Hey friends!

Happy Memorial Day, if you live in the US! Happy Monday, if you are elsewhere in the wide world.

I’ve been trying to get this review out in time for Sixteen92’s Summer Collection Release this Friday, May 29th. I finallllly finished testing out all the perfumes, and I am here to tell you, that I am extremely impressed with this collection. Like it’s rockstar level.

This was also my first set of perfumes as a member of The Circle, Sixteen 92’s quarterly perfume subscription, so I’ll have some info on that to share.

So you should probably check it out!

Information about The Circle:

The Circle is Sixteen92’s seasonal perfume subscription. Unfortunately, it’s closed until the next year, but you can check out my experiences in the upcoming months.

The Circle cost a one time annual fee $85, plus one time shipping costs, to join. Members receive sample sets of each seasonal collection a month before their release, a coupon code to use each season, and exclusive full size perfume.

That price made me hesitate because it’s a lot to ask upfront, (though it’s a smart move for Sixteen92 from a business prospective.) However, I did the math and figured I’ve been paying about $23-$25 with shipping on each seasonal collection, so the $85, would be a little less and I would get the additional coupons and full size perfume.

I decided to take the risk simply because I knew I would get antsy having to wait another year to join. And because TREAT YO SELF.

Good Stuff: Sixteen92’s Summer Collection is inspired by the Jazz Age, so you can get your Great Gatsby on. For this collection, I also received a bracelet and a sample of Black Sugar. (Which is my favorite general catalog scent, so yessssssss.)

The back of the info card included scent descriptions. The front had my coupon code for 30% off.

So let’s sniff these bad boys.

The Beautiful and The Damned-Sparkling pink grapefruit, strawberry, raspberry and currant with soft violet, gardenia Tahitian vanilla absolute

This is a lovely blend of grapefruit and berry scents.  I’m usually a bit worried about berry notes, because sometimes they can start to smell really artificial on me, like berry air freshener. However, this starts out with a fresh burst of sweet and tangy grapefruit and the berry notes nicely compliment this. I didn’t get much of the floral notes, they were definitely background to the berries and grapefruit. This had great throw on me and it lasted about 6 hours, (which is awesome on my skin.) I would probably consider this in full size, because I think it’s a fun, feminine summer scent, but I kinda have a somewhat similar scent already in Darling Clandestine’s Reddit Hug of Death. I’m not sure I need two full size berry perfumes. Maybe I do. Who knows.

Blood and Honey-Blood orange, wildflower honey, pale amber, honeysuckle

I was a little wary of this when I sniffed the bottle because it was in your face orange, however on skin I think it’s beautiful. It’s immediately citrus and honey, and it’s a perfect combination of the two, neither are overpowering the other. As a avid lover of honey scents, I think this is a perfect summer take. The citrus keeps it light, rather than cloying. Eventually the orange notes start to fade, but a sweet honey and floral note remains. Honey scents have great longevity on me, and this one is no exception, it lasted almost 8 hours on me, and by the end of the day it was just a subtle honey scent. Not going to lie, I’m considering a full size of this.

Eternal Return- Peat moss and damp garden soil, tomato leaf, beetroot grass, herbs, lavender spikes, galbanum, sun-warmed oak bark

When I review perfumes, I usually don’t look at the scent list until after I’ve tried smelling it and picking out notes on my own. Looking at the notes of Eternal Return, I probably would have guessed that I wouldn’t enjoy this scent, none of these notes sound exactly appealing to me in a perfume. However, I think this all works.

Eternal Return smells like a warm summer day in a garden. It smells like warm plants and herbal notes, but with a spicy kick at the end that I can’t place my finger on. I normally don’t like “green” perfumes, but there’s something about the way all these notes come together that just works. It’s more beautiful summer day, than any individual green note. I think this leans a bit unisex, and I sorta want to put it on Mr. Danger. It only lasted about 2-3 hours on me before fading away, but it’s really nice while it’s there!

Paper Moon-Soft vanilla musk, benzoin, oaks, trailing ivy, peach blossom, tea rose

Ohh, I love this. It’s a sweet, feminine musk with a hint of soft florals. This makes me think of a lovely tea party, (not that it smells like tea, but just the pretty, delicate nature of the scent.) It does remind me of Thalia that we got in the Hello Waffle Visage Box, (which I also loved), but this is less green, and more sweet to me. If I didn’t already have Thalia, this would be a must buy to me, not just for summer, but this is the kind of scent I can see myself wearing daily. It lasts about 6 hours on me, and though it’s fairly subtle, it’s still strong enough that you don’t have to inhale my wrist to catch a whiff.

Theda- Tart sangria infused with ripe summer fruits (white peach, cetarine, berries, citrus), dark vanilla, wild vines, rose absolute

Theda begins with a burst of peach and a bit of tartness. As it dries the berry notes emerge, making a kind of peachy-fruity smell. My skin was not a big fan of Theda in the first 30 minutes. It kinda warped the peach note into being almost sour, and I was a little thrown off by that. However, as it dried into my skin, it definitely mellowed out and turned into more of a soft, fruity melody than “AHH PEACH IN MAH FACE.” This lasted about 4 hours on me.

Overall:

With past Sixteen92 Collections, I’ve always felt that the perfumes were reallllly close to the target, but for various reasons, not quite there yet. However, the Summer Collection hit the mark completely, I was so impressed and pleased with these perfumes.

First, the new carrier formula is a major improvement. I’ve been frustrated in the past with how quickly Sixteen92 perfumes disappear from my skin-BUT not so anymore! Most of these scents lasted 4-6 hours on me, and some, like Blood and Honey went even longer.

So not only was the lasting power of these perfumes vastly improved, this was just a really solid and varied collection of well-blended and lovely scents. There were some fruit scents, some floral, some sweet, and even one I would consider unisex. I liked the variety, and I liked that everyone was thoughtful and well executed. My favorites were probably Blood and Honey and Paper Moon, but I truly found something enjoyable in all of them.

So I’m saluting Claire of Sixteen92 for taking her perfumes to a new level with this collection. It’s both good and bad, that I will most definitely be using my Circle subscription 30% off coupon when she releases this set on May 29th!

Questions of the Day:
-Did you try The Circle?
-What do you think of these new Sixteen92 perfumes?
-What’s your favorite splurge purchase?

Love,

Rebs!

Happy Memorial Day, USA friends!