I got 26 decants of Possets' Winter 2014 scents, so I'm going to split the reviews into 3. I'm trying to review them as fast as possible before Fabbiene takes them down by Jan 31! So here's part 1 of the review.
As always, all scent reviews are done blind until the TL;DR part's written. Overviews are written if the notes surprise me. For my previous Possets reviews, you can click here or on the Possets tag on the right.
"Rose, soft honey, and pink pepper with white musk and a small amount of saffron. Very soft but very beautiful. The pink pepper turns rose every so softly into a more sophisticated thing and much cooler. Like the music after which it was names, this perfume builds up to an achingly sweet climax."
There's that old lady type of powdery rose with a plant like scent mixed in. It's a wet, green, succulent plant that's been smushed type of plant scent. The rose is still dominant though, so it kind of makes me think of a young woman from another era (when rose is still fashionable and not an old lady scent), sitting in a garden. But then the scent gets sweeter and sweeter and by 10 min in, it smells like a sweet rose candy that's very sweet but still manages to be powdery and rounded.
It still smells like the kind of sweets that only old ladies would offer, though.
TL;DR: Powdery rose candy.
"Cranberries through smoke."
Oh ew. At first I get those artificial watery berries smell that makes me think of a Vitamin Water flavour. I thought it'll get better but nope. It just ends up smelling like a berry bubble bath that's marketed for kids.
TL;DR: Artificial berries that appeals to kids.
Overview: Sniffed this again...the smoke doesn't show up on me..it's just the artificial berries scent.
"Clove, coffee, a drop of mild oude, and very light smoke."
Very burnt coffee with wood. The wood bit is almost like an room scent for a really gorgeous private library where they have comfy leather seats and snooty butlers bringing in your coffee as you read a book.
If it's not for the burnt bit, I'd buy a full size of this in an instant. I still like it, but I'm not in love with it.
TL;DR: Very burnt coffee in sweet private library.
Overview: If I'm looking out for it, I can get hints of the smoke. But it's more of the smoky smell that lingers on the furniture in cigar lounges, and that's probably why I started thinking of private libraries. It's definitely the kind of scent that makes you want to puff on a pipe and say things like, "Elementary, my dear..."
"Mysore sandalwood, suede, frankincense, patchouli, 4 vanillas. This blend is tough and tender at the same time, like the queen herself. This one makes vanilla turn tricks as an oriental ingredient and all of the fabulous elements get along so well. It's an instant sex classic."
Omg, this is sooo good! The smell floating around is strawberries shortcake, but down at the base, there's this slightly masculine wood perfume scent. I kept smelling that wood perfume scent on a lot of men in Dubai, so the effect is like eating the most delicious strawberry shortcake, next to a very, very hot Middle Eastern dude.
It totally hits both lusts, so I'm happy. The strawberry part is Posset's usual kiddy, artificial sort of strawberry, but the shortcake bit is really delicious and just made the artificialness work. While I personally love it, it's not for everyone.
After 30 min, the awesome wood smell turns a bit chemical-ish smell that's similar to ink. The artificial strawberry shortcake bit is still dominant though, so I don't mind it.
TL;DR: Artificial strawberry shortcakes and a hot dude.
"Lime as the top note, with bottom notes of: 3 ambers, aged patchouli, two frankincenses, and dry pekoe tea. Very spicy despite no ingredients being added as "spices". Insinuating and glorious when cuddling. A true winter fragrance. No collection would be complete without this fragrance from the profound category. Oriental and resinous."
I get that really acrid preserved lemon smell and a nutty scent. The acrid preserved lemon bit has a woody quality to it, so it can be a black tea note. The nutty bit isn't sweet or anything...just nutty like an oil from a nut. By about 15-18 min, the lemon part starts smelling like a kitchen cleaning spritz...while still having that warm, heavy, acrid wood sort of smell in the begining. Possets citrus are usually amazing and unfortunately, this one isn't one of them.
TL;DR: Lemon kitchen cleaner spritz over nut oil and acrid preserved lemons.
"Blue musk, blue berry, angelica. This is as blue as I can make a fragrance without the help of lavender! This is a strong fragrance with a surprising hint of animalic thanks to...the blueberry! Strong and surprisingly sexy for a...blueberry! There is a lyrical quality to it which I really love."
