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Possets Yule Pt. 2
Jan. 28th, 2023 02:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
femmensteinAhoy! I didn't expect to be doing another review this soon, but my in-laws very kindly gave me some fun money for Christmas, and perfume oils are more or less the only "fun" things I buy these days. Bird's Nest in the Cowl got me hooked on Possets' gingerbread note, so I wanted to try more of their gingerbread scents, which was the main driving factor behind this order. Onward!
Gingerbread Jailhouse (Sweet, silky, and spicy gingerbread amped up with more ginger, smoothed out with a thick coat of light lemony sour cream frosting)
Preliminary notes: This sounds kind of thematically similar to Nui Cobalt's Gingerbread Sanctuary, which also had gingerbread and lemon icing notes (though that one also had a slew of other notes, including lavender, which this doesn't have). Bird's Nest in the Cowl is a fantastic gingerbread scent, but it doesn't have any sort of frosting notes. I'm hoping this leans a bit more gingerbread cookie-like than Bird's Nest, even though I adore that one.
In bottle: That classic Possets gingerbread note with lots of icing! It actually does smell like sour cream icing, which is delicious. I don't get any overt lemon, but I'm okay with that.
On skin: So this actually kind of is similar to Gingerbread Sanctuary, sans the lavender. It's sweet but not overly, and the lemon comes out when it's actually on the skin. I like it! It's a nice, bright, festive gourmand.
Verdict: 4.5 lemon-infused gingerbread cookies out of 5.
Gingerbread Whorehouse (European gingerbread, ginger, black pepper, clove, cinnamon, coriander, a kiss of pink pepper)
Preliminary notes: The name alone is hilarious, and I delighted in telling DH what it was called. I love spice notes, so this sounds fab. I'm hoping the clove in particular is relatively strong.
In bottle: This smells very similar to Jailhouse (they very obviously have the same gingerbread base), but it's much spicier and has bite to it. I can't make out any of the spices specifically in the bottle, but it's strong and a bit dark.
On skin: This reminds me of a mainstream perfume I used to have from L'Artisan Parfumeur called Tea for Two, oddly enough. They only really share the spice and gingerbread notes, so I'm not sure how that's possible, but it is! Tea for Two has a tobacco note that leans a bit ashtray-esque, and obviously, Gingerbread Whorehouse doesn't have tobacco in it, so it's a bit smoother and easier to wear. It has a sweet, creamy, frosting-like quality to it as well and is just really sexy. I love this.
Verdict: 5 festive cookie bordellos out of 5.
Pumpkin Pie (Pumpkin pie, spices that complement rather than cover up what it is, special crust made more like cake than an ordinary pie crust)
Preliminary notes: This has been on my wishlist for the last 2 years, and I finally bought it. I couldn't find any reviews of it, which is a bit of a bummer since I amp spice notes and wanted to know how strong they are here. I love Possets' pie scents and have 4 or 5 of them, so I'd imagine even if I end up amping the spices, it'll still be great.
In bottle: Much to my disappointment, this smells like 90% cinnamon in the bottle and a bit of butter/pastry. I get very little pumpkin, which I hope changes once it's on the skin.
On skin: It starts to smell more like pumpkin pie on the skin, but it's still very heavily spiced. The pastry notes do indeed smell more like cake than pie, which is really nice. The effect here ends up being a spice cake rather than a pie. I'm hoping the pumpkin note will come out more with age. DH immediately identified it as pumpkin pie and had no issue smelling the pumpkin note, so that could just be me.
(It's also worth noting that I amp cinnamon, but Pumpkin Pie smelled cinnamon-heavy before I put it on as well)
Verdict: 3 heavily-spiced pies out of 5.
Orion (Oud, rare and unexpected woods, smoked vanilla)
Preliminary notes: This was an upsize from a free sample. I was initially scared to open the sample vial, because oud can either be really good or really bad, but I finally ended up doing it.
In bottle: VERY woody in the best way possible. I can't actually smell the oud at all. Either that, or this particular oud just doesn't smell like other ouds I've smelled. It's a very dry, woody scent.
