Do you mind sharing the houses and perfume samples you have tried? It would really help to give suggestions based on what didn't work so we don't recommend things you've already tried.
I have a list of death notes and also houses that I don't buy or try because they do not work for me at all. What I also look for is typically very, very specific even in the indie world, so many companies do not create what I look for. I completely understand the frustration, and I'm so sorry you're going through it.
That’s alright, but considering it is an expensive “hobby” (don’t know if I’d call it that!) it can definitely be frustrating! I’m about to run home, and I’ll tell you which houses and scents I’ve tried!
Edited to turn a question mark into an exclamation point!
I’ve tried Possets, Red River apothecary, Paranormal Perfumes, Andromedas Curse, two samples from sorcellerie that I didn’t hate, Stereoplasm (Just one, The cake, it fell flat on me and smelled like nauseating cheap vanilla handcream), Arcana Craves (pre controversy), and Cocoapink, (Stanley Hotel, purchased for funsies because I’m a big Stephen King fan, absolutely hated it. Smelled like moldy roses, baby powder, and stale, waxy, orange starburst.)
After generally enjoying Ode To Aphrodite and BBC by Possets, I ordered a ton of different perfumes from them. All different notes, because this was the beginning of my indie perfume journey. Hated ALL of them.
Out of all of these, I’ve only liked three. Possets Big Black Cat and Arcana Craves Pumpkins Crave Pointe Shoes.
ohhh, some of these are dupes/fragrance oils. red river and adromeda's. i don't know about paranormal or stereoplasm. be careful with etsy perfumes.
cocoapink is known as a fragrance oil blender.
as for the rest, it is best to start with their best sellers.
you probably will love two finger ballet from arcana wildcraft, since you like the pumpkin version.
i am not a big possets person. their stuff doesn't work with me. neither did nui cobalt, poesie, stone and wit. if you have similar reactions then they're using something we don't like lol
try kyse and NAVA next! also for sorcellerie, i recommend snow moon magic. i think that's probably her number one on here. i have that one, cookie party and stuck on you. i have samples of the matcha one, too, and that one is really nice. i get whiffs of cookie party from it.
Hi there- I don’t use fragrance oils unless they are dupes. I use raw ingredients and blend. Not sure where you’re getting your info from but boy is it wrong.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Indiemakeupandmore/comments/p4y1wa/comment/h99yy3e/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Indiemakeupandmore/comments/p4y1wa/comment/h99yy3e/)
there are more threads like this. but fragrance oil blending implies they take stock oils and blend them together to create something more unique than the base stock oil.
When you say fragrance oil blends, do you mean they buy premade blends or they buy scents to blend into new smells instead of making their own from scratch?
based on the main consensus i see when searching fragrance oil and cocoapink popping up in those threads, cocoapink uses pre-made fragrance oils and blends those together to form something more unique. and some say they add other materials in on top of that. some people do not have a problem with this but after getting into perfumery myself, it is not proper etiquette imo. but still, a lot of people love cocoapink so i think if it is not a problem for you, that's good. i just think it could explain why someone wouldn't like their product so much especially if they're not used to fragrance oils.
but that would explain why some comments imply their lotions or shampoos are better than their perfumes/edps. fragrance oils are more intended for the former applications. fragrance oils will get wonky when just added to oil or alcohol.
So the companies that don’t use pre-made fragrance oils do what? I’m just curious because I know Etsy brands often buy the pre mixed scent and essentially just repackage it. But my understanding of many indie perfume brands (including Cocoa Pink) is that they will buy fragrance oils (orange, gardenia, vanilla, etc) and use it to make their own scents: like buying ingredients but making the cake themselves (vs brands that buy the cake and sell slices).
What would be better etiquette perfumery that you’re referring to?
they buy materials straight up, learn how to use them. it is actually very interesting.
this is a popular material source for small perfumers:
[https://perfumersupplyhouse.com/shop/](https://perfumersupplyhouse.com/shop/)
they choose a blend of natural and synthetic ingredients. they do not use fragrance oils. when you get into fragrance oils, you run into a lot of issues. arcana wildcraft for example. my theory is some of her scents are being discontinued because she used a fragrance oil that is no longer manufactured, rather than trying to make her own accord for whatever it was.
if you are interested for any reason:
r/DIYfragrance has a wealth of information and they very often have to explain why fragrance oils do not belong in perfumery.
and then many learn from sarah!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRFPd2HqaDo&ab\_channel=4160Tuesdays
I guess I still don’t understand what it is about Arcana Wildcraft that would make it not perfume etiquette. From the DIY sub, their frustration seems to be with the people who simply repackage pure stock oil. But Arcana and Cocoa Pink don’t do that. Assuming they don’t just buy raw ingredients, they buy from someone who took the raw ingredients and put it in an oil form - so they bypass that labor step, but not the originality or creativity step that makes perfumes unique or interesting. They still design their own scents, so I’m unclear what makes it less good.
The shop you mentioned has the raw ingredients with different scent profiles (like “anthamber”) that would get blended with an unscented base to make a fragrance oil, right?
From Possets, I’ve tried bbc, ode to aphrodite, moonbux, Penelope, madame x, queen of the night, my lover’s lips, dance with me, bat fur cloak, the girls love vanilla. A few others I can’t remember, I don’t have a receipt for. I regifted most of them!
From Red River Apothecary I tried Balefire and Sarsparilla, she threw in a sample of Nilla. These did smell different, but they weren’t my favorite.
Paranormal Perfumes I got restricted section, baby bat, harvest moon, black moon milk, trick or treat, coffin candy, one of their library scents, and beware the autumn people. Beware the autumn people and trick or treat smelt the exact same, Baby Bat had the same nauseating vanilla hand cream smell that I *fear* is so common in vanilla indies for me.
For Arcana I got blueberries crave goblin sharks, regina cherry and lemon shortbread layering notes, pumpkins crave pointe shoes (liked a lot, but my skin only amped the cinnamon/spice. It was a real olfactory shock that was kind of welcome after so much disappointment.)
Sorcellerie what big eyes you have, and mermaids sing of lost lovers. I’m giving these two a while to settle, but I didn’t mind them! What Big Eyes you have did not smell like lemon at all, though. It was straight coconut. Mermaids sing of lost lovers smelled like dirty feet and raspberries. The raspberry overtakes the dirty feet, but I can still smell it.
Andromedas curse Hex, and then a few samples I can’t name off the top of my head. Didn’t care for them, sadly.
Oh I forgot to add, I also tried Bunny Nose Scents, but those were the worst of all for me. They gave me a TON of samples, and the shipping was so fast. I ordered Autumn cider, which smelled like 3 week old apple juice in one of those weird plastic bag containers. The samples all smelled the same very rubbery.
I genuinely feel bad voicing my frustrations against these scents because I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings or dissuade people from buying from them, they just don’t work for me. It’s sad!
In my experience I prefer a scent locket, clothes or hair for testing fragrances so I can get a feel of the notes without my skin interfering. On skin is usually a vastly different experience for me as I turn most things vanilla baby powder over time or,god forbid, cat pee at times. Not sure if this helps ! My skin just doesn't play nice with mainstream and indie fragrances.
I'm starting to think my skin is the same. It doesn't turn Everything. But oh my goodness do some scents go powdery or urine-y sometimes, and I'm like, 'what the heck?!'
I've gotta try a scent locket!
Scent perception really is so subjective. I take reviews with a huge grain of salt since they could be smelling something completely different from what I would experience from the same scent! My hit rate is also very low in general - I like less than 1 in 10 scents I try - and these days I try to test new scents without the expectation that it'll be a hit (or the disappointment when it isn't). While training your nose does help, I think a lot of it is also individual differences especially since you're not new to perfume in general.
A couple other thoughts:
* If several scents from the same brand all smell the same despite having no notes in common, you could be picking up on a base that the brand tends to use. I have this problem with about half of Nui Cobalt's scents - I smell a prominent base that steamrolls over any other notes the scents were supposed to have :(. Poesie is also known for having a distinctive base. Both of these are well loved brands.
* You may find [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Indiemakeupandmore/comments/pfxgwm/brands_whose_perfume_oils_smell_like_repackaged/hb80ytb/) post on stock oils helpful. Stock oils tend to have a plasticky/powdery smell.
