To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
romyald – :
I only obtained a bottle due to the limited re-release this August via Fumerie Parfumerie of Portland, OR, and I was fortunate to nab a bottle, breaking my general rule of not blind buying, especially fragrances on the more expensive side.
Sova’s reputation, having been discontinued for a couple years, however, was the stuff of lore, and so I felt justified in going for it, and I’m not disappointed that I did.
Like the other Slumberhouse fragrances I own (Jeke, Ore, Norne), Sova is powerful and provocative, but it’s a bit more daring, spicy, and even borderline animalic.
And like the others, while there is a woody commonality (woody dominance in the case of Norne, in fact), and a semblance of sweetness in Ore and Jeke, both qualities are present in Sova but are overwhelmed by the spicy, animalic mixture of hay, castoreum, and broom, giving it a sharper edge than the other fragrances in the lot.
Still, Sova is anchored by tonka and vanilla, both of which keep it from flying off the rails as a wild spicy and dirty potion.
Sova pushes the envelope from what I already considered bold, daring scents in Slumberhouse, but I’m pleased that it’s still a sophisticated enough blend that I’d feel comfortable wearing it in a few situations. Yet at the same time, it’s a bit too daring and edgy for a first impression or early date, but a little loud to wear privately, so it’s hard to select an ideal occasion for wearing it, but no matter: I’ll find the time to wear it, albeit sparingly.
It almost doesn’t need mentioning, but Sova has the same superlative performance like its fellow Slumberhouse dark juice brethren, on the extreme high end in terms of both projection and longevity, a testament to the juice’s value at $160 for 30ml.
If you come across this, do check it out! A staple of the line and one I’m glad to have added to my collection.
8 out of 10
VLAD12V – :
I really want a bottle of Slumberhouse Sova. Please PM me if you have a bottle you’d like to sell.
warfAbicaibia – :
this is a sillage bomb on me-i smell coconut, sandal wood, and possibly candy corn-or candy popcorn-sort of buttery/salty mix
i am not into gourmand or overly sweet-so this isn’t for me-however-i will say you only need a small amount-i just put 2 dabs on-i could smell it in 3 rooms….and it lasted for several hours…
to me there is too many competing smells-too busy-feels like it isn’t blended very well.
_Vampire_ – :
Sova is a beautiful fragrance that I would love to have in my collection. It smells like slightly burned, or singed buttered caramel corn. There is a particular burning rubber smell in the opening that disappears quickly, and then I found Sova to be very linear from there on out. I should say that there are also some spice notes present, but they never took the forefront and were bit players to the sweet caramel buttered popcorn. The longevity and sillage are impressive. Very enjoyable!
rbn – :
I want this badly 🙂 If anyone don’t like it, give me a call(PM)please!
dashacom – :
I don’t really want to smell like Keens curry powder. Not a fan.
panuc – :
I was looking to purchase a sample of this or a bottle blind but as I was cleaning my closet yesterday I found a packet of samples that I ordered in 2013 from luckyscent. To my surprise one of the samples was Sova! Funny how the universe works sometimes…
I immediately applied TWO dabs of it on my wrist. The scent quickly bloomed into something monstrous. I have norne and jeke so trust me when I write that Slumberhouse fragrances are a POWERHOUSE in sillage and longevity.
The sample I have is clearly from the old(er) formulation/batch when the fume was still in the tapioca bubble bottle.
First impression:
In your face animalic honey, as though a beaver (castoreum) rubbed its entire body across a freshly extracted honeycomb. It’s so incredibly potent it almost makes my upper lip rise in a animalistic grin. This blend of notes is very sensual, primal and carnal. You can’t exactly put your finger on it but it’s there and it’s either love or hate, black or white, no neutral or gray territory.
Once it starts to relax a bit it turns into a fruity, musky raisin scent- yes, raisin as many have pointed out. But it’s not your typical dried up grape sprinkled with a bit of random oil. This is a complex raisin that has been sitting around in a tray for months in a room where people smoke pipe tobacco, eat overripe fruit and have ferrets as pets. Soon enough the hay pokes through – dry farm straw during a hot day. The hay melds with hops to create a lightness to the fragrance. What you’re left with is sweetness, hay, raisins, booze, honey, and the carnal sensuality of a furry beast lurking underneath it all. I picture a beaver in a wheat field surrounded by barrels of hay eating honeycomb. Absurd, right?
