Year Without Summer was created by Joelle Nealy. According to their website: The group gathered at Byron’s lakeside Villa Diodati had come expecting boating and mountain hikes in picturesque Switzerland. Instead, thanks to the eruption of Mount Tambora, nearly 8,000 miles away, they were stuck with frequent storms and freezing temperatures. They were young, they were notorious, and they found ways to entertain themselves. The couplings were practically incestuous, the wine flowed freely, and so did the laudanum, a tonic laced with opium. While the rain beat against the windows and winds whipped the nearby lake, the group read ghost stories and when they tired of that, Byron issued a challenge. A challenge that would change history and conjure forth monsters that haunt our collective unconscious even today. With notes of the narcotic sweetness of opium blended with the blackest amber, spilled coffee, a hint of bitter green cannabis. Year Without Summer is a water-based fragrance mist.
Indie Scent Library: In my top 3 Poesie perfumes. Opens with a blast of coffee, then green herbs and chewy opium. It’s dark and unisex and just gorgeous. I really like Poesie, particularly for her tea, tobacco and violet notes, but as an amber lover, I find her amber a bit watery for my tastes. The amber here though is really boosted by the coffee and herbs and her opium note is stellar!
Indie Scent Library: I bought this the beginning of winter and although it was my favorite of the Mary Shelley’s Nightmare collection I only wore it twice. All winter I was interested in warm, nutty, smokey gourmands–maybe no surprise in my cold climate. But now weather has turned to late summer and all of a sudden I am addicted to this stuff! The coffee note is most noticeable when wet, but it rapidly blends into round deliciousness. It’s not a sweet gourmand, the green is not camphorous, and the amber is not a penetrating sting in my nose like ambers often are–perhaps because the amber is black?? This is an gentle but adult fragrance, unisex to leaning slightly masculine, but I will be buying a full bottle if it becomes available and wearing the crap out of it in fresh cool weather. Throw is minimal ,but it persists about 6 hours. I’m constantly reminded of how awesome I smell throughout the day, and would hug a hot guy with confidence. And if I hugged a guy who was wearing this, he would automatically be promoted to Hot Guy.
Fragrantica: Dark sweetness, coffee, and something softly burning and herbal (maybe opium?). It gets less intense as it wears until it’s a sweet, slightly herbal scent after a few hours. This is my favorite of the Mary Shelley collection. Would FS.
Fragrantica: This smell reminds me powerfully of the 24 hour cafe i used to frequent. late at night, it was mostly hippies and insomniac poets lurking in the booths, the baristas pulling bitter shots of espresso & chatting with the regulars to keep themselves awake, wafts of tobacco & weed smoke drifting up from the hookah lounge downstairs. despite the strong connotations, it's surprisingly easy to wear, and sits close to the skin as a dry, papery, slightly bitter threadbare wool sweater. it's a scent that veers a touch stale, but in a comforting, way that is both wakeful and drowsy as a cafe past midnight.
Fragrantica: Black coffee sweetened with brown sugar. last night's cannabis smoke still sticking to your sweater. dirty skin musk. green, herbal, and earthy. the attic of a centuries-old house. On my skin, this scent is very musky with a hint of sweetness; like others have said, the coffee is not at all forward and the cannabis is quite green. i definitely get a strong smokiness from this fragrance, which might bother some. personally, I love the intensity.
Fragrantica: This is incredibleamazingbeautiful to me. Coffee comes on strong at first then fades into a lighter, greener scent. Overall is graham crackery to me but in the best way possible...
