Whee! Possets Halloween Scents!
The perfumes from the Possets decant circle arrived today and I have a huge amount of scents to go through! And I didn't even order everything from the Halloween update!
So, reviews are under the cut for those who are interested.
Fluoxetine
Initial Thoughts - one of the Freudian/psychology theme blends. I forgot about the fact that so far these have all been chocolate-based until after I placed my order. Ah well.
In the Bottle: chocolate, caramel and candy, loaded with extra sugar.
Wet: Wow, that's faint on me. I can barely tell that there's a scent there. But if I try hard enough, I can just detect it. It's like the Candy Swag blend with chocolate stirred in. Extreme sugar.
Drydown: This continues to stay very close to the skin on me, with almost zero throw. The scent holds true without much morphing, very candy-sweet with chocolate undertones.
Verdict: Well, it's better than most chocolate scents on me, but it's still a chocolate scent. And there's so little throw on the skin. Maybe it will be stronger on someone else.
Shock Treatment
Initial Thoughts: The description on the website said mint. I always like trying mint scents. I don't know if the chocolate theme was kept.
In the Bottle: Holy moly, that'll wake someone up! Very minty, very salty, very strange.
Wet: It's a strange combination of mint, ocean/salt, and medicinal. It's not exactly appealing, but I can't stop sniffing it because it's shaking my brain awake.
Drydown: This is another scent without much throw. The mint has faded, leaving the medicinal-salty smell in its wake.
Verdict: Well, if you need help waking up in the mornings, huffing on a bottle or vial of this would help. But I don't care for it as a perfume.
Lamp Black
Initial Thoughts: One of two new additions to the Color Palette. I must try them all, though I don't keep all of them. I have heard rumors of licorice in this one.
In the Bottle: Wow. I love what Fabienne can do with this line. The initial impression is indeed of a soft, velvety black, like the blacking powder once used to polish stoves. It's inviting and a bit seductive.
Wet: Hm. Not as good on me. I get anise and tea and something in the background has a sour undertone.
Drydown: Hmpf. Of all things, it now smells like stale soot on me. There's supposed to be pepper in here, and I don't think it's behaving on me.
Verdict: Ah well, hopefully this will work on someone else.
Cadmium Orange
Initial Thoughts: Another in the Colors. I am guessing this will be major citrus.
In the Bottle: Ugh. It's orange, but orange cleanser rather than the fruity smell. Something is powdery and almost acrid in there.
Wet: Okay, that's much better. On my skin I get the fruity orange note, and it's a very pleasant one.
Drydown: Wah! The fresh-fruit is fading. Now it smells more like orange candy with a heavy dose of sweet spices in the mix.
Verdict: Hmm. I will keep the decant a while and see how often I reach for it to smell like cinnamon oranges.
Inez
Initial Thoughts: Yay for carnation, boo-hiss to leather. But I'm hoping at least one of the new line of scents inspired by cats will work on me, since proceeds from the bottles go to a local rescue-and adoption operation for cats.
In the Bottle: Whoa...heavy on the leather. This bodes ill.
Wet: Definitely a leather scent. But it's not a he-man Wild West leather; it's softer and has a sweetness from the carnation and a hint of citrus.
Drydown: The carnation gets a little stronger, but there's not much morph or throw with this one.
Verdict: Hm. I think I may play with this one another day or two. I can't decide right now if it's a scent I would wear.
Sam
Initial Thoughts: This was the new Les Chats scent I had the most hope for, with the apples undercutting the sweet/foody candy. All the other cat scents were over-the-top foody to me.
In the Bottle: Ooh, that's apple-y sweet! Reminds me a bit of BPAL's Creepy.
Wet: A blast of sweet spices. Not even candy-sweet, really. I think there's a bit of chocolate in there. I'm getting almost no apple.
Drydown: Alas, there's most definitely chocolate in this. My dreams of Pippin-meets-Candy-Swag are dashed. The apple emerges some, but it's not center stage for me.
Verdict: Can't do chocolate. Must pass.
Drunkin Punkin'
Initial Thoughts: I have developed a love for pumpkin scents in my perfume evolution. I don't tend to do well with booze notes, but this must be tried.
In the Bottle: I get a bit of pumpkiny goodness before the whiskey leaps out and straight up my nose.
Wet: Yummy fall spices. Delicious pumpkin. And cutting through it like a knife is the liquor.
Drydown: Damn. If the booze note were just a little more subtle. As it is, it's actually making me feel slightly ill, since I dislike most liquors.
Verdict: *pouts* Pass on this one.
Nuts in a Pumpkin
Initial Thoughts: I've tried a lot of pumpkin scents, but I can't think of a single one that included nut components.
In the Bottle: Oh, this smells extremely promising! Sweet and yummy pumpkin laced with spice and nuts...a perfect Thanksgiving kitchen with the pies coming out of the oven...
Wet: Very heavy on the nuts. It's almost like pecan pie single-note.
Drydown: It takes a while, but the pumpkin finally comes back out to play. The nuts are still the strong point.
Verdict: I think it's my favorite of the Halloween Possets, but I need to see how fast I use the decant before committing to a bottle.
Pippin
Initial Thoughts: This is the one revisited Halloween scent from last year that I missed. Must try the apple!
In the Bottle: APPLE!! Tart, fresh, crisp APPLE!!!
Wet: It goes quite green on my skin, almost like the green-stem slant on many rose perfumes.
Drydown: Aw, nuts. Something has developed a definite plasticky aroma. There goes my plan to layer this with Nuts in a Pumpkin.