Just so weird, so potent, so unique. Worth a try for any fragrance enthusiast…
sumrakss – :
I have not smelled this fragrance. I just wanted to say that jtd’s review is itself a masterpiece.
tymnillunty – :
Slumberhouse perfumer Josh Lobb has said that he doesn’t work with topnotes. Most of his perfumes smell layered, as if materials with similar consistencies or densities were creating a ‘wall of scent.’ Materials meet each other head to head on a level playing field. The democracy of materials urges you to find your own understanding of the perfumes without being steered along a particular course. By contrast, a traditional top/heart/base has a momentum that guides your attention more explicitly. If you favor traditional perfume, Sova might seem as if it lacks movement. On the other hand, if you prefer the ‘wall of scent’ approach, a traditional pyramidal structure could seem programatic, like a theme-park ride that, for all its thrills and drama, is still a passive experience.
I have no horse in this race and think that both approaches can be effective. The issue is how successfully a perfume accomplishes its goals. Sova is an excellent example of Lobb’s method. It has no topnotes per se and questions the premise that a perfume without a top-to-bottom structure is “linear”, that is to say, static. By asking the wearer to participate in order to make sense of the perfume, Lobb’s perfumes tip the balance from observation to interpretation. The perfume is less an artifact and more the entry point to an adventure.
Sova appears gourmand at first sniff and aromas come into focus as flavors. The herbal moistness of tobacco and hay. A bitter honeycomb made from hops and clover. Cold/hot spices like clove and allspice.
If I try to chase down the specific gourmand facets, they take me somewhere vaguely inedible–woods, bitter herbs, resins. Sova’s imagery is elusive if you squint too hard to bring it into focus. To paraphrase a new age expression that used to make me apoplectic, Let Go and Let Sova. The imagery works best as a gestalt, not zooming in on the flavors, but the picture that the flavors suggest. I have a sample of the discontinued Slumberhouse Baque (also 2012), which has a similar profile to Sova. The similarity of aromas is there, but Sova suggests baked goods while Baque suggests booze.
Lobb riffs on an approach that Christopher Sheldrake honed to precision in woody Serge Lutens perfumes like Arabie, Chergui and Five O’Clock au Gingembre. Framing woods with resins and spices brings out roasted tones. Sova is far less sweet than these Lutens though, as if Lobb paraphrased the Godfather cannoli meme: Leave the syrup. Take the woods.
Sova reminds me of the most delicious part of gingerbread, the scorched edges where sweetness gives way to smokiness. Lutens might have built a gingerbread house. Slumberhouse burns it down.
kivi555 – :
The tapioca balls in boba/bubble tea. This smells exactly the way they taste when you chew on them. A funny thought that the bottle is also reminiscent of the boba/bubble tea drink. 😀
fraultatt – :
I have had a sample vial for almost two years now and had been saving for a full bottle. Each time I wear the sample, I catch a different note. It is everything listed, but somehow I can’t explain the scent in notes.
Sova starts off as a resinous cacao with hints of smoke. As it melds with my flesh undertones of caramel, vanilla and hay poke through. Hours later I can smell it on my clothes and it brings back memories of early love, working in the stables and there is an animalic comfort I have not found in another scent.
Sadly, what would have been my signature scent is now discontinued. I have scoured the Intraweb in desperation, hoping to find a long lost bottle. Like childish dreams, this too seems to have faded into a distant memmory.
Lianiepay – :
francamente non conosco molte delle note che compaiono nella piramide di questa meraviglia già fuori produzione. eccone alcune: pioppo, robinia, luppolo, fieno, trifoglio, ginestra, vaniglia, ambra etc etc. la sensazione complessiva è sorprendente e molto gradevole. si tratta di una composizione che sa di tabacco, quello da pipa, molto aromatico, con ginestra e rum (per quanto io riesca a riconoscere qualcosa di familiare!), un tocco di chiodi di garofano, che si assesta su sensazioni più secche, di terra e di fieno, con punte affumicate. sensazionale, austero, elegantissimo, dandy e gotico, insomma una cosa speciale! ne ho una quantità minima e, ahimè, sta già finendo!
