Pharaoh

This review is based on a small oil-based extrait sample and I am regretting not getting more product because WOW! I don't know what's up with my skin's chemistry, but that olibanum/frankincense note hits hard as hell for the first couple of hours. That was a surprise, considering the reviews here, but not unwelcome! Everyone is describing this as "powdery soft", "clean girl" and "laundry". No way. There's more to it. This sh*t smolders. This is the last pharaoh of Egypt, Cleopatra, on her gilded barge. It leans slightly feminine but not entirely "clean" to me. It's a cozy boudoir scent: animalic, spiced musk dusted over a sticky smear of resinous wood, all of it glittering warmly in the dim light under the most delicate drizzle of honey. This one is an old lover in soft, time-worn bedclothes beckoning you between the sheets. This is moist, rumpled linens that smell unabashedly of skin, sex and some floral ghost. It promises a familiar scene. It is an ancient recipe revived. That's probably why people find it so comforting and easy to wear. The drydown is lightly sweetened, woody musk, that initial sharp spice worn soft. It's linear — "reliable"! — but the note combo is versatile and evergreen. It layers well with just about anything, especially light fruits or florals you want to give some extra grounding. I SO wish the sillage was greater than a foot off of the skin and that it lasted longer than 4hrs before turning into a skin scent. Don't forget to moisturize! It definitely benefits. I've reapplied it three times in the last 24hrs. The more I wear it, the more I am in love with it. I want to smell like this for the rest of the week. Or until my sample runs dry 🥲

I'm so glad they finally added this to the database! It's one of my favorite musks. I have loved NR For Her (in the oil form) since the fragrance first hit the market. Other than NR's musks, this one stands out as equally wonderful. It is indeed an Egyptian style musk, but the honey note is not only prominent, it's also a little bit animalic. The honey is really sensual. It lasts a pretty long time on me, and it becomes like a second skin over time, just like you'd expect of a musk. For me this musk is probably a 9/10. Musk lovers must try! Tip: I rolled a tiny bit of the oil onto my hand and mixed it with a glob of unscented lotion and smeared it all over my body. I smelled divine all day long!

Gorgeous warm not-too-sweet honey anchored by clean musk and a whisper of frankincense. An unexpected favorite from a sample order, I now wear this almost daily. My skin tends to pull the powderiness forward in any scent, but here that means a clean, skin-like scent and not overbearing or baby powdery. I find this lasts into the next day even without touching up, getting subtler and softer through the hours. The honey note tends to recede into the background as time passes. I sometimes use an unscented beeswax lotion bar as a fixative which boosts the honey scent somewhat. This is genuinely a pleasure to wear.

I’ve been wearing this as a spring scent. I don’t get all the accords that fragrantica listed. Angela’s site lists frankincense, honey and egyptian musk. That’s exactly what I get wearing it. It’s a a little linear compared to most SS scents that morph throughout the day, which to me is a nice change. I thought the honey note would mean that it would come off more feminine but I find it leans masculine. Something about this scent keeps me energized and focused. Not sure what that’s about. But it’s another fave of mine that I have tried from Solstice Scents.

As a fragrance newbie, I have been looking for cheaper, niche fragrances to try out in order to get an idea of what I actually like. Reading previous reviews of this scent, I was super interested- clean laundry and honeycomb sounds lovely! And that's exactly what this oil smells like- it's a soft, fresh-out-of-the-dryer smell. I really enjoy it, and it lasts forever, especially on clothes (it rubbed onto my sleeves of my coat and I could still smell it two days after). Nice out of the shower and before bed!

Please don't hate me for this, to me this is a plus, but the musk in this reminds me of (clean!) women's feet. It's the skin scent I haven't smelled on other body parts. Obviously, you can also smell honey and something that counters it, probably the listed olibanum. So it's not too sweet, nor is it stinky. But if you've ever smelled feet you'll have an 'A ha!' moment if you try this. Cute.

I love this so much, its a warm, clean smell. I wear it to work and on planes because it’s inoffensive and pretty and stays close. It basically smells like a light, fresh honey musk, I don’t get much incense.

Three simple notes and so lovely. I usually love anything with honey or musk, so put the two together and man, I'm in heaven! The honey is sweet and golden, the musk is warm and sensual, and the frankincense provides an underlying smokiness. Gorgeous!

Don't know if the sample I received was mixed up somehow, but mine had a pronounced lilac-like note that is not accounted for by any of the listed components. While I like honey scents this one is too sweet and feminine for me.

Clean laundry musk! Honeycomb! That's it. But I don't say that to insult Pharaoh; both components seem to be of high quality and last forever. For some reason it reminds me of eating a cheese plate at a higher end restaurant that brings you little toasts and pairings for each selection. I get the (clean) feet thing. If something simple along these lines appeals to you, I would still recommend it.

Clean, bright, fluffy laundry musk, with a sharply sweet honey note, like when you haven't had sugar in a while and it almost hurts when your tastebuds first detect such a large dose of sweetness in an instant. There is a deeper fuzzy amber beneath, probably the resinous olibanum. A great approachable intro to SS, especially for the skin scent clean girl crowd.

This is a great clean honey musk. It’s very ambery and a bit sweet. This is a clean honey if you’re into the “clean girl” smell. Quite nice!

It's really just a strong, long-lasting, smoky musk. Simple and fragrant, a must-try if you like musk.

This smells like a an ancient dusty skin scent. I get photorealistic mummy that's dry as a bone and has zero smell of decay or anything funky, just dry dusty skin thats slightly sweetened from musk and honey preservatives inside the body that's slightly seepeed through the flesh before it dried out. Actually this also makes me think of the Victorians who used to eat mummy dust 😆 I love this because it smells a bit like Zoologists Moth to me with the dust and the honey. An old dusty, ancient scent that immerses you into a place and time. I am so sad because I love this one and want a FB but SS does not ship internationally. I got a used sample by chance and I suppose that is the heartbreak in the game of sample swap- when you fall in love with something you can't get. If anyone is willing to ship this to someone in Australia, I will pay you or happily trade!

A lovely honey musk scent, perfectly balanced. My skin tends to amp sweet, so you can believe me when I say this honey doesn't get too sweet. It has none of the cloying elements of some honey fragrances, and it also lacks the distressing odor of cat urine that others have. This is a lovely, soft skin scent, very simple but warm and comforting. Great.