It smells like a blueberry candy at first, but then other amazing scents come it. It becomes this sweet, cool (not icy) blueberry. The blueberry is an artificial blueberry that I normally would hate but it's so well blended into this scent that it just adds a sweetness to it. I only recognized it as blueberry because of HoG's White Blueberries, which uses the same exact blueberry scent. HoG's White Blueberries' blueberry notes are dominant though, while the blueberries in Blue Danube are more subtle. I can't help but think that this is the scent I imagined White Blueberries should be. It's clean, cold and smooth scent with hints of blueberries, making me think of a still, fairytale winter landscape that's blanketed with snow. If I'm picking an ad for this, I'd pick this:
It's a cool but not freezing landscape with a fairytale-like element that appeals to little girls while still staying elegant.
TL;DR: Fairytale winter blueberries.
"Lilac and crystal musk. Simple and should not have worked, lilac being so soft and crystal musk being so hard edged. However, after playing with the proportions for a long time, I got the balance right and, much to my delight, the lilac was improved by its association with such a cold element. I wore this to a play the evening I made it and got 3 compliments. So, now I am going to let you get compliments on it. Floral but very modern."
I was most excited for this scent since I love Ravel! Another song you need to check out by Ravel is definitely Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte!
Fabienne definitely did this song justice...this is a very clear, deep and leafy floral. As the scent wears on, the florals get deeper, with a floral bitterness you get from orchids and lilies in it. The scent is also cool in a leafy way, and it makes me think of an elegant woman in winter. It's not a cheery, playful winter full of dancing snowflakes and frost though. It's more of a quiet, still winter, when the snow has settled and everything is silent.
TL;DR: An elegant woman in a cool, still winter scenery.
"I was missing the old Ambush and went fiddling around and came up with a pretty good recreation of it.There is a lot of hawthorne here, a very sugary musk, a kiss of what I call a "silly musk" and it's all about silky skin, girly-ness and great fun. I think this should be a separate genre of perfume. Not for the dignified but definitely for the fun lover. Perfumy, sweet and high keyed."
There's this cottony musk scent to this that smells I've seen several perfumers call "Egyptian musk" before. That cottony musk smells a lot like certain baby oils to me. It's similar to Sugar & Spite's Katrina, only this has a light sweetness to it like a mist of sweet, sugary water. The sugary bit is gorgeous though, it's very light and doesn't have that searing, piercing quality that some "sugar" notes have. The cottony musk that's grounding it is a bit heavy though. I'm not really sure how I feel about it. It's like a very quiet, serene, new mother (the cottony musk/baby oil bit always makes me think of new moms) mixed with a young and fun sprite.
TL;DR: Baby oil mixed with a spritz of sugary mist.
"Black musk, Arabian frankincense,3 golden ambers, very spicy gingerbread, and a goodly shot of black tea. What a party indeed. Smells delightful in a very grown up and spicy/resinous way. Quite seductive."
I smell milky Indonesian ginger tea in this, the kind sweetened with that slightly burnt, rich, almost coppery sweetness of gula melaka.
There's also occasional hints of a sweet, rounded bit that smells like sugarcane juice to me. It smells like milky Indonesian ginger tea mixed with sugarcane juice. I smell hints of a bakery smell trying to get out, but it's mostly milky ginger tea to me.
TL;DR: Milky ginger tea sweetened with gula melaka & sugar cane juice.
Overview: I love this scent, but thanks to my cultural associations, it smells very comforting and cuddly for me. It's kinda funny how that particular combination turns into milky ginger tea to me.
As always, all scent reviews are done blind until the TL;DR part's written. Overviews are written if the notes surprise me. For my previous Possets reviews, you can click here or on the Possets tag on the right.
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Adagio for Strings (Barber)
"Rose, soft honey, and pink pepper with white musk and a small amount of saffron. Very soft but very beautiful. The pink pepper turns rose every so softly into a more sophisticated thing and much cooler. Like the music after which it was names, this perfume builds up to an achingly sweet climax."
