For a while now, I’ve been curious about the Toby Daye collection from Conjure Oils. This is a collection of scented oils where the fragrances are inspired by the characters and writing of Seanan McGuire. If you read the Toby Daye series, it’s pretty common to read about the scent of a character’s magic, and there are some pretty out-there combinations.  The collection at Conjure Oils consists of 21 scents, from “Makeshift Morgue” and “Garden of Glass Roses” to “Toby Daye” and “May Daye”. It’s $20 for a 5ml bottle, and $35 for a pip selection of 7. I’ve always wondered what pennyroyal and civet musk smelled like…and this is totally book related… so might as well buy..
 
After checking out the selections and reading the comments on the collection in the forum, I decided to try a pip selection with:

• Toby Daye
• May Daye
• Quentin
• Tybalt
• Dare
• The Queen of the Mists
• Green Potion

(Each of the links above go to the forum post about that scent).
 
About a week later I got this small package:
 

And inside it was:

And inside that was:

My seven choices:

Plus two extra:

I am not really a perfume person (actually some can trigger migraines for me), but let me try to give you my impressions of these scents so far!

The Queen of the Mists – “Madness and the monarch by the sea.  The scent of frozen salt, as cold and unforgiving as the deep. “
Has a floral, soapy sort of scent. Fresh out of the bottle, it reminded me of green grass and the longer it was on my skin the more I smelled like.. the smell of the outdoors after rain, and soap.
 
Tybalt – “A cat may look at a King.  A King may look at anything he likes.  Pennyroyal, civet musk, leather and wild honey. “
I found this a strong smelling scent. A small dab goes a long way. But not a smell I liked really. Very spicy, patchouli/sandlewood/incense range of scent. Lingers for a long time.
 
Quentin – “The knight in waiting: noble wood, sweet blooming heather and the metallic tang of steel. “
Well this is another strong one. Has a sharp scent. Chemical. Then a floral mixed in there. Unfortunately, the combo of the two smells like mothballs to me.
 
Maye Daye – “The Fetchingly sweet smell of burnt sugar and ashes, like a bonfire on the carnival midway.  Have your ticket ready at the door. “
At first the smell reminded me of a coffee shop and then a smell I couldn’t place, then I realized that it was the burnt sugar. I’m not sure I smell ashes – I smell lighter fluid. Maybe that’s the smell of something burning. The combination makes me think of the smell of dessert flambéd at the table.
 
Dare: “Dangerous black amber and Pippin apples, still unspoiled. “
I smelled green apple jellybeans. Sort of a yummy apply smell, but it’s under this is other odor which is sort of musky and sour – it might be the black amber. Kind of an interesting scent. Unfortunately smells sort of musty on me after a while, like old dusty building smell.
 
Green potion – “The treatment is sometimes just as bad as the disease, but smells a lot sweeter.  Pennyroyal, cowslips, and wisteria.“
Smells very flowery but my favorite. Has that high note you get when you smell jasmine or honeysuckle. Lovely.
 
Toby Daye – “Our heroine herself: the sweetness of newly-cut grass mingled with the bloody sharpness of copper, a changeling blend “
Something fresh & greenish (I guess this is the grass smell) and something that reminds me of bandages! Like the smell of the adhesive of a band-aid. Very interesting. Another favorite I think, although if I smell it too closely it’s a bit too chemical/sharp – but from afar it smells flowery and nice. The longer it’s on my skin, the more it smells floral instead of sharp.
 

Gears of Imagination – “Stoke the boilers and get ready to take flight! A bold and adventurous blend of red amber, oak leaf, steeped black tea, amber musk, aged leather and a dusting of cacao powder. “
First smell – chocolate!!! Then a sort of smell of Boy (OK, “masculine scent”), which I think comes from the leather and black tea. The leather is there the most. Like it, but smells more like a man’s scent than a woman’s.
 
A Strychnine Kiss  – “Sparkling pomegranate wine, white patchouli, vanilla musk, pink gardenia and amber incense “
I smell something very sweet in this, like a fruity smell, not quite apple. And a lot of amber. I think it actually smells a lot like sandalwood on my hand. Just incense-y. Diffuses quickly. Not very strong.
 
At $35, this is on the high end for sample selections, but I think if you are a scented oil person it would be worth trying out the scents before buying the $20 5ml bottle. I was surprised by what ended up being my favorite (Green Potion) and least favorite (Tybalt and Quentin). I would buy Green Potion in a bigger bottle.  These scents diffused quickly so I didn’t have problems with headaches for most of them. I had a headache on the day I tried Dare and Maye Daye but I couldn’t say if either of the scents were a trigger.