Brand: Solstice Scents
Scent Description:
This is one of our first dual concept fragrances. It is meant to embody the luxurious decadence of black forest cake and the dark secluded imagery of the Black Forest in Germany. The focus was on rich exotic wood notes in lieu of conifer notes to represent the forest. Black Forest is very heavy on the woods. On initial application the cherries are detectable but they quickly fall into a chasm of deep dark notes that serve to tame the gourmand element of this blend. The agarwood and nagarmotha prop up the sweet notes and are the next to be discovered. Nagarmotha essential oil is a divine cross that strikes somewhere between vetiver and agarwood. It evokes a rare and precious wood note. The tobacco and hay absolutes are the next notes to emerge quickly after detection of the aforementioned notes. They wrap the other oils in a cozy, warm, dry and dusty blanket. This is the point where Black Forest turns most dry and smells like a humidor housing a very fine and exceedingly dark chocolate cherry pipe tobacco. The scent stays in this phase for a little while but as your skin warms it, the ethereal billows of the fluffiest whipped cream waft far in the background and sweeten the blend of woods to the point that it begins to smell like a wonderful unlit incense stick coupled with the pipe tobacco. The gourmand notes end up receding tremendously though they are invaluable to the overall character of this scent. This is not a standard foodie scent. If you like dark fragrances with these notes, try this unusual and enticing fragrance. It is full of character and depth. After a few hours on the skin it turns a lot sweeter when the whipped cream note is most apparent but the woods keep it grounded and it stays a super delicious incensey scent.
Really nice cocoa and forest blend, I don’t get much cherry which is fine by me.
When I opened the vial, I was hit with a blast of true dark chocolate. It was wonderful. On my skin I could still detect the dark chocolate; though it didn’t take long before it was completely usurped by the oud and nagarmotha. This is one woody scent – further settling on my skin also brings out the sandalwood and I think some of the tobacco, too.
But I get nothing else. No whipped cream. And no cherries. 🙁 I don’t even get cherries in the vial.
I am a dark chocolate cake. Eat me. Then the dry down is less chocolate and more tobacco/incense? If I liked chocolate cake, I would love the evolution of this because I love good tobacco and my skin amplifies tobacco.
I adore this perfume oil. I was hesitant at first because of the chocolate note. I was afraid it would veer into Tootsie Roll territory on me. The woods are the most prominent in this followed by a somewhat tart cherry smell creeping into the mix but never quite taking center stage. The tobacco and hay notes develop as the cherry fades away. The end result of this on my skin translates as a cozy wood dominant chocolate tinged scent. I need a full size bottle of this for sure. I was a bit worried about the hay in this blend due to my seasonal allergies but I had zero issues.
Such a complex and beautiful gourmand that isn’t too foody… rich and decadent,dark and dreamy, with this dusty/musty smoky vibe in the base that I am crazy about and assume is the hay. this is one of my very favorite from Solstice and I’m not even a cherry fan! That’s how good Solstice is, they can make you love notes you never even remotely liked in other scents you’ve tried before. Solstice really is a cut above the other indie houses.
UPDATE: After many subsequent wearings I continue to notice a distinct coconut vibe. Not sure if this is the hay reading as coconut or an actual coconut note. Lol
This is one of the first chocolate notes I have liked in a perfume. It is dark and cakey- similar to Sixteen92s The Hen Party. The wood note grounds it and keeps it from getting too sweet. The pipe tobacco is subtle and comes after a few hours of wear.
Cherry and wood and chocolate cake. The description completely nails the scent!