NCD: Fae Folk, Nymphs, and Otherworldly Beings 2019 Review

In addition to Witches Utility Blend, my personal favorite collection is definitely Fae Folk, Nymphs, and Otherworldly Beings. Inspired by all the beautiful, ethereal settings, this was one of my favorite collection to try and write about - and I hope you love it as much as I do. 

As a thank you to my readers, I've collaborated with Nui Cobalt to bring you a discount code for these scents and their beautiful new Fall collection as well! 

Use the checkout code: AUTUMN19 for 10% off your entire order - you can use this for your entire checkout, and it will be valid until October 15th so be sure to pick up something you like before then! 

If you want to find out more information about how or where to buy their scents, click here, or here for some more reviews! If you're looking for Critters 2019 review, click here! If you're looking for Witches Utility Blend 2019, click here!

Fae Folk, Nymphs, and Otherworldly Beings

Menehune
Little people of Polynesia who may choose to bless hunters and fishermen. Roasted macadamia nuts, teakwood, coconut palm, and ripe pineapple.

Wet: Roasted warm, cut pineapples drizzled with thickened coconut cream.  

Dried down: The pineapple is perfectly complimented with the teakwood, this time the warm wood and slightly earthy quality adds to the nutty, roasted textures of the macadamia nuts. If you're familiar with Humbuggery, this is the fuller bodied, darker reincarnation - a little more grounded, with a tannic aspect. The woody profile of the scent really embodies the menehune who are typically craftspeople, the husk of coconuts and the sturdy foundations of teakwood to build upon. 

It amused me that the menehune were also called Manahune-nuku-mu-ai-maia (Bug-mouthed Menehune banana eaters) and I would love to see another blend incorporate the banana (also unabashedly one of my favorite notes)  

This scent straddles the line between a woody, unisex scent, and a gourmand, but my skin does tend to amp sweet notes so I get a lovely golden sweetness of ripe, roasted pineapples, a sprinkling of brown sugar and coconut cream served on a lovely teakwood platter, just a little touch of atmospheric qualities to cushion the gourmand. 

Perfect for: a soft entry into gourmands - Nui Cobalt's pineapple notes are one of the best, but over a woody base makes it accessible for non-gourmands. Those who found Humbuggery too sweet will love this. 

Naiad
Nymphs who dwell within fountains, rivers, and all the fresh waters. Offerings of milk and honey, a trace of pale incense smoke, bay laurel trees, and morning mist at the mossy bank of a stream.

Wet: Milk and honey dominate the opening notes, a touch of olive green- and crushed bay laurel leaves.

Dried down: Underneath the whipped honey and milk, a touch of citrus lurks under the swirling layers of creaminess - the grated bitterness of citrus zest, and orange peel. The pale incense exists as a touch of smoke interwoven with faded, salty fog, an airy, evasive note. The milk and honey notes remind me a lot of the Milk and Honey body wash from Palmolive, but the fragrance is an evocative liaison. For some reason, I imagine the thick fog, the chittering of a running stream, a morning meal of bread, butter and honey, lemon trees and the crushed leaves. It's sweet, a bit of citrus, a smidge green, a touch of smoke, and the seeping coolness of an aquatic. 

The overall scent for me just drags me into Celtic territory, specifically Mannanan Mac Lir which tells a story of the land existing and shifting between green land and aquatic sea, and stories of enchantingly beautiful aes sídhe who live in the land beneath the sea (tir fo thuinn), who are seen, yet untouchable like smoke until you pass through the fog, and bound to their land forever, and there's something just so 'otherworldly' about this scent. 

Perfect for: Those who prefer a touch of atmospheric with their citrus. Citrus is the dominant heart of this note, surrounded with fog and forest. 

Vila
 The beautiful silver-haired faeries of Slavic folklore who may choose to align themselves with worthy humans, or unleash fury upon the unworthy. Apricots preserved with cardamom, clove, and brown sugar, dewy Bulgarian roses, and luminous white silk.

Wet: A blast of cardamom, and the simmering sweetness of brown sugar. 

Dried down: Those who have tried Cardamom Rose Sugar (Solstice Scents) but yearned for a spice heavier version will enjoy this. Clove shines as the heart of this scent, paired with cardamom as a warm, spicy base with a touch of brown sugar's trademark rich, full bodied sweetness. There's a touch of golden amber in the scent, giving a resinous base to the scent, and a hint of candied rose, but apricot remains a lost love that I never got to meet. 

I find the clove in the blend a little too strong for my liking, but it captures what the Vile are - soft, gentle and sweet top notes yield to a fiery heart of sharp spice. 

Perfect for: Clove lovers. The heart of this scent is all clove, with its powerful, candied spice, and flecks of cardamom's warmth and a touch of brown sugar. 

Pixie
 The wing'ed Fae folk of Cornwall and Devon. An apple orchard in bloom, spring grasses alive with some unearthly glow, vanilla bean offertory cakes and sparkling honey mead.

Wet: Green trees with an array of hanging apples, unriped, with the faintest snap of spice. The softest, gentle vanilla and creamy honey that sits under the apple orchards, the farm and fields of spring grass. This reminds me a lot of Watson (Poesie), with its freshly plucked apples and a touch of hay. 

Dried down: Despite the keen and sharpened apple note that I tend to distance myself from, my skin always pulls out sweet notes, and I end up with a good balance of glistening golden honey from the jar, swirled with the fragrant warmth of freshly baked vanilla cupcakes. The green grass remains more of an atmospheric invocation, bringing to mind the sun shining through apple trees, decaying apples at the roots, and the feeling of soft, idyllic grass. 

To me, this reminds me a lot of apple cider, apple orchards with all the greenery, sap and bark, while eating vanilla and honey cupcakes on a picnic at the backyard of the farm. 

Perfect for: a day out at the apple farm. If you like Watson (Poesie) with its cloud of woody, barnyard nostalgia, this is the the soft, shimmering picnic with streaming rays of sunshine catching in the swaying leaves, and an enchantment of mysterious never-ending tables of apples, cupcakes and honey. 

Disclaimer: The brand has sent these for me to review, but I am not sponsored for this review or affiliated with this brand, and all opinions are my own.