HIGH DESERT PREMIUM 5ML FRAGRANCE (Summer 2013)

HIGH DESERT PREMIUM FRAGRANCE
Desert Sage, Ceremonial White Sage, Sandalwood, Mitti, Cacti, Indian Tobacco, Prickly Pear Cactus, Hay, Smoke, Labdanum, etc.

NOT TO BE USED BY WOMEN WHO ARE PREGNANT OR NURSING.


High Desert is a dry, woody, herbal reverent blend designed to evoke the atmosphere of the hot unforgiving, yet majestic, desert habitat of the American southwest. It features dominant notes of herbal white sage and desert sagebrush with supporting background notes of soft woods, sweet Indian tobacco, hay, Saguaro cactus, juicy prickly pear cactus, baked sand and just a touch of smoke, labdanum and red musk. Despite the complex palette used to create High Desert, these notes were selected to enhance and compliment the beautiful sage blend. On cold sniff you will experience a dried sage leaf leaf with a sweet fruity prickly pear top note and dry hay and tobacco finish. On initial application the crisp green Saguaro cactus emerges amidst an endless open blue sky. High Desert softens soon after application with emphasis on a blend of light woods and dry herbal sage with the occasional whiff of sweet tobacco and hay. The dry down hugs very close to the skin and liberal application is recommended to increase its longevity. It does not morph significantly but after several hours the labdanum will be detectable. High Desert is a meditative, beautiful and very relaxing fragrance that is especially wonderful before bed. For those who have requested our Seance soap in perfume format, you may enjoy this fragrance. The sage is more refined and much softer and High Desert contains none of the spicy notes that Seance has but the sage note is beautifully represented here. Unisex.

High Desert features a blend of fragrance oils along with the following essential oils, absolutes and CO2s: White Sagebrush, muhuhu, nagarmotha, copal bark, sweet clover, labdanum, tobacco, sugandha and mitti attar.

I just got a sample of High Desert, and it's really pretty on my skin. I get mostly the sage blend and the prickly pear, with some hints of the tobacco. (and by the way, I generally love Angela's use of tobacco in blends)

I wish it lasted longer on my skin is all. The description says to apply liberally, which I have been doing, but it still seems to evaporate completely within about 45 minutes of contact.

Oh, and I can imagine this would be a good bedtime fragrance; it seems to be grounding and meditative as described. Maybe I'll think about a full bottle purchase and aim it more towards aromatherapy use?

The smell of desert sage is one of my favorite scents in the world, so I had high hopes for this blend. It smells just like the real high desert on me for about the first 20 minutes, but, sadly, on my skin the drydown is a bitter, sweet, smoky scent that I don't care for.

I'm hanging on to my sample to see how this ages, though, because I'd love to have a desert sage perfume.

Although I have no idea what actual desert sage smells like, if it smells like this perfume, I'm sure I'd love it.  This perfume is a winner for me.  I love putting this on before bedtime (I rotate it with Quiet Night), and it is a super calming blend.  I plan on purchasing a full-size bottle, once my sample is gone - this scent is just soooo lovely!

this totally reminds me of being in a hot Nevada desert or down in Southern Utah desert. It's like I can smell the dryness & heat. It has a spicy undertone but with a hit of the cactus to make it a clean note as well.

This scent is very complex and heavy. High Desert is a heady blend of ingredients that smells quite spiritual in nature - I imagine this is what a peyote trip in the desert would smell like. I can definitely see it being used for ritual purposes such as meditation or prayer. I wouldn't necessarily wear this scent out of the house, but I might put it on to do yoga or relax. The mix is quite complex so I have trouble pulling out individual notes, but the sage is quite prominent.

High Deset in the bottle - smells sweet very much like a prickly pear tea I enjoy, you can smell the softer earthier notes of the sage as well; so in the bottle it's kind of like smelling a unique wine sweet & dry.

High desert wet on skin - some of the sweetness goes away to bring forth more of the mellowed tobacco smell, with sage, and something I'd almost call leathery, it's that buttery warm smell that is like something supple sitting in the sun warming, so very much like the desert out here in AZ..

High desert set in and dry on skin - it reminded my friend of an I science shop, or new age store with many incense laden smells, to me it cools down after awhile and that warm smell vanishes into something smokey and cool which reminds me of the fall and winter rains here where the cold rains free up the air from all the dust, and you smell the fresh greens of the desert vegetation, the creosote, sage, and other brush mellow, green, clean, and cool, with just that underlying note of sweet incenses.

I think this is a very unique blend, and definitely a good one for meditating, or as a scent that shifts and changes on your skin, very awesome!

I agree with the comments that this is a very calming, meditational blend. It's like a hot dry breeze air flowing over parched sage. It's very soft and light.

My review for High Desert is, for me going to be short. I am not familiar with any of the fragrance notes, nor do I have experience with the locale it is representing geographically. So for me there is absolutely no spiritual or scent memory library connection whatsoever.

So here goes.

High Desert is slightly herbal, rich, a little woody and has a soapy clean note. Slightly green and dry. It is on the masculine side of unisex. If I had to make an affinity link with any other Solstice Scent product, it would be Devil's Millhopper. Not that they smell at all alike, as they don't, but because they both capture a slice of a natural environment.

Do I like it?

Yes very much. I have said it is rich, but it is also refined and somewhat austere as opposed to simple. There is depth and complexity that does not overwhelm but is soothing.

Solstice Scents makes the most beautiful desert inspired fragrances. I am a huge fan of Desert Thunderstorm and Sirocco as well.
Desert Thunderstorm is amazing and full of damp earth and vibrant, living, green desert plants. Sirocco has no plants at all and is the most beautiful, resinous, baked earth smell ever.
High Desert is like the in-between of both of those. It's dry, thirsty, prickly plants and delicious curls of labdanum incense smoke and dry, sweet tobacco. I get lots of ambery, incensey labdanum and sweet, rich tobacco in the drydown, with hints of dry sage and spiky cactus scents, and it's such a gorgeous, warm fragrance with touches of smokiness.

I previously reviewed White Fox and said that it reminded me of the Maine Healing Arts Festival I went to as a child. Well, this reminds me of it more. There were animal pelts spread out across a floor, covered in crystals. This has a pelt smell to it.

In addition, this certainly reminds me of desert country. I've camped out in Anza Borrego, Joshua Tree, and various other campgrounds in southern California. All of them have very subtle scents, dusty and dry. High Desert is instead like the southwest shops with Native American-inspired souvenirs (drums with animal skins pulled tight, pouches made out of bison leather, rabbit's feet, etc).

I have had my nose up close to a prickly pear and I haven't noticed a scent. Next time I'm in the desert I'm going to scratch into the cactus and see if I can get a smell. Sometimes drought-resistant flora hold their scents close to the stem.