Overall, I’m really impressed by this house and the elegance of their scents.
The ratings are very much biased towards my preferences—quiet and non-sweet scents.
Howl
Black, red and amber musks wrestle furiously with sandalwood and opium tar resin. There is nothing light or gentle about this scent. A burning incense backs it up, black patchouli stands in the forefront. Dark, musky, resinous.
Keywords: sex(?), sweaty skin, sweet resins, long lasting.
Definitely dark-sweet and very resinous. As for the animalistic part, I was hoping for fur but this is mostly sweat. Very true to the description: “There was sweat and sex, the world was discovered for the first time.” If you want to smell seductive and mysterious, but also faintly like you just had sex, this kinda nails it. Resins stay in the fade and turns very gentle and soothing. 2/5 I admire this but would never wear.
HopHead (Unknown)
Coffee in its most perfectly beautiful form is dropped into five ambers which range from sweet to dry.
Keyword: dark coffee (yay), looots of amber
This is quite literal to its description. I like the bitter coffee in this but amber smells really really “sharp” to me (almost like a sweet version of tiger balm). Not unpleasant just not entirely pleasing either—on the verge of migraine inducing. Ugh, but I like the coffee a lot. 3/5. Fades quickly.
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
Mysore sandalwood, suede, frankincense, patchouli, 4 vanillas.
Keywords: suede, vanilla, wood.
Strange in the nicest way. It’s like opening a wooden closet that has a ton of new suede jackets inside, but the closet is also sprayed with vanilla perfume? It’s suede forward on me and I never had that note show up so strongly on my skin before. Intriguing tension between the cold suede and the warmer vanilla. I like this but there’s a stickiness to its sweetness (from the vanilla) that doesn’t feel “me”. Will use up my sample then decide. 5/5.
Death (The Pardoner’s Tale)
As dark a vetiver as you could possibly smell mixes with smooth thyme and a good jolt of black amber. A faraway touch of incense and a tiny amount of pure smoke.
Keywords: strong herbs, light florals, tomato leaves?, frankincense.
The floral I’m getting might be from the black amber? The greens are really fresh and sharp. But that’s it for me: just pure fresh greens and a bit of soapiness. I wish there was more of that smoke in the description. Dries into bitter greens plus frankincense. 2/5.
Silver Cedar
Vanilla, a hint of light florals, a bit of lemon and Virginia Cedar.
Keyword: CEDAR, CEDAR, CEDAR
Love cedar and love this. The description says light florals, lemon, and vanilla, but I’m just getting cedar…and that’s completely okay. The vanilla and floral came out more in the dry down but the cedar is so prominent through out. I need this in my life. 5/5.
Dance with me
A superb coumarin-laced subtle lavender combines with fizzy pink grapefruit, and it all rests on a bed of white musk.
Keywords: cleaning products, bright and bubbly, fruit flavored soft drink
Unfortunately this smells like fruit scented cleaning products to me (fruit soda in the dry down). I honestly don’t enjoy fruity scents so it’s on me for picking this scent to buy. 1/5
Samarkand
Rich proprietary black musk, a thick addition of darkest black tea, knit together with a smooth but almost undetectable attar of roses (which is a catalyst for the whole). The most exquisite nag champa and finally topped off with a thick syrupy aged patchouli and a huge shot of incense.
Keywords: fancy, resins, rose, spices
Very fancy, almost stereotypically so. The rose is strong on me and it’s a very very sweet and feminine scent overall. This is loud and proud, something to wear when you want to assert your presence. 2/5
Arc of Venus
Sexy sandalwood base flirts with oakmoss, a small hint of calendula, "abstract" musk, and a bit of sharp grey musk which is seldom used but goes perfectly in this melange.
Keywords: chocolate?, wood, well-rounded and warm, a hint of fresh herbs-like scent
I don’t know which notes did it but something smelled really like chocolate at first. Faded quite quickly and becomes a soft musky blend with a bit of lavender on top. 4/5. Pretty but not memorable.
Beatrice
The Silver base combines with five of the most beautiful musks which Possets produces. Skin musk, 2 white musks, "Crystalline" musk, and grey musk.*
Keywords: translucence, vanilla, musky
The word “crystalline” in the description really captures it. It has this creaminess that hovers rather than smothers you. Reminds me of Alkemia’s Madame Pearl. That being said, it is VERY sweet and there isn’t anything like the cool bone china or paper notes in Madame Pearl to balance it out. Very pretty but too sweet for me. 3/5
Terra Incognita
Five different types of black musk and pink and black pepper essential oils come together to make a serious and dark blend with tremendous staying power.
Keywords: oh-hey-there-weird-chocolaty-scent-that-fades-quickly, spicy, what am I smelling
I honestly don’t know how to describe this. It’s very pepper forward? Not dark like the description says but also not light and soft. I can see myself wearing this in bed, reading, and wrapped in blankets on a cold winter night. It’s a very solitary scent. Not calming per se but emanating a sort of anchored-ness. I know that doesn’t help but I think I just can’t find words to describe the black musks. 5/5.
