House of Usher Titanic Box Thoughts

I received this lovely Titanic themed box in trade from a sweet waxy friend, Deb, who felt the scents were not for her. 

You can check out her blog here:

http://somethingalwayz.blogspot.com

Here's my cold sniff thoughts on them.

Mr. Andrews: Sweet, creamy and slightly powdery pink sugar and fresh violets. It's quite lovely, but not at all a masculine scent. Kind of odd for Mr. Andrews. Fairly strong.

Ice Burg: again this scent doesn't go well with the name. I would expect a fresh aquatic type scent, but this is orange and cinnamon/spice with an almond note that is slightly artificial. Still, it's very pleasant and quite strong, and the ice berg shape is adorable!

Half Full: a very busy blend. Prominent top notes of orange and lime and salt, like a margarita. There are supposed to be bakery and other sweet notes in there, but it's hard to pick out all the individual notes. I think I would have just stuck with the margarita idea; the scent is pleasant overall but a little overwhelming. Very strong. 

Molly Brown: A delightful tea & cakes scent with a hint of fresh roses. One of my favorites from the box and one of the most fitting for the character. Moderate.

Cafe Parisien: Blackberry jam over white cake with coffee. I'm not sure if I love the blackberry and coffee together; it's unusual but intriguing. I think I will reserve full judgement until I melt it, but I'm cautiously optimistic. I think a better representation of a French cafe would have been chocolate croissants and coffee, but I think HoU is known for shaking things up. Fairly strong.

1340 Pennsylvania St: yummy sugared strawberries, fresh baked goods and orange cream. Quite delightful and surprisingly complex. Strong.

Lifeboat #6: this one makes a lot of sense. I don't like many fresh/clean scents but this one is nice and not artificial or overwhelming. Salty sea air with hints of light florals and pine needles. Moderate.

Unsinkable: this one lists about a dozen fragrance notes, but I only really get Bergamot and cashmere musk. It's very pretty but not super complex; many of the notes are lost to me. Moderate.

The Grand Staircase Lip Balm:

It smells super yummy, like strawberry shortcake. I can't wait to test it out.

(There were two other items in this sampler, but I do not have them and therefore can't review them). A big thanks to the person who sent them; I'm sorry the scents weren't for her, but I love them! She also generously sent 3 mystery overpour scents from the brand Sweet Fixations. To me the pink one smells like super sweet bubble gum and grape jolly ranchers, the purple one like blackberry cake, and the yellow one like sweet vanilla and maple sugar with hints of strawberry and orange. All scrumptious! I had a fun afternoon of sniffing and was happy to try some new to me vendors!