Yeah, ok, you're right, that's enough whining. No one wants to hear about my first world curly hair problems.
So when the fabulous Claire originally opened sixteen92, I stupidly only picked up a five pack of samples. When the Fall collection came out, I had learned my lesson and bought the sampler of the entire thing. I haven't met a scent from sixteen92 yet that I didn't like.
Calaverita
Pan de muerto sweetened with cinnamon sugar, Calaveras (sugar skull candies), crisp November air, and an ofrenda of sweet incense and candles to honor los difuntos.
Sweet / Candy Gourmand / Spicy / Feminine
In the bottle: Sweet and brown sugary
On my skin: I took a sniff and shouted "Holy shit! It's Cinnamon Red Hots!" That's pretty much it bang on. I don't get the crisp air or incense really. I'm not disappointed at all: this scent is nostalgic-ly delicious.
Wear Time: About two and a half hours
Sillage: Moderate. This scent has a good bit of throw, but I didn't find it as overwhelming as Salem.
Hallowmas
Fossilized amber resin, spiced Bosc pear, red apple, black musk, heliotrope
Sweet / Musky / Warm Floral / Feminine
In the bottle: A very feminine and sweet floral
On my skin: I smell a lovely floral scent with just enough musk to make it warm and inviting. I, sadly, didn't catch any of the fruit. This reminds me of a toned down Penny Dreadful; a bit less intense yet still a faint, old fashioned sort of perfume.
Wear Time: Barely an hour.
Sillage: Very light. I wore this a few times, just to make sure I wasn't too asleep to read it right. This sticks very very close to my wrists.
Helsing
Smoky Lapsang Souchong tea, dragon's blood, cedar wood, fir balsam, leather, saffron, chai spice accord
Smokey / Dark / Woody / Unisex / Masculine
In the bottle: Smokey and masculine. I think I might smell a little wood.
On my skin: Very smokey and tobacco-y, it reminds me of a cigar. As it begins to dry, I catch bits of wood and maybe a teeny hint of leather. After about an hour it's mostly gone; I can just catch faint traces of cedar.
Wear Time: Two hours.
Sillage: Light. I can just barely detect it, and I had to go nose to wrist to try and pick apart what I was smelling.
Huntsman
Cardamom & vanilla infused coffee, fossilized amber, Agar wood (Oud), tilled soil
Warm Spicy / Woody / Unisex
In the bottle: Medicinal. Blech.
On my skin: At first sniff it's very medicinal, cold, and astringent. I really didn't like it. As it began to dry, I quickly changed my mind. Something that reminds me strongly of Pine and balsam begins to emerge and warm it up. A little hint of earth lies underneath it all. The impression it gives is of being in an evergreen forest on a crisp late fall/early winter day. I really like this, but it's not something I'd normally wear. I know this is billed as a unisex scent, but it reads very male to me. I tried to convince my husband to wear it. I only got as far as getting him to sniff it.
"Bear, smell this. It's boy perfume."
"...What, like for a little boy?" In his defense, he had just woken up.
"No. Here, just smell it."
*sniffs and makes a face* "Eh. It doesn't smell good on you."
"...Nobody asked you anyway!"
So yeah, there probably won't be any cute Husband Impressions in my reviews. His notes are always "That smells good" or "Yeah, I guess I like that" and just the one time "Don't wear that. You stink like a hippy" in response to Goody Proctor.
Wear Time: About an hour and a half.
Sillage: Moderate. Good throw without being overwhelming.
Raven
Spiced apple, tea leaves, tobacco, guaiac wood
Spicy / Fruity / Woody / Unisex
In the bottle: Spiced apple cider
On my skin: Spiced apples last for maybe five minutes before morphing into a spicy scent with a hint of wood. It settles into something that strongly reminds me of a cup of chai tea before I add anything to it.
Wear Time: Three hours.
Sillage: Moderate. I definitely need to go wrist to nose to pick out the individual notes,but I'm always surrounded by a faint impression of scent. This one, I think would be nice to wear to the office.
Salem
Damp leaves, church incense, Italian leather, dry birch woods, clove bud absolute, bonfire smoke
Spicy / Woody / Dark / Incense / Unisex
In the bottle: Sweetly scented incense, with a bit of spice
On my skin: Smoking incense. As it dries down, the clove emerges and quickly overpowers the other scents. I never really could detect anything else. I'm disappointed that my skin amps the clove up and drowned everything out. I love smoky-incense types of scents and had high hopes for this one.
Wear Time: Lasted two and a half hours.
Sillage: Strong. When the clove first emerges, it's overpowering. Dries down to bearable levels after about half an hour.
Vespertine
Aged double-distilled patchouli, precious mitti attar in sandalwood oil, white thyme, frankincense, rich black myrrh, long-dried rose petals, cannabis flower
Herbal / Dark / Unisex
In the bottle: Medicinal with a bit of green notes
On my skin: There's a sharp fleeting green note: I'm not sure if it's from the thyme or the cannabis flower. As it dries, a warm soft woody scent emerges. I think I'm catching a hint of the patchouli. This scent reminds me a lot of Vetiver Extraordinaire, which I adore.
Wear Time: Just under three hours.
Sillage: Moderate. Another good one that you can definitely smell but it's not overpowering.
Wicked
Three vanillas, dark aged patchouli, almond buttercream
Sweet / Herbal / Vanilla / Oriental Woody / Feminine
In the bottle: Sweet cream
On my skin: This smells like a very milky caramel latte with a hint of spice. As it dries down, more spice emerges. It never smells like straight up patchouli. After about twenty minutes, the caramel scent is gone and it's just sweetly spicy with a hint of something that reminds me of amber. After about two hours, while it had faded down to be almost imperceptible, I could smell pure sweet cream.
Wear Time: I got about three hours out of this.
Sillage: Quite good. Applied on my wrists, I was surrounded by scent without being overpowered by it.
While I am a little disappointed that my skin chemistry turned Salem into The Clove Show, I have no regrets about buying the whole sampler pack. I started to list my favorites and it turned into "Everything but Salem and Huntsman... and I really like Huntsman too." If I had to pick just one to wear out of these, after much hemming and hawing, I'd go with Wicked. Even so, all of these are incredible blends, and if you haven't gotten any, you are missing out.
~M.
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