So in my most recent Stereoplasm order (baby's first custom) I got samples of two of the conspiracy scents and a throwback scent - Odessa. I decided to bump these reviews up my queue since the conspiracy scents are so brand spankin' new and I figure y'all want sniff descriptions/opinions of 'em.
(Steroplasm's Meaghan sent my sibling, but not me, Sleeping Giants because it's a green and she knows my sniffer and I cannot do bright or aquatic greens. I took a brief sniff of it and yep... resinous green reminiscent of an aquatic in the bottle.)
I flagged these as Press Samples because they were free and were sent with timing so that I'd have 'em about the time they launched. Meaghan has been complimentary about my reviews so... uh... I suppose this counts as a press sample? If I'm wrong mods please switch the flair!
The scents covered in this review are:
- Eye of the Sahara [store link]
- World's Fair 1893 [store link]
Methods
All perfumes in this review were allowed to rest for
over a week 24 hours (WHOOPS just caught this - copy/paste error) after arrival. The perfumes were kept in the dark in a plastic box. I did crack them open to sniff them directly after arrival, and with a couple to do an initial test. The reviews are not based off of these initial impressions - though if a rest did change the smell I’ll note that.
I’m doing a half-hour skin test with each perfume. They are always applied to skin that has either been washed or hasn’t had perfume on it that day. Sometimes I will run one scent on one wrist/hand/arm and the other on the other wrist/hand/arm. Before beginning the first test I did a wash with a scented soap (it’s all I have available - shea butter Dove soap or almond Doc Bronners). Before doing test periods I often wear or play with other scents in my collection (that I wash off), so theoretically there could be cross-contamination.
Each sample was gently swirled before application.Each review is written without looking at the notes (in that moment… I obviously looked at them when I bought). At the end of the review I will list what the notes listed in the shop are and comment on how I think they interacted
Bottle Review
My points still stand from my bottle reviews in my previous review [here]. All I have to add is that tragically my package had a couple of leakies - one of the 1mls leaked (I think it's my Eye of The Sahara) and some fractionated coconut oil that had been sent to my sibling leaked. The packaging protected most of the bottles - but a couple had damaged labels (as you can see above). Stereoplasm's labels melt when in contact with water, oil, plastic (I've had ones get damaged from being wrapped in bubble wrap), and each other (I store my sample bottles upright and next to each other and places where they touch will sometimes melt the labels). Leaks happen - especially with 1mls. But it would be nice to have some oil-proof packaging around individual bottles so that the leaks wouldn't 'spread' to other bottles and melt the labels.
On to the reviews proper!
A reminder: Each nose is different and each skin’s chemistry is different. Your mileage may vary.
Eye of the Sahara
In the bottle: Warm sand, glass, and a gorgeous frothy ambergris. Like, I remember the ambergris note in this and being like ‘hm’ about it. But this smells like the froth on sea waves warmed in the sun without any of the ‘stinky’ ocean scents. It’s like isolated wave-froth. Also subtle, dreamy eastern spices and gosh I don’t know if that amber-y smell is a separate one from the ambergris but it is VERY good.
Wet on my skin: Golden with aquatic nuances. This really does smell like the remnants of Atlantis in the desert. Like, I don’t know what dark wizardry Meaghan did to get this scent. I’ll try and describe it as best I can: It’s like warm, sweet almost drippy amber, warm sand/glass (a kind of warm silicone smell), sea froth, a tiny delicate touch of what might be a traditional aquatic note (I think it’s Stereoplasm’s sea glass note but note 100% sure) - which smells SLIGHTLY like the fragrances used in soaps (this kind of reminds me of dial) but it is, and I wanna be super clear on this, is not soapy.
Drydown: Very similar to how it is wet. I might be detecting a hint of salt.
After 30 mins: This is a super stable scent that I think is centered around amber/ambergris. It’s pretty nice that the topnotes (the spices and sand) are both still there after half an hour. The sand might be slightly less prominent. Great throw on this by the way. I was catching whiffs of it throughout the half hour. Hell, I can smell it now.
Notes on the site: Ancient spice, lovegrass, ambergris and sea salt beneath hot sand
Okay so, the spices are absolutely there - a flash of eastern influence. The lovegrass is probably the golden scent that reminds me of their sea glass note, traditional aquatics, and a lil bit of dial soap (but again NOT soapy). The ambergris is the wave-froth smell/ the amber smell I think. The salt is definitely there as a hint that emerges as the scent wears. And, gosh, I don’t know how she did it but she definitely got a ‘warm sand/glass’ smell. Silicone maybe? Or a resin?
Verdict: I didn’t expect to like this remotely as much as I ended up doing. This scent is causing me some serious internal writhing because I can’t see wearing it often enough to justify a 6ml… but it’s not available by itself as a 3ml and I don’t wanna pick up the whole set ‘cause Sleeping Giants is Too Green For Me. I’m sure I’ll figure something out in the next few days lol. I’m pretty sure I want to upsize it from a 1ml though!
