Dusting off my little blog again!
I've been really into small independent makeup and perfume companies lately! I love supporting small businesses and indie shops normally use milder and fewer ingredients in their products, which for me is another plus.
Unfortunately because most of these shops are internet-based, there's a lot of trial and error that goes into finding the right products.
One very well known indie perfume company is
Haus of Gloi. I ordered a couple of sample perfume oils as well as a full size of their body emulsion. Onto the review!
Perfume Oils:
Litchi Milk Tea, "Tart lychee fruit and black tea met with a splash of coconut milk".
In the bottle: Purely lychee. Sweet, but not tart.
On skin: Still sweet but with flashes of tartness. Still smells like straight up lychee, I'm having a hard time smelling the black tea or the coconut milk, too bad because I love coconut!
Personal Opinions: I like that this is definitely a scent I haven't smelled before among mainstream perfumes, however I wouldn't repurchase. On my skin, this is just a lychee scent rather than a lychee milk tea scent. A bit too one-note and too sweet. Normally a crowd pleaser though, people love this scent and praise it to high heavens.
Imp, "Passionfruit, sun cured apricots, pink grapefruit juice and innocent mimosa blossoms".
In the bottle: Much more of a tart fruity scent than litchi. Very pungent, fruity, and sweet.
On skin: I'm smelling a lot of apricot here. Passion fruit is prominent as well but secondary to the apricot. Can't smell the grapefruit, which was what attracted me to Imp in the first place! Mimosa blossoms are very
very subtle. The more time it takes to sit the more it softens into something I like better, but it's still a very pungent scent and never loses it's energy.
Personal opinions: I like this one a little better than Litchi, especially after it tones down a bit after drying. But I still wouldn't repurchase this one. It's just too sweet for my liking. My boyfriend said it reminded him of a Febreeze scent and I'd have to agree- very fragrant, but not very sophisticated.
Who Needs Love, "chocolaty orbs, coated in crystallized coffee – filled with a pomegranate and raspberry filling." This scent was a freebie thrown in with the order!
In the bottle: Strongly chocolate, then turns to a fruitier note which must be the berries, but I'm not picking up too much of the coffee. Extremely sweet, nay,
cloyingly sweet.
On skin: Chocolate smells a bit more bitter, maybe that's the coffee's doing! After the chocolate starts to fade the scent becomes more and more soapy… like a fruit scented soap.
Personal opinions: As y'all can tell by now, I don't like sweet scents so I never ever buy dessert scented things. This is a scent that never would have caught my eye had it not been a freebie. My classmate described it as a scent that might be fun for a short while before you get sick of it. I think that's accurate.
Body Emulsion:
Aether, "absolute nothingness". AKA unscented!
Personal opinions: I totally love this body lotion! Moisturizes well and dries quick, maybe not thick enough for winter, but I live in a warm weather climate so it's perfect for me! And I love that HoG offers an unscented lotion option, I hate when my body products compete with the scents of my perfumes. I am most definitely planning on repurchasing once I run out.
Overall experience:
Although disappointed with the scents of the perfumes I ordered, that was just a matter of personal taste and not due to poor quality. The service provided by Haus of Gloi was great, and I love how they throw in an extra free sample with your orders! Would I shop here again? Yes, though more so for the body lotions/soaps/scrups rather than for the perfumes!