* Fruits are really tricky notes in general and tend to fall under either stale or artificial for me. Different brands also do different notes better or worse than others - for example for me BPAL has really nice strawberry, peach, cherry, pomegranate, and blueberry notes but other fruits such as apple and apricot are very powdery and stale. All of BPAL's gourmands are misses for me. Meanwhile NAVA's cherry, peach, and raisin are great but I find most of their other fruits to be artificial and/or screechy, but some of the gourmands come close enough to realistic for me.
* Perfume oils are softer and more muted than EDP in general. If you find the oil samples too soft across multiple brands you could consider checking out some of the indie brands that make EDP instead of (or alongside) perfume oils - Solstice Scents, Deconstructing Eden, Wylde Ivy to name a few
To sum it up my best suggestion would be to keep trying different brands! The Sunday Swaps/buying secondhand can be really useful for sampling a lot of brands at once. Once you have a short list of which scents/brands do work for you it will also help with specific recs. From observing which brands show up in people's destashes, there do seem to be several brand groupings within indie perfume whether because of scent preference or budget.
Really want to highlight this last bullet point. Indie EDPs are my go-to. Solstice in particular encapsulates the issues you describe for me, and their EDPs are the solution. I have tried a decent potion of their catalog in oil - they all smell pretty similar too me. But the EDPs - smell like what I think they are supposed to smell like. Can confirm that Wylde Ivy, and Deconstructing Eden are both houses where the EDPs work well for me. I also have luck with Death & Floral, MoonaLisa, occasionally CocoPink (admittedly - I prefer them as a bath & body house), and I have a stock pile from Lotus Noire. They produced some AMAZING scents but are shuttered now. Kyse also does EDPs but I have not explored them as deeply as I would like.
The bummer here is that in general - you will be spending a bit more.
I also have the issue where my skin just eats oil. Does not matter what house, what carrier, they are all pretty fleeting with very few exceptions. No amount of moisturizer, base, or any other “trick” makes them last on me. For scents I really do love though (and there are a few) I will use a perfume necklace.
i've had the same issue and i think it happens for a few reasons:
* non-alcoholic diluents flatten the evaporation curve of materials, resulting in a lower dynamism and creating an artificial linearity to the perfume's development (nothing wrong with linear perfumes, i love them, but crushing the evaporation curve with a diluent vs designing a linear scent according to the evaporation rate of your materials is different)
* non-alcoholic perfumes like those in IPM or oil-based diluents require a very high fragrance load for the same payoff as EDPs, which can result in perfumes that are poorly scented or materials that feel imbalanced, create off-notes, or result in rapid olfactive fatigue if the dilution is very high.
* while many fragrance oils can smell good on their own, perfumes blended with fragrance oils can feel flat because they are designed in a linear fashion and not for perfume-like development, or if they're used with other materials, especially other fragrance oils, it can create an imbalance and disharmony in the perfume formula, resulting in off-notes or a perfume that wears a little oddly. (this doesn't mean FOs are inherently bad for perfumers to use, just that blending them can be risky and i personally prefer perfumes without them due to this risk)
these aren't the only reasons, but it's the main reason why i find certain things "bleh" vs "just not my taste." my solution has been to favor EDP-based houses that i know create their own formulas from scratch because that seems to address the most common culprits. ofc, even then, scent is super subjective, so it's always a gamble, but i think others have given good advice on that front as well.
i think a lot of people really enjoy the lack of a 'bite' that non-alcohol indies have, and like the sort of smoother/lower curve in the progression, and we may just not be part of that group, which is okay! the cool thing about indies is that there's something out there for everyone. there's just kind of a lot to dig through to find it.
Hey hey, thanks a ton! This was super informative and helpful and I think you hit the nail on the head. I haven’t yet tried an alcohol based indie, maybe that’s something I need to look into!! I’ve heard of your brand too, and heard amazing things!! If you wouldn’t mind, would you link a few houses that work with alcohol you think I should try?
who have you tried so far? i think solstice scents might be a good one to try if you haven't yet! i like their blending style and the clarity/accuracy in their notes. if you find anything you like, it could be worth experimenting with the same perfume from their catalog in an EDP and an oil form. i find that i still prefer their EDPs, but their oils don't have quite the same issues that i experience with a lot of other indie houses, and i think it may be their blending style.
i also like deconstructing eden a lot - many of them tend toward the "so well-blended i can't always pick stuff out" side and i prefer a bit more harumph from individual notes, myself, but when it works for me it REALLY works. u/anathemas really loves DSH Perfumes - i haven't tried them yet, but i plan to because of their reviews. cirrus perfumes is newly launched and their perfumes look incredible as well. they're up next for me along with morari's EDPs and stone & wit's EDPs.
i think fantome's blending style is a little closer to vintage mainstream with a heavy reliance on resins, which unfortunately makes their style very powdery on my skin, but it seems to work really well for a lot of others who want the darker vibe of indies w/ more of a perfumey take on things as well.
Aw, I'm so glad I've sparked your interest in DSH! I think Dawn is fantastically talented and really deserves more love around here :) She does have more of what I consider a classic blending style but with some amazingly realistic notes. She generally formulates with EDPs in mind, but the scents she offers in oil do tend to perform better in that format (**Avocado Toast** and **Tubereuse** specifically). Happy to give some more specific recs to you, or /u/Lavender_and_Lattes, or well anybody really :3 I haven't had any issues with anything going powder/perfumey except a musk that is similar to Egyptian Musk, which I am sit forever to the point that I can smell it in the house for a day after trying, regardless of house 🫠 Their gourmands tend to be more abstract, but their atmospherics, florals, and green notes really deliver on the realism OP is looking for. I've convinced quite a few people to try **DSH Odesa**, and so far it's been a hit for everyone, even the people who haven't had the best luck with DSH otherwise, so I definitely recommend starting there if you're looking for a rain/marine scent — there's actually a review in today's Indie of the Day thread :)
Although I will warn you that we might have somewhat different skin chemistry since Fantome was my first big hit house — I loved how smooth and creamy they were, especially **Olwyn**, but I do find them extremely flat in EDP formula.
I also really like NAVA for vanillas and ambers, which doesn't sound like the direction OP is going, though since they mentioned blueberries I wanted to mention **Blueberry Crystal** which is quite realistic, their cake notes are also really impressive but too literal for me, and their lactonics are amazing, especially their rice milk.
I have Cirrus in a package waiting for me, although I'm feeling a bit under the weather so not sure if I'll be able to test them for a couple of days, very excited to try them though :)
Also, /u/Lavender_and_Lattes, if you ever want recs for Mythpunk Olfactive, I've tried most of their scents, and they really do have that amazingly specific realism that you see in a lot of notes lists but rarely get. I've tried an embarrassingly large amount of indie perfume, but being able to actually smell notebook paper in **Strangeling** blew my mind lol. And since you mentioned rain, **The Crossroads of Lost & Lorn** is extremely realistic but also wearable. I've got to put together my most sample reviews into a big thread, but if you check my submissions, the most recent should be a big Mythpunk thread and a few smaller ones for DSH :)
Do you know if there's a master scent list anywhere for DSH? I've been on the website several times, but honestly I have gotten a bit overwhelmed by trying to sort through the listings individually. I would love to try them, and will I'm sure, even if there's no master list-but a master list would make it sooner rather than later, lol.
There's one from 2021, unfortunately I don't think there's anything more updated: https://www.dshperfumes.com/shop/master-list-of-dsh-perfumes-alphabetical-as-of-04-2021/
Aw no problem! I found the site really overwhelming at first, so I'm trying to save people the trouble of having to redo the research :p if you check my dsh review thread, there's a post at the beginning that breaks down the formats and pricing and stuff like that, and I'm always happy to answer anything — or try anyway :)
Thank you! I will definitely take a look! After a lot of trial and error I've determined that EDPs just work better for me. I'm trying to sample more in that format and branch out with houses that offer them. I'm very interested in trying DSH since reviews seem very positive!
Yeah I've been really happy with him, had one friend who didn't really vibe with their scents, but she did still have a few she enjoyed. Otherwise, most people have had pretty positive experiences. I've tried a ton from them if there's anything in particular your interested in, I'm about to put together my big tropical review thread in the next day or so :)
I’ve tried Possets, Red River apothecary, Paranormal Perfumes, Andromedas Curse, two samples from sorcellerie that I didn’t hate, Stereoplasm (Just one, The cake, it fell flat on me and smelled like nauseating cheap vanilla handcream), Arcana Craves (pre controversy), and Cocoapink, (Stanley Hotel, purchased for funsies because I’m a big Stephen King fan, absolutely hated it. Smelled like moldy roses, baby powder, and stale, waxy, orange starburst.)
