Solstice Scents: Sycamore Chai, Pinyon Truffle, Winter Dove Review

For where to buy, shipping costs and all that, click here! 

This time around, I ordered a bunch of perfume oils rather than EDPs, so I'm going to be reviewing these in little groups to come. 

One thing I love about Solstice Scents is they often include little reviews on all of their perfumes, and walk you through the type of scents you can expect to smell. As SS generally works really well on my skin, I haven't actually had any scrubbers and after comparing my notes with the ones on the site, I get a very similar experience. 

Sycamore Chai

Vanilla Chai Tea, Marshmallow, Ginger, Pumpkin. 

Wet: This is all cardamom and cinnamon on my skin, there's a good dose of chai in there and the pumpkin is a sort of squishy smoothness. No ginger so far. 

Dried down: I'm not a big fan of what I call "festive spice", which is the sort of note you get when you have any sort of "spice" description in autumn/winter scents. However, this blend uses very distinct spice notes, so you can pick out the chai, cardamom, cinnamon and clove pretty easily - which is something I actually really like about this. 

This scent is like a Starbucks chai, it's a warm steaming cup of chai with a good pump of vanilla syrup. The pumpkin to me, is like the nice warmed side dish, like a pumpkin pastry - and the blend of spices is generously sprinkled on top. This scent to me, screams American October Festivities. It's what I imagine autumn smells like, with all the generous amounts of spice, warm, comforting, with a dash of sweetness. 

While SS describes this more as a vanilla chai tea fragrance with marshmallow creme and pumpkin, with a touch of bergamot, although to me the ginger and bergamot are largely absent. As always, SS's top notes gradually fade in about 4-5 hours into wear, but leaves behind a nice trail of marshmallow vanilla softness, which is one of my favorite scents anyway, 

Perfect for: anyone who says "I love pumpkin spice lattes". You'll thank me. 

Pinyon Truffle 

Chocolate, Pinyon Pine, Pinyon Resin, Swiss Stone Pine, Tonka, Vanilla

Wet: This is weirdly spicy, kinda like a green-ish version of cardamom/cinnamon - Kinda like a sharp version of 'pine forest' toilet scents. It's a little bit like, the barest hint of turpentine in an art class. 

Dried down: There's a good hint of cocoa absolute in this, the same layering, dusty, semi sweet and powdery chocolate powder. What I think is the pinyon pine, is just a strangely sharp spice note - the official description likens it to cardamom and it just kind of hangs on, paired with the chocolate powder. To me, this kind of reminds me of, a Christmas dessert display where there's a chocolate log, placed precariously on top of pine cones, and other assorted greenery. 

Perfect for: anyone who likes a spicy pine chocolate log. 

Winter Dove 

Vanilla Crystals, Spicy Carnation, Nutmeg, Cream

Wet: Just a huge whiff of vanilla, and a weird mix of sharp cardamom and a hint of floral. 

Dried down: Due to my inability to decipher subtleties between various florals, I have no idea what carnation actually smells like, let alone a "spicy" flower. That said, this doesn't smell floral to me at all, it's spicy, it's a little floral but there's a really strong salty, savoury aspect of this scent that reminds me of freshly opened sea urchins. 

After the top notes of what I can only assume is "spicy carnation" fades, this is a sort of creamy vanilla, sort of a rich festive blend of nutmeg, thickened cream, vanilla extra and a touch of cinnamon - although I'm not sure where the cinnamon is coming from since it's not a listed note.  As always, the base is SS's beautiful creamy pillowy vanilla, which gives the scent a lovely gentle vanilla tinge, but I'll be honest, this scent is a bit of puzzling one to me. 

Perfect for: If you actually know, and enjoy the spicy carnation note - or just spices with a hint of floral.