aesthetics-based scents for impeccable vibes
This was a love at first sniff. Tropical? Check. Something reminiscent of laundry? Check.A warm fragrance? Oh yeah. I have nothing in my collection like this scent and it is truly unique. Oh…lastibility? At least 12+ hours on my skin. Holy moly that is impressive
Yummyy. On first spray I mostly get the pine and orange– the pine is very realistic and smells like a crushed pine needle, and it fits very well with the orange which is more on the side of zest than juice. Weirdly I also get a tinge of something aquatic– this has happened to me with other Mythpunk scents so I wonder if it is something with how I interpret their green notes. It gains a xeric texture as it dries down and the wood/musk starts coming out, reminding me of particularly scraggly wood bark textures, like red cedar or shagbark hickory. I have to smell up close to detect it, but the musk is definitely specifically black peppery. The rosemary and armoise aren't on the forefront for me but I do detect them adding an additonal herbal complexity to the scent.
I love the cherry and cedar combo in this! I can be pretty picky with fruit scents in fragrance, since they often smell more like fruit candy than true fruit to me, but the cherry here is just lovely. I read an offsite review from someone who mentioned this scent is a great one for lovers of Dusk Cherry Puff who are into the idea of a cherry with a little less sugar, and having tried this now I very much agree :-) Rosy Maple Moth is noticeably different on me depending on whether I apply to my skin or clothes, but I really enjoy both varieties. When sprayed on my arms, the wood is much more noticeable. On my clothes, the wood isn't as strong and the fairy floss is more prominent, so it's slightly sweeter and airier. Fun to smell either way!
I got this as a free sample, and while it's likely not something I'd choose for myself, I appreciate it for what it is. First and foremost, can we talk about the smoke note? In my experience, smoke in perfumes usually reads as a woodfire, which is lovely but a totally different vibe. This definitely smells like smoke from a cigarette or joint. I'm not sure how or why because it's not like tobacco or cannabis specifically, but there's something about the ashiness of the scent that evokes a room where someone has recently been smoking. Besides the smoke, I mostly get clove and something that reminds me of sassafras or dragon's blood (which tends to smell like root beer to me). It's a spicier and more incense-forward perfume than I typically wear, but I do find it intriguing as a kind of borderline atmospheric.
"Warm" isn't quite the correct description for this scent, it is smoking hot. Not a traditionally powdery nag champa scent, it has a more crumbly, ashy texture. Luxurious but rebellious. Musky, smoky, floral, resiny, sweet.
The aesthetic notes are spot on: This is the olfactory equivalent of a snuggly blanket. Marshmallow predominates initially, but as it dries, the sandalwood and rice come forward more, warming the scent. It wears closer than most of the other Mythpunk perfumes I've sampled, but that feels appropriate, as this very much seems like a comfort scent you wear for yourself. Impressive longevity, too: It lasts all day for me.
Immediately after spraying, it takes a bit to settle into a full marshmallow identity; I got brief whiffs of spun sugar and even something clean and sunscreeny. Soon it becomes much more clearly marshmallow– Slightly powdery, but overall it has a more creamy texture that reminds me of marshmallow cream/fluff. The vanilla is also clearly present– it reads to me as one of the fruitier varieties (For anyone who has tried Metztli from Arcana Wildcraft, it is similar to that). This is definitely recognizable as the base of the other -puff scents, and more surprisingly I find it comparable to Beachkin.
I definitely see now why it’s in the vibe check collection, though the list of notes didn’t seem like it would fit. But wow. This is a translucent yet grounded atmospheric that makes me feel as if I’ve been teleported into a scene.
I can search out the individual components, but what my brain perceives most is the scene, like a pointillist painting made perfume.
This might be the most balanced perfume I’ve ever smelled. It’s smooth, light-medium density, and grounded without being overwrought. But there’s an emotional sense that the mood is in fact hiding someone’s overwrought emotions; they’re in check for now, but the balance could be shifted and the illusion of normalcy demolished. (These nuns are barely keeping it together, folx, but damnit, they’re going to pretend they’re okay so no one cries tonight.)
(if you don’t love aquatics, this might still work for you. The ocean is present, but not overwhelming, and realistic within the balance. Realistic ocean scents are awesome to me but I can’t be around them long. This is serene and comforting? It’s also not something I see myself wearing because it may be a bit too floral-leaning/femme for me, but I want to put it on someone else, and I’ve now sprayed it on a piece of paper I placed in one room so I can appreciate how incredible it is! I just get to enjoy it when I pass by. Strong projection and longevity for sure, 2.5 sprays and I can smell it 6 feet away hours later.)
Opens with a quick, sharp burst of honeyed mead from the immortelle before moving into a surprisingly light patchouli, almost like white patchouli. It idles here for a bit, and I swear there's a twist of Swedish black licorice, but nothing too strong. The compacted brown sugar passes through a sifter, emerging on the other side as the essence of marshmallow. By the end, the brown sugar and distant marshmallow have me letting out a sigh of relief, because traditionally, patchouli and immortelle have made me wary! The evolution of this scent makes it a fun experience, and I'm even considering buying more, especially since it's not something you'd expect to find in my collection.
