I ordered the entire Foxcroft Collection and a body ganache from Solstice Scents some time ago!
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I finally got them from /u/minkishly (we combined shipping) and she also passed to me her Ghost body ganache since it didn't work out for her (the joys of knowing other beauty bloggers!). Anyway, I didn't get to see how the package arrived, but apparently I'm missing out since /u/speakstruth from indieknow.net posted these pictures of how pretty their presentation is!
So here are the reviews...
This is supposed to be scentless but it's definitely not scentless at all. There's a strong cocoa smell, which I personally like since it smells like actual cocoa instead of the artificial "chocolate" smell (actual cocoa smells like a dustier, more bitter version of chocolate), but people expecting an unscented lotion will definitely be surprised. I immediately messaged /u/daisyismydog since I remember her preference for unscented options.
Someone mentioned she found it drying on her. While I didn't find it drying, I didn't find it particularly moisturizing either. I really can't tell the difference after I put this on, and neither can my sister (who's forced to regularly grope me while I'm testing out body lotions). I think that's why my friend found it "drying" -if you're used to highly moisturizing body butters from other indies, this may not be enough for your skin. My skin is unfortunately spoiled, so after a while, I ended up with the dry patches on my elbows if I use this only.
The good thing is that the texture is very light, like slightly thickened whipped butter, and spreads easily. This gets absorbed really fast -in slightly under 2 minutes! Well, to be more exact, an average of 1min 47.5 seconds. Yes, I timed it with a stopwatch.
So now my tub sits in my office as my regular moisturizer since I use moisturizers as often as some people use hand sanitizers. It's so lightweight, I can put it on my hands and almost immediately start typing again.
The throw's ok for these perfumes -within whispering distance with some notes wafting up to casual conversation distance. It stays this way for 1-2h, before the smell fades and can only be sniffed close to your skin. You can still smell faint traces lingering on your skin for up to 10 hours though.
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| Image courtesy of www.indieknow.net, reposted with permission from /u/speakstruth |
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So here are the reviews...
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Ghost Body Ganache
This is supposed to be scentless but it's definitely not scentless at all. There's a strong cocoa smell, which I personally like since it smells like actual cocoa instead of the artificial "chocolate" smell (actual cocoa smells like a dustier, more bitter version of chocolate), but people expecting an unscented lotion will definitely be surprised. I immediately messaged /u/daisyismydog since I remember her preference for unscented options.
Someone mentioned she found it drying on her. While I didn't find it drying, I didn't find it particularly moisturizing either. I really can't tell the difference after I put this on, and neither can my sister (who's forced to regularly grope me while I'm testing out body lotions). I think that's why my friend found it "drying" -if you're used to highly moisturizing body butters from other indies, this may not be enough for your skin. My skin is unfortunately spoiled, so after a while, I ended up with the dry patches on my elbows if I use this only.
The good thing is that the texture is very light, like slightly thickened whipped butter, and spreads easily. This gets absorbed really fast -in slightly under 2 minutes! Well, to be more exact, an average of 1min 47.5 seconds. Yes, I timed it with a stopwatch.
So now my tub sits in my office as my regular moisturizer since I use moisturizers as often as some people use hand sanitizers. It's so lightweight, I can put it on my hands and almost immediately start typing again.
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Perfume Oils Review
The throw's ok for these perfumes -within whispering distance with some notes wafting up to casual conversation distance. It stays this way for 1-2h, before the smell fades and can only be sniffed close to your skin. You can still smell faint traces lingering on your skin for up to 10 hours though.
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Blackburn's Parlor
"Vanilla Waffle Bowl, Vanilla & Chocolate Ice Creams, Banana, Caramel, Whipped Cream"
Oh I definitely smell banana in this! It smells like a banana rum with whipped cream on top. I smell a sugared plum sort of smell in the banana rum, but some caramel notes turn into tart sugared plums on me. So I'm not sure what note it's supposed to be. After 25 min it's mostly sugared plums with cream. Delicious smell and I love it! Still not sure if it's what it's supposed to smell like though.