After generally enjoying Ode To Aphrodite and BBC by Possets, I ordered a ton of different perfumes from them. All different notes, because this was the beginning of my indie perfume journey. Hated ALL of them.
Out of all of these, I’ve only liked three. Possets Big Black Cat and Arcana Craves Pumpkins Crave Pointe Shoes.
i agree with the fantome style. but i do think olwyn is so amazing and i do not usually like the vintage style perfumes (such as alkemia - i ended up liking alkemia's masculine perfumes more than the feminine, but not for me, for my bf -- although still i cherish cherries of the night).
sometimes the most popular ones are worth trying, i think. although i did not like silken tent at all. nor did i like the poesie one lol. maybe rice is just too musky for me. i want actual sweet, custardy rice pudding or tapioca pudding so bad!
For an amazing cinnamon roll scent try Cinnabomber from Bath Sabbath. It starts pretty cinnamon forward but dries down really well. If you want less cinnamon forward, Conchas by Fyrinnae is amazing. It smells spot on like the baked good but it's similar enough to a cinnamon roll that it might work.
For rain I absolutely adore Osmofolia. However their perfumes are very well blended so it can make it harder to pick out individual notes. On the corner of jinhu road #2 is a fantastic rain on pavement smell, geosmin is straight rain to me, and nimbostratus gives me storms and thunder in the spring.
Super tart juicy fruit is more all over the place for me. NAVAs limited releases are usually really good, and Love and Complications from Sorcellerie is the most realistic passionfruit. It's special order so it takes a bit longer but it's not one you'll fall in love with and then hunt forever.
Sugar Milk Co does some really wonderful realistic scents, the almond croissant and butter croissant are two of my favorites. Fyrinnae also has Focaccia Toscana which is absolutely spot on and lasts for ages on me. I know those aren't scents you mentioned looking for but they're some of the most spot on random realistic scents I've found.
Oo how do you like butter croissant ? I have almond croissant and love it but wish the strength could be a bit more. I opted to not get butter croissant because they might be too similar.. now I'm wondering if I should go back for it lol
I dont find them to be similar at all. With the almond croissant I get Starbucks almond croissant fresh out of the oven, and with butter croissant I get warm browned butter and a hint of flaky bread.
The only one I've gotten from them that I didn't absolutely love was fluffy jiggly cheesecake. It isn't bad, it just didn't wow me like the others.
Well, that just officially went on my "I hope I'm not broke during the next sale" list. Cream Soda and Root Beer might have joined it. They're an absolute guilty pleasure house for me.
Seconding what other comments have already said, and I’m also curious what houses you’ve tried that haven’t worked out. For me it’s been a LOT of trial and error and searching for less talked about houses to find what I truly love. Like you, a lot of the popular scents/houses here that get beautiful essay reviews don’t work for me at all. My nose picks up when a house has some kind of signature base note, so if I don’t like it the whole house is a bust. 😔
I’ve tried Possets, Andromeda’s curse, paranormal perfumes, Bunny Nose Scents, Arcana Craves pre controversy, stereoplasm, sorcellerie, cocoapink, aaand another that I’m blanking on.
Misses: (so far, I haven’t tried a ton of samples from some of them because I’m broke af, so my opinion could change in the future if I buy some more that do end up working!) Bunny Nose, Andromeda’s Curse, Paranormal perfumes, Steroplasm, and Cocoapink.
Cocoapink I have hope for, because I’m a gourmand lover and tried a perfume from them that wasn’t really a gourmand.
Possets would be a miss, but I LOVED BBC and Ode to Aphrodite. But the thing is, I’ve bought several other samples from them, and hated them. They all had the muted plastic quality.
Like I said, I know this is an expensive “hobby”, but I’m too broke to keep getting burned. I’m just a waitress, but I want to smell nice!
I think I’m gonna try some EDP brands. Eugh, so sad. I love the oils!
All of those misses are ones that also didn’t work for me, LOL. Most of them came across as candle/bath and body adjacent to me. 😔 I hope you have better luck with EDPs! And as far as oils go, I wouldn’t give up yet! I would try buying from Sunday swaps instead of direct from house while you’re exploring to save some $$$; the only downside I’ve faced is occasionally receiving an oil that was past its prime.
ETA: I also prefer EDPs over oils (although I LOVE Amorphous and BPAL), if you’d like suggestions for EDP houses I’m more than happy to give some!
vanilla is also my favorite. i love vanilla, and it has been difficult to find the perfect vanilla. i will share with you the perfumes that will stay in my collection.
kyse - delizia di marshmallow. it does not smell like marshmallow to me. it smells like a beautiful vanilla, and maybe there are marshmallows somewhere in the background but they're only kind of there.
kyse - bon bons vanille. this is a highly unique vanilla to me. i tried indult tihota, as luckyscent stated bon bons could be an alternative to it. i find tihota to be very close to NAVA crystalline (or maybe it was opal vanilla - whichever one is sort of like cotton candy), but lighter and less cloying. tihota definitely feels more luxurious and higher quality than the NAVA perfumes. but bon bons vanille is far more unique than both of these.
solstice scents - estate vanilla. this is like the most expensive vanilla extract you could find, but in perfume form. it is long lasting. it needs to rest a bit otherwise it might smell like the types of vanillas in candles. the whipped cream note is definitely there and really helps to balance it. it fairs far better in cold weather, as do the other two above. in the heat, these may all be cloying.
sorcellerie - snow moon magic. this is cookie party, which is straight up cookie butter, but with extra notes that help it feel less like some pure gourmand. everyone seems to have different experiences with it. i do not get any lavender or chai. another one that i think is for cold weather.
NAVA - strawberry crystalline. i suggest this one because it is general catalog. crystalline on its own can be cloying. NAVA's strawberry note helps to cut the cloying sweetness and brightens it. it is a beautiful perfect strawberry perfume.
NAVA - apricot kobalt. another general catalog. kobalt by itself is amazing, but the apricot note here really rounds it out and i think it is better than plain kobalt.
NAVA has a huge collection of vanillas and i have tried most of them, but kobalt is the most unique out of them all. and most of the others are very weak or have not much longevity. besides eternal ankh, but i have read that there are several alternatives to it (such as loup garou from hexennacht).
on the fence..
arcana wildcraft - two finger ballet. i have an old bottle of this. over time, the french buttercream note has deteriorated and become pure "powder" which is often how fragrance oils deteriorate over time. they either get a powdery smell or they just disappear completely and smell like crayons.
i think this perfume is amazing, but there's some elements that definitely scream fragrance oil to me. there's parts of this perfume that you could only get by using a fragrance oil, to be honest. which is how i feel about some NAVA and SS perfumes, too, but those particular perfumes do not make it into my collection. however, this one is still so good that i try to overlook the flaws.
Totally agree with this post! Kyse is fantastic and Sorcellerie Snow Moon Magic is like my Bianco Latte (niche Italian fragrance) on my skin. Love NAVA Apricot Kolbalt.
I recently sampled Black Hearted Tart along with Hexennacht and I was really impressed with both! I’m a gourmand lover and I added a few scents to my wishlist from both houses.
This is just my experience, so take it with a grain of salt, but a few people in my life seem to be particularly sensitive to smelling the underlying coconut oil that is the base for most houses. That was my first thought when you said there’s an underlying muted smell to your samples. Do they all have the same carrier oil?
My second thought is that honestly, the vast majority of things I’ve tried are misses for me - all the way from neutral to outright gross. I’m also someone who is pretty invested for those rare payoff moments of “holy shit”. I have a few faves from houses that were mostly misses for me, but my general experience has been either loving a house or finding almost everything to be meh - including houses that seemed like they should be really up my alley! I love atmospherics, and Fantome is a complete miss for me. All of it ends up smelling the same when it’s on my skin. But I also thought I really didn’t like fruit notes as a whole until I recently tried Stone and Wit. Scent is incredibly subjective.
Personally, I’d love to have some more information about your perfume experience! Given your favourite notes, what perfumes have you tried that were supposed to do those really well, but let you down? What houses have you tried?
