Review: 3 Special Orders + 7 Regulars from Sorce

Hello, it's me! I'm back and sniffing my way through the Sorce catalog because it's not going to sniff itself!

SPECIAL ORDER:

Where the Wild Things Grow II: I like this a lot more than the sweeter, candied Version I of this scent, but I would still classify this as a perfumer’s idea of a strawberry, closer to a lollipop than the real thing. If you are looking for a true-to-life strawberry straight from the dirt, keep looking. However, there’s just enough of a green note to make it wearable for me though, and wear it I will! For approximately 2 hours because it has nooooo longevity! You win some, you lose some. Notes: Late spring strawberries still on the vine, vanilla cream soda, fresh green grass with morning dew, and ambrette seed. Versions I and II are the same materials, in different proportions. Where the Wild Things Grow I is sweeter and fruitier, and II is greener and earthier. 7/10

Between the Sheets: For a solid 3 weeks I was sniffing this and sniffing this and getting GREEN BELL PEPPERS every time and cursing myself for the blind buy. Don’t blind buy kids! But I stayed consistent and after about a month the green bell pepper curse now lasts only 5 seconds, and then this dries into this luxurious, creamy, round, understated scent. Most of my Sorce faves up until this point have been decidedly sweet, but this is smooth and balanced and very grown up, and perhaps even unisex? I don’t know that I would’ve chosen this out of a sample set because of the green bell pepper situation, but I really like where this ended.  Notes: Figs, cream, beeswax absolute, cashmere, wool, skin musk 8.5/10

UFO Disco: Another blind buy that I really disliked at first sniff. After a month…well I still don’t like it too much. I was hoping for mango and cardamom and instead it’s like dry, peppery mango fruit leather. It is oddly…textured. Like there’s a cashmere accord hiding in there somewhere. My husband’s take is that it simply “smells odd” and that he doesn’t like it. I think it’s better as it mellows out on the dry down, but I don’t know if I love it enough to keep it. After 3 hours the vanilla musk comes through which is nice. This one might be bound for the destash pile. Notes: Mango lassi sprinkled with cardamom, guava, amyris wood and a holographic vanilla musk 5/10

REGULAR CATALOG:

The Ghost Wants a Birthday Cake: Oh my god, I believe the hype now. It really is like juicy peaches fresh out of the oven with a buttery cobbler note coming in on the back end. I don’t even like peach perfumes and my nose keeps searching for something artificial, but this is exceptionally realistic. My husband particularly likes this one and describes it as “Entenmann’s cake…with peaches.” Admittedly, this is a very sweet gourmand and just generally A Lot. The projection is A Lot. But this is objectively delicious and, as they would say on GBBO, it’s “a little triumph!” We have no choice but to stan!! I upsized this one SO fast. Notes: Warm peach cake spiced with ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom; vanilla bean ice cream, Mysore sandalwood, Australian sandalwood 9/10

A Party, or Something: Yup that’s cake. It’s undeniably yellow cake with just a hint of that pistachio nuttiness. Honestly, I’m not sure I would clock the pistachio if I didn’t know the notes, but now that I know it’s there I can smell that it’s adding an earthy richness to all of the sweet fluffy cake. I can’t say the same for the marigolds, chocolate, or cashmeran - this is just pistachio cake to me! And yes, I also upsized this. Notes: Marigolds, yellow cake, white chocolate, pistachio buttercream, Iso E Super, Cashmeran 8.5/10

Moon Magic: I actually ordered this by accident, thinking that I was ordering SNOW Moon Magic, but I am soooo glad I did. This is the sweetest, cuddliest, babiest lavender  bedtime scent. I absolutely love slathering this on before bed, although I’m not sure I would wear it out and about. This is missing the strong treacly cookie dough note of Snow Moon Magic and it seems cleaner and lighter by comparison (but not verging into cleaning product territory!) I burned through my 6ml oil in 2 months and now I’m straight up rationing the last drops before I can get my hands on some more. Notes: Lavender sugar, vanilla steamed milk, chai spices, tonka bean, Cashmeran, Ambroxan, crystals charged by the moonlight (our crystal accord) 9/10

Cabanilla (Freebie): A salty, beachy vanilla. I get the coconut, vanilla, and salt right up front but not many of the other notes. I like it! The closest match for me would be Dirty Coconut by Heretic. This was a freebie in an oil format and fades super quick on me and is just a bit…boring? I think if it’s going for the beachy vibe I want MOAR beach, not just a vanilla suggestion of a beach. It’s a like, not a love. Also fades pretty quickly for me.  Notes*: Salted vanilla, sand, palm fronds, driftwood, a cracked coconut, brown sugar, balsam of Peru, and a distant beach bonfire* 6.5/10

A Sign Painted Peaches: Uh oh. This is going shampoo again. Like Venus in Fleurs, this smells almost exactly like a L’Oreal Kids shampoo from the 90’s that I associate with swim class at the YMCA. It dries down strong and powdery and I really dislike it. I don’t even know if I can smell any peach? It’s wild to me that this smells so incredibly different than The Ghost Wants a Birthday Cake. I can’t find any overlapping notes between this and Venus in Fleurs except the vanilla absolute, but this is a hard pass for me. Notes: Peach nectar, sun-warmed peach skin, saffron, gardenia, ambergris, vanilla absolute, vetiver 3.5/10

Light through the Clouds (Freebie): I get a hit of pepper in the opening, and then about 5 minutes of the mildest sugared lemon you can imagine, and then it’s…gone? Light through the clouds? More like Absolutely No Projection through the Clouds! But in all seriousness, there’s nothing that really offends here, but if you want to get serious about your sugared lemon check out Butterfly Rabble by Arcana Wildcraft, because this is just not worth the $$  Notes: Sichuan pepper, sugared lemon, green mandarin, water lily, olibanum, white tea, cloud musk, ambergris, sandalwood, gurjun balsam, vetiver, golden amber 5/10

Falling Stars Salted Vanilla Sweet Cream: Honestly I’m not getting much (any?) coffee. It’s sort of the watered-down Sorce base, with less cookie dough but more vanilla and cream. There’s also something almost waxy in here which reminds me of MMIH; I don’t mind it but I don’t particularly understand it. My husband says this smells like a “chocolate egg.” It’s very very faint on me and frankly doesn’t leave much of an impression. Maybe I’ll come back to this one in a month. Notes*: A super-cozy, rich and warm blend of black coffee, almond cream*, sandalwood, natural oud, palo santo oil, tonka bean absolute, and vanilla bean* 5/10

Another round of Sorce, another blow to my wallet.

In other news, the next special order window opens up on Friday and I'm soliciting advise on if I should pick up anything. I am really into floral, coconut-y, beachy scents right now (looking at La Mar by House of Bo), and wonder if Beautiful, But Annihilating will scratch that itch? And if I liked A Party, or Something should I be more interested in Cake for Breakfast? Give me your opinions/reviews!