Solstice Scents: Fall/Winter Collection 2019 Review

Reviewing a few scents from the Fall and Winter releases from Solstice Scents, including Gibbon's Mischief Night, Corvin's Smoked Apple and Snowmint Mallow.

About the Brand:

Solstice Scents is one of the staples of indie perfume houses from America, and I've heard a lot about them ever since I started researching gourmands. Their scents Foxcroft Fairgrounds and Blossom Jam Tea Cakes are one of the more popular gourmand scents that get recommended the most, and so I was enchanted.

They offer EDPs and oil based versions in all their scents, and all the scents and customer service requests are all followed by Angela, the owner of the brand. They're located and shipped from Florida, and they're primarily a perfume house rather than a bath and body brand, but occasionally offer soaps and other items as well.

Gourmands for mealtime. All samples come in little paper slips and a lot of postcards! 

Shipping:

Solstice Scents keep their TAT incredibly short - listed as 48 hours max. They aim to get all orders out before two working days, so if you need anything shipped quickly, this is a great option for you.

I've been informed regarding TAT that seasonal releases usually will push the TAT up to almost 7 days, but I placed my order at around 11am on the 8th of February, and sent me the shipping number at around 11pm - only took 12 hours and that was over the course of the night! Honestly - incredibly impressed with the short TAT and also response time in regards to emails and other requests from this house.

Regarding shipping - they do flat rate shipping, to Hong Kong it's $14.6 USD for any amount you decide to order, which is obviously great for those looking to get a huge, or heavy order. They stock a few soaps and sometimes bath soaks, but most of their items on offer are relatively lighter perfume oils/EDPs anyway.

For my shipping experience, I had no problems with it. This was shipped on the 8th of February, and I received this on the 19th of February. This was 11 days, or 7 working days, which is relatively quick after the CNY rush! It came packaged in a small square box with the samples lining the sides and no bubble wrap, just tissue paper. Fortunately, nothing got broken!

Order:

I ordered myself some 2.5ml EDPs in a few of their fall 2018 collection - which was no longer being produced and winter 2018 scents. While I didn't manage to catch Lavender Truffle (which is re-released on the 9th of February) I was happy with my fall scents!

The 2.5ml EDPs are around $8USD, making them around 3.2 USD for 1mL, which is makes it pretty mid tier pricing for an indie brand. I suspect that due to the spray bottles that they provide, with the beautiful packaging that they provide as well, contributed to the higher costs. These sprays don't have any problems, spray really nicely and don't leak at all (compared to the other spray bottles from CocoaPink and IndieScent's), and yet not quite as high end as 4160 Tuesdays' sample vials. The handwriting on the vials is also a lovely touch.

With every order, you're also able to pick a scent you prefer in sample form, which is really convenient. While Corvin's Smoked Apple wasn't available in the EDP spray, I was able to get it in the sample choices as well, which was really convenient for me at the time.

The sprays come in a small spray bottle in their own little sample slips, and Solstice provides a lot of postcards and also a signed message as well, so it feels very luxurious (although the environmentalist in me gets a little bit nervous.)

They also include perfume sampling tips for perfume oils, resting and skin chemistry and how to apply! 

Scents:

Riverside Sleighride - Vanilla Musk, Bayberry, Fresh Snow, White Amber, Fir Balsam, Cold Winds, Birch, Mistletoe

Sweet and slightly woody vanilla musk pairs with bayberry, cozy and fluffy white amber, bracing and crisp winter winds, a blanket of freshly fallen wet snow, distant fragrant evergreens and mistletoe and a delicate trace of birch wood, nutmeg and frankincense (the later two are not detectable but add to some of the other main accords in this blend).

This reminds me a lot of soap/candles that are supposed to be like 'winter' or 'snow' like scents, very clean and very crisp. While I don't really get so much of the atmospheric descriptions of cold winds or fresh snow, on opening I get this really sharp berry note with a hint of something green (which I imagine is the birch/mistletoe?). Then it fades down and the sharpness of the berry goes away, leaving a very soapy scent. I assume what I'm smelling is the amber/fir balsam and vanilla musk and a touch of nutmeg, but it's blended in a way that reminds me so much of a Yankee Candle. I wish it was actually something that reminded me of below freezing temperature winter winds, but I guess this isn't there yet. I'm not a huge fan of 'candle' scents, so I might be passing this one on.

Perfect for: If you like Yankee candles that are white or blue colored or are called 'snow' and 'christmas' or 'winter' or something along those lines, I think you'd enjoy this. 

Gibbon's Mischief Night - Sugar Cookies, Vanilla Frosting, White Chocolate Popcorn, Toasted Marshmallow, Graham Crackers, Gibbon's Boarding School, Cream Soda, Bourbon, Pear Brandy

Solstice describes the opening notes as Gibbon's Boarding School with bourbon and pear brandy, then some sugar cookies/marshmallow/popcorn comes out after the dry down.