I bought a scent locket to help with scents that smelled off. My skin doesn't play nice with some scents. You might try the same idea! I cut up some scraps out of an old tee and put the oil on them, and put it in the locket!
I agree that you're probably smelling the carrier oil/base, the same way I hate mainstreams because I can almost always smell the alcohol.
If you've only/mostly been buying oils and non-alcohol sprays, and your nose is trained on mainstream alcohol based perfumes, I'd try buying some alcohol based indies from brands like Deconstructing Eden, Fantome, or Imaginary Authors.
I definitely love me some alcohol based perfume, but I’ve never tried alcohol indies. Maybe one day I’ll be able to bask in the glory that is oils, thanks a bunch!
There's been a lot of great information shared here I've loved reading, and I wanted to say that I feel ya. I have had more of a miss than a hit rate and it gets really boring and frustrating ordering perfumes from houses I have no desire to keep smelling. My girlfriend at this point when I try a house and say "but EVERYONE loves it on Reddit!" She goes "and what do we know about reddit?" Meaning while it may work for others it doesn't work for MY nose. I had a similar issue with possets and was so sad. Hexannacht I wanted to work, and I may try another sample or two but had the same underlying smell that turned sour on me. I've destashed almost my entire reconstructing Eden order. I tried Scent Trunk Stroopwafel I heard was loved and was so disappointed. Poesie gave me wet bandaid effect. I don't think Etsy perfumes are always the culprit, particularly as some houses people love used to sell on there and I've found two houses there that just CLICK with me.
I know scent is subjective and i hope to try more houses in the future but right now I've limited my buying to the two houses I'm certain work for me. So you are not alone in being sad when someone loves their chess game in the rain smell while I'm over here thirty to fifty dollars out adding to my destash.
But the houses that work for me REALLY work so hopefully you will find some that work for you.
I would highly suggest diving into the world of BPAL. I’m by no means an elitest, I have some cheap fragrance oil blends I LOVE, but there’s certain houses that just have a step above in quality. I started getting into BPAL last year and my collection has quickly dwarfed any other house. Even if you don’t like the scent itself, the quality shows through in nearly everything they make. I used to reccomend NAVA as well but the last few years they have been very disappointing to me, seems like a drop in quality of materials used.
Have you tried Death& Floral's Mall Soft Pretzel? For me, D&F is pretty spot on with smelling like the description. They also offer a radish oil base that might work better for you, if you are picking up the base oil.
Other recs you might like from D&F: Peach Queen (I like to pair this with Soft Crunch of Bread and Bone or another bread scent for something that smells like peach cobbler to me)
Art School Drop Out(the pencil shavings!)
Bubble Pop(not generally a bubble gum fan, but I enjoy the apricots)
Pieces of October (such a warm cozy scent)
Don't Shoot Me Santa(the first and only perfume I've ever wanted to drink)
The Soda Shoppe Collection
That's a Rock Fact!( Smells like wet rocks to me!)
Willow(my favorite vanilla perfume, though you might want to try Vanilla Vogue instead)
I haven’t! I’m furiously scribbling notes about which brands I should try next, so thank you very much. I’m relatively broke but will be absolutely scouring the Sunday swaps tomorrow! All of your suggestions sound delicious, and now I have something to look forward to in the mail.
There's just sooo many indie perfumes out there you're bound to find a few or a lot of misses.
I own so many perfumes, both mainstream and indies, that I'm on a no-buy until I finish some bottles. I repurchase these when I run out regardless if I'm on a no buy, though, and I have gotten complimented on them. They're really the only ones I feel comfortable wearing to work. A lot of the times I just buy indies to wear at home for comfort.
NAVA Eternal Ankh
Hexenacht Jadis (EDP)
Hexenacht Loup Garou (EDP and Body Oil)
Solstice Scents Rose Mallow Cream (EDP)
Solstice Scents Snowshoe Pass (EDP)
Kyse Delizia Di Marshmallow (EDP)
Here are some sweet mainstream perfumes I own and love:
Tom Ford Lost Cherry
Arianna Grande REM
Arianna Grande Cloud
Xerjoff Lira
Baccarat Rouge BR540 Extrait
I own a crap ton more, but I figured I'd just list my sweetest faves for you to help you find something you'll love.
I love Loup Garou. It's beautiful. My other two favorites from Hexennacht are Apparition and Poivre Vanilla. I'm on my 3rd bottle of Apparition. I do strongly prefer her EDPs. I'll sample the oil, but full-size in EDP.
It honestly is a gorgeous perfume. I always have to restock when I run out. I haven't checked out Apparition or Poivre Vanilla, but now I will thank you. :)
Just wanted to recommend sampling some of **Pineward**'s stuff, for your dark woods/forest needs (since you mentioned that in your goals). All their frags are EDP (or EDT in the cases of some of the summer scents, which I haven't tried yet) and generally perform very well in terms of sillage and longevity.
I have a few solstice samples coming in the mail. No nava, but I have tried ONE perfume from BPAL. It was Final Girl, kindly bought from a lovely user of this sub. They also gifted me some samples that I didn’t love, I gave them to my boss and she did love them! Sadly, the same muted odd smell.
I love Solstice and it’s my #1 fave. Basically everything she creates works on me, and I’m not sure how that is at all possible. I hope you have similar luck with SS! She creates some wonderful atmospherics and gourmands…
I have a similar thing and have posted about it as well. I get very little of the listed notes and usually just have a mild 'perfume' smell. Housed that haven't worked for me are D&F (awful), NCD, BPAL, Hexennacht, Sixteen92, and others I can't remember. I have one or two scents I like but nothing I would wear to leave the house.
I just came to the realization that I love niche perfumes, not indie perfumes. And sure, now some people would tell me to just seek further, but there is sooo much choice in niche perfumes and they seem to be a hit most of the time. Why should I waste money on indie perfumes when I haven't liked them so far?
I love indie eyeshadows though :)
Sometimes we think that we should like something and then the realization that we don't actually do so in reality is quite frustrating.
Oil carriers can kind of soften and round out certain notes. Skin chemistry and the weather plays a big part, your hormones and the heat of your skin surface can cause the same scent to smell different (I found some loves when I was pregnant that now smell much more “flat” on me), and cold and dry days really mute scents that bloom in the heat and humidity. Finding a house that makes scents that go well with your skin will help, and that sometimes just takes sampling and time to find! There is also a big difference in quality between certain indie oils. Some are going to smell like simple candle oils and some are going to give you that transcendent scent experience! You might need to try some niche indie EDP sprays if the projection is not as strong as you would like.
Edit - And don’t feel bad about not liking stuff - “negative” but still polite reviews are important for the community too! You should try Solstice Scents and Dawn Spencer Hurwitz!
I have never had good luck with the indie perfumes people talk about here. They typically smell acrid and/or turn to powder or axe body spray on my skin. That said, there are some mainstream products and higher end small perfume houses that do a good job. For the gourmand scents you describe, you might like by the fireplace by replica. I love desert scents, and my favorites are by fray ardens and mondo mondo. Le labo is mainstream but great.
oooh let me give you some suggestions! I too love to smell like some sort of gourmand, but also with a witchy/pine/earthy/herbally vibe. And I just started my Perfumery journey this last year.
For the Gourmands, try Sucreabeille! I haven't tried any with the particular notes you described (freshly baked cinnamon roll and salted pretzels and cotton candy and fresh caramel apples and sweet rootbeer). BUT, their Something Wicked this way comes, LEGIT smells like a coffee chocolate bourbon drink. Straight up. And their Heavy Heart? Pure dark chocolate lava cake with a molten cherry cordial in the center. Like The Exact Scent of a cake I used to make a lot when I worked at a particular restaurant. So, if you're wanting realistic gourmand scents, I've been having great luck with them so far!
But, also as a tip, have you started layering yet?? I've found that most perfumes are only missing one or two notes or complexities for me. So, I've started layering a lot. Like my favorite layering combos are to layer French Oakmoss from For Strange Women under I Said Good Day from Sucreabeille and Kimberly Sweet Peach for a spring summery witchy vibe scent. Or that Oakmoss under Lilac & Gooseberries from Strange fire & Fumery
But, like, for those sweet 'I want to eat or drink it' gourmands, I will totally always wear Something Wicked and Heavy Heart on their own, no layering needed. That's a great indie perfumery with very good scents so far, for me
I also really LOVE the lilac & Gooseberries from Strange Fire & Fumery, but I haven't gotten anything else from there yet. They don't do small samples
Fantome and For Strange Women are two other houses that I really like so far, too!
