BLACKBURN FARMSTEAD (Gourmand Fall Collection 2011)

BLACKBURN FARMSTEAD
Blackberry Jam, Boysenberry Preserves, Vanilla Bean Accord, Creamy Vanilla & a Touch of Vanilla Musk

Offered as part of the Gourmand Fall Collection 2011 in Perfume, Ganache, Whipped Soap and Burnishing Glace

Fall is the season for canning and preparing food stores and the home and its inhabitants for the winter. The kitchen is abuzz with the creation of homemade delights but the most prized at the Blackburn Farmstead is the blackberry and boysenberry preserves made from berries grown right on the farm. In the autumn, the family gathers around the hearth to enjoy fresh made butter and jam on hot from the oven buttermilk biscuits. The jam is also a euphoric experience on the homemade fresh-churned vanilla ice cream!
This scent is not quite as literal of a foodie scent as the Blueberry Muffin Batter. It is a blend heavy on rich vanilla (new to the shop, blended with a touch of the vanilla bean accord featured in some of our other offerings this season). The berries are primarily detected on cold sniff and initial application. The perfume starts out with the delicious combination of berries laying on top of the gorgeous vanillas. The dry down is sweet and creamy vanillas in the foreground with a cool-toned blend of berries in the background, rounding out the vanilla.

This is more of a "grown up" gourmand scent. Much in the way that Aquolina Pink Sugar is very sweet and clearly has many sugary and foodie notes but also has a hint of musk, Blackburn Farmstead follows in this tradition in that it is very sweet, the vanilla and berries are true but the touch of vanilla musk adds an edge that keeps it from being straight up foodie and turns it from simply comforting to subtly sexy.

I purchased the sample perfume and got the soap in this and I knew I would like it since I am a fan of Thornwood Thickett.
Well done!

This starts out very smooth and sweet, almost like berry vanilla candy. It's different from Thornwood, which has a richer, darker fruit note (some folks thought it was a bit grapey, but I love it). As it wears the berry is still present, but it gets creamier overall. It has great lasting power and I could still detect it on my wrist this morning. Lovely!

I initially thought the whipped soap smelled like light berries until others mentioned the grape note they were picking up and could also detect that note. However, the soap still smells like light berries to me in use.

The Ganache in this Blackburn Farmstead fragrance is a very emolliant cream spiked with an adult berry/vanilla/musk scent. This perfectly compliments any of the Blueberry Muffin Batter collection. I'm stumped on which is better. Blackburn Farmstead or Thornwood Thickett? They would appeal to anyone with a propensity toward berry scents.

I get grape popsicle, not berry, out of this one. It's possible my nose is broken, however. I do like the vanilla musk in the drydown!

I ordered this scent in the body ganache, and at first I also detected a very strong berry note that was almost a little grapey. I happen to love the smell of any berry, so this didn't bother me at all though. Angela is spot on regarding the fact that the dry down highlights a beautiful,warm vanilla. Like most SS items, the ganache in this scent made me smell yummy all day long!

Blackburn Farmstead is gorgeous. I wasn't expecting to like this at all, and worried that the blackberry would be similar to Thornwood Thicket (which smells like cough syrup and doom to me), but this is an awesome foodie scent on my skin.

The vanillas in this are heavenly - a mix of sweet and creamy vanillas with a cool, smooth quality from the vanilla musk, and the berry notes smell sweet and edible. Vanilla musk notes sometimes turn powdery and too dry smelling for me, but the vanilla musk note here doesn't do that at all.

Blackburn Farmstead makes me think of a fancy vanilla ice cream topped off with dark, juicy berries, but in a sexy, grownup perfume form thanks to the vanilla musk.

Really lovely.

I've only just managed to try this because I was utterly broke when the gourmand collection was released. I absolutely love it and am heartbroken that I'm too late! I will have to search it in the swaps forum instead, wish me luck!

Oh yes, it's a lovely rich vanilla with a hint of berries, not too foody at all, just beautiful.

Edit: Ok so panic over as I've managed to find a bottle on someone's sales page, phew! I'll be keeping a close watch next year in case this comes back in other products, it's just so lovely. You know when you sniff a new oil and you know you don't even need to think about it, you know you need a bottle? Well it was like that!

I was very kindly given a sample of this with my first order when I mentioned I'd been hoping to try it. It is a creamy, very strong berry (almost grapey, as other posters have described it), and on my skin a little tangy. For me it's much heavier on the berry smell than the vanilla, although I can tell there's vanilla in it.

It's a like for me, not a love, but I think fans of berry smells should really give it a try. I'm choosy with fruit notes.

Soon as the fall scents were available my solstice connoisseur friend of mine lol quickly said this was a scent I had to try since she knows I love sweet, baked goods and fruit scents. I grabbed the body ganache also since I hadn't had the chance to try any of the ganaches yet as well as the oil. As a matter of fact I have it on today and a coworker said is that you smelling like cake lol. I love this scent its sweet enough without being too much .

I was really looking forward to trying Blackburn Farmstead because blackberries were a big part of my childhood summers. It was a little alarming when I opened the imp and smelled sweet grape lollipops! The grape remained overpowering while wet on the skin, but upon drying, it became more of the berry scent I was expecting. Ultimately, the scent is a lovely blend of juicy berries and musk, with a hint of creamy vanilla. It's actually a very sophisticated perfume, like a subtler adult version of those berry sprays your 11-year-old daughter loves from the bath shop.

I layered this with Black Mallow as an experiment, and it turned out very rich and dark. Anise and blackberries work quite well together.

I thought I would try this scent based on Angela's wonderful description of the blackberries and vanilla, which are two of my faves. I'm so glad I did!! I've had it on for about an hour and I'm loving the dry down. It started out really sweet and it mellows over time so if you're thinking it will be too sweet, don't. It's fabulous! This one is definitely going onto my wish list:flower: 

This is the slightly more bearable, but still unbearable, version of Thornwood Thicket on me.

Thornwood Thicket smells like the lovechild of artificial grape and Dayquil/Nyquil. If anyone has ever had the misfortune of forcing down Dayquil/Nyquil, which I had while sick with the flu around the time this stuff arrived, you must instantly know via osmosis between our damaged souls that I don't like this scent as a result. Generally, I really love berry scents, so this was a major disappointment for me.

Blackburn Farmstead is basically the same scent with slightly less sadism and a bit more vanilla, but again, it still has that Dayquil/Nyquil note to it. Again, I love berry scents, especially when vanilla is added, so I really envy those of you for whom this scent worked.

I totally understand why Pink Sugar is mentioned in the description, I can smell a lot of similarities between the two. On me, this is definitely a grown-up candy scent. I get more of a spun sugar note than a vanilla one, but I'm not complaining! I heard a lot of people mention a grape-y scent but luckily all I can smell are slightly tart purple berries wrapped in candy floss. As it wears on me I get more of the sugary musk and it feels a little more grown up. I think any fan of berry or candy scents would love this one!

I don't think berries work with my skin chemistry, but i give'em another chance. Sadly, BF turns into plastic sugary berry mishmash. No more berries for me

I can't say that I love this one, but I like it enough that I can't bear to destash my sample. When I first tried this one it was all grapes and berries, with nothing else to temper the sweetness and a slight artificiality to it. Now that I've had it for most of a year, I get a little vanilla and a little musk shortly after I apply it, but it still mostly smells like berries. I thought I would love it, and while it smells no different than I would expect, it just wasn't full-bottle worthy. For anyone who likes sweet berry scents though, this one's for you!