English Major

Sorce's English Major is outstandingly evocative yet very wearable and comforting. On initial spray, this truly does smell like aged books. There is a slightly dusty facet paired with a spot-on interpretation of a vanillic, ambery quality that is reminiscent of vintage book binding glue. This book accord carries lots of texture, and the smoldering vanilla, brown sugar, and paper facets blend together in a way that reminds me of the sugared oat crumble topping used in desserts. This fragrance is ever so slightly 'dusty' smelling, perhaps from the orris note, but it is not especially obtrusive to my nose. The dry down is relatively simple, but preserves the smoldering vanilla base of this fragrance in a really lovely way. I would say that this fragrance is certainly gourmand-leaning, but it is aromatic, woody, and unusual enough that it is difficult to classify. Longevity is excellent, with a moderate sillage. This perfume really blew me away, I have seldom seen such an evocative yet palatable perfume. 9.5/10

TLDR It smells like you're at the library, you're wearing a sweet marshmallow perfume, but you got soaked by rain on the way in. but like in a good way. This is my first Sorce fragrance and I'm not going to lie, I was REALLY worried that it'd be overhyped and I'd hate it. WRONG. I love it. I love marshmallow and orris , two of my favorite notes but I wasn't sure how I was going to like them together. Perfectly executed. I get the sweet fluffy, slightly toasted marshmallow right on top and the base smells like outside after it's just rained. Maybe that's the fallen leaves, but it very distinctly reminds me of rain or wet earth. It's exactly what I'd hoped for. I could sniff this all day long. Easily one of the most interesting fragrances I own. Edit, this review was in February, I'm now at the end of June. I let my bottle sit and it's far sweeter now. The marshmallow has really deepened. I love it even more now.

Really lovely vanilla iris with just enough library to make it interesting. The powdery sweetness reminds me of marshmallows. It simple but smells good quality and lasts for 8+ hours, wears close. It’s very nice to wear to bed or on rainy days, times you’d usually read a book. Similar to Warm Bulb by Clue in concept but more wearable imo. I’ve been chasing a scent like this for a while, sampled and bought many but this is my favorite thus far. Kepping it simple was a good call. Like all of their fragrances it comes in many sizes and configurations and is priced very affordably. Bonus points for friendly staff! Fragrantica is wrong again on the note list so I’ll do their job for them: Library books, orris absolute, marshmallow, decalepis hamiltonii absolute*, carrot seed, sandalwood, fallen leaves

This one is *weird* in a good way!! Initially, the "old books/dusty library" smell is THERE. And she's almost a little musty/dry mildewy, like actual 100-year-old books in an abandoned castle. But then the sweetness kicks in. The marshmallow here smells almost like berry bubble gum. It's sweet, whimsical, powdery, oddly addictive. Instead of a warm and gooey marshmallow, this marshmallow is cold, dry, dusty. It sounds weird but it's good good good. The dry down is so sweet and pleasant, a little powdery, a little musky. The earthiness fades away as the day goes by. LOVE. (the notes here differ to the notes on Sorce's website - missing the carrot seed/fallen leaves notes and adding coconut and fire. Not sure what's up with that)

A past review noted there is reminiscence of the glue you would use to bind the spines of deteriorating books and after I sampled this, I realized that they were dead-on. I'll admit, I almost scrubbed it the first time because the opening screamed, "PAINT", but I found the dry down worth giving it a few more test-runs. After I knew what to expect, I began to be able to appreciate the marriage between the industrial side of this and the honey-sweet gourmand. It reminds me fondly of my school library, growing up. I find it comforting and just unusual enough. I've had great luck with the longevity and this is easily my favorite Sorce perfume. I would love to see more perfumes in a similar wheelhouse from them.

I get swest cough syrup vanilla and musk from this. My college self would have loved this and fell for the marketing. It's too lactonic for me at the start. Not the scent I expected. I dont get library from this. Byredo biblioteque smells more of that to me. This lasts a long time and withstood desert heat and a swim.. It turned into a sweet musky scent losing the lactonic part. I get some kind of strawberry. The cough syrup bit disappears completely... The longer it sits the better it gets! I judged too early and I came back to say I was wrong and to move it to the love category after many, many hours of hardcore testing.

Smells like musty old books (in an extremely /pos way), with a marshmallow sugary sweetness to it. Very cosy to me! It has a very slight touch of smoke to it too, evokes imagery of reading by candlelight with a cup of hot chocolate. Dries down woody, on my skin I get mostly sweet and marshmallowy with an old mysterious dusty parchment smell. Some of my favourite memories at uni were exploring all the old leather-bound medical texts in the library, and this made me think of that. On it’s own I get light academia vibes, pairing it with something darker and spicier would make a fabulous dark academia scent.

i bought this despite seeing all of the hate on it.. and i'm so glad i did. my first impression was that it smells like an old library (duh) or even some kind of antique store with books, so i'm shocked to see people disagreeing so heavily. yeah it might smell a little bit musty, but if you're going for a library/old books vibe, you gotta commit to the bit. nonetheless, this perfume is very wearable, at least to me. don't buy a perfume with notes of old books, orris, and woody notes expecting a sabrina carpenter sweet tooth dupe...