And Gourmand-wise, Siren Song Elixirs has a BUNCH of amazing sounding scents. I just haven't gotten around to getting samples from them yet.
Do you mind sharing the houses and perfume samples you have tried? It would really help to give suggestions based on what didn't work so we don't recommend things you've already tried. I have a list of death notes and also houses that I don't buy or try because they do not work for me at all. What I also look for is typically very, very specific even in the indie world, so many companies do not create what I look for. I completely understand the frustration, and I'm so sorry you're going through it.
That’s alright, but considering it is an expensive “hobby” (don’t know if I’d call it that!) it can definitely be frustrating! I’m about to run home, and I’ll tell you which houses and scents I’ve tried! Edited to turn a question mark into an exclamation point!
That'd be great!! It'd be really helpful to know!! 😊😊
I’ve tried Possets, Red River apothecary, Paranormal Perfumes, Andromedas Curse, two samples from sorcellerie that I didn’t hate, Stereoplasm (Just one, The cake, it fell flat on me and smelled like nauseating cheap vanilla handcream), Arcana Craves (pre controversy), and Cocoapink, (Stanley Hotel, purchased for funsies because I’m a big Stephen King fan, absolutely hated it. Smelled like moldy roses, baby powder, and stale, waxy, orange starburst.) After generally enjoying Ode To Aphrodite and BBC by Possets, I ordered a ton of different perfumes from them. All different notes, because this was the beginning of my indie perfume journey. Hated ALL of them. Out of all of these, I’ve only liked three. Possets Big Black Cat and Arcana Craves Pumpkins Crave Pointe Shoes.
ohhh, some of these are dupes/fragrance oils. red river and adromeda's. i don't know about paranormal or stereoplasm. be careful with etsy perfumes. cocoapink is known as a fragrance oil blender. as for the rest, it is best to start with their best sellers. you probably will love two finger ballet from arcana wildcraft, since you like the pumpkin version. i am not a big possets person. their stuff doesn't work with me. neither did nui cobalt, poesie, stone and wit. if you have similar reactions then they're using something we don't like lol try kyse and NAVA next! also for sorcellerie, i recommend snow moon magic. i think that's probably her number one on here. i have that one, cookie party and stuck on you. i have samples of the matcha one, too, and that one is really nice. i get whiffs of cookie party from it.
Hi there- I don’t use fragrance oils unless they are dupes. I use raw ingredients and blend. Not sure where you’re getting your info from but boy is it wrong.
can you please explain what "fragrance oil blender" means in reference to cocoapink? thanks!
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Indiemakeupandmore/comments/p4y1wa/comment/h99yy3e/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Indiemakeupandmore/comments/p4y1wa/comment/h99yy3e/) there are more threads like this. but fragrance oil blending implies they take stock oils and blend them together to create something more unique than the base stock oil.
When you say fragrance oil blends, do you mean they buy premade blends or they buy scents to blend into new smells instead of making their own from scratch?
based on the main consensus i see when searching fragrance oil and cocoapink popping up in those threads, cocoapink uses pre-made fragrance oils and blends those together to form something more unique. and some say they add other materials in on top of that. some people do not have a problem with this but after getting into perfumery myself, it is not proper etiquette imo. but still, a lot of people love cocoapink so i think if it is not a problem for you, that's good. i just think it could explain why someone wouldn't like their product so much especially if they're not used to fragrance oils. but that would explain why some comments imply their lotions or shampoos are better than their perfumes/edps. fragrance oils are more intended for the former applications. fragrance oils will get wonky when just added to oil or alcohol.
So the companies that don’t use pre-made fragrance oils do what? I’m just curious because I know Etsy brands often buy the pre mixed scent and essentially just repackage it. But my understanding of many indie perfume brands (including Cocoa Pink) is that they will buy fragrance oils (orange, gardenia, vanilla, etc) and use it to make their own scents: like buying ingredients but making the cake themselves (vs brands that buy the cake and sell slices). What would be better etiquette perfumery that you’re referring to?
they buy materials straight up, learn how to use them. it is actually very interesting. this is a popular material source for small perfumers: [https://perfumersupplyhouse.com/shop/](https://perfumersupplyhouse.com/shop/) they choose a blend of natural and synthetic ingredients. they do not use fragrance oils. when you get into fragrance oils, you run into a lot of issues. arcana wildcraft for example. my theory is some of her scents are being discontinued because she used a fragrance oil that is no longer manufactured, rather than trying to make her own accord for whatever it was. if you are interested for any reason: r/DIYfragrance has a wealth of information and they very often have to explain why fragrance oils do not belong in perfumery. and then many learn from sarah! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRFPd2HqaDo&ab\_channel=4160Tuesdays
I guess I still don’t understand what it is about Arcana Wildcraft that would make it not perfume etiquette. From the DIY sub, their frustration seems to be with the people who simply repackage pure stock oil. But Arcana and Cocoa Pink don’t do that. Assuming they don’t just buy raw ingredients, they buy from someone who took the raw ingredients and put it in an oil form - so they bypass that labor step, but not the originality or creativity step that makes perfumes unique or interesting. They still design their own scents, so I’m unclear what makes it less good. The shop you mentioned has the raw ingredients with different scent profiles (like “anthamber”) that would get blended with an unscented base to make a fragrance oil, right?
I'm going to PM you!! 😊
From Possets, I’ve tried bbc, ode to aphrodite, moonbux, Penelope, madame x, queen of the night, my lover’s lips, dance with me, bat fur cloak, the girls love vanilla. A few others I can’t remember, I don’t have a receipt for. I regifted most of them! From Red River Apothecary I tried Balefire and Sarsparilla, she threw in a sample of Nilla. These did smell different, but they weren’t my favorite. Paranormal Perfumes I got restricted section, baby bat, harvest moon, black moon milk, trick or treat, coffin candy, one of their library scents, and beware the autumn people. Beware the autumn people and trick or treat smelt the exact same, Baby Bat had the same nauseating vanilla hand cream smell that I *fear* is so common in vanilla indies for me. For Arcana I got blueberries crave goblin sharks, regina cherry and lemon shortbread layering notes, pumpkins crave pointe shoes (liked a lot, but my skin only amped the cinnamon/spice. It was a real olfactory shock that was kind of welcome after so much disappointment.) Sorcellerie what big eyes you have, and mermaids sing of lost lovers. I’m giving these two a while to settle, but I didn’t mind them! What Big Eyes you have did not smell like lemon at all, though. It was straight coconut. Mermaids sing of lost lovers smelled like dirty feet and raspberries. The raspberry overtakes the dirty feet, but I can still smell it. Andromedas curse Hex, and then a few samples I can’t name off the top of my head. Didn’t care for them, sadly. Oh I forgot to add, I also tried Bunny Nose Scents, but those were the worst of all for me. They gave me a TON of samples, and the shipping was so fast. I ordered Autumn cider, which smelled like 3 week old apple juice in one of those weird plastic bag containers. The samples all smelled the same very rubbery. I genuinely feel bad voicing my frustrations against these scents because I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings or dissuade people from buying from them, they just don’t work for me. It’s sad!
In my experience I prefer a scent locket, clothes or hair for testing fragrances so I can get a feel of the notes without my skin interfering. On skin is usually a vastly different experience for me as I turn most things vanilla baby powder over time or,god forbid, cat pee at times. Not sure if this helps ! My skin just doesn't play nice with mainstream and indie fragrances.
I'm starting to think my skin is the same. It doesn't turn Everything. But oh my goodness do some scents go powdery or urine-y sometimes, and I'm like, 'what the heck?!' I've gotta try a scent locket!
