Poesie: Magic in the Wind Review

a real picture snapped of sophie sampling some of poesie's scents. 

When this was first announced, I decided I really wanted to pick up the Poesie collection "Magic in the Wind", inspired by Studio Ghibli. I haven't tried any of Poesie's new releases in quite a while since they decided to stop offering international shipping. As an international purchaser, I got these as an add-on order from Ajevie, but Femme Fatale also stocks Poesie's scents and they ship internationally, but you may have to double check their stock as they're always understocked or sold out. 

Since my last purchase, they have switched over to using jojoba oil as a base instead of rice bran oil, which tends to last longer, so I am hoping that these will age nicely, as I had a relatively short shelf life for their rice bran base - and having left these to sit and age for about a year, I definitely feel there's an improved stability and life to these. However, I have noticed that most Poesie scents do tend to have a certain base to them, and honestly, it's not for everyone. I admit, I used to really enjoy Poesie's scents, but I think as my skin chemistry has changed, the scents have gone slightly strange on me and I no longer love the house as much as I used to. I still have a soft spot for their rice notes, but a major reason for picking these up was definitely my interest in Japanese inspired scents, and the new tea and bread notes. Poesie's blends usually last around 3-4 hours on my skin with moderate application, and most of them had medium throw. 

Always with Me - citrus fruits bobbing merrily in wooden tubs filled with spring water, eucalyptus branches, hot steam

We're getting a lot of atmospheric scents, and this one is definitely channeling bathhouse. For example, although not listed, this scent gives me a lot of sweaty skin. Like, peak summer sweat scrubbed off, with a tinge of nose clearing eucalyptus oil and the barest, most subtle slice of yuzu floating in the bathwater. The scent dries down to a surprisingly rich, savoury smoked dark wood vibe, with just a pinch of sharp eucalyptus. While this doesn't quite give me traditional onsen vibes, I'd be hard pressed to find any normal bathhouse with giant faceless monsters. For me, I really love the peeks of citrus that poke through, and I am obsessed with eucalyptus (keeps the spiders away here) but I don't mind the sort of, faint soothing vibe of this scent. It's not my go to signature scent by any means, but I find myself strangely charmed by the earthy yet refreshing composition of this scent. This one had low throw compared to the other scents. 

Borrowed Sugar -- fresh milky tea sweetened with a bit of sugar cube, floured bread to eat with it  (a fan-sourced favorite)

The opening is super sweet, a little bit of yeasty freshly risen bread paired with sugar cubes and Poesie's classic black tea note. For me, this scent definitely has that bitter, tannic aspect, although it leans strangely into a more astringent, anise/liquorice like note. Although I found myself relatively uninspired by this scent when I first received it, I've had it for around a year now, I think it has mellowed out a little, although I still feel like I'm missing something when I hear the collective rave reviews about this scent. At certain points, this scent gives me far more of a stuffy wooden cupboard, stained with sugar syrup and studded with liquorice jelly beans, but sometimes it's just an innocuous loaf of sweet star anise bread. Personally, I would say this is probably the best rendition of Poesie's black tea note among the very many scents that utilizes it, but I rarely find myself reaching for this one. 

Daydreams -- meadow grasses waving in the wind, delicate wildflowers, fig leaf, iris, white tea

This is an interesting scent, in the way that it's entirely atmospheric and not at all as delicate as the description might suggest. For me, this scent is a blend of honeysuckle, clean laundry powder and also a whole heap of freshly turned soil (very similar to Potted Chiptunia (Stereoplasm) or Entombed (NCD)). I don't get any of the crushed grass green notes here at all, and the white tea is largely more of an afterthought with a touch of bitterness in this scent. After dry down, the soil note mellows out to give way to more of a richer, dirty crushed floral and iris scent. I don't think this is a bad scent, but I have to admit I was a bit surprised by how strong and sharp this scent is, and how dominant the earthy, soil note is here. I enjoy fresh, green scents, but this one is far more of a stronger, experimental, atmospheric depiction that might lie a little outside of my comfort zone. 

Goldfish Princess -- sea salt caramel, shimmering golden amber, ocean waves whipped by a cool wind, magic potions

Do you like aquatics? Well this one is definitely up your street. Out of the bottle wet it's pure aquatics, the salty stale grime of the ocean lapping against the rusting pier. This scent is very similar to both Namba (Fantome) and Sea of Grey (Solstice Scents), which both have aquatics with sweet aspects in them, although compared to both, the caramel sweetness here is almost imperceptible, rather elevating the sharp, chemical note of motor oil and the salty ocean. For me, I find this almost identical to Namba (Fantome), and if I blind sniffed this, I'm probably going to name motor oil in this blend too. I impulsively full sized this when I spotted it as I was seduced by the promise of sea salt caramel, but I admit, this one is a little nauseating and a little too sharp for me, and I'll also be passing this one along to a more loving home. 

We Fly With Our Spirit - free pancakes and syrup for breakfast, broom straw/hay in the sunshine, sassy black cat fur, stormy night air/rain, a tiny bit of clean cotton sheets in a cozy attic room... and absolutely no herring pie. (a fan-sourced favorite)

This one surprised me a little, although this one was one I didn't enjoy very much when I first got it, aging it has mellowed out the sweetness in this one, and brought out more of the nuances in the scent I didn't get when I first tried it. On opening, the scent has a soft, buttery sweetness from the pancakes and the maple syrup, complimented with a distant hint of the aquatic atmospheric, with a touch of petrichor. While the rain/night air note is sharp, it's very very tame and lingers at the very background of the scent. After dry down, the cat fur and the cozy attic room bloom forward more, there's a vague fuzzy, fluffy vibe on this scent which just adds a little bit of fluff and blurriness to the scent. I can definitely see this one as a cozy scent for colder seasons, and it makes me want to crawl into bed and wrap myself in blankets. This scent isn't too sweet at all, rather it settles into a my skin but better and covered in cat fur after lots of petting and purring. I was pleasantly surprised by this one, and I'll be keeping it for those days where you just need some cat cuddles. This scent was the softest out of all the scents, and had low throw.