World’s Fair 1893
In the bottle: This one is hard to forget all the notes on because they’re so unique! The first thing that I smell out of the bottle is that plum brandy with undertones of that powdered porcelain (which smells a lil like clay, a lil ‘clean’, and a tiny bit cold - it actually smells like porcelain with some powder on it!). There’s also a tang of metal and a kind of a sharp glass smell. Something musky as well.
Wet on my skin: Sweet thick plum (closer to plum/prune juice than a fresh plum), less boozy now. More of a forward, warm metallic note. Less of that cold porcelain note. If you’re into steampunk this is a scent you’ve got to try. A very nifty turn-of-the-century atmospheric with a fruity plum core. Getting less glass now - it’s more of a topnote. There’s something almost floral in there - pale, reminds me a little of one of their rose notes. Something an eensy bit woody - probably part of the brandy accord.
Drydown: So, I’m starting to get a throw on this bad boy and it’s weird guys. What’s throwing is the cold porcelain and the metal with just an edge note of plum. When I sniff closer to my arm the plum is more prominent and the brandy nuances come out. Not getting much of a glass now except maybe as an edge or blending with the brandy accord.
After 30 mins: This wears a lot lighter than Eye of the Sahara (but lol EotS still has a solid throw after washing it off to try and stop cross-contamination). I can still smell it faintly 6 inches from where I applied it to my arm and quite a bit stronger right up on the skin. Mostly it’s centered on the plum brandy with metallic and floral nuances. Edges of the porcelain note. A little more of that woody base note.
Notes on the site: Plum brandy, genisteae, melted steel, powdered porcelain and stained glass
To be fair, I remembered the plum brandy, a metal note, the porcelain and the glass (it’s hard to forget these!) . I did get them all at one point or another in the perfume. I have 0 idea if the genisteae is the floral I was getting because I have no idea how genisteae is supposed to smell, but I bet it is the floral lol. I know there will probably be skeptics out there since I 100% admittedly remembered a bunch of the notes but this seriously eerily nailed the porcelain and metal - the glass a lil less so but there was a sharp… silicone-y smell at the start. It might be cross contamination from the never ending Eye of the Sahara, but I do think I was getting it as part of World’s Fair.
Verdict: Will be upsizing to a 3ml! See my note on Eye of the Sahara as I’m… not sure how that’s going to happen right now unless I cave and grab a set and then gift or sell the Sleeping Giants since my nose and green notes do note get along. Anyway, while I have relatively limited occasions where I want to smell like I just stepped out of a steampunk novel I know for a fact, a fact that there are folks here on IMAM who are gonna need a 6 ml of this.
Odessa
In the bottle: Sweet, creamy wildflowers. Bright and subtle. Gentle touch of a foody note - reminds me of the cream soda note used in First Bloom. I think I get some daffodil with the wildflowers - it’s a yellow floral that blends with the creaminess but seems familiar enough that it’s bringing yellow flowers to mind. Some sort of golden, kinda amber-ish note. I vaguely recall seeing the notes for this - didn’t it have a wheat note or something?
Wet on my skin: Creamy yellow and gold with a white sort of indolic note coming forward. A little musky/dusty. Something a little bitter verging on green but not quite going there (that might be the wheat). Far less sweet on my skin than it was in the bottle - it verges on ozonic which I think might be coming from one of the florals.
Drydown: A little more sweet and significantly less indolic. I don’t know if this is one of the Stereoplasm scents I go anosmic to easily or if it just wears faint on me. It’s mostly just… faint and slightly creamy/sweet with occasional whiffs of wildflowers and a yellow floral.
After 30 mins: Still creamy sweet wildflowers, still yellow, still faint - a little of the indolic scent has come back so I must have just gone anosmic to it. I wish I had more to say… but it hasn’t morphed much it’s just hard for me to smell. It reminds me a lot of their animal-of-the-month Agnus (lamb) scent.
Notes on the site: Fields of yellow wheat and a simple white musk. Bright top notes of fresh peach and yellow custard
So the sweet yellow scent must be the custard. I can sorta get peach and I think that might be what I was reading as a floral - it isn’t a fruity peach, but a floral one almost like an accord. The white musk to me doesn’t smell like white musk notes I’ve smelled elsewhere. It’s definitely musky but in such a way that I kept forgetting to mention it (it almost felt like the smell of the carrier oil) and I’m betting what was flagging me as an indolic floral was part of the white musk used in this. I’m used to white musk smelling almost like marshmallows, whereas this white musk is more ‘animal’ smelling (even though it’s from a vegan source of course). The wheat is probably the golden note - but I’d say it’s different from the wheat note in Lights Across The Sky. This wheat note is more golden-plant-stalk whereas LATS’s wheat note reminds me more of seeds.
Verdict: Swap. This isn’t for me. I was thrilled to try a ‘throwback’ scent but I was - back when I initially read the notes - hoping for a more familiar white musk and wheat with a more prominent custard. I think this scent will work well looking for a more subtle, feminine scent with a more ‘feral’ white musk than a sweet one.
Note: When I walked back in the room there was a sweet, custard-y smelling cloud where I was sitting. I have one of my perfume storage boxes open so I don’t know i it was one of my gourmands I was smelling or if the perfume has a good throw of topnotes I’m just quickly goin' anosmic to.
No comments:
Post a Comment