Brand: Solstice Scents
Scent Description:
A statuesque lone stag stands at the edge of the wood, surveying the valley below. His antler crown and perfect grace convey nobility and strength. The monarch of the forest remains poised, cautious and wise through all seasons.
Monarch starts with a base or refined red musk, a generous amount of fir balsam and a green botanical blend touched by smoky labdanum and oud. Frankincense resin, cedarwood and moss cover the base. A generous crown of fresh juniper berries and leaves completes the blend. Monarch smells like a coniferous wood blend with loads of incensey, exotic, spicy red musk and resins. It boldly opens with a bright green juniper on initial application. The fir, red musk and frankincense follow quickly behind. Cedar and moss weave in and out in the early stages after application and become more apparent as the wear continues. The smoky labdanum and oud float quietly in the background. This scent opens strongly on initial application but settles down after a few minutes of wear into a pleasant musky, resinous, evergreen, wood and slightly smoky fragrance. Monarch is a masculine scent, though women who like our wood blends should also enjoy it.
Released: Woodland Collection
The red musk in this won me over. It smells like the same red musk used in Gehanna, and I’m a fan. I’d say this scent definitely leans more towards the masculine side but I feel like anyone could pull this off if these notes are your jam. I find this scent to be very comforting although I can’t really explain why. I’m very happy that the frankincense is blended so well into this. A lot of times frankincense can completely take over on me and ruin an otherwise good thing, not the case here! On my skin this ends up smelling of a resinous smoky red musk.
Monarch is a very red smelling scent. Im definitely getting the red musk outright when I put it on. It has a warm dark fall mood to it. Definitely not the bright summer butterfly that you would imagine a monarch is. More of a monarch specimen kept in a jar in a dusty room. Or perhaps monarch meaning a king or queen. Dad says “smells like incense store”
Unsurprising considering the overlap in notes, Monarch reads very similar to Night Watcher’s drydown with the addition of smoky and spicy facets. Opens heavy on red musk, juniper, and fir on a strong backing of incense; with something cool but spicy, almost mentholic, present in the background, but I can’t quite pick out what it is. Cedar and oudh aren’t as prominent in this one, so the scent remains much too jammy. The fir disappears after some wear, leaving behind something salty and piquant in its wake.
This is very heavy on the red musk and definitely leans masculine. It kind of reminds me of Be My Druidess from Deconstructing Eden. I wish the green notes were more prominent in this; instead I get a lot of incense.
On me, Monarch is definitely a red musk forward scent, backed by the slightly smoky feel from the labdanum. It doesn’t smell like smoke itself, neither does it feel ‘head-shoppy’, but it has the rich, resinous feel of burning incense. The wood and fir elements lie beneath the red musk, just detectable as a woody base. Surprisingly, I don’t detect as much of a literal atmospheric forest smell as I was expecting to – more of a general ‘woods’. I de-stashed this scent, because I was hoping for more of a woods/conifer focused blend, but I think this would be wonderful for fans of red musk.