This scent reminds me of growing up with my teddy bear (he is still with me but has retired to a safe place away from dogs) and the comfort and excitement of going on adventures with him. This feels so special and can teleport me to some of the safest memories I have from that time. To me this is a scent that is grounding and safe with a tiny bit of yearning for the past. The vanilla is smooth but there is a thickness that I assume is the flannel or stuffing so it feels like a fluffy blanket. I will always recommend this scent!
Charred wood. Green camo. Kudos to the balance of smoke, wood, and green. Stand up if your name is Ashe, Master of the Green Notes. This one has the strength of a polar bear! Small squirts, no more than two, or you'll be a walking bomb of fumes.
Sharp, almost metallic. Gunmetal grey. Everything about this is laser tag in the winter woods. Rain? The unfurled foliage thinks so. The ending is grey ash, ferns, and broken stalks with a faint sweetness that I suspect is the untoasted marshmallow. The perfect scent to heighten the camping experience.
There’s something about this perfume that hovers a few inches off my skin. It’s sweet…almost mint, but not quite. I can’t stop breathing over my arm. It’s beautiful!
I would also say, while it is woodsmoke perfume, it’s not WOODSMOKE. It’s more of a tasteful daytime woodsmoke perfume, and less of a “I sat by the fire all night last night and now it’s clinging to my sweater and my hair” woodsmoke scent. The marshmallow and greenery temper it quite a bit.
I'm not sure I'm the right person to decipher this scent.
Positive: The marshmallow makes the Stuffkin vanilla pop. I couldn't detect it in Howlkin. In fact, this combination is my favorite part of the scent. Deep, repetitive huffs. What a girly middle!
The opening I had to spray twice. Cardamom is banging! Cardamom makeover. It's not that strong, imposing cardamom; the spiced latte with frothed milk makes it super palatable. The spice reminds me of peanut M&M's, the peanut first, followed by that thin chocolate shell. See? I should pass the baton.
So, the opening is banging, again, in case we need a summation. I want to go to a local coffee shop and order this drink. Swirl some vanilla syrup into that hot spiced pumpkin goodness, toss in a few tiny marshmallows, then pour in the steamed milk. Top it off with cold cardamom foam, and it's layered to perfection.
Unsure: Are the peanut M&M's the suede? This is where I think someone needs to be tagged in. Whistle and flag on the play for the candy reference! No laundered hoodie, but I feel that cozy hug and sense of security a hoodie provides. The drydown? Familiar Plushkin snuggles.
Would wear: For the pairing of Gen Beta's version of the millennials' PSL and a bag of mysterious peanut M&M's.
Winter Vibes: My mom and I used to stop at the bookstore with a coffee corner in the middle of our Christmas shopping. I need sleigh bells, mittens, knitted hats, earmuffs, pop Christmas carols on a continuous loop, and fake snow clinging to a plastic tree. Santa is waving me over to sit on his lap. Sir, I'm too old for that! This is the perfume you wear to say, “Happy Holidays, ya filthy animals! And a Happy New Year!”
If Stuffkin's a super warm plush blanket, Hushkin's a reliable quilt that's warm enough to get you to mid-autumn and light enough to get you through the start of summer. It's got an airy quality about it. It's like sitting on your freshly laundered bed with the windows open, sheer curtains blowing with the breeze, purple twilight outside and the stars just coming up. On your bedside table is the last of your cup of cocoa that was mostly milk with melty vanilla marshmallows and a pretty antique vase with dried lavender and violets. It's a dusky periwinkle kind of scent, but still light and comforting and warm. One of my favorite of the 'kins :)
The aromatic quality of the bitter orange peel works so well with the cedarwood. They both have a level of dryness that makes them feel almost fused together.On my skin, the pine is actually the loudest note,but without that stereotypical pine-and-sap smell my nose has come to expect. The dried rosemary plays an interesting part too. Its slightly sharp, herbal scent opens up the cedar, which in turn tempers the pine. Sweet orange is there as well, but it seems to rotate around the other notes, like a satellite around the earth. Once again, I am seeing that circular pattern with Ashe's scents. The notes don't feel layered; nor do they simply sit on top of each other. Instead, one affects the next, which affects the next, and somehow they keep circling back.
Then the mood changes. The armoise brings a distinctly bitter, almost apothecary like quality that immediately reminds me of Malört.Something about that bitterness brings tree bark to mind, but not in the same woody way as the cedar or pine.Peppery musk keeps the armoise from going all the way into that mouth-puckering intensity associated with the drink. Through this constant revolution of notes, Willowherb Hawkmoth becomes less about smelling the individual parts and more like opening a portal straight into the woods. A cloud of forest-forward memories for anyone who dares to step through.