There's that old lady type of powdery rose with a plant like scent mixed in. It's a wet, green, succulent plant that's been smushed type of plant scent. The rose is still dominant though, so it kind of makes me think of a young woman from another era (when rose is still fashionable and not an old lady scent), sitting in a garden. But then the scent gets sweeter and sweeter and by 10 min in, it smells like a sweet rose candy that's very sweet but still manages to be powdery and rounded.
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| Image courtesy of zerobacco.gr |
It still smells like the kind of sweets that only old ladies would offer, though.
TL;DR: Powdery rose candy.
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Air on a G-String (Bach)
"Cranberries through smoke."
Oh ew. At first I get those artificial watery berries smell that makes me think of a Vitamin Water flavour. I thought it'll get better but nope. It just ends up smelling like a berry bubble bath that's marketed for kids.
TL;DR: Artificial berries that appeals to kids.
Overview: Sniffed this again...the smoke doesn't show up on me..it's just the artificial berries scent.
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Arabian Dance from the Nutcracker (Tchaikovsky)
"Clove, coffee, a drop of mild oude, and very light smoke."
Very burnt coffee with wood. The wood bit is almost like an room scent for a really gorgeous private library where they have comfy leather seats and snooty butlers bringing in your coffee as you read a book.
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| This place just begs for a butler. Preferably English/Japanese/Dutch/any other nationality that used to colonize your country...there's a perverse pleasure in being served by former colonialists... Image found on jmdirstein.wordpress |
If it's not for the burnt bit, I'd buy a full size of this in an instant. I still like it, but I'm not in love with it.
TL;DR: Very burnt coffee in sweet private library.
Overview: If I'm looking out for it, I can get hints of the smoke. But it's more of the smoky smell that lingers on the furniture in cigar lounges, and that's probably why I started thinking of private libraries. It's definitely the kind of scent that makes you want to puff on a pipe and say things like, "Elementary, my dear..."
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Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (Handel)
"Mysore sandalwood, suede, frankincense, patchouli, 4 vanillas. This blend is tough and tender at the same time, like the queen herself. This one makes vanilla turn tricks as an oriental ingredient and all of the fabulous elements get along so well. It's an instant sex classic."
Omg, this is sooo good! The smell floating around is strawberries shortcake, but down at the base, there's this slightly masculine wood perfume scent. I kept smelling that wood perfume scent on a lot of men in Dubai, so the effect is like eating the most delicious strawberry shortcake, next to a very, very hot Middle Eastern dude.
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| Adding a pic of a smouldering hot dude because, well, why the hell not? I don't approve of smoking but damn, this model is smoking hot. I've been trying to figure out who he is so I can stalk him... Gorgeous shot by Behnam Razavi |
It totally hits both lusts, so I'm happy. The strawberry part is Posset's usual kiddy, artificial sort of strawberry, but the shortcake bit is really delicious and just made the artificialness work. While I personally love it, it's not for everyone.
After 30 min, the awesome wood smell turns a bit chemical-ish smell that's similar to ink. The artificial strawberry shortcake bit is still dominant though, so I don't mind it.
TL;DR: Artificial strawberry shortcakes and a hot dude.
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Beethoven's Fifth
"Lime as the top note, with bottom notes of: 3 ambers, aged patchouli, two frankincenses, and dry pekoe tea. Very spicy despite no ingredients being added as "spices". Insinuating and glorious when cuddling. A true winter fragrance. No collection would be complete without this fragrance from the profound category. Oriental and resinous."
I get that really acrid preserved lemon smell and a nutty scent. The acrid preserved lemon bit has a woody quality to it, so it can be a black tea note. The nutty bit isn't sweet or anything...just nutty like an oil from a nut. By about 15-18 min, the lemon part starts smelling like a kitchen cleaning spritz...while still having that warm, heavy, acrid wood sort of smell in the begining. Possets citrus are usually amazing and unfortunately, this one isn't one of them.
TL;DR: Lemon kitchen cleaner spritz over nut oil and acrid preserved lemons.
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Blue Danube (Straus)
"Blue musk, blue berry, angelica. This is as blue as I can make a fragrance without the help of lavender! This is a strong fragrance with a surprising hint of animalic thanks to...the blueberry! Strong and surprisingly sexy for a...blueberry! There is a lyrical quality to it which I really love."
