Stereoplasm: The Secret of Time and Heaven Collection (Review)

The Secret of Time and Heaven is an Autumn mini collection to be precise, inspired by taking a journey back into childhood, with some beloved childhood stories. This is the first collection where the art has been designed by the wonderful Kacy, Stereoplasm's newest member, and I really enjoyed the hand drawn simplicity of her designs. The vibes from this collection give me a real Enid Blyton (without all the dubious elements) vibes, and I really loved The Faraway Tree when I was younger, so this is definitely a trip down the old memory lane. The Great Owl is also a reference to The Secret of Niamh, and The Star Leaf to the Land Before Time. Full disclosure, I've never actually watched either, but that won't stop me from enjoying the scents. As always, a huge thank you to Meaghan at Stereoplasm for sending these to me for review! 

With this collection - I personally find that Stereoplasm scents have the best performance after having rested for one month, but for this collection I received on the 25th of September - so they've been resting for a little less than a month. 

A little extra note about shipping - CanadaPost, despite their previous track record (of having lost my package once before) has very efficient recently, especially when compared to USPS's increasing levels of delay. This was shipped out on the 15th of September and arrived in 10 days! I wasn't expecting this for a month, so that was a nice touch.  

As I mentioned with my previous review, this collection was formulated with a higher concentration - I have noticed improved levels of projection and longevity as well. I didn't experience any irritation on my skin with these. As always - I haven't experienced any leaking with the rollerball bottles, and the labels are oil/smear proof. If you're not careful with the labels, these do scratch easily and can chip or flake off, so if you're worried about your labels, do be careful when throwing these in your bag along with sharp objects! 

You can purchase these at Stereoplasm in either 4.5mL ($16.5 CAD) or 7.5mL ($26.5 CAD) rollerballs. 

The Great Owl: Ancient amber, frankincense, benzoin and champaka in a hollow draped in thick cobwebs, glowing citronella and vetiver root

A lovely flood of citronella right out the gates - with the blend here, it is a spot on dupe for those little anti mosquito patches I used to wear to school camps. There's a slight sticky bitterness behind it, but it's not super strong. I actually love this scent though, this is definitely childhood memories. 

After 15 minutes it dries down, and this reminds me of an old apothecary and a vintage shop, a dose of spices, resins, aged amber that's all sticky and sappy with a touch of citronella incense and drops of frankincense. The blend of resins is lovely and dark, and I love the witchy vibes I get from this, though I can't quite pick out any dusty qualities with the cobwebs. 

With the increased concentration, I noticed the general projection for this scent is a little louder than their old ones. The wear for this is relatively linear as well, and lasted 4-5 hours on me. 

Perfect for: Activity afternoons at a school camp, scratching the felt surface of the mosquito patch, sticking your fingers into tree sap and scratching bark off paperbark trees (before it was illegal).  

Enjoy Your Waffles: A welcoming breakfast of homemade waffles with plenty of maple syrup, coffee and fresh-squeezed orange juice. Superseded by manipulative whispers from a garden of white daises, heliotrope and magnolia.

While Stereoplasm only gifts us with gourmands every once in a full moon, I was definitely hooked in when I saw the words "waffles". I genuinely love waffles, pancakes and crepes a whole lot, so when I saw a gourmand scent among all their new atmospherics, I was there. Waiting. I have to admit, when I read the notes, I was honestly a little conflicted about how it would translate as a scent - I mean, coffee AND orange juice? Despite this, I put my faith in the house. And I was well rewarded. 

Now -  Stereoplasm often tucks in little maple candies and maple tea (non caffiene, the best), I literally have found myself completely obsessed with those maple tea bags, they have this incredible rich, sweet maple aroma without ever being too cloying. But oh man, this is it. This scent is just maple goodness - it's like the smell of that gorgeous tea is echoed here perfectly with all that syrupy richness. Even after dry down, the scent just blasts the most divine glistening amber colored maple syrup, drizzled out the maple leaf shaped bottle onto a pile of freshly made waffles, flecked with vanilla bean and a little bit of that eggy richness. Hiding behind the waffles, there's a lovely roasted nutty aroma, like a pot of freshly brewed coffee, and a mug of hot cocoa. The orange juice here isn't quite strong at all, but there's a little citrus sweetness that just hangs around to cut through some of that waffle and syrup. While I was also worried about the white florals, it's not noticeable at all even when I am looking for it - it reminds me of how Luvmilk adds florals to scents to add a little light and brightness to scents, but it's not something I could ever really pick out. 

Honestly - I absolutely love all the little nuances of this scent, like an indulgent weekend breakfast in bed, and it's definitely one of the most gorgeous gourmands I've tried. There are nuances in this scent which remind me of That One Time at Your Friend's Birthday... (S92), especially when it comes to the sweet vanilla cake and the rich caramel, but Enjoy Your Waffles has that distinct maple, sappy, resinous sweetness to the caramel-esque note. I just love this one so much, definitely my favorite from this collection. With the increased concentration, this also has a much larger projection and wear time - around 5-6 hours. This was the most intense out of the three. 

Perfect for: The Land of Goodies and Pop Cakes! If you bite into them, they'll go pop and fill your mouth with the most delicious maple syrup from the middle of them while you wander around a land of free sweets and pudding! 

The Star Leaf: Morning dew, rich soil, nurturing chamomile, mossy stone, fresh herbs and all the star leaves you can eat

Sweet, refreshing greenery, a dream of lush valley filled with emerald green. This actually reminds me a lot of Gone Gnome from Stereoplasm's St Patrick's collection, with the same burst of vegetal freshness. The opening of this scent is such a realistic combination, with soft damp soil and the mellow scent of morning fog and dew droplets on grassy lawns. Much like Gone Gnome when dried down, this also has a crisp refreshing scent of cucumber, and a sweeter, more floral edge from the chamomile, and a touch of basil and tomato leaf. It's a relatively straight forward scent of freshly cut lawns, sliced cucumbers, a crushed bowl of salad and a touch of chamomile syrup. 

This is comparatively a little sweeter than the green scents (Mild Mayweed, Potted Chiptunia, Enchanted Dew Drop) from the Chiptune collection as well, but I actually really liked how clean and refreshing this was. With the increased concentration, this has a larger projection, and wear time was around 4-5 hours, with linear wear. 

Perfect for: Hanging out at a posh mansion with white marble floors, while the gardener carefully manicures the lawn, while you dip your toes into their private pool and delicately sip cucumber water for your summer detox. 

Disclaimer: These scents were was sent for review. I was not sponsored for this review or affiliated with this brand, and all opinions are my own, and do not reflect the brand's opinions or interests.