Scented Musings

Hello! Yet another Possets review. They had a 23% off New Year's sale, and I had a few things on my list that I wanted to pick up, so what better timing. I then placed a second order a few days later and asked that the orders be combined into one shipment, so this post is a combination of two orders. Special thanks to the Possets crew for allowing me to essentially place a custom order after the Halloween scents were taken down. Their customer service is honestly the best I've ever come across in my 15+ years of online shopping.

(I got sick shortly after the package arrived, and then we started the process of buying a house, so these reviews were very delayed.)


Air on a G-String (Cranberries through smoke)

Preliminary notes: As I mentioned in my Yule reviews, I love cranberry notes and wish I saw them more often. Cranberries and smoke sounds like a divine combination.

In bottle: Incense-y, almost wine-like cranberries. This is lovely and decadently dark.

On skin: Surprisingly earthy! It smells a bit like dragon's blood, but obviously fruity, and also a tiny bit salty. It has a very dark, vegetal feel to it. The cranberry note doesn't explicitly smell like cranberry; it's not sharp, it's not "red," and it's not tart. The whole thing really just smells like wine-scented incense, which is absolutely my thing. For a scent that only has two listed notes, Air on a G-String is very complex.

Verdict: 4.5 sticks of wine incense out of 5.


Moonbux (True Arabica cuppa mocha, freshly ground coffee, a large amount of cream, a shot of vanilla)

Preliminary notes: I adore the smell of coffee, despite the fact that I can't drink it. This is toted as "the ultimate coffee scent," so hopefully it lives up to that.

In bottle: It does indeed smell like a fancy cup of coffee, but there's something almost baked underneath it. I'm not sure if it's the vanilla/cream or part of the coffee accords, but it smells delicious.

On skin: Yeah, Possets wasn't kidding. This is the mother of all coffee scents. Super strong coffee note, a bit sweet, and a tiny bit nutty. It has pretty decent throw as well. I'm pretty picky about my coffee scents (a lot of the time, coffee notes get overshadowed by other things or just aren't strong enough for me), but I love this and would gladly swim in it. The balance of the notes here is masterful, and it's a phenomenal scent overall. Definitely an immediate favorite from this house.

DH said "Holy chocolate!" when he smelled it on me, and it does have a fairly strong, dry chocolate note in there, but I get more coffee than anything else personally.

Verdict: 5 swimming pools full of the fanciest coffee you've ever had out of 5.


Spook (Candied apples, popcorn, candy corn)

Preliminary notes: Somehow, this is only the second Fall/Halloween scent I bought this year (You can see I didn't keep to that). I love autumnal gourmands, and I love seeing candy corn as a note. This should be great.

In bottle: Veeeery slightly soapy, sweet red apples. I don't get anything else.

On skin: The apples are still the main note here, and they lose their soapiness on the skin. The popcorn is just beneath them, which is very slightly buttered and quite salty. I don't get any candy corn until later in the drydown, which just adds a sweet warmth to everything. It's very fun and delicious, and it reminds me of what a Halloween-themed carnival would smell like.

Verdict: 4.5 Halloween carnivals out of 5.


Xmas in New Orleans (Creamy, thick white florals)

Preliminary notes: I started missing spring toward the end of December and decided I needed to figure out a way to summon it. This was an attempt at that.

In bottle: White florals for sure. A bit on the powdery side, but I'm hoping that goes away on the skin. (After resting this for a week, the powderiness is gone and has been replaced by a lemony tinge, which I'm assuming is probably from a magnolia note.) Overall, it kind of reminds me of a floral version of Madame X.

On skin: This is.. not what I was expecting. White florals, yes, but it's very powdery and just kind of smells old? It smells like household cleaner instead of actual flowers. I get the tiniest bit of something akin to coffee underneath that, which is just a bizarre combination. I'm not a fan at all.

Verdict: 0 sad Christmases out of 5.


Pre-Raphaelite Seductress (Carnation, chocolate, incense, white musk)

Preliminary notes: I love pre-Raphaelite anything, so this is a winner thematically. I'm not the biggest chocolate note fan, but I do love incense and carnation, so we'll see.

In bottle: This smells almost boozy, like clove-laced rum or something. The carnation is very spicy, and the incense deepens everything. I don't get chocolate as an outright note.

On skin: Unfortunately, on the skin, this goes slightly soapy. Carnation is still the strongest note, followed by the musk and a tiny bit of incense. It's VERY perfumey, and the soapiness only gets stronger as it dries. It's a pass for me.

Verdict: 1.5 disappointed Pre-Raphaelites out of 5.


Rougarou (Candy corn, coriander, toasted sugar, sweet musk)

Preliminary notes: More candy corn scents, please! I'm curious to see how strong that note actually is here.

In bottle: This smells similar to Iowa to me, but a bit lighter and with a different kind of bite.