TL;DR: Banana rum giving way to sugared plums
Overview: I knew it wasn't supposed to smell like sugared plums! Violette Market's Caramel Sugar Kettle Corn also turned into sugared plums on me. I guess some caramel notes just turn into sugared plums me.
"Woods, Moss, Leaves, Wood Smoke, Dirt, Ozone, Fir Absolute"
This has that burnt wood smell again, only the burnt smell isn't too strong so it smells like a cologne featuring smoked wood as a note rather than something on fire. After 10 minutes, there's a masculine musk smell and a bit of a leather sort of bite to the scent, but the smoked wood is still prominent. The smell is a bit overwhelming, like a brand new leather chair in a very smoky cigar lounge with tons of wood panels.
After close to 2h, there's a bit of a BBQ smell to it.
TL;DR: Drowning in smoke in a cigar lounge, while sitting in a brand new leather chair.
"Crisp Fall Air, Wood Smoke, Leather Seats & Concessions of Root Beer, Popcorn & Chocolate Covered Caramels"
This starts off as a cool, chocolate covered jellybeans smell, with a smokiness that clings close to my skin. While I don't really like the smoky scents, the smokiness in this isn't overpoweringly strong and stays close to my skin instead of wafting around, so I don't mind it.
This scent has the best milk chocolate note I've ever encountered. It smells like actual milk chocolate instead of the artificial cheap kind. And I swear I smell jellybeans, there's that jellybean smell every jellybean seem to have, regardless of flavour. I'm torn on the jellybean flavour though. For the first 5 minutes, it smells like the root beer jellybeans I usually get, but by 10 minutes, it smells more like the buttered popcorn or caramel corn jellybean flavours. There may be toasted marshmallows in there too, but now I'm just listing all the flavours I often get.
This starts drying down in about an hour, which is faster than the other SS scents. The note that lasts the longest is unfortunately the smoky note, so that's what's left on my skin as it dries down.
TL;DR: Chocolate covered jellybeans in Popcorn, Caramel Corn, & Root Beer flavours.
TL;DR: Banana rum giving way to sugared plums
Overview: I knew it wasn't supposed to smell like sugared plums! Violette Market's Caramel Sugar Kettle Corn also turned into sugared plums on me. I guess some caramel notes just turn into sugared plums me.
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Covered Bridge
"Woods, Moss, Leaves, Wood Smoke, Dirt, Ozone, Fir Absolute"
This has that burnt wood smell again, only the burnt smell isn't too strong so it smells like a cologne featuring smoked wood as a note rather than something on fire. After 10 minutes, there's a masculine musk smell and a bit of a leather sort of bite to the scent, but the smoked wood is still prominent. The smell is a bit overwhelming, like a brand new leather chair in a very smoky cigar lounge with tons of wood panels.
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| This is Bibliotheque in Jakarta, one of the most beautiful bars I've ever seen. Unfortunately, they don't have a website and I can't find a single good-quality picture without people in it. This is actually the best picture I can find, which is a pity because it doesn't do it any justice. Their architect & interior designer are brilliant! Image courtesy of jakarta100bars.com |
After close to 2h, there's a bit of a BBQ smell to it.
TL;DR: Drowning in smoke in a cigar lounge, while sitting in a brand new leather chair.
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Maine Moon
"Crisp Fall Air, Wood Smoke, Leather Seats & Concessions of Root Beer, Popcorn & Chocolate Covered Caramels"
This starts off as a cool, chocolate covered jellybeans smell, with a smokiness that clings close to my skin. While I don't really like the smoky scents, the smokiness in this isn't overpoweringly strong and stays close to my skin instead of wafting around, so I don't mind it.
This scent has the best milk chocolate note I've ever encountered. It smells like actual milk chocolate instead of the artificial cheap kind. And I swear I smell jellybeans, there's that jellybean smell every jellybean seem to have, regardless of flavour. I'm torn on the jellybean flavour though. For the first 5 minutes, it smells like the root beer jellybeans I usually get, but by 10 minutes, it smells more like the buttered popcorn or caramel corn jellybean flavours. There may be toasted marshmallows in there too, but now I'm just listing all the flavours I often get.
