Ellis Brooklyn Scent Diary Set FULL REVIEW

Ellis Brooklyn is one of the first brand I stumbled upon (all thanks to Sephora) when first starting my fragrance journey. I really love the simple, yet elegant bottle designs and their marketing is pretty nice. I've had the discovery set for awhile because my boyfriend gifted it to me about a year ago but I've been postponing it. When Apple Love came out, that's when I knew it was time to go back and uncover this discovery set. 43$CAN for nine 2ml fragrances is not that bad if it allows me to sample most of Ellis' fragrance house. I had a feeling I'd probably appreciate one or two of these scents enough to add them to my collection.

So here goes my full review:

Super Amber: I bumped this one up when I saw there was a vanilla orchid note in the perfume. I was also wary of the cedar note since I'm not a great woody perfume fan and my skin tends to magnify these notes. I was, unfortunately, right. There's a lovely vanilla orchid note at the beginning that offers creamy vanilla sweetness. But then, cedar barrels through the door and overwhelms everything. It's a deep woody, almost acrid and synthetic note. There's a facet of spices imbedded within the cedar note that seems to clash with everything. There's no warm and resinous ambery scent. Vanilla orchid does try to fight back for a place on my skin, but the cedar is just too strong and the perfume ends up reminding me of BO. After awhile it ends up settling into a sweet, woody and spicy scent. It's not as bad as it was, but definitely not something I would wear. I will not be adding this one to my collection.

Sci Fi: An unusual fragrance and probably what I thought I Don't Need A Prince By My Side To Be A Princess would smell like. There's an interesting jumble of notes that mix on my skin at the start. Tangy citruses, slight tinge of florals, the freshness of green tea and a sweet vanilla that reminded me of marshmallows. It's soft and exudes feminine energy. The accords take their time before settling on my skin, but once they do, I finally get bitter oranges, green tea and marshmallows. I never thought bitterness, freshness and sweetness would combine this well to form a fragrance that works, but they do. I'm still contemplating on whether I'll be adding a travel size or a full bottle to my collection, but I have to applaud the perfumer for this unusual fragrance.

Myth: I don't have a lot to say about this one. It's pretty boring, generic and light. For the price point, I'd expect a perfume that lasts longer on the skin, but the sillage and longevity are akin to a body mist. Florals remind me of a non-descript soap that my mom or my grandma once used, other than that it fades rather fast. Will definitely not be adding this one to my collection because of the price and the generic aspect of it. I do have to admit though that it's pretty inoffensive and could be worn when you don't want to think about what you want to wear. Other than that ...

Salt: This one has been owned by my boyfriend ever since I got a sample of it with a Sephora purchase. Gave it to him since I already owned a vial from the discovery set. Smelled it a couple of times on him and I've been quite eager to try it on me, hoping it would vibe really well on my skin. It's a soothing fragrance, just like a day relaxing at the spa. It has a strong salty, almost mineral note that stays from top to bottom. The florals are beautiful: a bit tropical, a bit sweet, giving the perfume a subtle freshness. Sandalwood is creamy, but also soaked in sea salt. The drydown is like sunkissed sea salt and sand skin scent. One of the best perfume I've smelled in the salt family of fragrances. I'm definitely adding this one to my collection.

Sweet: This one is pretty linear and follows closely the notes listed. It smells at first like powdery pears, but rapidly moves on to creamy florals. Pear remains at the edge of the fragrance up until the end. There's not much more to say to this one other than it's a sweet, inoffensive perfume that follows Ellis Brooklyn's motto: clean and beautiful fragrances. It's nice, but since I'm looking for something more, it ain't it.

Bee: Disclaimer before I get on with the review: I own Bee by Zoologist (which might have altered my judgement of this fragrance). Without further ado... Bee will not be added to my collection. During the first hour, it smells like Ozonol (an antibiotic ointment) and honey flavoured cough drop. Not something I want to smell like. I'm not a fan of rum or cocoa, which might also have worked against this fragrance. Honey is present, but I feel like it gets overpowered by the spices. The drydown is better when it shifts to a faint honey favoured vanilla, but because of the top and middle notes, it wasn't enough to save this perfume. I'm still on the Zoologist side of bee interpretation.