On skin: Strangely herbal! Mostly toasted sugar and sweetness, but there is a bit of an herbal edge to it from the coriander. It still has some resemblance to Atropos' Slip, in that it smells like sugar cookies. There's something about this scent underneath the sugary sweetness that smells ethereal. It brings to mind imagery of a witch's cottage and is very interesting.

Verdict: 4 ethereal sugar cookies out of 5.


Atropos' Slip (Delicious yellow candies dripping in butter (like homemade candy corn), combined with a cookie treat the likes of which you have only tasted once)

Preliminary notes: This sounds simply scrumptious. Candy corn and cookies? Yes, please.

In bottle: Something akin to sugar cookies, and a ton of syrupy sugar on top of that. Slightly similar to Rougarou. The candy corn is definitely detectable here.

On skin: So it definitely smells like there's a bit of cinnamon in this. It smells like spiced raw cookie dough in the best way possible. I don't get candy corn itself, but I do get a bit of creamed butter. Overall, it very much smells like cookies.

Verdict: 4 spiced cookies out of 5. I wish the candy corn was stronger, but I still really like this.


Danse Macabre (Strong black tea, leather, a hint of black musk, lemon zest)

Preliminary notes: Danse Macabre has been my favorite classical composition since I was a kid, and I love Possets' tea notes, so this was a no-brainer.

In bottle: Dark, dark, dark. The leather is strong, as is the tea. It smells very foreboding and commanding (which is absolutely my kind of vibe).

On skin: Something about this goes very piney on the skin, almost camphorous. The lemon is very sour as well. It starts mellowing into a very dark, brooding tea scent with a heavy leather backdrop. It's one of the weirdest scents I've ever smelled, which I mean in the best way possible. I couldn't stop sniffing my wrist while writing this.

Verdict: 3.75 tea-stained pages of sheet music out of 5. I think I need to give this time to mellow and grow on me. It's a very unique scent.


Sloe Byrne (Rum, butter, sugar, caramel)

Preliminary notes: I've wanted to try Sloe Byrne for a couple of years now, but every time I go to look for it, it's not available (because I didn't realize it was in a specific retour collection). It sounds a little simplistic compared to a lot of the other Possets stuff I've tried, but I love all of the notes.

In bottle: Fruity and dusty, which is a problem I've had with other The Girls Love scents (I'm assuming the Les Girls collection is an offshoot of that one). Disappointing, but it might be better on the skin. Past the dusty fruit, it smells like butterscotch Lifesavers.

On skin: VERY dusty. I don't get any of the listed notes. Just sweet, slightly fruity dust (which again, is a known issue with my skin chemistry and Possets' honey scents). Not a fan at all, and a second and final lesson that I need to stay away from Possets' honey scents. As it dries down, it takes on a Play-Doh quality, so this is a huge bust on me. Womp womp.

Verdict: 0 sheets of dust-covered sugar out of 5. I've had an extremely high hit rate with Possets over the last year, so an eventual miss was bound to happen. Take this with a grain of salt, as everyone's skin chemistry and sense of smell is different. What smells like sugary dust on me could smell amazing on you!


Halloween (Incensy, spicy, manages to capture the width of a dimming blue October sky)

Preliminary notes: A very vague description, indeed. Various people on the Possets forum said this one was smoky or smelled like leaves, so that's enough for me.

In bottle: Smoky, charred wood with maybe a hint of vanilla and dried leaves. Fans of Alkemia's Smoke & Mirrors or NAVA's Bonfire would probably like this.

On skin: SUPER incense-y, somewhere on the dragon's blood spectrum. It's smoky, a bit spicy, and very fall-appropriate. There's a bit of a candle wax/candle smoke edge to it, which is fascinating and very much fits the witchy vibe it already has going. This reminds me of my late teens/early 20s when I used to burn Vampire Blood incense constantly, and also reminds me of the goblet my sister used to burn her incense sticks in when I was a kid, which was surrounded by books on witchcraft. This is absolutely perfect for fall and Halloween, or for when you want to feel extra witchy.

Verdict: 5 goblets holding sticks of burning incense out of 5.


Illusion (Falsifiers) (Black tea, brown sugar edge, a wollop of frankincense, a beautiful but unexpected pumpkin)

Preliminary notes: This has been on my list for a while. Pumpkin and tea sounds lovely.

(Also, the original description says "blown sugar edge," but virtually every review of this one I've read says it smells like brown sugar, so I'm assuming it might be a typo)

In bottle: Everything is here and accounted for on first sniff, and I can't really explain just what it smells like. It's a bit fall candle-y, which isn't something that bothers me, but it also smells elegant and refined on top of that.

On skin: Largely the same as in the bottle. The tea takes an almost cinnamon edge on the skin, and the pumpkin becomes incredibly buttery. As I'm writing this, the cinnamon is amping into Red Hots territory, which is a very common thing for me, so take that with a grain of salt. Overall, it kind of smells like having a cup of tea while eating a slice of spiced pumpkin pie.

Verdict: 4 spicy pumpkin pies with tea out of 5. I wish I didn't amp cinnamon as much as I do, but other than that, it's a lovely scent.