This opens up really nicely, with a huge dose of sugar cookies and cream soda, which reminds me a lot of the cane sugar note from Belsnickel from Sugar and Spite. It's like a mellow sharp vanilla with a touch of sugary musk.  It dries down to a slightly more buttery rich note that reminds me of the 'popcorn' scent in Luvmilk's Achillean, but with the marshmallow base that I get from Poesie's Frosted/CocoaPink's marshmallow cream notes in all of their scents. The 'white chocolate' reminds me of Gersemi's 'frozen white chocolate' note as well, but not so heavy. It has a bit of a peanut buttery/white chocolate note that warms up after a little while.

The main upside of this mix, is that there is a slight sharp 'booze' note mixed with a hint of the leather/ wood notes from Gibbon's Boarding School, just to ground the otherwise overly one note scent of the buttery cane sugar popcorn note. Sometimes, this leans more buttery and popcorn on me, but other times, the popcorn wears away to reveal Gibbon's Boarding school instead.

This reminds me of what I feel like Shay and Co's Salt and Caramel EDP should have been, and comparing them side by side, Gibbon's has that whiff of sweetness that rounds out the caramel with the butter. I'm finding I like this more and more, and even though it's not as nuanced as I thought it might be, it's still really nice.

Gibbons Boarding School - Dusty Wooden Desks, Paper, Carefully Hidden Tobacco Pouch, Dying Fire, Dried Leaves, Leather Chairs, Autumn Breeze

Solstice describes this scent: "Thirty-two notes were selected to evoke the atmosphere of the sprawling brick school. Gibbon's is composed of a variety of woods, leathers, smoke notes, light spices, ambers and vanillas with tobacco, dirt, leaves, black musk, frankincense, moss and hint of apple. When first applied, you can detect a hint of the autumnal notes of leaves and air. This gives way to a very sophisticated high-end fragrance that does not morph to the extent our other blends often do. It is fairly linear but it also has a multitude of layers and complexity carefully crafted to create this unique sensory experience."

This leans masculine, but I find like some atmospherics from time to time, because I appreciate realism in my scents rather than 'perfume' versions of scents.

Straight after dry down there is a sharp 'leather' note that smells a bit like belts to me, but quickly fades away, and a very typical 'man' cologne/deodorant scent that I can't really put my finger on. After that, it's a straight smokey and wood like scent.  To me, reminds me a lot of Imaginary Author's Memoirs of a Trespasser, with the same vague vanilla base with some smoke and wood thrown in for kicks. I almost mistook it for the Benzoin and Guiacwood notes from Memoirs of a Trespasser that I read in Corvin's Smoked Apple, until I belatedly realized I was looking at the wrong description, but I think 'woods' and 'smoke notes' probably make up this scent base quite a bit.

I'm still not sure if I like this that much, but it works so well in Gibbon's Mischief Night that I'm glad I could use this as comparison. It's a little less evocative than I expected, but it works amazingly in Gibbon's Boarding House.

If you like heavier bezoin/guiacwood/woods/smoke, this would really work for you!

Foxcroft Fairgrounds - Cotton Candy, Cream Soda, Vanilla Taffy, Gridling's Funnel Cakes, Powdered Sugar, Crisp Fall Air, Woodsmoke & a Tendril of Incense

This is much more smokey and 'atmospheric' than I thought it would be. Instead of a cotton candy/cream soda with a hint of smoke, I get a lot more of a smoke/spice hit that reminds me a lot of Pumpkin Spice with a hint of sugar. There's not a lot of cotton candy or cream soda, which I would have preferred, but it actually reminds me a lot of Halloween: Montreal from BPAL, notes which are " Chimney smoke and woodstove fires, and all the classic scents of Halloween – loads of candy, leaves, cold earth, smashed pumpkins left over from Mat Night’s debauchery – are sharp and clear in the frosty air." This is very much halloween/spooky fall feelings in a gourmand bottle.

This is a very standard Fall scent, and I see this working really well for people who enjoy October/Fall spices in perfumes.

Snowmint Mallow - Peppermint, Vanilla Cake, Sugar Cookies, Flaked Coconut & Marshmallow Creme

Before I give a lot of opinions, I'll let you know that I actually love this scent so much- I just really like the marshmallow note from Solstice Scents. I wear this a lot, it's one of my favorites.

Before resting, while I've never described any of my perfumes with the term 'floaters' which I was recently reintroduced to), but this is the only case of 'floating' notes I can really recall - the other I would just classify as top notes which disappear very quickly rather than an unblended or awkward mix (although CocoaPink's Ivory Eyelet is very close to being just two awkward floating notes of lemon toilet cleaner and marshmallow vanilla cream).

