Three Ravens Co. came to my attention a month or so ago in the Poisoner's Guild group on Facebook. Now, before you lock me away for plotting evil doings let me tell you that the Poisoner's Guild is a brand of scentcrafters that builds a themed box each month full of fragrant goodies. You will learn more about them soon. Very soon. Back to Three Ravens. The Poisoner's Guild asked what other perfume houses they should include in their box and the Three Ravens was mentioned. I fell down the rabbit hole of searching up each of the perfume houses mentioned so of course I looked into Three Ravens. I was so enamored of the styling, scents and stories that I picked up several samples ($4.50) and one full sized bottle ($16.50).
Old Toby- Notes: The sweet and powdery scent of fresh pipe tobaccos, not unlike a walk through a tobacco shop.
Old Toby is certainly a sweet pipe tobacco aroma. Dark sticky shreds of vanilla tobacco and toasted sienna ribbons of cherry tobacco beckon from various colored tins around the tobacconist's shop. This scent is pretty linear and stays a nice blending of vanilla and cherry tobaccos while being mellow and sweet. I feel like I am hanging with Bilbo and Gandalf and their long pipes full of pipe weed.
Grue Church Fire- Notes: A moody, smoky scent inspired by the Grue Church fire in Norway of 1822 that took the lives of over 100 people. Olibanum and pine tar blended with burnt wood and smoke.
Pine and frankincense resin meld with the pleasant far off waft of woodsmoke. The pine possesses an almost sweet spruce nuance but it is still very much a dark and resinous perfume. The pitch in the pine gives it a touch of earthiness. I was not sure how this one would play out on my skin but it just might be one of my favorites in the bunch.
Pyre- Notes: The distinct scent of a bonfire. Wood smoke and firewood with a touch of leather.
The rustle and snap of fire gnawing on oak logs, red hot embers flush the cheeks and palms pink. The creosote soaked aroma easily glides into the tarry warmth of leather and straddles the two effortlessly. The line between fire and leather is surprisingly thin. Pyre lingers pleasantly on the skin, warming and primal.
Covenstead- Notes: A blend of clove, vanilla and woodsmoke.
Bonfire smoke curls its fingers around long locks of hair, pulling insistently on the senses as a reminder of last night's revelries. The smoke snakes out authentically at first dab then the cloves weave in. Perhaps from a clove cigarette that crackled just outside of the fire's glow? The smoke wafts downwind, allowing the clove to bloom in its own wooden sweetness. At the tail end there lingers just a touch of anise within the clove and vanilla woods. Covenstead is for the smoke lovers and spice lovers and I can be both.
Cerimonium- Notes: Cedarwood, frankincense, myrrh.
Medicinal and pungent myrrh offers up a bracing and beautiful opening. Gently the myrrh settles and gains some wooden depth with the addition of cedarwood and frankincense. Ceremonium smells of the bellies of creaky trinket boxes hidden in the shadows of antique stores.
Will-O-The-Wisp- Notes: A perfect fall blend of white pumpkin, orange pumpkin, squash, cinnamon and clove.
Fiery cinnamon and dusty bulbous gourds tumble about on the skin upon first whiff. The cinnamon spice tempers and sugar crusted pumpkins roll in to bring the scent from the patch to the kitchen table. Sweet cinnamon sugar and a base of pumpkin vanilla really makes for a classic fall experience. Delicious, simple and well done. I love the name too.
Myrkwood- Notes: Fresh turned earth, coniferous trees of pine, cedar and spruce with oud.
Pine, sharp and green, camphorous and bright, quivers with its spindly needles up from the loam. Damp humus and organic matter scatter like brown confetti under the thin pine tree's trunk. There is no sweet in the dark and eerie Myrkwood but there is plenty of bracing pine that clears the senses and yet befuddles the mind. This one burrows down into a dank and dusky cedarwood. I love how raw and true to its nature this one is. Myrkwood is not a place to take lightly.
Bellatrix- Notes: Leather and tobacco flower.
Rawhide leather right out of the gate. Firm, new and intense. This is the scent of the leather tent at the festival where hundreds of belts hang ready for your name to be engraved on the back, wallets and purses with foot long fringes and keychains and braided leather bracelets dyed all colors. Leather. Freshly tanned.
Three Ravens crafts some lovely scents. I enjoy the unique packaging and the literary inspiration. I have recently purchased two bakery bags of wax tarts and look forward to trying their home fragrance line as well. I spy candles. Just waiting on those to come back into stock. The liquid hand soap is catching my eye too.
Have you tried any new perfume houses or candle makers as of late? Which of these would you like to wear or perfume your home with?
Fall Festival
I have not been to a fall festival since last year when we took the girls to the Hunsader Farms Pumpkin Festival and I got the phone call once we set foot in the parking lot that my dad had fallen from a great height and almost lost his life. I don't think I really want to go back as the horrible news tainted the trip. We do have a corn maze and small festival here in town but I have not taken the girls yet. We have so much going on this time of year. I will say that today is a fall festival of sorts... we are surprising the girls with a trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Skipping school and all. What a great teacher example I am! LOL!
So cheers with a frozen Butterbeer clink!
Do you have any fall festivals in your area? Do you like the frozen Butterbeer or the regular Butterbeer?
The Fall Fun Friday prompt was if I could plan any type of fall travel experience or get together what would it be? If I could make anything happen it would be this: an October trip to the Blue Ridge mountains for my family. We would drive the parkway, leaf gaze and toast marshmallows over bonfires and sip hot cozy beverages.
Please check my friends and their blogs to read about their fall musings:
That's so interesting about the Grue church fire! When I saw the name I was immediately reminded of the Zork series of text adventure computer games where if your torch went out, you would be eaten by a grue :)
ReplyDeleteThat little blue and gold dish is gorgeous.
Oh whoa... so maybe a grue can be a creature too? A mythical creature? Now I want to look into the meaning of grue.... how neat.
DeleteThanks! I picked it up on IG from Kelsey's Star Stuff. She makes amazing pottery pieces. They are lighthearted and fun yet very detailed.
Ooh, a touch morbid with the Grue Church Fire, it sounds like a sad event to name a perfume after. (love the poisoner's guild moniker though) Most of these seem to be smoky, I'm still deciding whether or not it's a wearable scent to me, but they seem right up your perfume street in intensity.
ReplyDeleteCheers yourself! What a fun day for the girls, my parents couldn't swing a trip to Disney for the four of us, but Shel and I will make the Wizarding World one of these days. I named it as a butterbeer drinking finish to my autumn dream trip, so my dreams are your reality, lol!
Yeah, definitely a tragedy but I guess folks get inspiration from all sorts. Hopefully it is more in honor? They are definitely smoky. Sometimes I like a nice smoky scent but other times it can be too cloying or acrid or heavy. Adam is not a fan of me smelling like a bonfire so I try to limit it to outdoor time or when I am not smoking everyone out of the room.
DeleteThanks! It was fun. And a huge surprise. I grew up going to Disney but it is probably much easier when you only have to drive 30 minutes and pay for a ticket versus flying to Orlando and then paying for lodging too. Disney is crazy expensive as it is but day trips are doable once a year or so. I hope you guys get to come and visit one day! It is a lot of fun. I need to catch up on my blog reading. The nine weeks is over at school and grades and comments and such are taking up all my time. Yikes.