Tatsy50149 – :
I’ve had this for about a year now and it’s not something I pull out often. It’s perfect for a cool, damp, kinda gloomy day. It’s warm and soothing, filled with a sort of fermented fruit cake sweetness. I don’t like the the taste of fruitcake, but the smell is another thing entirely. I have a decant that I suspect is from the first batch as it is all dried fermented fruit. I also have a newer bottle (middle batch) and the hay comes out more in that one. All in all, I’d say super cozy, kind of a Christmas or Harvest scent. I really enjoy it. If you aren’t into foody scents though, I’d stay away.
nikolai2351 – :
wow…this is like nothing i’ve ever smelt before!
i too get the “big drunk raisin” vibe (love that definition), there’s almost something christmas biscuit about this one. like a milk rum n raisin kinda thing. dark sugary and really REALLY nice on me…
i feel a lot of balsam fir in this one. also, there’s a sweet hay in this, not the dry, chlorophyll-hay i’ve smelt elsewhere. might be the accord struck with the honey, hard to tell. but overall, i get the feeling that it’s a unified scent, a scent that has a unifying theme and one that has a story behind it. it’s quite compelling and extremely relevant.
i’m gonna keep trying my sample and maybe i’ll buy a bigger decant some time soon. i really like where this perfume goes and how it gets there…
acdc777 – :
Formulation has changed from old round bottle with beads to new flask bottle when doing a side by side comparison.
More honey evident in the older version.
Prefer the older. Its slightly smoother.
autocruizer – :
Huge drunk California Raisin (thanks, Livelyup_URself!) with a generous dusting of allergenic pollens. Awful but compelling, like a supervillain that you love to hate. I have my decant in an airtight Ziploc bag so that it doesn’t stink up the rest of my sample box, but I’m not strong enough to get rid of it.
PROFI – :
a comforting, thick and dark blanket of hay, smokey resins, tonka and beeswax. this could easily be someone’s idea of a nightmare, but for me this is beautiful. slightly herbal facets stop this from being too sweet and gloopy, but it never lets up from its oily darkness. smelling closely you get a sort of dried, syrupy, fruity aspect, like raisins in booze. warming, comforting. fairly straight-forward, the animalic facets lurk just on the periphery, and a slight ashy feel comes forth at latter stages, but this works in its favour imo. the ultimate autumn scent.
rothmans – :
This is just so strange. I’ve tried to review this for some time but I can’t make up my mind about it. It’s unlike any fragrance i’ve ever smelled. Opens up thick, smokey and boozy (what a shock coming from slumberhouse!). This is paired with a bizarre, slightly tangy fruitiness that I’m lead to believe is the hops but it certainly does not smell like any IPA’s i’ve had. When I focus I can make out a little bit of dirty sweetness that is almost definitely tonka. But there is something subtle in the opening, lurking underneath the cacophony of strangeness. A salty, savory, somewhat acidic bile that reminds me of vinegar. This all combines in a manner that reminds me quite a bit of barbeque sauce. To be frank, I am left scratching my head at the opening. But things start to ‘click’ as it dries down. I start to get the thick and entirely unsweetened beeswax note. The hops lose their “fruity twang” and smoothes out into a raspy, pleasantly bitter grassiness. This all still has the tonka sweetness that I enjoy and hours after the fact I find myself appreciating this. If only I could past that tangy sweet baby ray’s opening. All in all this gets a like from me, definitely unique and undoubtedly daring but also somewhat off putting. Longevity and sillage are comically over the top (once again, no surprise coming from slumberhouse).
Dyepayunura – :
Love it! Gorgeous clean herbal hay smell. If you have ever been in the country when they are baling new hay – this is the scent! Looked at the reviews after my first impression, and I can kind of get the rum raisin scent too. Really nice!
dwy843intitytek – :
So, I love most slumberhouse creations I’ve tried. This however, just doesn’t do it for me. I smell like a giant boozy raisin. And it lasts forever. Pass on this one for me.
