Sixteen92 - Aeromancy

Aeromancy (powdered snow, silver birch, dried leaves, rose oxide, a blanket of morning frost) by Sixteen92 was released for Fall 2018 as part of their Forbidden Arts collection. it's accurately described as an 'airy, delicate and cold atmospheric' that brings to mind the image of a frozen rose in the heart of winter, in beautiful stark contrast against the pristine snow, before it thaws and dies with the changing of the seasons.

in the bottle, this is cold. it's not the kind of sharp cold that you would get from popping a spearmint into your mouth or being miserable with wet socks in the snow; but instead the general impression that the scent gives me here is a chilly aura that's probably coming from the silver birch and snow/frost notes. the rose is very interesting as something that isn't a standalone floral, but a slightly more muted sweetness that accentuates the cold. smelling this in the bottle is like walking alone through a silent forest in the dead of winter, virgin snow all around in a blanket over the denuded branches and empty ground... only to find a mysterious red rose laid on a tree stump in the middle of nowhere. spooky.

things change quite a bit after application, though personally i much preferred this in the bottle. on my skin, the coldness is still there but the rose begins to bloom amidst the snow and ice, developing a bit more nuance and depth as the glacial components start to melt away into the background. the throw was also extremely close and personal.

i loved how the wintry notes really make the scent a light yet distinct atmospheric, so it was a pity that these mostly dissipated after about an hour's wear to leave behind nothing but a very, very faint echo of a rose. 

overall, Aeromancy is like the dying breath of a frozen rose that could only have survived in the very heart of winter, as it was cruelly plucked and thrown out in the sunshine.

this is a beautiful atmospheric in the bottle, though that was also its downfall as the initial sniffs had given me much higher expectations for what it could have been on my skin. overall, Aeromancy is something that i'd wear in my hair or use in a diffuser for whenever i want to get some barren wintry forest vibes, but i probably wouldn't wear this often going forward and am unlikely to get a replacement when i'm done. 6/10.

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this review is of a scent that i had purchased second-hand from another perfume lover's destash with my own money. i wasn’t asked to review this as a condition of receipt and didn’t receive any incentives for writing this. i’m not affiliated with Sixteen92 and as always, all opinions remain my own.

Aeromancy is part of the Forbidden Arts collection which was added to the Sixteen92 general catalogue by popular request - you can check it out here. prices are US$5 for a 2ml sample, US$14 for a 6ml bottle and US$22 for a 10ml roll-on (before shipping).

all information correct at time of publishing.