Hey friends!

Just a heads up: I’ll be blogging through the rest of this week, but Dec. 29th-January 4th I’ll be taking a short vacation. I’m going on a trip with my family to celebrate my dad’s 60th birthday, and I’m just going to enjoy some time off that week. I’ve been blogging without stopping through working full time, grad school, writing my thesis, etc. for the past 6 months and I think it will be nice not to be covered in swatches for a few days.

But I’ll be back! Because I can’t resist sharing glitter with the world.

Anyway, for today I have a review of sixteen92’s Winter Collection, one of the few indie shops still open for the holidays. (They’re all on breaks, too, which I think it totally fair since most of them are 1 or 2 people operations.)

This collection should be available until February, so there’s no rush if any of the scents sound up your alley. The Sample Pack itself for this collection was $18 for 5 2mL perfumes. sixteen92 shipped this about a week after I ordered it, and it arrived in about two days.

So let’s get to the good stuff. How do these bad boys smells?

So sixteen92 kinda has a witchy vibe going on, so her scents for this collection are less the traditional minty, gingerbread, fir scents of winter, but rather an atmospheric take on the season.

The perfumes arrived in a small black bag with the sixteen92 crest:

I think her branding and concept are cool.

I also like the look of the 2mL perfume bottles. The Fall Collection had the wrap around labels that stick out, I like these new labels much better.
ex tenebris lux- Labdanum, Benzoin, Tonka and Vanilla Absolute with Patchouli, Oakmoss, Blood Orange, Bergamot and Tuberose
This smells very orange on first application. As it dries I get a bit of the patchouli, but not much else I can identify. Just a nice, pleasant orange scent. Unfortunately, this doesn’t have much staying power on me, it last less than an hour, with only a faint citrus note lasting on me. Nice orange scent, but not long-lasting.

Hellebore-Tuberose absolute, Sambac Jasmine, oakmoss, tobacco, chilled earth, cocao, black musk
I’ve already reviewed this scent as a sample from another order, and sad news, it was not enjoyable to me. I think I hate Jasmine, apparently. I had Mr. Danger smell Hellebore and he had a very positive reaction to it, he thought it was just a nice floral scent, and enjoyed it. So I guess perfumes are in the nose of the beholder? I do not like Jasmine, so this is not a winner for me.

Rook- Almond, vanilla, amber resin, clove, woodsmoke
Ugh, I love the smell of almond. Like I would huff almond extract all day if I could. (I don’t really do this, please don’t be worried for me.) It’s initial wet scent is straight up almond and I am in heaven. As it dries down, the clove and resin scents come in, making it less sweet and more spicy. (And less almond, SAD). After about 30 minutes, it becomes all clove. Rook only lasts about 1-2 hours on me and sits very close to my skin. More clove than almond, and I wish it had longer staying power and throw.

Sacre Coeur-Frankincense, Elemi resin, Ambrette, Bois de rose (Rosewood), Cistus Labdanum, Leather, Vanilla, Roman Chamomile, Orris root, Birch Tar
This smells like wood and leather to me. I don’t really get any of the Frankincense or chamomile. To be honest, I had to look up some of those other notes, and from what I gather they are musky scents. That makes sense as this is a very masculine leaning perfume, which I’m normally a fan of, but this is a bit heavy and overpowering. It kinda reminds me of sixteen92’s fall scent, Helsing, which was also a bit too strong for me. It lasts about 3-4 hours on me. Masculine, leather scent, but too strong and musky for me.

Wintering-Absolutes of hay, tobacco and beeswax (not vegan), patchouli, vanilla bean, spices (ginger, cinnamon, clove, etc)
When this is first applied it’s very sweet, I smell vanilla and honey, which I am guessing is the beeswax. As it dries, I get a bit of the the spices, but it mostly stays smelling like sweet honey to me. Sweet, honey smell, sits close to my skin, a pleasant perfume.

Overall: I’m going to be honest, I’m a bit disappointed by this collection. None of the scents jumped out at me as amazing or very unique or special. They were all very pleasant and enjoyable, but I don’t see myself reaching for any of these perfumes very often. I also had a problem with longevity on my skin, though that’s most likely just a skin chemistry issue. Overall my favorite was probably Ex Tenebris Lux, but it just didn’t last long enough on me to justify purchasing.

This Winter Collection has not put me off sixteen92 at all, I just don’t think these perfumes are going to be my favorites any time soon. I definitely plan to make a general catalogue purchase in January, and give those a try!

Questions of the Day:
-Have you tried any of these perfumes? What were your thoughts?
-Have you ever had to look up perfume notes? Because some of these confused me.

Love,

Rebs!