So after wearing this for three days now I’ve managed to figure out what it really smells like. A granola bar. That’s it. I smell like a giant granola bar.
awq373speagoessenda – :
I’m testing sample from LuckyScent right now. Read all the below reviews & I’m trying REALLY hard to discern anything pleasant or compelling whatsoever. I understand & LOVE unusual scents but this smells just awful on me. Masculine. Reminds me of something from years ago. Oh….Waking up to burned out candles everywhere, full ashtrays & morning breathe after drinking all night @ the clubs! Maybe it’s reminding me of a hangover?? which is why I’m currently nauseous. LOVE SH Sadanne & Zahd but not this one !!
eminem84 – :
It’s like a Godzilla-sized California Raisin repeatedly punching you in the face for 16 hours. If you made raisin schnapps, this is what it would smell like. I legitimately hate it, but I still keep putting it on from time to time when I know I’m not leaving the house.
santa7670 – :
At last–a foray into Slumberhouse. I have spent a few days wearing this perfume. Longevity is easily +12 hours. Each time it leaves me with many interesting impressions. I respect it as high-quality artwork.
Sova is extremely gourmand, and yet it is not. The notes are polarizing, and at times they blend together to create accords that I did not expect based on the pyramid. I thought this would be an herbal green perfume, but it is far from it. The first time I sampled, it smelled like the darkest chocolate. Just days earlier, I had the pleasure of eating a roasted cocoa bean for the first time. Its taste was like my initial impression of Sova–somewhat sour, a little bitter, and nutty. I was intrigued. There was a lovely dark and smoky incense note along with strong dried coconut and ebony wood. Whew! That is a lot of impressions!
Upon my second sampling, my impressions of the top notes were entirely different. I smelled intense gingerbread–not the mass produced hard sheets that people build gingerbread houses with, but the soft, moist cake made with freshly grated ginger and spices. Then there is this persistent dark, bitter note that is quite enjoyable actually. During all wearings the heart smelled like pure ambery maple syrup, which reminded me so much of the wonderful Tabac Aurea by Sonoma Scent Studio; but on the whole, Sova is far more complex. I also perceive a tobacco accord in the base.
At some point, way down into the drydown it becomes a bold and very dark Italian roast coffee with a touch of sugar and cream.
This is one perfume that takes time to get to know well. This is a longer review than I like to write, but there was so much to say! I love Sova’s complexity and would definitely recommend trying it out to see how it unfolds. I am intrigued by Slumberhouse.
buriy8 – :
This is a review of the 2014 release, in the new 30ml bottles, where I believe Sova has been tweaked a little since its earlier incarnations.
Sova opens with a green-sweet, almost tarry blast. Herbacious, balsamic, spicy and deep. This wears a lot lighter than many Slumberhouse offerings.
The first half of the experience brings to mind rum soaked christmas cakes of Northern European origin. The mix of bitter hops, sweetly waxy beeswax and dry hay add up to something surprisingly similar to an expensive, rich gingerbread. The animalic notes combined with the creamy tonka only further amplify the gourmand notes on my skin.
The latter half of the drydown stretches on for damned near eternity. The frag itsself is rather linear, and hums away as a dusty skin-scent for literally days if you don’t wash it off.
Longevity is phenominal, sillage however, leaves something to be desired. At this kind of price point, I want the whole damned room to know I’m wearing something. Unfortunately, after the first 20 minutes or so even I have trouble smelling it, except for an occaisional craving for gingerbread I can’t smell much of anything without inhaling my wrist.
It’s a shame, the poor sillage, (for its price point at least), is the only thing bringing down an otherwise beautifully crafted and astonishingly complex perfume. Completely unisex, if you can warrant the high price, low volume and sub-par sillage then this truly is a beautiful creation.
airat_snake – :
hahaha,,, man this perfume is quite interesting in away that it smells like soya sauce on a pickled baby onion sometimes, teriyaki sauce on other times, and as the top note it smells like balsamic vinegar. but mostly like banahana’s chicken teppanyaki 🙂
tsvn – :
Small pickled onions, yummy yumm))))
dan1704 – :
This is a bit of a strange creature. On me, this smells of baked apples, and something watery and syrupy (like canned fruit cocktail) and the lit end/ashes from a cigarette (burnt and dry). The ashiness is pretty prominent and is quite strong, but after 30 minutes it dials back a bit. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still the main thing that I smell…but at least it doesn’t smell quite so much like I’ve been rolling in an ash tray or covered in paper that’s on fire. In the back of it I can smell this metallic fruit cocktail (complete with juiciness of the syrup) and a hint of baked apples. It’s also starting to develop a soft “boozy” quality, I think maybe brandy? All in all, I like this weird little scent adventure! It’s not very high on my purchase list, but it’s something that I will enjoy the sample while I have it.
romzaz777 – :
Looks like pickle jar))) OMG
vitslob70 – :
GINGERBREAD
with a hint of smoke. Almost gourmand.