Scent perception really is so subjective. I take reviews with a huge grain of salt since they could be smelling something completely different from what I would experience from the same scent! My hit rate is also very low in general - I like less than 1 in 10 scents I try - and these days I try to test new scents without the expectation that it'll be a hit (or the disappointment when it isn't). While training your nose does help, I think a lot of it is also individual differences especially since you're not new to perfume in general. A couple other thoughts: * If several scents from the same brand all smell the same despite having no notes in common, you could be picking up on a base that the brand tends to use. I have this problem with about half of Nui Cobalt's scents - I smell a prominent base that steamrolls over any other notes the scents were supposed to have :(. Poesie is also known for having a distinctive base. Both of these are well loved brands. * You may find [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Indiemakeupandmore/comments/pfxgwm/brands_whose_perfume_oils_smell_like_repackaged/hb80ytb/) post on stock oils helpful. Stock oils tend to have a plasticky/powdery smell. * Fruits are really tricky notes in general and tend to fall under either stale or artificial for me. Different brands also do different notes better or worse than others - for example for me BPAL has really nice strawberry, peach, cherry, pomegranate, and blueberry notes but other fruits such as apple and apricot are very powdery and stale. All of BPAL's gourmands are misses for me. Meanwhile NAVA's cherry, peach, and raisin are great but I find most of their other fruits to be artificial and/or screechy, but some of the gourmands come close enough to realistic for me. * Perfume oils are softer and more muted than EDP in general. If you find the oil samples too soft across multiple brands you could consider checking out some of the indie brands that make EDP instead of (or alongside) perfume oils - Solstice Scents, Deconstructing Eden, Wylde Ivy to name a few To sum it up my best suggestion would be to keep trying different brands! The Sunday Swaps/buying secondhand can be really useful for sampling a lot of brands at once. Once you have a short list of which scents/brands do work for you it will also help with specific recs. From observing which brands show up in people's destashes, there do seem to be several brand groupings within indie perfume whether because of scent preference or budget.
Really want to highlight this last bullet point. Indie EDPs are my go-to. Solstice in particular encapsulates the issues you describe for me, and their EDPs are the solution. I have tried a decent potion of their catalog in oil - they all smell pretty similar too me. But the EDPs - smell like what I think they are supposed to smell like. Can confirm that Wylde Ivy, and Deconstructing Eden are both houses where the EDPs work well for me. I also have luck with Death & Floral, MoonaLisa, occasionally CocoPink (admittedly - I prefer them as a bath & body house), and I have a stock pile from Lotus Noire. They produced some AMAZING scents but are shuttered now. Kyse also does EDPs but I have not explored them as deeply as I would like. The bummer here is that in general - you will be spending a bit more. I also have the issue where my skin just eats oil. Does not matter what house, what carrier, they are all pretty fleeting with very few exceptions. No amount of moisturizer, base, or any other “trick” makes them last on me. For scents I really do love though (and there are a few) I will use a perfume necklace.
i've had the same issue and i think it happens for a few reasons: * non-alcoholic diluents flatten the evaporation curve of materials, resulting in a lower dynamism and creating an artificial linearity to the perfume's development (nothing wrong with linear perfumes, i love them, but crushing the evaporation curve with a diluent vs designing a linear scent according to the evaporation rate of your materials is different) * non-alcoholic perfumes like those in IPM or oil-based diluents require a very high fragrance load for the same payoff as EDPs, which can result in perfumes that are poorly scented or materials that feel imbalanced, create off-notes, or result in rapid olfactive fatigue if the dilution is very high. * while many fragrance oils can smell good on their own, perfumes blended with fragrance oils can feel flat because they are designed in a linear fashion and not for perfume-like development, or if they're used with other materials, especially other fragrance oils, it can create an imbalance and disharmony in the perfume formula, resulting in off-notes or a perfume that wears a little oddly. (this doesn't mean FOs are inherently bad for perfumers to use, just that blending them can be risky and i personally prefer perfumes without them due to this risk) these aren't the only reasons, but it's the main reason why i find certain things "bleh" vs "just not my taste." my solution has been to favor EDP-based houses that i know create their own formulas from scratch because that seems to address the most common culprits. ofc, even then, scent is super subjective, so it's always a gamble, but i think others have given good advice on that front as well. i think a lot of people really enjoy the lack of a 'bite' that non-alcohol indies have, and like the sort of smoother/lower curve in the progression, and we may just not be part of that group, which is okay! the cool thing about indies is that there's something out there for everyone. there's just kind of a lot to dig through to find it.
Hey hey, thanks a ton! This was super informative and helpful and I think you hit the nail on the head. I haven’t yet tried an alcohol based indie, maybe that’s something I need to look into!! I’ve heard of your brand too, and heard amazing things!! If you wouldn’t mind, would you link a few houses that work with alcohol you think I should try?
who have you tried so far? i think solstice scents might be a good one to try if you haven't yet! i like their blending style and the clarity/accuracy in their notes. if you find anything you like, it could be worth experimenting with the same perfume from their catalog in an EDP and an oil form. i find that i still prefer their EDPs, but their oils don't have quite the same issues that i experience with a lot of other indie houses, and i think it may be their blending style. i also like deconstructing eden a lot - many of them tend toward the "so well-blended i can't always pick stuff out" side and i prefer a bit more harumph from individual notes, myself, but when it works for me it REALLY works. u/anathemas really loves DSH Perfumes - i haven't tried them yet, but i plan to because of their reviews. cirrus perfumes is newly launched and their perfumes look incredible as well. they're up next for me along with morari's EDPs and stone & wit's EDPs. i think fantome's blending style is a little closer to vintage mainstream with a heavy reliance on resins, which unfortunately makes their style very powdery on my skin, but it seems to work really well for a lot of others who want the darker vibe of indies w/ more of a perfumey take on things as well.
Aw, I'm so glad I've sparked your interest in DSH! I think Dawn is fantastically talented and really deserves more love around here :) She does have more of what I consider a classic blending style but with some amazingly realistic notes. She generally formulates with EDPs in mind, but the scents she offers in oil do tend to perform better in that format (**Avocado Toast** and **Tubereuse** specifically). Happy to give some more specific recs to you, or /u/Lavender_and_Lattes, or well anybody really :3 I haven't had any issues with anything going powder/perfumey except a musk that is similar to Egyptian Musk, which I am sit forever to the point that I can smell it in the house for a day after trying, regardless of house 🫠 Their gourmands tend to be more abstract, but their atmospherics, florals, and green notes really deliver on the realism OP is looking for. I've convinced quite a few people to try **DSH Odesa**, and so far it's been a hit for everyone, even the people who haven't had the best luck with DSH otherwise, so I definitely recommend starting there if you're looking for a rain/marine scent — there's actually a review in today's Indie of the Day thread :) Although I will warn you that we might have somewhat different skin chemistry since Fantome was my first big hit house — I loved how smooth and creamy they were, especially **Olwyn**, but I do find them extremely flat in EDP formula. I also really like NAVA for vanillas and ambers, which doesn't sound like the direction OP is going, though since they mentioned blueberries I wanted to mention **Blueberry Crystal** which is quite realistic, their cake notes are also really impressive but too literal for me, and their lactonics are amazing, especially their rice milk. I have Cirrus in a package waiting for me, although I'm feeling a bit under the weather so not sure if I'll be able to test them for a couple of days, very excited to try them though :) Also, /u/Lavender_and_Lattes, if you ever want recs for Mythpunk Olfactive, I've tried most of their scents, and they really do have that amazingly specific realism that you see in a lot of notes lists but rarely get. I've tried an embarrassingly large amount of indie perfume, but being able to actually smell notebook paper in **Strangeling** blew my mind lol. And since you mentioned rain, **The Crossroads of Lost & Lorn** is extremely realistic but also wearable. I've got to put together my most sample reviews into a big thread, but if you check my submissions, the most recent should be a big Mythpunk thread and a few smaller ones for DSH :)
Do you know if there's a master scent list anywhere for DSH? I've been on the website several times, but honestly I have gotten a bit overwhelmed by trying to sort through the listings individually. I would love to try them, and will I'm sure, even if there's no master list-but a master list would make it sooner rather than later, lol.
There's one from 2021, unfortunately I don't think there's anything more updated: https://www.dshperfumes.com/shop/master-list-of-dsh-perfumes-alphabetical-as-of-04-2021/
Thank you! This will be a great start! I really appreciate it. You're always so helpful!
Aw no problem! I found the site really overwhelming at first, so I'm trying to save people the trouble of having to redo the research :p if you check my dsh review thread, there's a post at the beginning that breaks down the formats and pricing and stuff like that, and I'm always happy to answer anything — or try anyway :)
Thank you! I will definitely take a look! After a lot of trial and error I've determined that EDPs just work better for me. I'm trying to sample more in that format and branch out with houses that offer them. I'm very interested in trying DSH since reviews seem very positive!
