I've been sending my Sweet Anthem Subscription box to my cousin, which is why there's a delay in my reviews. In this review, I'll be reviewing 2 solid scents and 3 alcohol perfume scents. For my previous review, you can head
here.
If you read my previous review, I mentioned that while I didn't find any that worked for me, I still like the quality of these perfumes. I stand by that statement, these scents are amazing quality and I'm so glad I finally got scents that do work for me this time. As always, these reviews are done blind until the TL;DRs are written. If any of the notes surprise me, I write an overview:
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Solid Perfume Reviews
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Annabelle
Head Notes: Sea Salt
Heart Notes: Jasmine, Osmanthus
Base Notes: White Amber
Creamy, clean white florals with a hint of tartness. The clean, white florals bit sells a lot like another Sweet Anthem scent –Lucille. I think I have to sniff both of them together. If I sniff really close to the skin, I get a hint of masculine "dustiness" that makes me think of cool, bitter, authentic powdered green tea. After about 30 min, the scent has a rounded candy-like sweetness to it, which really reminds me of Lucille.
TL;DR: Cool, clean, white florals.
Overview: Here are the notes for Lucille:
Head Notes: Sea Salt
Heart Notes: Jasmine, Linden Blossom
Base Notes: Amber, Rosewood, Tonka Bean
Ok, I see the same combination of sea salt, jasmine & amber, so that may be the clean, white florals part of the scent. The difference is that Lucille starts of with a chewy candy sort of rounded sweetness mingling with the clean, white florals, while Annabelle starts of with a sort of vaguely fruity tartness mingling with the same florals. As the scent wears on, both take on a bit of a "dusty" sort of quality, but Lucille is more of a warm, woody sort of "dustiness", while Annabelle is more of a cool, tea-like freshness with a hint of powder. Lucille definitely got warmer, creamier, and heavier as it wears on, and by the end of it, it's more of heavy florals with no trace of the chewy candy florals I loved so much. Meanwhile, Annabelle stayed cool and light, and began smelling closer to Lucille's start (though it doesn't smell as rounded and chewy-candy-ish).
So the TL;DR is: I love Lucille's start more, but prefer Annabelle's finish.
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Phoebe
Head Notes: Maple Sugar, Snow
Heart Notes: Lavender
Base Notes: Dirt, Tobacco, White Amber
This is a heavier sort of sweet scent, and has a unique combination of masculine and feminine elements. On one hand, it has that heavy, old lady powdery scent and sweetness. On the other hand, it also has this cool, masculine sort of dirty bitterness. There's also a hint of tartness that I think may be a vanilla note going wrong or a more acrid sort of black tea note.
Anyway, this entire scent makes me think of an old, aristocratic English lady reading in the library of her stately home. All old lady perfume, warm coziness, aged leather-bound books and wood.
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I was actually searching for a picture of an old English lady in a library, but then I stumbled on this and well...er...sharing's caring. So imagine this scene, but replace the hot dude with an old lady and you get this scent.
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous photography by Joanna Kustra |
While I personally like this scent, I think it's a tad too old for me. It does get lighter as time goes on, but it still smells more like a scent for someone in their 40s or 50s. I'm still hanging on to this scent to sniff privately though, since it makes me think I'm transported into a cozy, library within an old English castle or manor, full of rare books you can drown yourself in.
TL;DR: Old, aristocratic English lady reading in the library of her stately home.
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Alcohol Perfume Reviews
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Agatha
Head Notes: Petit Grain Mandarin
Heart Notes: Orris, Peony
Base Notes: Caramel
At first, I got searing unidentifiable tart roomspray, but there's this chewy candy scent underneath. The searing bit calmed down enough for me to identify it, but it's still that searing feeling on your nose when you have perfume/room spray sprayed too close to you. It now smells like a citrus room spray and a floral chewy candy. I like the chewy candy base, but the searing bit gives me a bit of a headache. After about 10min, I also got traces of that calcium supplement sort of cloying dustiness.
TL;DR: Citrus room spray and a floral chewy candy.
Overview: Maybe this would smell way better with just the orris, peony and caramel?
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Lenore
Head Notes: Pineapple
Heart Notes: Orange Blossom
Base Notes: Fern, White Musk
Oh my god this is amazing! This smells like summer to me –fresh, light white florals with hints of green. Something about this makes me think of beaches and breezes. It's such a light, clean and fresh sort of floral. If I'm picking a picture to create a perfume ad for this scent, it'll definitely be this:
I love it! I'm definitely thinking of getting a full size of this!
TL;DR: Beach-y fresh, light white florals with green.
Overview: Pineapples! I think that's what was giving this scent the tropical feel. I tried sniffing it again and the pineapple blends so well with the other scents, it's not noticeable even when you know it's there.
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Ulalume
Head Notes: Black Pepper, Ylang Ylang
Heart Notes: Gardenia
Base Notes: Dried Leaves
This smells old and kinda dusty, but it's definitely a unique sort of old and dusty scent I've never encountered before (ie. it's not the usual patchouli sort of "old" smell). Initially, I got that acrid black tea note scent, but it dissipated by 3 min. It still lingers giving the scent this touch of dried, dusty leaves. There's also waxy florals in this and a sort of coolness to this that makes me think of winter. The smell makes me think of sifting through old scrapbooks in the attic while snowed in, while applying a really thick floral hand cream to beat the winter dryness.
It's a feminine scent, but a bit leaning towards masculine. As weird as this sounds, I can totally see it as a great scent for a high-ranking career woman (probably in her 30s). The kind of woman whose tastes lean towards masculine and is comfortable in even the most male-dominated conservative-minded boardrooms, yet still looks like Gong Li in a suit.
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She's one of the reasons I thought a corporate job would be fun. Turns out, you need a body like Gong Li's to look like Gong Li in a suit.
Image courtesy of hotflicks.net |
TL;DR: Kicking ass in the boardroom while looking hot like Gong Li.
Overview: On second sniff, I can catch a sniff of the black pepper. It's behind the bitter coolness that makes me think of winter, funnily enough, and also adds to the "dusty" sort of feel to the scent. Ylang ylang always smells like a cottony, baby oil-ish flower to me and I guess mixed with the gardenia, it becomes the waxy florals.