At moments I think it’s a tad too sweet. (almost molasses or maple syrup)
Other moments I get the barn/hay note.
But once I identified ‘Gingerbread’, it was challenging for me to get past that.
I could see someone loving this, esp. if one finds JAKE too smokey.
sasha2180 – :
This is some THICK JUICE. I painted the brown liquid on and still can’t get it off without turpentine! This viscous liquid smellis of warm wine and heavy fermentation…as if you left wine out in the sun a long time. Killer longevity.
Sceseeslada – :
69) do you want to try an honey of hay? it was not my intention too but now I know that it’s quiet close of the smell of a burning plastic bag.
Ouch, it’s not pleasant at all…sometimes I like to think I’m a Perfumistarior!
yrw210elipseskism – :
Childhood memories: Sunny Carolina afternoon, the storage room of the stable – rough hewn walls, hay, a bin of sweet oats, linaments on a shelf, saddles and tack.
This scent conjures those memories for me so intensely and like no other fragrance I’ve ever experienced. I was close to not ordering a sample of this because generally green scents aren’t a favorite, but I feel a full bottle coming on soon!
Edit – as much as I love the drydown of this, it too faint for me to justify spending the money. It becomes a very close skin scent all too quickly – a shame.
ksa8010 – :
In a word? Outstanding.
Sova is something else. Think of hay stacked in an old luxurious barn (if there ever was such a thing). Add in a pack of freshly opened cigarettes, the medicinal quality of Burt’s Bees beeswax chapstick, a touch of smoky incense, and the nose of a high-quality bourbon. Wearing this is an experience.
The quality of Slumberhouse is immediately apparent. Be warned that this juice is concentrated and thus quite powerful; one spray is more than enough. You will be noticed while wearing this with just a single spray. The scent profile mellows out a bit over the first hour while it mixes with skin chemistry, but the power and longevity behind this frag stays.
Luce – :
It was a little gloomy out today, so I put some of this on before work. Two students and a colleague asked me if I’d been drinking.
A delicious, boozy straw scent with Slumberhouse’s signature ashy smoke in the background. Jaw-dropping.
garik64993 – :
I’m sampling this today for the first time, and straight off the bat I get a strong burnt sugar caramel note, combined with tobacco, woods and smoke. First impression though is definitely the smell of burnt toffee. Almost gourmand, but there is enough smokiness in there to pull it back from being sweet. I really like it and I think it would make a unique and interesting winter fragrance.
ziyuri – :
Sova has tobacco, smoky sense to it. It has an underlying coat of quite subtle sweetness. Top notes like alcohol infused Greek grape vine leaves, slightly balsamic in a resinous way.
Hops and cloves come through the haze of smoke.
Unique.
Sova is Kathleen Battle singing Mythodea – Movement IX
[Update]
Smoother and less so smoke than Jeke
More smoky than Baque (RIP: wish you were here and still made)
Longevity around 8 hours compared to Jeke at about 18 hours
4.5 / 5
Try layering Sova with Vict. Delicious.
appatuewinelp – :
Okay, so this is very complicated stuff. Off the bat I get a lot of dry tobacco, which then becomes rounded out by hops and a little bit of sweetness thanks to the beeswax. It then becomes a woody-sweet scent, almost maple like, but NOT maple syrup. This is the way it stays for a while, supported by vanilla (but more vanilla bean than traditional vanilla, very interesting). There is definitely the roasty-toasty goodness of tonka bean, but it is an enigma of a fragrance.
Every time I wear it I discover something new. This is a fragrance masterpiece by the nicest businessperson I’ve met in my life, Josh Lobb.
100/100. Just stunning.
Oh, and this lasts 19+ hours with one small spray from a sample. I now own the bottle and presume it will easily last 24+ with one spray.