SHOIKAN GROVE (General Catalog)

SHOIKAN GROVE
Dark Woods, A Warning Distant Fire On The Winds, Fresh Evergreens & A Soft Deceptive Sweetness

Not to be used by women who are pregnant or nursing.

Offered as part of our General Catalog in Perfume oil

Description: Shoikan Grove is the eerily dark and maddeningly still wood that protects the Black Wizard's tower from unwanted visitors. Wandering in the cold, damp copse of trees will cause an adventurer to lose control of his sanity, while the remains of those who've ventured before emerge from the Earth, encircle his limbs with unwavering strength and drag him down to where he will never tread anywhere again, in life.
This blend is comprised primarily of essential oils. Primary notes of Virginia Cedarwood, Spruce, Siberian Fir, Oak and Vanilla with background notes of Muhuhu EO (very woodsy), Jamarosa Root EO, Sandalwood EO, 2 different Frankincense EOs, Wood Smoke, Copaiba and Peru Balsam. More of a masculine blend but also wonderful for women who appreciate complex woody-smokey-fir scents. The Peru Balsam, Copaiba and Vanilla add a creaminess to smooth out the sharp Spruce and Fir notes. Lovely as a comforting bedtime scent as well.

Oh, I just looooooooove this scent! Such a wonderful combo of woods, fir and a bit of smoke. There's also a resinous sweetness that really balances this blend. It's not a strong, punch you in the face scent at all because everything is in balance as the description says. It's definitely one of my favorites and I enjoy using it year round, but as snowy said, it's really nice in the fall and winter.

I just wish there were more products available in this great blend!

This scent screemed my boyfriend. Its a very nice woodlin type of scent for a man its perfect.

Shoikan Grove started off with a blast of sour pine/evergreen that I didn't enjoy, but it quickly dries down to a wearable woodsy scent.
This blend smells very creamy/smooth, like someone made a smoothie from pine needles, vanilla and green leaves, and then poured it over a warm, cuddly, masculine woods smell (like a really good, non-powdery sandalwood).
I really like this, but it smells *amazing* on my husband. He likes a lot of pine/foresty scents that are too sharp for me, but this one is smooth and comforting with the woods and vanilla.

I was searching for an evergreen scent and Rob recommended this to me. I was then was lucky enough to get a sample from Rinster. I do get a really nice evergreen topnote but Shoikan Grove dries down to a woodsy vanilla on me (the drydown - to me - is very similar to Conjure). I like all phases of the scent but am still searching for a true evergreen scent.

katmish wrote:

I was searching for an evergreen scent and Rob recommended this to me. I was then was lucky enough to get a sample from Rinster. I do get a really nice evergreen topnote but Shoikan Grove dries down to a woodsy vanilla on me (the drydown - to me - is very similar to Conjure). I like all phases of the scent but am still searching for a true evergreen scent.

I think the scent you are looking for is Enchanted Forest, but alas it is no longer available in a perfume! Perhaps if we start a petition Angela will bring it back since so many people seem to love it. Another option might be Bayberry.

SolsticeScholar wrote:

I think the scent you are looking for is Enchanted Forest, but alas it is no longer available in a perfume! Perhaps if we start a petition Angela will bring it back since so many people seem to love it. Another option might be Bayberry.

Would love to try Enchanted Forest! Bayberry is all spices on me - smells great but not like greenery.

katmish wrote:

SolsticeScholar wrote:

I think the scent you are looking for is Enchanted Forest, but alas it is no longer available in a perfume! Perhaps if we start a petition Angela will bring it back since so many people seem to love it. Another option might be Bayberry.

Would love to try Enchanted Forest! Bayberry is all spices on me - smells great but not like greenery.

Time to start that petition!

I really like the initial phase of Shoikan Grove: the pine/evergreen/slight vanilla scent. The drydown on me is mostly cedar and vanilla. In that sense, it's almost identical to Old Cedar Magus on me. It's just the beginning that is different, and that only lasts for about 5-10 minutes.

I recently got a sample of Shoikan Grove, sort of on a whim. As soon as i opened it, i thought to myself, why didn't I try this one sooner?
I LOVE this scent!
I have been a SS customer since the Etsy days and I have seen some favorites come and go.
Shoikan Grove is now one of my new favorites. I love the earthiness and the pine/evergreen scent to it that is blended with just the right touch of vanilla.

Wearing Shoikan Grove is like standing in the middle of a ancient evergreen forest. The different woods EOs combine to create an authentic fragrance of living trees. There is a sharp spiciness reminiscent of crushed pine needles, and a sweet creaminess from resin or vanilla.

Although generally I'm a fan of florals and feminine fragrances, this is a unisex scent that appeals to me. It's a callback to childhood, when my family would trek through rain and mud to find the perfect Christmas tree. By the time we were done cutting the tree down and wrestling it home, my hands were sticky with resin and smelled similarly green and spicy.

This scent just doesn't work for me. It has a really sour pine smell that never really fades, and the sweetness doesn't really show up on my skin. I agree with the reviewer that said it smells like a pine smoothie - it definitely has a creamy feel to it. I was hoping this would be a good forest/woodsy scent for me, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Something about it just doesn't smell right on me.

Shoikan Grove is a delight from start to finish. Pine, woods and a cool earthiness are what this fragrance starts with, giving it a surprisingly natural feel, sort of like being in the damp forest, but with the slight sweetness of a woody vanilla ensuring that you are aware this is a clever fragrance, rather than being a simple pine and wood replica. Angela has chosen two types of fir notes to blend in this offering and they work surprisingly well with each other to create the effect of pine needles rather than pine sap which is more commonly encountered. As she notes in the description, the use of natural ingredients ensures a life like quality to the fragrance which I have mainly encountered in CB I Hate Perfume offerings.

As a number of other reviewers have noted, the wood notes emerge as the main players as the green notes disappear, then finally you are left with a warm vanilla cedar,but fortunately on my skin this progression is slow and I have a beautiful earthiness draw me into the latter wood phase. It is not a strong scent and the sillage level ensures that it remains a very personal experience. It is not however a skin scent and can readily be detected within 30 cm proximity (12 inches) but does not broadcast further than that.

I think that most people would consider it to be more masculine than feminine, but like most of Solstice's offerings can easily be worn by both sexes. I rate this highly as a great cool weather scent.

For a PITA perfume-Goldilocks like myself (this one's too sweet, this one's too sharp etc.), I love being able to experience several variations on a theme and pick the one that's just right. That being said, I compared this with Enchanted Forest, Winslows, and Outpost. Each one has that lovely evergreen base, but interprets it differently. Shoikan is like a pagan bonfire in the middle of a forest clearing. It evokes night and a little danger.

I never tried this scent until a few weeks ago (shortly before it was announced as discontinued!) but it's been on my list for months and months. I'm very impressed with this scent, as it smells exactly like it's description! I mostly expected evergreens, but there's more depth to it than that; it smells like being near a campfire (not around one, but near one) in an evergreen forest on a cold, dark winter's night. I get the hint of vanilla as well, but I'm not sure where it plays into my nighttime forest scene. This scent is lovely. Not masculine, not feminine, just perfectly unisex. Get it before it's gone!