Perfume Review! Fall Fragrances from Southern Comforts

By Unknown

Purchased

Are you ready to ring in the autumn weather?

You know that horrifying moment when you step outside and it's still balmy and beautiful, but you glance over and see the tips of the leaves starting to turn color?

Suddenly you know the end is nigh, foliage is only weeks away, temperatures will soon plummet and pumpkin spice EVERYTHING will seep into every aspect of your life for the next three months. It's a bittersweet moment when you realize you have to say goodbye to the summer. It's also bittersweet saying goodbye to my savings because all my favorite indie shops start dropping autumn releases!

Normally I jump on Haus of Gloi's autumn releases since they go up for sale first, but I've already covered that collection pretty extensively in the past. Instead, let's check out the new Southern Comforts autumn sampler collection!

Southern Comforts Fall Fragrance Sneak Peek

4 2ml sample vials for $8 USD

Try all four brand new fall fragrances a whole week before they are "officially" released! Only 25 available. Once they're all gone, that's it for the fall four packs!

This isn't so much a "sneak peek" anymore since the official autumn collection launched already. This pack of sample sizes went up for sale beforehand, and there were only about 25 available. I'm aaaalll about the samples, so I was really excited to grab it!

If this isn't charming, I don't know what is.

Can I just take a moment to talk about the packaging? I love how all the cardboard toppers used for the sample packs are so different looking! This is something I hope to continue seeing with future releases. 

Huntsville Hayride from Southern Comforts

Huntsville Hayride

10ml rollerball for $14 USD

Bundle up against the brisk autumn air with a thermos of hot cider and go for a hayride through the falling leaves, savoring the scent of a distant bonfire. (earthy, smoky, spicy gourmand, crisp apple cider, fall leaves, hay bales, dust, bonfire)

I haven't been on a hayride in several years, but there's something really comfy about them. I was excited by the prospect of a scent capturing those dormant memories. Huntsville Hayride really nails the "bonfire" element - in fact, maybe a little too well. My skin REALLY amps the smoky notes and pushes everything else into the background.

Wispy tendrils of spiced apple and dirt try to squeak through, but they get toasted to a crisp and never fully develop. I was also a little sad that I couldn't detect anything reminiscent of hay. This was the note I was expecting the most - sweet, grassy with a bit of an earthy bite - that's what a hayride smells like to me! This would be more aptly named "Huntsville Harvest Bonfire" instead.

Score: 3/5
Enjoyable, but a bit too smoky. Readjusting my expectations away from an actual hayride to an outdoor, firey celebration makes it easier to enjoy. 

Kentucky Harvest from Southern Comforts

Kentucky Harvest

10ml rollerball for $14 USD

Nothing says fall like a stroll through an orchard, letting the scents of the trees and cold earth envelop you, while ripe apples and pears fulfill promises of sweetness to come. (earthy, slightly fruity, red and green apples, pears, tree bark, leaves, cold earth)

Cool soil and delicious apples! (Not to be confused with red delicious apples, those are disgusting.) This is the fragrant lovechild of OHWTO's The Girl Who Waited and Haus of Gloi's Ploughman perfumes. The apple notes in Kentucky Harvest are particularly juicy, but after about 15 minutes the scent of moist soil pushes up to the surface and becomes the dominant note on my skin. It feels more "wholesome" and natural than Huntsville Hayride, maybe because of that cooler element.

I like this scent a lot, but I find it lasts the least amount of time on my skin. I applied it before a dinner date and halfway through my appetizer I could barely notice it. Although perhaps that's because my bbq bulgogi was that good...

Score: 4/5
If this lasted longer it'd receive a 5/5! But it just leaves me wanting more and more. It's all the deliciously grubby aroma of a day's labor picking apples with none of the effort.

Fayetteville Fall from Southern Comforts

Fayetteville Fall

10ml rollerball for $14 USD

Savor the simplicity of autumn’s lovely display with caramel apple cider and a hint of relaxing vanilla. (unspiced apple cider, caramel, vanilla)

This was the first fragrance I tested in the sample pack, and I've smelled it several nights since. Notice I said smelled... not wore. My younger sister was absolutely smitten with Fayetteville Fall and decided she and my sample vial were new BFFs. They've been bonding all week, but at least I get to enjoy the aroma still!

Fayetteville Fall is more of a candied apple scent. Juicy, mouth-watering apple cider with a swirl of ooey-gooey caramel make this a real treat for your nose. We both really enjoy this scent because it has more of a sweet gourmand take on "apples" than the other two fragrances. Sooo good.

Score: 5/5
This is a winner for both of us! (I hope you don't read this blog, sis, because you're getting a full-sized bottle for your birthday, so gimme back my sample vial!)

West Memphis Sweater Weather from Southern Comforts

West Memphis Sweater Weather

10ml rollerball for $14 USD

Fog rolling in over a Smoky Mountain cabin calls for a lazy morning with a sweet, creamy white chocolate mocha and your favorite fuzzy sweater. (white chocolate, coffee, whipped cream, toasted bread, french vanilla, wood, amber)

Even though this collection was a "sneak peek", by the time I received my order there were already reviews and general excitable chatter online about the new scents. West Memphis Sweater Weather garnered the most positive buzz. It has also been elevated from limited status to general catalog! Those are some big boots to fill!

First thing that stands out about Sweater Weather (or "Sweather" as lovingly coined by /u/Marsandtherealgirl on Reddit) is that unlike the rest of the collection it doesn't have a hint of apple. This perfume is meant to emulate a snugly morning with indulgent breakfast food. If all my sweaters smelled this nice, the colder weather would be way more enjoyable! Its opening notes are super coffee on my skin, then they morph into something more... yeasty? Gooey, doughy danish pastries?

The transformation doesn't end there - half an hour later and things shift away from dough and smell more like cocoa powder before settling down into some sort of cuddly... mountain man marshmallow. I'm not sure how else to describe it. Smooth, creamy and sweet come to mind.

Score: Why can't this be actual food/5
Real talk: I don't really gravitate towards gourmand scents (that's my sister's jam), but something about this makes it really appealing to me. Unfortunately, it suffers from the same fate as Kentucky Harvest in that it weakens quickly. I get maybe three hours of wear, and only the first hour is substantial enough to cast anything past my wrists.

Thoughts:
There are several things about this release that I really love. For one, the sample vials have been switched up to a slightly different design. They're way easier to open... although they still don't fit in my little ammo box along with my other samples (they're too tall). But that's a personal gripe.

These scents also use the new formula, but I still feel like something is missing to beef things up just a bit more. I find myself wishing I could reapply constantly to keep getting that initial first-hour kick. I'm tempted to try the new solid perfume sticks that went up in the shop recently - these are great for on-the-go-toss-in-my-purse-shoot-I-need-to-smell-nice-like-NOW-pick-me-ups. Maybe the next purchase...!