Snowmint Mallow is basically just, the base of marshmallow/sugar/coconut-y vanilla except with peppermint essential oil just drifting on top of the notes. Upon wearing it for 2/3 hours, the peppermint totally disappears into a vague whiff of 'refresh', and all I can smell is the marshmallow, but it reminds me a lot of flaked coconut marshmallows, like those toasted marshmallows that are all covered in desiccated coconut. In winter, you get more dimension to the scent, with all the peppermint and marshmallow, yet in summer the flaked coconut rises to the surface, all toasted, warm and nutty.

While this wasn't the candy cane scent I wanted it to be, and the peppermint is only a fleeting lost love - it's still a refreshing sharpness, and that lingering coconut and marshmallow sugary scent is just really lovely and light to wear for the rest of the day. I had a beautiful love affair with this scent, and I'll be reaching for this again come Christmas.

Blackburn's Parlor  - Vanilla Waffle Bowl, Vanilla & Chocolate Ice Creams, Sliced Bananas Smothered In Caramel Sauce & Topped With Whipped Cream

A hallmark of Solstice Scent's fragrances are typically the beautiful and fleeting top notes, yet I still find myself very much in love with their beautiful vanilla cream/marshmallow luciousness base note. It's not quite Estate Vanilla, it's just the most sugary and delicious soft note that I can't get enough of.

As they say, top notes are fleeting.. and base notes are forever.

Much like Luvmilk's Achillean, the banana note is only a fleeting kiss on the skin, but this banana note is my favorite out of all (Bollocks from Nui Cobalt and Harlot from SirenSongElixirs lean too spiced and sauteed for me). To me, this is the most fragrant, fresh note- actually like sliced banana and not the typical synthetic banana note. (There's a story about this.)

The banana is a lush burst of sweet buttery sweetness, with a drizzle of chocolate syrup and a huge dose of whipped cream/vanilla ice cream. If you huff this, you can even smell the sweet ice cream cone, the smell of the ice cream parlour around you, the luxurious taste of creamy vanilla, the freshness of a sliced banana like a banana split, with huge mountains of whipped cream and chocolate sauce and specks of caramel - and even after you gobble down all the banana and lick off all the chocolate syrup, you're still holding the sweet vanilla cone, vanilla ice cream dripping down your hand.

While the top notes are fleeting - a tearful farewell to my beautiful banana and chocolate syrup, it's still a perfect scent to me. I've long debated over whether or not to full size this EDP since the perfume oil doesn't do this EDP composition justice, but if they find a way to stretch the wear time for that banana and chocolate note, it's an instant FS for me.

I've already finished and rebought this scent twice, it's a 10/10 for me chief. Gourmand lovers, eat your hearts out with this one. 

Corvin's Smoked Apple -  Applewood Smoke, Apple, Caramel, Benzoin, Guaiacwood

From the sample vial, this is a perfume oil so this is completely unrested. It reminds me a lot of the Halloween: Montreal scent from BPAL, with the Halloween like base, except more apple.

On my skin, before dry down the applewood slightly salty smoke comes out first, and then fades away to this sweet freshly cut apple with a hint of caramel. Unfortunately, after the dry down, the apple turns into a strange soap like, toilet scent. I feel that the benzoin/guaiacwood mixes a little weirdly with the apple and turns it bitter.

The sample vial has a slightly different design on the paper holder! 

Conclusion:

I think Solstice really excels with gourmands personally, I love their base and it makes every single vanilla based scent the perfect scent for me. I also will mention, their EDP formulas tend to display the nuances of their scents better, in my personal opinion. Additionally, I like the spray bottle and the presentation a lot, and the convenience of the spray bottle alone makes it incredibly easy to spray and go. I love the handwriting on all the sample sprays as well, it adds to this little rustic charm I get from the shop.

Since Solstice Scents is such a trademark shop for the indie perfume scene, and you really cannot get away from the shop being mentioned or recommended to you. The scents are straightforward, you get what you see on the notes, and none of them turned particularly awful and none of them are scrubbers, or even horribly artificial or not the notes I expected.

I would recommend this to anyone who's interested, and I think I might even buy another sample set from them whenever I find enough scents that catch my eye to justify the international shipping (spoiler alert: I have and they're great).

My personal favorites are: Gibbon's Mischief Night, Blackburn's Parlour and Snowmint Mallow.

I actually would even consider getting a full size of Blackburn's Parlor, because, why not. It's simple, but god does it fill my little heart with joy, and I keep reaching for them over and over again. My only gripe is that there's either 2.5mL or 60mL EDPs with no in between - if there was another size, I definitely would be more interested in full sizing as I really struggle to finish larger bottles of scents. 

I enjoyed these a lot, and I'll consider the slightly higher price to be part of the quick shipping, more expensive packaging and efficient customer service, which for the packaging, I'm happy to pay a little more for. For the aesthetic and convenience, I'm a fan.