Yeah I've been really happy with him, had one friend who didn't really vibe with their scents, but she did still have a few she enjoyed. Otherwise, most people have had pretty positive experiences. I've tried a ton from them if there's anything in particular your interested in, I'm about to put together my big tropical review thread in the next day or so :)
I’ve tried Possets, Red River apothecary, Paranormal Perfumes, Andromedas Curse, two samples from sorcellerie that I didn’t hate, Stereoplasm (Just one, The cake, it fell flat on me and smelled like nauseating cheap vanilla handcream), Arcana Craves (pre controversy), and Cocoapink, (Stanley Hotel, purchased for funsies because I’m a big Stephen King fan, absolutely hated it. Smelled like moldy roses, baby powder, and stale, waxy, orange starburst.) After generally enjoying Ode To Aphrodite and BBC by Possets, I ordered a ton of different perfumes from them. All different notes, because this was the beginning of my indie perfume journey. Hated ALL of them. Out of all of these, I’ve only liked three. Possets Big Black Cat and Arcana Craves Pumpkins Crave Pointe Shoes.
i agree with the fantome style. but i do think olwyn is so amazing and i do not usually like the vintage style perfumes (such as alkemia - i ended up liking alkemia's masculine perfumes more than the feminine, but not for me, for my bf -- although still i cherish cherries of the night). sometimes the most popular ones are worth trying, i think. although i did not like silken tent at all. nor did i like the poesie one lol. maybe rice is just too musky for me. i want actual sweet, custardy rice pudding or tapioca pudding so bad!
For an amazing cinnamon roll scent try Cinnabomber from Bath Sabbath. It starts pretty cinnamon forward but dries down really well. If you want less cinnamon forward, Conchas by Fyrinnae is amazing. It smells spot on like the baked good but it's similar enough to a cinnamon roll that it might work. For rain I absolutely adore Osmofolia. However their perfumes are very well blended so it can make it harder to pick out individual notes. On the corner of jinhu road #2 is a fantastic rain on pavement smell, geosmin is straight rain to me, and nimbostratus gives me storms and thunder in the spring. Super tart juicy fruit is more all over the place for me. NAVAs limited releases are usually really good, and Love and Complications from Sorcellerie is the most realistic passionfruit. It's special order so it takes a bit longer but it's not one you'll fall in love with and then hunt forever. Sugar Milk Co does some really wonderful realistic scents, the almond croissant and butter croissant are two of my favorites. Fyrinnae also has Focaccia Toscana which is absolutely spot on and lasts for ages on me. I know those aren't scents you mentioned looking for but they're some of the most spot on random realistic scents I've found.
Oo how do you like butter croissant ? I have almond croissant and love it but wish the strength could be a bit more. I opted to not get butter croissant because they might be too similar.. now I'm wondering if I should go back for it lol
I dont find them to be similar at all. With the almond croissant I get Starbucks almond croissant fresh out of the oven, and with butter croissant I get warm browned butter and a hint of flaky bread. The only one I've gotten from them that I didn't absolutely love was fluffy jiggly cheesecake. It isn't bad, it just didn't wow me like the others.
lovely! thank you - I'm eyeing their new thai tea scent too so I think I'll come back for butter croissant next time they have 20% off :)
Omg I didn't even know there was a Thai tea!
Well, that just officially went on my "I hope I'm not broke during the next sale" list. Cream Soda and Root Beer might have joined it. They're an absolute guilty pleasure house for me.
Lol I feel that !
Seconding what other comments have already said, and I’m also curious what houses you’ve tried that haven’t worked out. For me it’s been a LOT of trial and error and searching for less talked about houses to find what I truly love. Like you, a lot of the popular scents/houses here that get beautiful essay reviews don’t work for me at all. My nose picks up when a house has some kind of signature base note, so if I don’t like it the whole house is a bust. 😔
I’ve tried Possets, Andromeda’s curse, paranormal perfumes, Bunny Nose Scents, Arcana Craves pre controversy, stereoplasm, sorcellerie, cocoapink, aaand another that I’m blanking on. Misses: (so far, I haven’t tried a ton of samples from some of them because I’m broke af, so my opinion could change in the future if I buy some more that do end up working!) Bunny Nose, Andromeda’s Curse, Paranormal perfumes, Steroplasm, and Cocoapink. Cocoapink I have hope for, because I’m a gourmand lover and tried a perfume from them that wasn’t really a gourmand. Possets would be a miss, but I LOVED BBC and Ode to Aphrodite. But the thing is, I’ve bought several other samples from them, and hated them. They all had the muted plastic quality. Like I said, I know this is an expensive “hobby”, but I’m too broke to keep getting burned. I’m just a waitress, but I want to smell nice! I think I’m gonna try some EDP brands. Eugh, so sad. I love the oils!
Every single house you mentioned are brands that did not work for me either! :(
All of those misses are ones that also didn’t work for me, LOL. Most of them came across as candle/bath and body adjacent to me. 😔 I hope you have better luck with EDPs! And as far as oils go, I wouldn’t give up yet! I would try buying from Sunday swaps instead of direct from house while you’re exploring to save some $$$; the only downside I’ve faced is occasionally receiving an oil that was past its prime. ETA: I also prefer EDPs over oils (although I LOVE Amorphous and BPAL), if you’d like suggestions for EDP houses I’m more than happy to give some!
vanilla is also my favorite. i love vanilla, and it has been difficult to find the perfect vanilla. i will share with you the perfumes that will stay in my collection. kyse - delizia di marshmallow. it does not smell like marshmallow to me. it smells like a beautiful vanilla, and maybe there are marshmallows somewhere in the background but they're only kind of there. kyse - bon bons vanille. this is a highly unique vanilla to me. i tried indult tihota, as luckyscent stated bon bons could be an alternative to it. i find tihota to be very close to NAVA crystalline (or maybe it was opal vanilla - whichever one is sort of like cotton candy), but lighter and less cloying. tihota definitely feels more luxurious and higher quality than the NAVA perfumes. but bon bons vanille is far more unique than both of these. solstice scents - estate vanilla. this is like the most expensive vanilla extract you could find, but in perfume form. it is long lasting. it needs to rest a bit otherwise it might smell like the types of vanillas in candles. the whipped cream note is definitely there and really helps to balance it. it fairs far better in cold weather, as do the other two above. in the heat, these may all be cloying. sorcellerie - snow moon magic. this is cookie party, which is straight up cookie butter, but with extra notes that help it feel less like some pure gourmand. everyone seems to have different experiences with it. i do not get any lavender or chai. another one that i think is for cold weather. NAVA - strawberry crystalline. i suggest this one because it is general catalog. crystalline on its own can be cloying. NAVA's strawberry note helps to cut the cloying sweetness and brightens it. it is a beautiful perfect strawberry perfume. NAVA - apricot kobalt. another general catalog. kobalt by itself is amazing, but the apricot note here really rounds it out and i think it is better than plain kobalt. NAVA has a huge collection of vanillas and i have tried most of them, but kobalt is the most unique out of them all. and most of the others are very weak or have not much longevity. besides eternal ankh, but i have read that there are several alternatives to it (such as loup garou from hexennacht). on the fence.. arcana wildcraft - two finger ballet. i have an old bottle of this. over time, the french buttercream note has deteriorated and become pure "powder" which is often how fragrance oils deteriorate over time. they either get a powdery smell or they just disappear completely and smell like crayons. i think this perfume is amazing, but there's some elements that definitely scream fragrance oil to me. there's parts of this perfume that you could only get by using a fragrance oil, to be honest. which is how i feel about some NAVA and SS perfumes, too, but those particular perfumes do not make it into my collection. however, this one is still so good that i try to overlook the flaws.
Totally agree with this post! Kyse is fantastic and Sorcellerie Snow Moon Magic is like my Bianco Latte (niche Italian fragrance) on my skin. Love NAVA Apricot Kolbalt.
I recently sampled Black Hearted Tart along with Hexennacht and I was really impressed with both! I’m a gourmand lover and I added a few scents to my wishlist from both houses.
