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. )

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. )

Wiggle -- Speakeasy Vanilla -- This fragrance opens up with a bright, intoxicating bourbon vanilla scent then mellows into a softer, creamy vanilla. To balance the sweetness, Wiggle added sultry amber and smokey frankincense. On the very bottom is a delicately floral white musk, and if you're very sharp you may catch the tiny hint of bay rum lurking in the mix.

Mostly what I get is a nice soft vanilla that doesn't turn into rubber on me the way some vanillas do. There's a hint of amber, just a touch and not enough to go powdery, and a little touch of the frankincense. I don't get musk or bay rum at all. It's a nice perfume, not particularly complex, and not at all foody. I like it quite a bit and at $7.99 for a 5ml roller-ball bottle, it's a steal. It's available at both Scent Addict and The Soap Box Company, but it's popular and tends to sell out quickly.

I've also got a bar of their soap in the same scent. It's a goatsmilk/shea butter/glycerin mix that's really smooth and rich--seriously, if I still shaved my legs, I'd use this. The scent is mostly vanilla with a little amber and it's not real strong; it doesn't linger much afterwards. It's available from The Soap Box Company.

Nocturne Alchemy's Eternal Cairo -- Egyptian Amber, Egyptian Red Amber, White Amber and Egyptian Musk.

Kind of a light, musky amber that really doesn't grab me as much as I expected. It's a lighter version of Eternal Egypt and makes me think that the slightly aquatic note I smelled in Eternal Egypt was the Egyptian musk.

Eternal Cairo is one of the NA's Eternals and is a General Catalog scent available here.

Blooddrop's Purr (Summer '08 LE)-- Sandalwood, cognac, black currant and fig.

Most of what I get at first is a sort of dark, fruity scent; the black current and fig combo is a good one. I also smell something that's oddly like brown sugar, which is unexpected but kind of nice. I don't get any of the cognac scent, but after about five minutes, I am getting a nice undernote of sandalwood. It eventually settles into a lovely, darkly sweet (but not overly sweet) scent. I really like it, but while this was a Summer LE, it's almost too rich for a warm day; I'll be more likly to wear it in the evening or in Fall/Winter.

There are three bottles left at the Blooddrop Etsy Store.

I'm posting these reviews because Astrid of Blooddrop has ten bottles of "Madame Claire de Lune Cidre Doux au Poire" up at her Etsy shop as well as 4 bottles of "The (un)Poisoned Tea Cup." Get them if you can, both scents are awesome.

( on to the reviews )

The last of my Haunt reviews.

Gloaming -- the time of day when the quickly darkening landscape meets with a glowing, ember sky. vanilla, dark patchouli, amber, mandarin orange and red clove.

It smells very candy-like as it goes on; it's all orange and vanilla with a faint hint of amber. I don't get any clove at all and only a very very faint earthy note that is the patchouli. After a little while, maybe five minutes, I get a slight spicy note that's the clove finally showing up and the orange is fading a little so it's not quite so much like candy. Then the patchouli amps up a little, although it's not a dirty hippie patchouli at all, and it all evens out some. This is the most complex of the Haunt scents I've tried and I'm kind of regretting that I didn't order a bottle of it, because I really like where it finally goes. Not all scent names end up working for me, but Gloaming does make me think of sunset and the slow onset of twilight.

Batik -- smoky beeswax & resin darkened honey.

This is an oddly perfumey honey; there's a hint of a floral/soapy scent in with the waxy smell of the beeswax. It's almost like I rubbed a honey scented candle on my arm. I'm not 100% thrilled with it; I think I like Possets' honey scent better. I keep sniffing at my arm trying to decide if I like it or not, which usually isn't that good a sign. About maybe 20 minutes it and it's a little smokier and I'm liking it a little more. I still kind of wish I'd bought a bottle of Gloaming instead of the bottle of Batik, though.

Again, Scent Addicts is the place to go for these.

I'd never heard of Haunt until I ran across a decant circle over on LJ's Evil enablers. Several of the scents caught my eye but the one I really wanted was filled already. Fortunately (or not if I'm looking at the budget side of things) the person running the circle was able to send me just enough of a sample for me to utterly fall in love.

Roma -- Descendants of a thousand year old warrior class from India, the Roma are the nomadic people known as “gypsies” in popular culture. Cardamom, Cardamom Absolute, Blood Orange and Mandarin

This is a very simple, very lovely scent. The blood orange and the mandarin are nice and crisp and the cardamom adds a lovely, warm, spicy note. There's no real morph, what I smell when I put it on is what I get when I sniff it a half hour later. It's got surprising staying power for a) an oil and b) citrus, which usually fades pretty fast on me. It's serious love here; while I wouldn't class this as "foody" I still want to either chew on my own arm or find blood orange/cardamom candies somewhere.

The owner of Haunt is taking her Etsy shop down (except for the occasional seasonal LEs) as of June 11 and she doesn't have any Roma products listed except in skin gloss. However, you can get a 5ml bottle of the perfume oil for $11 at Scent Addict