Arcana Halloween 2015

Gods all bless decant circles.  I really wanted to pick up All of the Things from Arcana's Halloween release, but I couldn't afford to splurge on full sizes.  Thankfully, Angi of Ajevie's Circles ran a decant circle so I could pick up Most of the Things.

Apples Crave Red Musk

Candy-red apples and lascivious red musk.

In the bottle: Red apple slices

On my skin: So I dragged my family out to the pick your own farm last month, and this smells like the apples I grabbed at the last minute at the market while waiting to pay for our pumpkins. It was either Empire or Jonagolds. I can't remember which, but it's like taking a bite into a fresh red apple... Not a super sweet juicy Red Delicious or a Fuji, and not a tart cooking apple like Granny Smith. More like an all purpose variety that's good for eating straight, or baking or making applesauce. An apple of all trades, if you will. After about two hours, the apple is gone and we're left with the red musky heart lingering down on the skin. Throw is moderate, but feels light and I got a respectable two and a half hours out of this. 

Marble Flowers

Opulent tuberose petals, neroli, sheer bergamot, white amber, pearl musk, and white cognac absolute.

In the bottle: citrus and brandy? Bourbon? Something booze.

On my skin: milky tuberose at first. On the dry down, it starts to get citrusy. This scent is on the lighter throw side. It's more of a skin scent and I think it'd be safe for work and appointments and other Boring Grownup Stuff. It's so fleeting I didn't have time to really pick it apart. I've worn this several times, but the most I get out of it is about an hour and a half. 

Pumpkins Crave Terror 

Holy Terror (burning frankincense, sandalwood, deep myrrh, and dusty beeswax candles) with glowing pumpkin and a small dash of pie spices.

In the bottle: Spicy -almost bread like- pumpkin

On my skin: smokey spicy pumpkin. This pumpkin note is like a savory, more low key Pumpkin Craves Bacon before the bacon note hits, and it’s not as sweet or pie like as sixteen92’s Spellbound. It goes beautifully over the incensey Holy Terror base. The best part though, is that I got a whopping six hours of wear out of this. 

Sabbath Eve 

Crisp, dead leaves, evening woodsmoke, dark amber, and smoking church incense.

In the bottle: amber

On my skin: It opens with fallen leaves that are starting to decay. Dry, I get this edge of pine. Feels exactly like the other day when it was warm enough to drive with the windows down through a very woody back road; I get that same scent of trees and leaves and lovely earthy musky rot. After about an hour or so, I can smell the amber coming out. Two hours in and it gets much more woody and smokey. Besides being amazingly authentic, this has excellent longevity. I got four hours before it dropped down to a skin scent where it lingered for an additional two and a half hours. Almost seven hours. A girl could get used to this. 

Sullen Courts of Sleep

A tenebrous blend of amber resin, coconut milk, skin musk, and French cognac.

In the bottle: Coconut meat

On my skin: Milky coconut, fresh from the tree with a little vanilla. On the dry down, it starts to smell more meatier and less like coconut milk. I do get a bit of a suntan oil vibe from it, but imo, that’s not a bad thing. It makes it feel like summer on this dreary and cold day. If you missed out on sixteen92’s Boardwalk, this feels very similar, but not as sweet smelling. This is another fleeting one on me. Like Marble Flowers, I get about an hour and a half of wear. At best. :(

Tristan 

Sandalwood, caramel, animalic musk, sweet tree roots, and a hint of Cornish violets.

In the bottle: Caramel

On my skin: This is definitely not a foodie caramel.  Wet, I get caramel still and musk and sandalwood and it's dead fucking sexy.  The caramel sort of slowly fades out and leaves you with this incredibly sexy woody musky masculine (but not unwearably so) scent.   I don't really get any violet... I do get a bit of powderyness that I think is probably them.   All in all this is fabulous and I want to bathe in it or meet the guy who smells like this and climb him like a tree.   Best of all, I get a good four hours out of it.  

While I am disappoint in the longevity of Marble Flowers and Sullen Courts of Sleep, I loved every one of these scents.  The fact that I got three (!) scents that lasted for at least four hours out of this haul makes up for it.  I'm even surprised at Apples Crave Red Musk.  Two and a half hours for an apple scent is pretty fabulous longevity on me.  If I had to pick a favorite, it'd have to be Tristan.  Pumpkins Crave Terror gets an honorable mention since it's  turned out to be my favorite Pumpkin scent I've tried this season.

~M.