Verdict: Curse the sudden but inevitable betrayal of my skin. I'll consider whether I'd use this enough in a scent locket or room scent.
So, reviews are under the cut for those who are interested.
Fluoxetine
Initial Thoughts - one of the Freudian/psychology theme blends. I forgot about the fact that so far these have all been chocolate-based until after I placed my order. Ah well.
In the Bottle: chocolate, caramel and candy, loaded with extra sugar.
Wet: Wow, that's faint on me. I can barely tell that there's a scent there. But if I try hard enough, I can just detect it. It's like the Candy Swag blend with chocolate stirred in. Extreme sugar.
Drydown: This continues to stay very close to the skin on me, with almost zero throw. The scent holds true without much morphing, very candy-sweet with chocolate undertones.
Verdict: Well, it's better than most chocolate scents on me, but it's still a chocolate scent. And there's so little throw on the skin. Maybe it will be stronger on someone else.
Shock Treatment
Initial Thoughts: The description on the website said mint. I always like trying mint scents. I don't know if the chocolate theme was kept.
In the Bottle: Holy moly, that'll wake someone up! Very minty, very salty, very strange.
Wet: It's a strange combination of mint, ocean/salt, and medicinal. It's not exactly appealing, but I can't stop sniffing it because it's shaking my brain awake.
Drydown: This is another scent without much throw. The mint has faded, leaving the medicinal-salty smell in its wake.
Verdict: Well, if you need help waking up in the mornings, huffing on a bottle or vial of this would help. But I don't care for it as a perfume.
Lamp Black
Initial Thoughts: One of two new additions to the Color Palette. I must try them all, though I don't keep all of them. I have heard rumors of licorice in this one.
In the Bottle: Wow. I love what Fabienne can do with this line. The initial impression is indeed of a soft, velvety black, like the blacking powder once used to polish stoves. It's inviting and a bit seductive.
Wet: Hm. Not as good on me. I get anise and tea and something in the background has a sour undertone.
Drydown: Hmpf. Of all things, it now smells like stale soot on me. There's supposed to be pepper in here, and I don't think it's behaving on me.
Verdict: Ah well, hopefully this will work on someone else.
Cadmium Orange
Initial Thoughts: Another in the Colors. I am guessing this will be major citrus.
In the Bottle: Ugh. It's orange, but orange cleanser rather than the fruity smell. Something is powdery and almost acrid in there.
Wet: Okay, that's much better. On my skin I get the fruity orange note, and it's a very pleasant one.
Drydown: Wah! The fresh-fruit is fading. Now it smells more like orange candy with a heavy dose of sweet spices in the mix.
Verdict: Hmm. I will keep the decant a while and see how often I reach for it to smell like cinnamon oranges.
Inez
Initial Thoughts: Yay for carnation, boo-hiss to leather. But I'm hoping at least one of the new line of scents inspired by cats will work on me, since proceeds from the bottles go to a local rescue-and adoption operation for cats.
In the Bottle: Whoa...heavy on the leather. This bodes ill.
Wet: Definitely a leather scent. But it's not a he-man Wild West leather; it's softer and has a sweetness from the carnation and a hint of citrus.
Drydown: The carnation gets a little stronger, but there's not much morph or throw with this one.
Verdict: Hm. I think I may play with this one another day or two. I can't decide right now if it's a scent I would wear.
Sam
Initial Thoughts: This was the new Les Chats scent I had the most hope for, with the apples undercutting the sweet/foody candy. All the other cat scents were over-the-top foody to me.
In the Bottle: Ooh, that's apple-y sweet! Reminds me a bit of BPAL's Creepy.
Wet: A blast of sweet spices. Not even candy-sweet, really. I think there's a bit of chocolate in there. I'm getting almost no apple.
Drydown: Alas, there's most definitely chocolate in this. My dreams of Pippin-meets-Candy-Swag are dashed. The apple emerges some, but it's not center stage for me.
Verdict: Can't do chocolate. Must pass.
Drunkin Punkin'
Initial Thoughts: I have developed a love for pumpkin scents in my perfume evolution. I don't tend to do well with booze notes, but this must be tried.
In the Bottle: I get a bit of pumpkiny goodness before the whiskey leaps out and straight up my nose.
Wet: Yummy fall spices. Delicious pumpkin. And cutting through it like a knife is the liquor.
Drydown: Damn. If the booze note were just a little more subtle. As it is, it's actually making me feel slightly ill, since I dislike most liquors.
Verdict: *pouts* Pass on this one.
Nuts in a Pumpkin
Initial Thoughts: I've tried a lot of pumpkin scents, but I can't think of a single one that included nut components.
In the Bottle: Oh, this smells extremely promising! Sweet and yummy pumpkin laced with spice and nuts...a perfect Thanksgiving kitchen with the pies coming out of the oven...
Wet: Very heavy on the nuts. It's almost like pecan pie single-note.
Drydown: It takes a while, but the pumpkin finally comes back out to play. The nuts are still the strong point.
Verdict: I think it's my favorite of the Halloween Possets, but I need to see how fast I use the decant before committing to a bottle.
Pippin
Initial Thoughts: This is the one revisited Halloween scent from last year that I missed. Must try the apple!
In the Bottle: APPLE!! Tart, fresh, crisp APPLE!!!
Wet: It goes quite green on my skin, almost like the green-stem slant on many rose perfumes.
Drydown: Aw, nuts. Something has developed a definite plasticky aroma. There goes my plan to layer this with Nuts in a Pumpkin.
Verdict: Curse the sudden but inevitable betrayal of my skin. I'll consider whether I'd use this enough in a scent locket or room scent.