Island Blackstrap

This is a frag for pina colada and pineapple fans. It does have the rum, coconut, wood, molasses, and other minor players in there to balance it out. Very tropical with a little gourmand balance. Feels like that Caribbean cruise I've never gotten around to taking yet. Has a celebratory, no worries, let's wear bright colored clothes, be bold, and be merry feels. Cheers to long summer days and island vibes.

IN-teeer-us-ting. Starts out very gourmand, bringing to mind a molasses cake with pineapple preserves. The coconut is there but it adds richness rather than just being sweet, like coconut oil or butter instead of a sticky pinacoloda drink. Then you realize you're outside in the steamy tropical air, on an island near the shore. You get a hint of sea salt and a waft of warm flowers in the sun. The oceanic note in the end and vetiver base brings this into very wearable territory. A unique twist on the usually generic, tropical-getaway fragrance style. This is actually a well crafted scent story that transforms as it wears and keeps me sniffing. Review of official PERFUME EXTRAIT rollerball purchased directly from SolsticeScents.com I wouldn't buy a full 60mL bottle as it's not really my aesthetic (maybe if I lived in a warmer climate? I am wearing this in Alaska, in winter, but I'm inside, it's 70°F) but this would be an excellent signature scent for someone. On me it's very warm, semisweet, nicely balanced, fresh not floral, and perfectly unisex. Highly recommend giving it a try. Glad to have the 5mL PERFUME EXTRAIT in my collection.

Whew, another one that smells completely different to me 2nd time around (my old review isn't very old on this website, but I did write it down more than half a year ago). New impression: Smells like a Hookah bar that allows smoking. I'm sure more educated noses will smell more complexity in it, but I can only detect smokiness and say, coconut Hookah, maybe some vanilla or other neutral sweetness. Kind of pleasant, way more than it used to smell to me, but not really top 30 from Solstice. Old: Smells like a drawer in which your grandma stashed some ancient tobacco, alcohol and chocolate. Powdery, offensive, alcoholic, I absolutely hate it. When I say hate I am not angry, it's very curious. I can never tell how come I find a scent so utterly unlikeable, to find no reason for its existence and yet someone thought about it, then pulled that vision into the real world, made it into perfume and many people ended up loving it! Wish I was one of them.

It opens with sweet molasses and rum, and for the first hour it is a sweet, heavy Pina Colada, tropical and delicious. I wish the scent would last, but as it dries down the tropical fruit and booze fade and the vetiver takes over, which is not unpleasant, but not as wonderful as the opening.

Pina Colada. It's not as sugary as I had hoped or expected but overall nice, albeit maybe a bit synthetic. Very tropical and perfect for summer.

My dry skin takes fragrance very badly. It absorbed this within seconds and all I was left with was the very faint scent of blackstrap molasses, which I loved, but would have loved more if it were stronger and had lasted longer. On my fabric tester, it smelled much boozier and delicious - pina colada with molasses. Nice for a beach party room spray. I can understand the resemblance to candles, but I think it has a lot more nuance to it. On the right skin and in the right environment - hot, humid - this would be gorgeous.

Yes to Pier 1! This is exactly the type of store Island Blackstrap smells like. We have coconut and mango candles, we have woods coming off some wicker bar stools and barely finished furniture. Maybe a saltiness coming from some packaged snacks, pretzels perhaps. It's a little dusty, especially the deeper you get into the sale section. This isn't an unpleasant smell per se, but as a fan of this genre, I want so much more. Okay strength and credit for at least being unirritating.

The notes really make sense, I mainly get molasses with a bit of pineapple and rum. Kind of tropical, but also powdery. Not impressed, not my cup of tea. Performance seems to be pretty average. Tired it from my Solstice-Scents sample set.

Pier 1 Imports is one of the latest casualties of pandemic related bankruptcy. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection a few weeks ago, and even though I have not shopped there in decades, I’m sad to see them go. When I was a teenager, I thought this store was the bomb. I remember buying pillows and other pseudo, ethnic knick-knacks while outfitting my first apartment in college. If you are a certain age like me, you will know that Pier 1 and many stores like them (as well as hotels, spas, etc) have a certain smell. They hire a company —that specializes in this area of fragrance— to develop a scent that is then dispensed through their ventilation system. Then that “scent” becomes part of the company brand. Well that Pier 1 smell is a note match up of Island Blackstrap. It’s the Illusion of a tropical vacation... because in your early 20s, chances are you’ve never been there. A thick, sweet, mash up of a bunch of tropical notes. Yes to pineapple, sugar and coconut, and some kind of cheap booze is present, but it’s also a very fake smell. Once I figured out where I smelled this before, I could not turn back. Solstice Scents Island Blackstrap is that scent memory in a bottle.

Opening is a very strong butterscotch. Tones down to more piña colada. It’s a very very heavy tropical scent with a salted Carmel note too. Pretty artificial and you probably can’t wear it above 75 degrees outside. Maybe reminds me of a bakery/island scented candle?