It smells like a blueberry candy at first, but then other amazing scents come it. It becomes this sweet, cool (not icy) blueberry. The blueberry is an artificial blueberry that I normally would hate but it's so well blended into this scent that it just adds a sweetness to it. I only recognized it as blueberry because of HoG's White Blueberries, which uses the same exact blueberry scent. HoG's White Blueberries' blueberry notes are dominant though, while the blueberries in Blue Danube are more subtle. I can't help but think that this is the scent I imagined White Blueberries should be. It's clean, cold and smooth scent with hints of blueberries, making me think of a still, fairytale winter landscape that's blanketed with snow. If I'm picking an ad for this, I'd pick this:
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| Hohenzollern in Germany. Take your little girls there..the entire countryside's a fairytale. Amazing photography by Kilian Schönberger |
It's a cool but not freezing landscape with a fairytale-like element that appeals to little girls while still staying elegant.
TL;DR: Fairytale winter blueberries.
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Bolero (Ravel)
"Lilac and crystal musk. Simple and should not have worked, lilac being so soft and crystal musk being so hard edged. However, after playing with the proportions for a long time, I got the balance right and, much to my delight, the lilac was improved by its association with such a cold element. I wore this to a play the evening I made it and got 3 compliments. So, now I am going to let you get compliments on it. Floral but very modern."
I was most excited for this scent since I love Ravel! Another song you need to check out by Ravel is definitely Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte!
Fabienne definitely did this song justice...this is a very clear, deep and leafy floral. As the scent wears on, the florals get deeper, with a floral bitterness you get from orchids and lilies in it. The scent is also cool in a leafy way, and it makes me think of an elegant woman in winter. It's not a cheery, playful winter full of dancing snowflakes and frost though. It's more of a quiet, still winter, when the snow has settled and everything is silent.
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| Her expression just says, "I'm going to bloody murder the photographer for making me walk around in a ball gown in the snow." Amazing photography by one of my favourite photographers, Amanda Diaz |
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Bridal Chorus (Wagner)
"I was missing the old Ambush and went fiddling around and came up with a pretty good recreation of it.There is a lot of hawthorne here, a very sugary musk, a kiss of what I call a "silly musk" and it's all about silky skin, girly-ness and great fun. I think this should be a separate genre of perfume. Not for the dignified but definitely for the fun lover. Perfumy, sweet and high keyed."
There's this cottony musk scent to this that smells I've seen several perfumers call "Egyptian musk" before. That cottony musk smells a lot like certain baby oils to me. It's similar to Sugar & Spite's Katrina, only this has a light sweetness to it like a mist of sweet, sugary water. The sugary bit is gorgeous though, it's very light and doesn't have that searing, piercing quality that some "sugar" notes have. The cottony musk that's grounding it is a bit heavy though. I'm not really sure how I feel about it. It's like a very quiet, serene, new mother (the cottony musk/baby oil bit always makes me think of new moms) mixed with a young and fun sprite.
TL;DR: Baby oil mixed with a spritz of sugary mist.
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Clara's Party from The Nutcracker
"Black musk, Arabian frankincense,3 golden ambers, very spicy gingerbread, and a goodly shot of black tea. What a party indeed. Smells delightful in a very grown up and spicy/resinous way. Quite seductive."
I smell milky Indonesian ginger tea in this, the kind sweetened with that slightly burnt, rich, almost coppery sweetness of gula melaka.
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| This is how gula melaka looks like. If I'm ever sending you stuff and you want to try some gula melaka, let me know and I'll send it with your package! Image courtesy of expatliving.sg |
There's also occasional hints of a sweet, rounded bit that smells like sugarcane juice to me. It smells like milky Indonesian ginger tea mixed with sugarcane juice. I smell hints of a bakery smell trying to get out, but it's mostly milky ginger tea to me.
TL;DR: Milky ginger tea sweetened with gula melaka & sugar cane juice.
Overview: I love this scent, but thanks to my cultural associations, it smells very comforting and cuddly for me. It's kinda funny how that particular combination turns into milky ginger tea to me.
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