scent_junkies

I don't think I've reviewed any ZOMG Smells here yet. They're a fun little company--I think there's just the two of them--with a habit of coming up with silly, non-pretentious names for their blends. Their copy is pretty much the polar opposite of BPAL's and is a lot of fun to read. Their prices are right too--$12 for 5ml of the general catalog scents.

Anyway, I have quite the backlog of general catalog scents built up, so these are all things you can get at any time from them.

( Four From ZOMG Smells )

Okay, how could I not order from a seller called The Morbid the Merrier?

Her samples are fairly inexpensive, as are her perfumes themselves, so I grabbed a handful and she even tossed in a freebie. That's actually fairly common, even if you're just buying samples; I got two free sample vials with my NA order too. Her packaging is very pretty--my samples were wrapped in gold tissue tied off with purple ribbons--and her turnaround is excellent.

Sadly, I'm not liking much of the product.

( I'm even wordy when I don't like the product. )

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is donating all the proceeds from January sales of the following scents:

Port Au Prince (in the "Wanderlust" section) -- "Dark, decadent and incomparably exotic: the rich scent of buttered rum flavored with almond, bay, clove and sassafras." I've tried this; on me it's mostly almond with a spike of clove under it. The bay and rum push it into the traditionally "masculine" category, but it's something I'll wear.

The following are from the "Exocolo" section

Elegba -- "His ofrenda contains coconut, tobacco and sweet, sugared rum."
Obatala -- "Obatala’s ofrenda is soft, white and pure: milk, coconut meat, shea butter and cool, refreshing water."
Ochosi -- "His ofrenda is the soft shea he shares with Obatala, forest herbs, and sprucewood arrow shafts."
Ogun -- Ogun’s ofrenda is heavy and dark cigar tobacco, gin and juniper, melon, chili pepper and a touch of honey."
Olokun -- "His ofrenda is the scent of the lightless deep: the glorious, unknowable gloom of the ocean floor."
Osun -- "Her ofrenda is thick with honey and herbs of love, passion and desire."
Oya -- "Oya’s ofrenda is a Nigerian potion of love and war, sweetened by darkest plum." This smells utterly awesome on Nancy. :)
Shango -- "The Master of Lightning’s ofrenda contains red apples, banana, chili pepper, coconut, pineapple, pomegranate and sugar cane."
Yemaya -- "Her ofrenda is a bounty of melons and grapes, strewn with the petals of the flowers of motherhood, draped with sea mosses."

ETA:As of 9/6/09 I've moved everything over to my LJ and evil_enablers.

I'm pretty new to this, so for now, I'm only shipping within the US. Shipping is $2.50 for first class. All bottles have been cleanly tested once and so are roughly as full as they were when I got them.

( Attar Bazaar, BPAL, Cobalt Blends, Haunt, Nocturne Alchemy, Possets, Soap Box Co, Vintage Violette Market )

I'm going to leave this up here at DW for a week and then move it over to evil_enablers on LJ.

Speaking of honey....

Nocturne: Sapphire Honey -- We have blended the Amber-Musk of Sapphire with the Honey and Honeycomb of a sweet buzzing bees hive collected from Egyptian Flowers. Honey notes are tricky on me, there's an undernote that all too often smells a little musty on my skin. Sadly, Sapphire Honey does that. It's not awful, just not very good. I can get a hint of the amber-musk and it's a fairly intriguing scent, but the honey note is too harsh.

Nocturne: Kashmir Honey -- The Duality of Gothic Red Musk and the bliss of honeycomb and sweet honey. Anyone who's been reading my reviews for any length of time knows that I love me some Middle Eastern scents.Something about the red musk in this is spot on perfect; it takes me right back to Iran in a good way. In fact it smells so Persian to me that it was actually kind of distracting when we were at dinner tonight because it just did not go with the burger I was having. :) The honey is probably the exact same honey note as in the Sapphire Honey, but here, the faint hint of mustiness blends with the musk in a way that actually smells a little like old paper. Which, yeah, it sounds kind of unattractive but actually is fantastic.

It looks like Serpentine Hair has gone the way of so many etailers--while their site is still up and you can still order, they no longer seem to be actually producing a product. My irritation with that situation is the subject of a rant that I'd rather not do at this point, so, mooooving right along....

I tried the Bert's Bees Rosemary and Mint shampoo bar, but while I really liked the minty scent, it left my hair really really dry. One of the things I liked about Serpentine was not having to use conditioner. Not only did that mean fewer chemicals in my hair, but it also meant less time in the shower, which is a good thing when you live in a state that's in the middle of a serious drought.

I thought about trying Lush, but their shampoo bars seem to have SLS in them and, yeah, not so much. However, darkrose/darkrosetiger uses several Oyin Handmade products and while I was kind of worried that their stuff might leave my hair too oily, I keep forgetting that, like my skin, my hair has dried out a fair amount as I've gotten older. So I tried a little hair care product cultural appropriation and it worked out well for me. Um, seeing as the Oyin people say that their products are for anyone who wants to use them, that's a joke, okay?

( Oyin's Poo Bar, Shine and Define and Greg Juice. )

The Soap Box Company is having a 20% off sale this weekend--through Sunday, July 19. Just use the code enjoysummer.

I was involved in a Conjure Oils group order and so here are my impressions of four from the Apothecary line.

( Chai Spice Tea, Iranian Pomegranate, Dragon's Blood & Golden Amber )