West: Ooooh I've got to say I'm pleasantly surprised by this one. I was expecting the citrus to fade rapidly, but they withstood the test of time on my skin. West reminds me of Aqua Allegoria Mandarine Basilic. The citruses are similar with their tangy, juiciness and there's a nice supporting note of basil at the beginning of the fragrance. Roads diverge in the middle notes where West takes on a more soapy, fresh and clean aspect (that reminded me of Orange Blossom while the ginger acts as support without ever overwhelming the fruits. It adds a spicy, fresh take to the scent. The drydown becomes a bit more earthy, but the citrus remains until the end. I feel like this fragrance is sufficiently different from my other citruses, which is why I'll probably be adding a bottle to my collection later on.

Sun Fruit: I was not expecting to smell vanilla yogurt with chunks of fruits from this fragrance, but here I am. It's an unusual fragrance where the dry down is really strong, but when it settles on my skin, I can follow the notes listed. We've got a bunch of sweet fruits at the beginning, then we've got a bouquet of florals. I do question the florals used as I'm not sure they fit perfectly the theme of the fragrance, but they're still nice. The drydown is where the vanilla yogurt accord comes from. Vanilla orchid gives a sweet vanilla accord while coconut gives it that tropical, creamy aspect. Musk and amber stops the perfume from getting in that cloying, overly sweet territory. Overall it's soft, inoffensive and pretty for everyday use. Since I'm looking for something a bit stronger and a bit more unique, I probably won't be adding it to my collection, but it's a safe blind-buy and a cute fragrance.

Après: The most complex of Ellis Brooklyn's lineup. I was wary at first because I'm usually not a fan of certain notes in this fragrance (woods, suede, whiskey), but I was pleasantly surprised by it. I could picture myself walking through a dense canadian pine forest burried beneath snow. It's a perfume made for winter and for the heart of winter when the cold months are here. Spices are abundant at the beginning with cardamom and saffron being the strongest ones. Even though I'm a bit unfamiliar with juniper berries, I do detect a fresh spiciness accord, which probably comes from them. Whiskey, woods and praline mix together in the middle notes to form a sweet but woody accord. It sometimes smelled like
wood shavings as if I were sharpening a wooden pencil, but the sweetness in it kept it from going the wrong way. The drydown is woody and sweet with a bit of dirty, earthy accord from the patchouli. Since I'm not a woody perfume gal, it won't be making it in my collection, but I'm quite glad I got to try it.

BONUS Apple Love: When Apple Love was first announced, I knew I was going to get my hands on it. Apples are one of the fruits I love smelling on me. This one didn't disapoint me. It was made perfectly for the heart of fall, when the colors are bright and radiant, when the wind is chilly and crisp and when a cup of hot chocolate is a must. It has beautiful and delicious top notes reminiscent of a deep red apple. The florals note that follow are well-blended and fit the theme really well. The drydown is a fruity, warm skin scent that fades away nicely. I do have to admit the sillage and longevity is lacking which is my one and only gripe with this fragrance. Thankfully, the scent more than makes up for it and I'll be adding a full bottle to my collection as soon as I can.

CONCLUSION

I'm overall happy with this discovery set. I was expecting two bottles to make it in my collection and I'm at three (Apple Love, Salt, West) potentially four (Sci Fi, maybe?). I have a feeling that being at this point in my journey where I'm also trying out niche perfumes might have altered my overall judgement of Ellis Brooklyn's fragrances. I can picture some other fragrances from this set that I might have added to my collection if only I hadn't smelled niche ones before. Ellis Brooklyn is definitely a nice, effortless brand of fragrances suited for everyone and anyone. Most of these are inoffensive: they don't reinvent the wheel, but procure a sense of comfort, security and pleasantness.

A few things I've figured out by trying these fragrances:

• I am still not a fan of woody perfumes. Woody notes are fine, as long as they aren't the main focus of the perfume.
• I'm still not a fan overall of leather and alcoholic notes like rum.
• I really enjoy apples as a fruit to wear on myself. Probably my favorite fruit in perfumery.
• My focus has shifted towards adding longer lasting perfumes to my collection and perfumes with a bit more complexity and depth.

From Sephora, I still have Maison Margiela, Skylar, Floral Street and Commodity fragrance discovery sets I need to evaluate. I'll be taking a little break before going through another discovery set (my wallet begs this). I might also return to my niche samples for awhile. If you want to check out my full review of Kayali's sample set, you can find it here! Don't forget to subscribe, leave a like and comment if you've tried out any of Ellis Brooklyn's fragrances. I'll be seeing you in the next article!