This starts drying down in about an hour, which is faster than the other SS scents. The note that lasts the longest is unfortunately the smoky note, so that's what's left on my skin as it dries down.
TL;DR: Chocolate covered jellybeans in Popcorn, Caramel Corn, & Root Beer flavours.
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Maplewood Inn
"Maple, Woods, Amber, Benzoin, A Roaring Fire & A Hot Cup of Frothy Vanilla Chai"
The maple smell is strong in the bottle but once it's on me, it's mostly a bitter smell that smells like burnt wood or coffee. There's also a wood resin bite that's floating above the bitterness and fighting it. If you power through, the bitterness calms down after 7-10 min, and it ends up smelling like fried, maple-coated, wood smoked bacon with burnt bits. This has a bitter, medicinal smell as it dries down.
TL;DR: Fried, maple-coated, wood smoked-bacon with burnt bits
Overview: I tried this layered with the Ghost body ganache and it's amazing! It smells like chocolate covered, maple-drizzled wood-smoked bacon. Unfortunately, the chocolate smell fades the fastest and after an hour, it amplifies the burning smell that smells like balsam or Chinese muscle relief patches to some people.
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Minister
"Sandalwood, Amber, Cassia, Elemi, Sweet Smoke & Somalian Frankincense"
There's this citrus dryness to this scent that makes me think of either one of those car perfumes that comes in a tin, or Chinese dried orange/lemon peels. It looks like this:
As a car perfume it's the kind that's in a yellow/orange tin that'll have pictures of citrus fruits and flowers on it.
The dry smell is the kind of dryness that makes you feel as if all the moisture is being sucked out of the air and pierces your nose. After 1h more floral but still bone-dry citrus. As it dries down, there's a bitter medicinal smell to it, so I'm leaning towards Chinese dried orange/lemon peels.
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| I like snacking on them but it smells so acrid and the smell pierces your nose. Image courtesy of www.esgreen.com |
As a car perfume it's the kind that's in a yellow/orange tin that'll have pictures of citrus fruits and flowers on it.
The dry smell is the kind of dryness that makes you feel as if all the moisture is being sucked out of the air and pierces your nose. After 1h more floral but still bone-dry citrus. As it dries down, there's a bitter medicinal smell to it, so I'm leaning towards Chinese dried orange/lemon peels.
TL;DR: Chinese dried orange/lemon peels.
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Sycamore Sugarworks
"Caramelized Pear Tarts, Banana Apple Muffins, Spice Cakes With Rum Glaze, Cream Puffs & Maple Walnut Pastries"
Oh yum! This smells like something fruity and something vanilla-ish and edible. Either vanilla fudge or vanilla burnt toffee. I caught a whiff of banana in the beginning, but it disappears into the scent fast. Pretty sure there's caramel in this since I smell that sugared plum smell some caramels turn into on my skin.
There's also a "clean" type of smell that makes you think of white rooms and bright white lights -kind of like a See's Candies store. It's like going into a lab that specializes in making edible goodies.
The clean smell unfortunately gets stronger and sometimes, this smell tethers on the brink of smelling like a bathroom in an expensive office building, that's right next to a dessert store.
There's also a "clean" type of smell that makes you think of white rooms and bright white lights -kind of like a See's Candies store. It's like going into a lab that specializes in making edible goodies.
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| Baker's bakery by Studio 180 in Tel Aviv...I may need to visit Tel Aviv just munch on those tempting pastries... Image courtesy of retaildesignblog.net |
The clean smell unfortunately gets stronger and sometimes, this smell tethers on the brink of smelling like a bathroom in an expensive office building, that's right next to a dessert store.
TL;DR: A lab specializing in making desserts.
Overview: I'm guessing it's the pear note that starts smelling clean and almost office bathroom-ish.
Overview: I'm guessing it's the pear note that starts smelling clean and almost office bathroom-ish.
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