On skin: I suppose you could call this masculine, but it reads as more unisex to me. The woods are dry and strong, and there's a bit of a sweet, smoky, peppery tinge to them. The vanilla doesn't read as outright vanilla to me and serves as a means to sweeten the blend up a bit so it's not so austere. This is a perfect fall/winter scent, and I adore it. It smells like a haunted forest. It's foreboding and mysterious.
Verdict: 5 fog-laden, haunted forests out of 5.
Lovechild - Lovebaby (Peach shortbread and sweet fruit sauce cascading over the lovely confection)
Preliminary notes: This was an unexpected addition to the package these arrived in. I had ordered Lovebaby in part of my first Yule order, but it arrived with a broken cap (the likes of which I have never seen before in my life. The middle of the cap was somehow completely separated from the band, and it was unfortunately unusable), which I contacted them about immediately, and they refunded the price of the bottle. I saw a note on the invoice saying they'd changed suppliers for their caps and then looked down and saw a mysterious 5th bottle in my package. Lo' and behold, it was a replacement bottle of Lovebaby, which I had no idea about until I opened it.
Possets' customer service is the best I've ever experienced, and I will never stop happy-yelling about it.
In bottle: Veeery fruity. Weirdly enough, my nose isn't registering it as peach. It smells like some sort of sweet berry or maybe another stone fruit.
On skin: Something about this is a tiny bit soapy, which isn't what I was looking for. I don't get any shortbread, either. Just lots of very sweet fruit.
Verdict: 3 cups of fruit sauce out of 5. I'm going to retest this at a later date, but as of right now, it's way too syrupy-smelling. DH said, "You should smell like that all the time. It smells good!"
Chocolate Incense (free sample) (Sandalwood, amber, frankincense, chocolate)
Preliminary notes: I typically stay away from chocolate notes, so I wouldn't have chosen this myself.
In vial: I mean, it smells like what it says it'll smell like. Resinous chocolate. I don't hate it.
On skin: Something about this smells a little bit salty and odd. The chocolate note veers into Sharpie territory on me, which is definitely not my thing.
Verdict: 1 chocolate-scented Sharpie out of 5. Not for me at all.
Thank you for reading! I do have another Possets review in the works, but I very inconveniently got sick the day after the package showed up, so I need to recover from that first. Stay tuned!
Gingerbread Jailhouse (Sweet, silky, and spicy gingerbread amped up with more ginger, smoothed out with a thick coat of light lemony sour cream frosting)
Preliminary notes: This sounds kind of thematically similar to Nui Cobalt's Gingerbread Sanctuary, which also had gingerbread and lemon icing notes (though that one also had a slew of other notes, including lavender, which this doesn't have). Bird's Nest in the Cowl is a fantastic gingerbread scent, but it doesn't have any sort of frosting notes. I'm hoping this leans a bit more gingerbread cookie-like than Bird's Nest, even though I adore that one.
In bottle: That classic Possets gingerbread note with lots of icing! It actually does smell like sour cream icing, which is delicious. I don't get any overt lemon, but I'm okay with that.
On skin: So this actually kind of is similar to Gingerbread Sanctuary, sans the lavender. It's sweet but not overly, and the lemon comes out when it's actually on the skin. I like it! It's a nice, bright, festive gourmand.
Verdict: 4.5 lemon-infused gingerbread cookies out of 5.
Gingerbread Whorehouse (European gingerbread, ginger, black pepper, clove, cinnamon, coriander, a kiss of pink pepper)
Preliminary notes: The name alone is hilarious, and I delighted in telling DH what it was called. I love spice notes, so this sounds fab. I'm hoping the clove in particular is relatively strong.
In bottle: This smells very similar to Jailhouse (they very obviously have the same gingerbread base), but it's much spicier and has bite to it. I can't make out any of the spices specifically in the bottle, but it's strong and a bit dark.
On skin: This reminds me of a mainstream perfume I used to have from L'Artisan Parfumeur called Tea for Two, oddly enough. They only really share the spice and gingerbread notes, so I'm not sure how that's possible, but it is! Tea for Two has a tobacco note that leans a bit ashtray-esque, and obviously, Gingerbread Whorehouse doesn't have tobacco in it, so it's a bit smoother and easier to wear. It has a sweet, creamy, frosting-like quality to it as well and is just really sexy. I love this.
