From bottle: smells like Blanket Fort!
On skin: wood! Cedar? Teak? This is very similar to Blanket Fort, but at first I didn’t smell the fig, and the dry wood is more prominent. The fig here is lighter, more of a fig in spring, light green, whereas in Blanket Fort it’s a winter fig, grey and dusky purple. As it dries down all the notes blend smoothly, the sandalwood is more obvious. Fig + lime + sandalwood + teak is very much the vibe. If you like Blanket Fort you’ll like this - I prefer Blanket Fort for it’s darker cozy vibe.

Out of the bottle, this smells like wood polish and dust and I absolutely love it. I love a good haunted house scent, and Secret Staircase has definite Haunted Mansion vibes. There’s a chilling dampness coming through alongside the woodiness that makes you question whether you found this hidden staircase by accident or by design. Once the dry vanilla and the lime creep in, I feel like I’m in a dream. The suede appears shortly after it dries down, but it’s very mild to my nose. It’s the sandalwood and the weathered teak that are much more pronounced. My only wish is that this beauty lasted longer on my skin. The richness of the opening fades all too soon, leaving a barely there scent after less than a half hour.

Secret Staircase is a treasure now that it's rested. I put it on and I smelled like a haunted house but in a good way. Even my husband who is very picky asked me, What are you wearing? I told him it was a seasonal and he said they should make it permanent.The patchouli is not skanky and barely there. The suede is subtle, as is the lime, just giving a light lift to everything else. It's a really nice sandalwood, a gorgeous not-sweet vanilla like book pages, and the sharp oudh is present at the beginning but fades. So, the dry down smells like a sweet-smelling wooden table with a leather jacket and an old book resting on it. Happy ghosts in a haunted house.

I smell patchouli and slight ood when wet. Dry the complexity comes out. The patchouli leans back and out comes the ood which is nice and dark but not making my nose wrinkle. The sandalwood and teak are the next to rise and at the end the barest hint of fig darkened lime. It's dark and foreboding with a breath of hidden sweetness

My first thought was "coconut?" Not as in sunscreen, more of a coconut husk. It's that dry vanilla plus oudh and sandalwood. This has some nice base notes while not being too heavy or dark. The fig and lime seem to add a refreshing tinge, but I can't pick them out individually.