Velvetine

Pineward Velvetine is an early 2021 release, and one of my absolute favourite offerings from the house. These days, there are few perfumes that I smell for the first time, and I'm just completely, utterly, and immediately blown away by them, but Velvetine was one of them. I'll review it properly in a moment, but I like to create little imaginary scentscapes for Pineward bottles, so you can entertain me, or skip to the breakdown. I was a '90s baby. It was a very different time. Certain nostalgic olfactory triggers that bring me back there can be very powerful, and most of very welcome - particularly in this increasingly chaotic adult life. Christmas was very big in my home - just my mother and I. There was always this sacred ritualism when it came to decorating the tree. My mother had several stuffed animals, plush Christmas decorations, and fabric ornaments - many of which she kept since her own early childhood, in the late '50's and '60s. Years of placing them in the fir and spruce Christmas trees had impregnated them with the scent of conifer balsam. The fabric itself also had a distinct aroma - almost woolen, slightly musty and stale - the smell of old books and age. The faintest woody sweetness had been imbued in them as well - between the decades of cinnamon-scented pinecones, and perhaps getting just a tad too close to the fireplace once or twice, gently singing the edges. This is Velvetine for me. For others, perhaps it'll be an old, tattered Christmas sweater, or an old rug, still retaining the ghost of holidays passed. Or perhaps it'll just smell like Play-Doh to them. All I know is, this one transports me to childhood Christmases, when life was simple and carefree. Review: Velvetine is a cypress-dominant perfume, but decidedly different from the usual fresh, brisk, clean fougere take on cypress. You get the green cypress scales, absolutely, like crushing them between your fingers, and it's certainly coniferous, although quite different from a fir, spruce, or pine needle scent. This resinous cypress is pinned up against a backdrop of warm, sweet, cozy labdanum, leathery black vanilla bean, and a heavy base of musky ambergris. That signature Pineward mulling spice and cinnamon blend is showcased here in spades, with the cinnamon being incredibly unique - woody and spicy, and not at all resembling apple pie spice or red hots. The clove/nutmeg portion of that is a bit more amplified and in the spotlight here. For the first couple of hours, the cypress remains fixed to the top, constantly singing a fragrant, foresty, coniferous tune, but as it wears on, the warm, dark, cozy base of vanilla, cloven spice, and resinous labdanum begins to overtake it. Between the ambergris and labdanum, the final hours of its wear can actually translate a little animalic and dirty, but it's still beneath that diffusive cloven spice and the dark, dry vanilla. To my nose, everything from the cypress down to the vanilla is nothing but natural absolutes and tinctures. It's incredibly real, incredibly genuine, and if there are any aromachemicals in this one, they aren't detectable to my nose. Velvetine clocks in at over 30% concentration. Expect the thick, dark, molasses-coloured juice to, one, stain skin and light fabrics, and two, perform like nothing else. On skin, you can expect this to project very, very heavily for the first 3-4 hours, and will remain for close to 20 hours before it completely fades, and on fabric, this will stick for months. Semi-permanent. In a poetic little twist, a sweater sprayed with Velvetine seems to mimic the very effect it reminds me of - the woolen fabric - forever imbued with the scent of Christmas through the years - the tree needles, the spice, and the musty smell of time and age. It all seems to come full circle with this one. For some reason, Velvetine seems to be one of the less revered Pineward offerings. That's a shame, because it's the only one to highlight cypress as the focal point, and remains quite unique when compared to the rest of the line. I cannot cite anything that even remotely resembles this one, and I would encourage anyone checking out Pineward to grab a sample of this one and just try it.

Imagine you’re 15 and going out with your friends to the local carnival or something. It’s cold out, but you’re dressed to impress and couldn’t find a jacket that can match what your wearing so you settle for a thinner sweater and call it good enough- despite the biting cold of the mid-November night and its wind. As you call out to your sister that your friends are here and you’ll be back by eleven- she looks up from where she’s perched on the couch and stops you. She tells you that mom will kill her if she lets you go out without something to keep you warm and lazily throws her dense fleece jacket at you. It’s the same one she wears everyday, and as you slip it on and tuck your face into its lining to protect you from the gust of cold air that marks you leaving the house- you can smell the layers of perfumes and lotions that just never fully washed out of its fabric. It smells like vanilla, spices, warmth, musk, and home. As you walk to your friend’s car, fallen pine needles crush beneath your feet and you feel oddly content at knowing your sister trusted you with her favorite jacket for the afternoon. THIS is what Velvetine smells like to me- like your super cool older sisters jacket. It’s comforting and sweet, effortless, and amber-y. Easily one of Pinewards best fragrances.

I just received this on Monday this week. Today is Friday and I have been wearing it every day. This is love at first sniff for me. There is something about the opening that reminds me of egg nog but in a good way. But that transitions in a few minutes into one of the most beautiful natural wood based scents I have ever got my nose on. The gourmand touches of clove and vanilla round this out and make it very smooth and cozy. This literally takes me back to fall and thanksgiving season in Colorado growing up. I can’t wait to explore more from Pineward, for me this is a 9.5-10!

Clove and labdanum, with a distinct and interesting balsamic underpinning and a general idea or memory of vanilla. This is intense and comforting, in a somber, lost-in-serious-thought kind of way, with the kind of sweetness that comes in some good peated whiskies -- nothing sticky or cloying. I don't care for many ambers or most vanillas (this isn't really a vanilla scent), but I love this as a mood. Better performance for me than most Pineward fragrances -- lasts about half the day -- but I could still wish for better on that front.

A sweet, balsamic fragrance with notes of spice popping through. Drydown is heavy on the sweet vanilla for me. One of Pineward’s less atmospheric fragrances, but still very pleasant. Because of the sweetness, I would say this one is a bit more feminine than masculine. This is something I would wear for a nice evening date.