This feels like my perfect elevated and richer (in the indulgent way) your-skin-but-better scent. I want to smell like I just walked out of the library I work at after an all day shift but I still smell like I just got out of the shower at the same time, and this does JUST that. As a book lover, this one is truly for me. Will be purchasing a full bottle! Amazing. (I would not suggest it for a gourmand-lover unless you really love the cozy/paper/skin scents as well.)

I must say tbirdfreebird described this PERFECTLY, and Byulhaart said this is certainly one of MY favorite scents of all time as well. It's a must have in my collection, and one of the most unique scents I've ever smelled. It's one of those scents that smells like me and my very being. The marshmallow is so gooey, there's a beautiful note of well-loved paper, and the orris helps add to that fluffiness. 100/10 ❤️ Sorce is one of my favorite brands of ALL time.

My all-time favorite perfume ever. This is literally the coziest perfume you can own 😭. Reminds me of my childhood, going to the library and tucked into the corner at a table while reading books but at the same time having a cup of tea and s’mores in front of a fireplace at the same time. Definitely a fall time fragrance or wearable during cloudy or rainy weather but I wear it all the time lol.

As an English Graduate who loves perfume— I had to have this. Unfortunately, they have changed their bottles so I bought an expensive 15ml for the old packaging. Honey, I am in love with this scent. I do not smell old books though :( It is very sweet instead of being slightly woody like I expected. I would love a 50ml or 100ml of this bottle! I think this will be a staple for me.

WOW! Just wow! When they say library books it is literal, but in the prettiest way possible. It is Gilmore girls in a bottle, it is so fall in a small town esque. It is the tiniest bit sweet in the dry down with the marshmallow, but not a gourmand. The marshmallow is actually very faint to me. It is more slightly sweet woody. I love it so much, my favorite sorce perfume thus far.

Love, love, love! It’s like the scent of working in a book archive in a library. While gluing the spine back together of old, highly desirable texts. Ok maybe that’s over playing it a little. The archivist would also be sipping on a marshmallow heavy drink of some sort on their breaks.

The most beautiful, original, evocative scent. It smells like being at the library on a rainy day and is somehow nostalgic. The dry down is also the most elegant marshmallow- more interesting than other marshmallow scents as well. Writerly, lyrical- my favourite smell atm.

This is a really unique scent. I do smell the old books and powdery scent. Not really for everyone but I can see many people would like this. I don’t think this is a safe blind buy definitely get a sample to try!

I love Sorce was really excited to sample this one, but I found it kind of disappointing. Something about it (maybe that mushroom note?) made it just this side of unpleasant for me. So I put it aside and moved on. Then four months later I picked it back up and tried it again, and this time I’m really enjoying it. I don’t know if it actually smells different or I’m just appreciating it more or what but I’m thinking about ordering a full size. It’s got the kind to dusty vanilla of old book pages and the dry muskiness of fallen leaves but also a cozy sweetness from the marshmallow. And the performance is truly impressive. I feel like my skin “eats” perfume. I have many more expensive perfumes that disappear in an hour but I sprayed this before bed and could still smell it the next morning. I didn’t even have to actually smell my skin it was just lingering around me. I’m currently 6 hours into the workday and I can smell it around me right now. Definitely sample first and don’t be afraid to give it a couple of tries to make sure it is/isn’t for you, but if you love academia vibes, fall scents, and something unique, this is a great option.

This is unique and truly beautiful. I love this one from start to finish. I love that weird old book smell, it’s nostalgic to me in a most comforting and pleasant way. Of course, the other notes in there contribute to the magic this fragrance evokes. The iris note is very translucent to me. It’s not a dirty roots-y earthy iris, it’s a refined and delicate texture that reminds me of how thin and fragile bible pages are in a Bible book... I love the sweetness of this fragrance as well but it’s not the sweetness of a gourmand scent. It’s more the aroma you get a whiff of when you are checking out a very ancient book in some dusty library. The pages have yellowed and have some spots on them from age... This is a pleasant surprise to me as I was not expecting to love this at all. I am very picky when it comes to iris as a note in any fragrance and carrot seed as well. But this is wonderful and I will probably add it to my collection at one point...

november in a bottle. strong powdery orris, sweet sweet pen ink, and carrot seed in the opening. that earthy, root-like smell is what evokes old books the most, but it's mostly gooey vanilla marshmallow in the base and dry-down. a very unique and well-blended scent; if it weren't for the faint, sharpie/printer paper chemical note of the ink (which i quite like), it could almost pass for an innocent, autumnal carrot cake perfume. i don't know if it's entirely wearable for me. i gravitate towards more universally likable scents with instantly identifiable notes that get me a "you smell good!" or two, maybe i'm a simple girl... but i look forward to wearing this in the fall and winter, maybe in the office (i work in book publishing, so it's fitting). strange-sweet and cozy, a success!

I kept seeing this being labelled online as dark academia library vibes in a bottle, but I was a bit disappointed to see that this was less "dark" than what I'd imagined. I can definitely sense that book note from the muskiness of the orris root and the powderiness of the marshmallow note, but I do not find it to be photorealistic to old books or anything like that. Rather, it's more of an artistic interpretation of such. I also find this to be quite similar to Oak by Demeter, which is a fraction of the price considering how inexpensive Sorce kinda already is. These two are not exactly the same nor are they dupes, but similar. I have both, which seems a bit redundant to me. Overall, English Major is still a pretty scent but I am personally not in love with it.