Indie Weekends: Solstice Scents Foxcroft's Autumn Festival Collection Review

I finally finished my testing of all the Solstice Scents Foxcroft's Autumn Festival perfumes, and I have some thoughts! Good thoughts! The biggest theme of this review, was finding scents I was hesitant about liking, and ended up loving them once they were on the skin. Solstice Scents seems to have a talent with that aspect of perfume making. Smelling it from the bottle or reading the notes and sometimes I think I won't like it. And then it turns into a favorite. So, if you're still hooked on fall, and want some good scents and perfumes to keep smelling like the food and air of fall, then this collection is totally for you!

If you've never heard of Solstice Scents, they are an Indie bath and body and perfumery, that sells perfumes, whipped soap, body ganache creams, bath soaks, and their burnishing glace sprays, which are kind of like body mists or can be used as bath oils. They are based out of Florida, and offer a main collection scent line, as well as seasonal collections that can mostly be ordered all year in sample form.

Shipping - I ordered this collection the first day it went up for sale, and it shipped the next day (THE NEXT DAY, how's that for turnaround time?!) via USPS and arrived 5 days later from Florida to California.

This is how the perfume samples come packaged when you order them, all sealed up in a little bag.

Product Sizes - This set is only available in sample vial size, but some of the scents are available as a full size rollerball perfume, or in some full size bath and body products.

Free Samples - Solstice Scents always offers a free perfume sample with purchase that you can choose from the dropdown menu at checkout. Be sure if you're using Paypal, to log in to Paypal, then choose your sample, because if you choose it before, it clears your selection when coming back to the checkout.

Can I just say, for photography purposes, I love that the labels are not white!

Corbin's Apple Fest - "Apple Pastries, Caramel Apples, Fresh Apples, Warm Apple Cider, Vanilla, Apple Pie, Apple Cream Cheese Danish"

I was surprised, out of the bottle I could immediately pick out the cream cheese scent, but once it's on the skin you get just a barrage of various apple smells. It's not too sweet, still a little tart, but not strong either. It stays very close to the skin, but it smells so yummy! After a while, you can't really tell which apple you're smelling, it just reminds me of all the baking apple smells when I go to a local place here called Apple Hill. This one is definitely a winner, and as wear time increases, you get more of the vanilla notes coming through.

Foxcroft Fairgrounds - "Cotton Candy, Cream Soda, Vanilla Taffy, Gridling's Funnel Cakes, Powdered Sugar, Crisp Fall Air, Woodsmoke & a Tendril of Incense"

I can smell the cream soda and the incense, and possibly the cotton candy. It's like a dark sweet dessert perfume. As it dries, I can get a little of the vanilla taffy, but I always worry about the incense. Incense tends to give me headaches, but I try to appreciate them if I can. This one has a lot going on and personally I could have done without the incense, but I think this will smell really nice after about an hour, but I don't think it's long lasting either.

Gibbon's Boarding School - "Dusty Wooden Desks, Paper, Carefully Hidden Tobacco Pouch, Dying Fire, Dried Leaves, Leather Chairs, Autumn Breeze"

This is a great unisex perfume, or one for the man in your life if you like him to smell like he just got back fighting a fire in a school or something, but in a good way. Definitely a little smoky, a little woodsy, a little old abandoned school-ish, it's probably my least favorite of the collection, but I think I might see if B would wear it, I bet it would smell even better on a guy.

Owl Creek Aleworks - "Sticky English Toffee Pudding, Blackburn's Parlor Vanilla Ice Cream, Caramel, Toasted Coconut & Hazelnut, Sugared Pumpkin Cream Stout"

I randomly picked this one to wear on my way over to see B one day, and it smelled so good I couldn't stop smelling my wrist. I could tell it was a little spicy, sweet, and maybe some pumpkin beer in it, but the rest I couldn't pick out myself without reading the notes. It's a great fall scent, I can just barely pick out the caramel and a little toasted coconut, but I think if you didn't read the notes you couldn't pick them out. Just a well blended sweet gourmand fall scent, with a hint of spice and beer.

Riverside Hayride - "Moist Dirt, White Carnations, Fallen Leaves, Bare Branches, Hay & a Hint of Pressed Apples Carried on the Breeze from Corvin's Apple Orchard"

And here's another one I was worried I wouldn't like, but it smells wonderful. The combination of the amazing moist dirt note they have, and the white carnations, and other sweet notes in this one, makes it smell like a fall garden right after a big rain, and the sun is just peeking out from behind the clouds. You will have to have an appreciation for florals and dirt scents to like this one though, but the dirt just balances it out from going overly floral, and the carnations and the hint of apples keeps it from being too much of a "dirty" scent. I like it, not my absolute favorite, but I like it much better than I thought I would. After a few minutes of drying, I get more of the woodsy notes, and it starts to smell more like a hayride.

Smokewood Apiary - "Smoked Honey, Creamed Honey, Beeswax, Amber, Wooden Frames, Ginger & Vanilla"

I get really smoky honey out of this one, but it's the smoke that hits your nose first, and the honey slowly follows it. Great for people who like smoky scents, or sweet scents without sweet being the main note. After a while the smoky dissipates and you're left with a very creamy honey scent, exactly like creamed honey if you've ever smelled that. After a few hours, the smoke is almost completely gone, and it's just a sweet honey note left.

Sycamore Chai - "Vanilla Chai Tea & A Ginger-Pumpkin Roll Filled With Marshmallow Creme"

I smell mostly the ginger at first sniff on my skin, but it's mixed with a little spice from the chai. This is mostly going to be just a really spicy scent, so if you're into that, it might be for you. Although I do think this could possibly smell really good on a guy, or your guy if he's willing to let you put perfume on him. Definitely a unisex scent, but I can't say that it's for me. I was hoping for more creamy chai drink and marshmallow versus straight-up ginger. But, it doesn't seem to last long for me, so that's a bonus if you find out you don't like it. But, Solstice Scents has said it makes a great perfume for layering, so I will have to get some of their recommendations and try that!

Overall, I liked this collection a lot more than I thought I would when I read the scent notes. It just proves how important it is to try indie perfumes on the skin before making a judgement on them. I will probably see if I can get B to wear Gibbon's Boarding School, and I loved Corbin's Apple Fest and Owl Creek Aleworks, and Smokewood Apiary is very interesting and smoky sweet, and I plan on experimenting with layering Sycamore Chai with some of my other Solstice Scents perfumes. I am looking forward to the winter collection though. Even though it's only November, I am so ready to move on from fall scents, and get into winter scents, so I hope that's coming soon.

Customer Service - I did not have to contact customer service for this particular order, but I have had great experiences before with previous orders, especially my first order. My first order they had a special to get an extra free perfume sample with your first order with them, and in addition to that, they sent me another one they must have thought I would like based on my picks for the order. I thought that was really nice of them to do, and it was just a small little thing that made me want to keep ordering all the time from them.

Availability - This perfume sample set is still available for purchase, but some of the other full size perfumes and bath and body products are currently out of stock. I know they have said they will be doing perfume restocks, but I don't know about the bath and body stuff.

Overall Satisfaction - My favorites were Corbin's Apple Fest and Owl Creek Aleworks, and I can't wait to purchase the next collection from Solstice Scents. Their perfumes are some of my favorites if you want to experiment with perfumes that are a little different, and branch out of your comfort zone.


What did you think of the Solstice Scents Foxcroft's Autumn Festival collection? Let me know in the comments!

For all other Solstice Scents reviews, click here