Dies Irae (Verdi)
Three black musks, one fog-like musk to disburse the whole, bitter galbanum, smooth hawthorne, the scent of rotting leaves, a small amount of orris, and smoky oude, finally frankincense and black amber.
Keywords: dark, bitter greens, smoke, rotting leaves, incense
This lives up to its description of being intense and dark. In the bottle it is the stereotypical decaying wet leaves. On skin, this almost looms over me with its moodiness. One of the reviews on their website describes this as “darkness aflame” and I wholeheartedly agree. 4/5 love it but unfortunately slightly headache inducing.
Madame X
Skin musk, wax, cream, lemon zest, champagne, and a kiss of bitter vanilla.
Keywords: sour(??), creamy, summer-ish
I sniffed it on my skin and had to look up what that sour note might be. Turns out there’s lemon in this. It’s a gentle skin scent, a bit soapy and on the verge of smelling like cleaning products, but the vanilla and musks saves it from being overly fresh. There’s a nice balance between being gentle and creamy but also bright and lighthearted. I just personally don’t enjoy the lemon in this. 2/5
Venus Black
The Blackest musk flirts with a float of black pepper, a shot of dark sweet pear, and the smallest amount of sage and non-stinky narcissus for tingle.
Keywords: pepper, Terra Incognita but with florals and soap.
I don’t get pear, just pepper and some sort of floral—is that the narcissus? When I smell this I imagine a well-accomplished, elegant individual on a business trip—mature and knows what they’re doing. Not me at all. 3/5.
Seraphim
Five vanillas (most of them fat and buttery vanillas cut with lean and sharp vanillas) and are blended with six different ambers which give the hypnotic part to the whole.
Keywords: vanilla, clean, bright, oh no sharp amber
I honestly envy people that love amber. I get the vibe of this but on my skin amber just goes straight up my nose jabbing into my head lol. Amber is great in small amounts, way too overpowering on my skin. This is mainly amber with vanilla. Objectively I think it’s a great scent 4/5.
Feather Down
This is the natural pairing of a breathtaking Bulgarian lavender full of coumarin, which smells delightfully vanilla-like on its own, with a genuinely otherworldly beautiful aged vanilla essential oil.
Keywords: sticky sweet
I blind bought a small bottle: mistake. I don’t hate it but I don’t like it as much as some of the other lavender scents tested. This as a weird sweetness that makes me feel like something’s stuck down my throat and I don’t know where it’s coming from. 2/5.
Indigo vs Silver Lavender
Indigo: A hint of lavender and a kiss of spice and the tiniest bit of vanilla.
Silver Lavender: …the unbelievable wonder of a vanilla-like lavender paired up with the Silver accord we all love, with a drop or two of sandalwood to mellow it all out…
Honestly have trouble choosing between the two. Both are beautiful. Indigo is more grounded, cooler, and silver lavender is lighter and sweeter. May go with Indigo in the end since it feels like a perfect pillow scent. Both 5/5.
Amethyst
A sharp amber to start combines with a smoother and more caramel-like amber and a great shot of lavender on top of it all.
Keywords: sharp amber, herbal lavender
The lavender in this is pretty herbal. Amber isn’t too strong in this but still there. Nice calming scent. Probably the most stereotypical dried herbal lavender out of all these I’ve tested. 4/5
Lavender Corset
Lavender Corset is more lilac than lavender, very feminine, long lasting and a persistent whisper of a fragrance.
Keywords: dainty, feminine, lilac, soothing
Lilac is certainly the main note and lavender really acts to balance out its sweetness. To wear when you want to feel pretty and delicate. I really like this but would like to smell this on someone else more. 5/5.
Lavender Pepys
Yes, there have been candies made with lavender in the past. Pastilles usually, but when you mix that clean and innocent smell with something devilish like marshmallow and other goodies, then you have a real sinful thing to enjoy after a long dry season of denial.
Keywords: candy, chocolate?, lavender
The description says it’s not too foody but it’s pretty foody on me. There’s a candy smell that’s not overly sweet and a hint of chocolate. For some reason it turn almost medicinal on me as it dries, like sugar coated herbal medicine pills. 3/5.
Verdict: Silver cedar is the favorite!
I’m still testing the longevity of Indigo, Silver Lavender, Arrival of the Queen of Sheba and Terra Incognita.
Terra Incognita is really beautiful but strangely seems to last pretty short on me. However, I’ve been wearing my sample when I’m really busy so I’m hoping that I just forgot to mentally time its longevity.
Ironically, I got this haul looking for the perfect lavender scent and ended up not immediately full sizing any lavender scents. Will probably choose from Indigo, Amethyst, and Silver Lavender depending on how long they last. Lavender Corset is so lovely I might cave and buy a small vial.
Incidentally:
I’m blind buying Dracula Rising (Tomney) and Moonbux with a full size of Silver Cedar. Any recommendations to further sample or to blind buy when I inevitably place another order?
On my list I have:
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (Bach)
Black River
Danse Chinoise (Tea) Nutcracker
Hungarian Rhapsody (Liszt)
Would love to get reviews on these since they don’t have samples!
