall release samples!

I think everyone remembers the witch trials, especially if you read The Crucible in school. Some delved in deeper, I’m sure. Unfortunately growing up Catholic, this sort of thing was highly glossed over. I think I have a new personal goal to learn more about the witch trials.

Starting with Bridget Bishop (link to wikipedia) I’ve learned she was the first person to be executed for being a witch. Her perfume notes are – Night-blooming flowers, belladonna, bergamot peel, resinous oudh, nutmeg, ambroxan, and scarlet musk.

This is one of the premium fragrances. In the vial this is all heady florals, still warm from the heat of the day. On my skin I get a little funkiness from the oudh before it smooths out. There is a hint of bitter greenness from the belladonna and the bergamot adds its touch of spiciness. I’m not really getting any nutmeg.

Looking up ambroxan I found out it is a synthetic representation of ambergris which explains that sort of salty aquatic feel I’m getting.

The throw on this is gorgeous and the florals are deep and heady, almost like hot-house florals in their intensity. This blend is not shy. It is strong, almost commanding, and not for the faint of heart.

Unfortunately, about 30 min into the drydown I ended up having a sneezing fit and had to wash it off and take a few minutes to sniff some coffee and reset myself – which is disappointing because I was really, really liking this blend.

Cotton Mather is a rather well known figure from the Salem Witch Trials. He was a very vocal supporter of the trials as well as an author of numerous publications regarding the trials, demons, witches, and the like. His perfume contains notes of blackened patchouli, woodland mosses, sweet herbs, dried helichrysum, woodsmoke, lamplight, ink, ash, and flame.

Fire and brimstone would not be a wholly inaccurate way to describe this scent. There is a lot of smoke and charred woods in the vial. On my skin the patchouli is dirty, sooty and dark while the woodsmoke and ash cling to everything while a fire burns in the distance. This is not a soft nor gentle scent.

It feels dangerously dark, yet almost alluring. I find myself catching hints of smoke and fire and following it down to sniff at my wrist. The moss is dark and ashy. To be fair, there is the feeling of a fine layer of ash over the whole scent. You catch a bit of the oil burning for the lamplight, yet it mixes in with the flame as well. There is a touch of a hay-like scent as well, as though there are stables not far away.

This blend leans heavily masculine and I believe it has more throw than it’s showing me. I have a feeling others would get a sense of it and maybe even steer clear without really understanding why.

So about an hour or so later and I was right about the throw. It’s now wafting about as strong as a … (don’t hate me) Hollister store. Not the same scent! Just the strength! This is actually extremely wearable. The wet stage is a touch overwhelming, but dry this is really quite something. Very much in the cologne territory, but not horribly so. It reminds me of something that I can’t quite put my finger on. And it’s turning out to be another one that I can’t stop smelling.

After about 2 hours the scent on my skin is fading, but the throw isn’t! Well, kind of. It’s no longer at Hollister-strength (really, please don’t hate me).

While after oh … 6 hours or so the throw isn’t much there, I still get nice whiffs when I wave the spot towards my nose. Also, the scent is still very much there on my skin, though much faded.

Mercy Lewis became caught up in the hysteria that began surrounding the witch trials. Not only was she accused of being a witch, but she had accused others as well. Her perfume notes are heliotrope, honeyed tea, rosehips, sugared almond, creamy sandalwood, and milky vanilla.

In the vial I get an unmistakable creamy, almost an almond cookie dough type scent and it’s really quite delicious. On my skin this is all about that smooth and creamy sandalwood supported with a soft and delicate vanilla. I get a touch of the almond, almost more like a marzipan than a whole almond. The rosehips and heliotrope are gorgeous and silky soft.

Overall this is a very … naive scent. It is innocence and ignorance and just trying to survive.

For as light as this scent is, I do get a faint throw from the florals. They are pinkish white and the tea is more tasted than smelled. I truly adore this scent for how utterly girlish it is.

After a few hours this has become a sweetly soft honey with a small hint of tea. It’s now a very close skin scent, clean and very nice.

Sarah Good was found guilty of witchcraft, likely erroneously, because two young girls pointed fingers at her. Her perfume notes are charred maple leaves, black pitch, fresh-baked bread, dried black tea leaves, sweet orange, and chimney smoke.

The first thing I smell out of the vial is bread and strong black tea. On my skin the charred maple leaves overtake and I get a strong sense of burning bread and ashes. The black pitch is pine-like and very thick tar while the orange attempts to add something bright into the mix.

Another blend with another good throw, I’m gobsmacked, truly, by how many of these lately have a good throw. This blend leans unisex, and thankfully, like Cotton Mather, the “smoke” aspect isn’t overwhelming and floats off to the distance as it dries.

I am yet again drawn to the spot on my wrist to huff happily. This is a very woodsy almost cabin-like scent. Very gorgeous and soft.

Three hours after, I still get a sense of bread and something verging on being a spice, perhaps the dried black tea leaves. It’s not a yeasty bread at all, very nice and soft.

Tituba, who was accused along with Sarah Good, was a slave and was also the first to confess to witchcraft. Her perfume contains hawthorn, gingerbread biscuits, tobacco leaf, burning resins, rye, sweet woods, and beeswax candles.

In the vial I get a strong tobacco scent along with a creamy beeswax. On my skin the beeswax is sweetened somehow, perhaps by the woods, and the resins are sticky and not yet burning. I don’t get much rye or gingerbread from this, though the hawthorn is there, it is adding a touch of greenness.

This blend is sweet and homey – as though you are standing in someone’s kitchen that they love, care for, and enjoy thoroughly. I really get a sense of love, and home, and all things that make you feel as though you are in a warm embrace. If Tituba truly was a witch, I do not believe she was evil.

While this blend doesn’t have a huge throw, it is beautiful and long lasting on my skin.

I think the fall release, more so than the Halloween release, will doom me. I believe the only one I haven’t fallen fore is Bridget Bishop, and that’s only because I couldn’t stop sneezing.

And if you, like others, are wondering when these lovely’s will be released, there is a time table! Per Claire:

“The season of RELEASE ALL THE THINGS” has begun! Just posting a quick overview of all of the upcoming releases, since there’s a lot to keep track of: AUGUST: Bath & Body (whipped soaps, scrubs) will launch very soon — expect an email from us in the next day or two with details and official release date. Soon, very soon. Fall will happen at the very end of August this year, instead of early September. If you’re a Circle member expect your pre-sale access link to land in your inboxes within the next 2 weeks. Fall/Winter bath & body will launch with the fall collection (which means Toasted Marshmallow is returning along with some other favorites and new offerings) SEPTEMBER: Fall part 2 will launch with the Halloween collection in late September this year. Last year Halloween ran Oct 1-31 but we are pushing everything up by just a bit this year, due to the busy season. We will also have a Halloween mini bath & body collection like last year. OCTOBER: Fall LE time! Details TBA, it’s a secret 😉 And that should take us through the winter release and into Black Friday