Review: Solstice Scents “Manor” & Firebird “Sugar”

I’ll admit it: I’m not much of a perfume girl. I never saw the purpose of spending of often hundreds of dollars on department store fragrances “designed” by famous celebrities. I first heard of indie perfume oils when I stumbled upon an Indie Makeup subreddit looking for a cheap makeup fix. For the cheap prices and with all the glowing reviews, I figured it was time to try something new. I purchased a few samples from another user on Reddit last Sunday, and I’m about to talk about my first experiences with indie perfume!

Solstice Scents “Manor”

The first sample I tried was a popular scent from Solstice Scents called Manor. With notes of woody-vanilla musk, vanilla, and agarwood, the description of this scent is as follows:

“Manor is the scent of a once grand estate, now disheveled, forgotten and left exposed to the elements. The faint scent of previous owners and their esteemed guests…meets rich wood floors and heavy wooden doors long since opened, decaying beadboard and Wainscot topped off with a thin layer of dust.”

Scent

In the bottle, Manor smelled like sweet, burning wood with perhaps a touch of incense. It was actually quite lovely and versatile with a lot of warmth to it; I could see a lot of different women liking this perfume. It smelled about the same if not a tad more woodsy once I applied it to my skin. At first, it seemed quite strong, but I might have just put too much on. I am quite sensitive to strong, heavy smells, so I did get a bit of a headache after awhile.

In my boyfriend’s words, Manor was “good, maybe flowery?” He also didn’t find it too strong which was one of my main concerns.

Wear Time

Right after I applied Manor, there was a lot of sillage which continued for at least eight hours. After eight hours, the scent seemed to stay closer to the skin. I could still smell it at midnight when I went to bed, but it was gone by morning.

Overall

I was really impressed with Manor as my first indie perfume. It lasted all day on me with great (but not overpowering) sillage which was impressive. I think it would be perfect for cooler days especially. I am considering buying a full bottle, but I am going to try wearing this a few more times to see if it continues to give me a headache.

Firebird “Sugar”

The second sample I received was Sugar from the Etsy store Firebird Bath & Body which included notes of orange blossom, vanilla, berries, and anise. The description was as follows:

“Ethereal, delicate sweetness- a stray tendril of spun sugar wafting on a cool breeze. Sweet, of course- but not at all cloying or sticky. Rather, it’s watery, light, crisp.”

Scent

My first impression of Sugar in the bottle was that it smelled like brown sugar. It was very sweet and warm but not cloying. After applied, it stayed pretty much the same. It was much lighter than Manor and stayed closer to the skin from the start, probably because it was a bit sweeter. Sugar also didn’t give me a headache like Manor did.

My boyfriend noticed I was wearing perfume but had no idea what it smelled like. I got the feeling he liked Manor better.

Wear Time

There was some sillage from this scent for about four hours after applying. After that, it remained close to the skin until about seven hours after applying.

Overall

I was less impressed by this scent compared to Manor, but it was still nice overall. I wish that it lasted longer and didn’t stay so close to the skin. I probably would not buy a full bottle, but I’ll use up the rest of the sample.

Coming Up

I’ve ordered some samples that I am planning to review from indie company Alkemia. You can read my reviews of some of their scents here and here.