Verdict: 5 festive cookie bordellos out of 5.
Pumpkin Pie (Pumpkin pie, spices that complement rather than cover up what it is, special crust made more like cake than an ordinary pie crust)
Preliminary notes: This has been on my wishlist for the last 2 years, and I finally bought it. I couldn't find any reviews of it, which is a bit of a bummer since I amp spice notes and wanted to know how strong they are here. I love Possets' pie scents and have 4 or 5 of them, so I'd imagine even if I end up amping the spices, it'll still be great.
In bottle: Much to my disappointment, this smells like 90% cinnamon in the bottle and a bit of butter/pastry. I get very little pumpkin, which I hope changes once it's on the skin.
On skin: It starts to smell more like pumpkin pie on the skin, but it's still very heavily spiced. The pastry notes do indeed smell more like cake than pie, which is really nice. The effect here ends up being a spice cake rather than a pie. I'm hoping the pumpkin note will come out more with age. DH immediately identified it as pumpkin pie and had no issue smelling the pumpkin note, so that could just be me.
(It's also worth noting that I amp cinnamon, but Pumpkin Pie smelled cinnamon-heavy before I put it on as well)
Verdict: 3 heavily-spiced pies out of 5.
Orion (Oud, rare and unexpected woods, smoked vanilla)
Preliminary notes: This was an upsize from a free sample. I was initially scared to open the sample vial, because oud can either be really good or really bad, but I finally ended up doing it.
In bottle: VERY woody in the best way possible. I can't actually smell the oud at all. Either that, or this particular oud just doesn't smell like other ouds I've smelled. It's a very dry, woody scent.
On skin: I suppose you could call this masculine, but it reads as more unisex to me. The woods are dry and strong, and there's a bit of a sweet, smoky, peppery tinge to them. The vanilla doesn't read as outright vanilla to me and serves as a means to sweeten the blend up a bit so it's not so austere. This is a perfect fall/winter scent, and I adore it. It smells like a haunted forest. It's foreboding and mysterious.
Verdict: 5 fog-laden, haunted forests out of 5.
Lovechild - Lovebaby (Peach shortbread and sweet fruit sauce cascading over the lovely confection)
Preliminary notes: This was an unexpected addition to the package these arrived in. I had ordered Lovebaby in part of my first Yule order, but it arrived with a broken cap (the likes of which I have never seen before in my life. The middle of the cap was somehow completely separated from the band, and it was unfortunately unusable), which I contacted them about immediately, and they refunded the price of the bottle. I saw a note on the invoice saying they'd changed suppliers for their caps and then looked down and saw a mysterious 5th bottle in my package. Lo' and behold, it was a replacement bottle of Lovebaby, which I had no idea about until I opened it.
Possets' customer service is the best I've ever experienced, and I will never stop happy-yelling about it.
In bottle: Veeery fruity. Weirdly enough, my nose isn't registering it as peach. It smells like some sort of sweet berry or maybe another stone fruit.
On skin: Something about this is a tiny bit soapy, which isn't what I was looking for. I don't get any shortbread, either. Just lots of very sweet fruit.
Verdict: 3 cups of fruit sauce out of 5. I'm going to retest this at a later date, but as of right now, it's way too syrupy-smelling. DH said, "You should smell like that all the time. It smells good!"
Chocolate Incense (free sample) (Sandalwood, amber, frankincense, chocolate)
Preliminary notes: I typically stay away from chocolate notes, so I wouldn't have chosen this myself.
In vial: I mean, it smells like what it says it'll smell like. Resinous chocolate. I don't hate it.
On skin: Something about this smells a little bit salty and odd. The chocolate note veers into Sharpie territory on me, which is definitely not my thing.
Verdict: 1 chocolate-scented Sharpie out of 5. Not for me at all.
Thank you for reading! I do have another Possets review in the works, but I very inconveniently got sick the day after the package showed up, so I need to recover from that first. Stay tuned!
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