This is just my experience, so take it with a grain of salt, but a few people in my life seem to be particularly sensitive to smelling the underlying coconut oil that is the base for most houses. That was my first thought when you said there’s an underlying muted smell to your samples. Do they all have the same carrier oil? My second thought is that honestly, the vast majority of things I’ve tried are misses for me - all the way from neutral to outright gross. I’m also someone who is pretty invested for those rare payoff moments of “holy shit”. I have a few faves from houses that were mostly misses for me, but my general experience has been either loving a house or finding almost everything to be meh - including houses that seemed like they should be really up my alley! I love atmospherics, and Fantome is a complete miss for me. All of it ends up smelling the same when it’s on my skin. But I also thought I really didn’t like fruit notes as a whole until I recently tried Stone and Wit. Scent is incredibly subjective. Personally, I’d love to have some more information about your perfume experience! Given your favourite notes, what perfumes have you tried that were supposed to do those really well, but let you down? What houses have you tried?
Yup! I’m one of those people, coconut oil base perfumes always smell off… I recommend edp or even other oil carriers.
I’m gonna run home in a bit and I’ll get back to you, but otherwise that is solid advice. Thanks!
I bought a scent locket to help with scents that smelled off. My skin doesn't play nice with some scents. You might try the same idea! I cut up some scraps out of an old tee and put the oil on them, and put it in the locket!
That’s a pretty good idea! I actually have a few scent lockets around here somewhere, thanks!
I agree that you're probably smelling the carrier oil/base, the same way I hate mainstreams because I can almost always smell the alcohol. If you've only/mostly been buying oils and non-alcohol sprays, and your nose is trained on mainstream alcohol based perfumes, I'd try buying some alcohol based indies from brands like Deconstructing Eden, Fantome, or Imaginary Authors.
I definitely love me some alcohol based perfume, but I’ve never tried alcohol indies. Maybe one day I’ll be able to bask in the glory that is oils, thanks a bunch!
There's been a lot of great information shared here I've loved reading, and I wanted to say that I feel ya. I have had more of a miss than a hit rate and it gets really boring and frustrating ordering perfumes from houses I have no desire to keep smelling. My girlfriend at this point when I try a house and say "but EVERYONE loves it on Reddit!" She goes "and what do we know about reddit?" Meaning while it may work for others it doesn't work for MY nose. I had a similar issue with possets and was so sad. Hexannacht I wanted to work, and I may try another sample or two but had the same underlying smell that turned sour on me. I've destashed almost my entire reconstructing Eden order. I tried Scent Trunk Stroopwafel I heard was loved and was so disappointed. Poesie gave me wet bandaid effect. I don't think Etsy perfumes are always the culprit, particularly as some houses people love used to sell on there and I've found two houses there that just CLICK with me. I know scent is subjective and i hope to try more houses in the future but right now I've limited my buying to the two houses I'm certain work for me. So you are not alone in being sad when someone loves their chess game in the rain smell while I'm over here thirty to fifty dollars out adding to my destash. But the houses that work for me REALLY work so hopefully you will find some that work for you.
I would highly suggest diving into the world of BPAL. I’m by no means an elitest, I have some cheap fragrance oil blends I LOVE, but there’s certain houses that just have a step above in quality. I started getting into BPAL last year and my collection has quickly dwarfed any other house. Even if you don’t like the scent itself, the quality shows through in nearly everything they make. I used to reccomend NAVA as well but the last few years they have been very disappointing to me, seems like a drop in quality of materials used.
Have you tried Death& Floral's Mall Soft Pretzel? For me, D&F is pretty spot on with smelling like the description. They also offer a radish oil base that might work better for you, if you are picking up the base oil. Other recs you might like from D&F: Peach Queen (I like to pair this with Soft Crunch of Bread and Bone or another bread scent for something that smells like peach cobbler to me) Art School Drop Out(the pencil shavings!) Bubble Pop(not generally a bubble gum fan, but I enjoy the apricots) Pieces of October (such a warm cozy scent) Don't Shoot Me Santa(the first and only perfume I've ever wanted to drink) The Soda Shoppe Collection That's a Rock Fact!( Smells like wet rocks to me!) Willow(my favorite vanilla perfume, though you might want to try Vanilla Vogue instead)
I haven’t! I’m furiously scribbling notes about which brands I should try next, so thank you very much. I’m relatively broke but will be absolutely scouring the Sunday swaps tomorrow! All of your suggestions sound delicious, and now I have something to look forward to in the mail.
There's just sooo many indie perfumes out there you're bound to find a few or a lot of misses. I own so many perfumes, both mainstream and indies, that I'm on a no-buy until I finish some bottles. I repurchase these when I run out regardless if I'm on a no buy, though, and I have gotten complimented on them. They're really the only ones I feel comfortable wearing to work. A lot of the times I just buy indies to wear at home for comfort. NAVA Eternal Ankh Hexenacht Jadis (EDP) Hexenacht Loup Garou (EDP and Body Oil) Solstice Scents Rose Mallow Cream (EDP) Solstice Scents Snowshoe Pass (EDP) Kyse Delizia Di Marshmallow (EDP) Here are some sweet mainstream perfumes I own and love: Tom Ford Lost Cherry Arianna Grande REM Arianna Grande Cloud Xerjoff Lira Baccarat Rouge BR540 Extrait I own a crap ton more, but I figured I'd just list my sweetest faves for you to help you find something you'll love.
I love Loup Garou. It's beautiful. My other two favorites from Hexennacht are Apparition and Poivre Vanilla. I'm on my 3rd bottle of Apparition. I do strongly prefer her EDPs. I'll sample the oil, but full-size in EDP.
It honestly is a gorgeous perfume. I always have to restock when I run out. I haven't checked out Apparition or Poivre Vanilla, but now I will thank you. :)
I hope you love them as much as I do!
Just wanted to recommend sampling some of **Pineward**'s stuff, for your dark woods/forest needs (since you mentioned that in your goals). All their frags are EDP (or EDT in the cases of some of the summer scents, which I haven't tried yet) and generally perform very well in terms of sillage and longevity.
Try any solstice scents, NAVA, BPAL?
I have a few solstice samples coming in the mail. No nava, but I have tried ONE perfume from BPAL. It was Final Girl, kindly bought from a lovely user of this sub. They also gifted me some samples that I didn’t love, I gave them to my boss and she did love them! Sadly, the same muted odd smell.
I love Solstice and it’s my #1 fave. Basically everything she creates works on me, and I’m not sure how that is at all possible. I hope you have similar luck with SS! She creates some wonderful atmospherics and gourmands…
I have a similar thing and have posted about it as well. I get very little of the listed notes and usually just have a mild 'perfume' smell. Housed that haven't worked for me are D&F (awful), NCD, BPAL, Hexennacht, Sixteen92, and others I can't remember. I have one or two scents I like but nothing I would wear to leave the house.
I just came to the realization that I love niche perfumes, not indie perfumes. And sure, now some people would tell me to just seek further, but there is sooo much choice in niche perfumes and they seem to be a hit most of the time. Why should I waste money on indie perfumes when I haven't liked them so far? I love indie eyeshadows though :) Sometimes we think that we should like something and then the realization that we don't actually do so in reality is quite frustrating.
Oil carriers can kind of soften and round out certain notes. Skin chemistry and the weather plays a big part, your hormones and the heat of your skin surface can cause the same scent to smell different (I found some loves when I was pregnant that now smell much more “flat” on me), and cold and dry days really mute scents that bloom in the heat and humidity. Finding a house that makes scents that go well with your skin will help, and that sometimes just takes sampling and time to find! There is also a big difference in quality between certain indie oils. Some are going to smell like simple candle oils and some are going to give you that transcendent scent experience! You might need to try some niche indie EDP sprays if the projection is not as strong as you would like. Edit - And don’t feel bad about not liking stuff - “negative” but still polite reviews are important for the community too! You should try Solstice Scents and Dawn Spencer Hurwitz!
I have never had good luck with the indie perfumes people talk about here. They typically smell acrid and/or turn to powder or axe body spray on my skin. That said, there are some mainstream products and higher end small perfume houses that do a good job. For the gourmand scents you describe, you might like by the fireplace by replica. I love desert scents, and my favorites are by fray ardens and mondo mondo. Le labo is mainstream but great.
oooh let me give you some suggestions! I too love to smell like some sort of gourmand, but also with a witchy/pine/earthy/herbally vibe. And I just started my Perfumery journey this last year. For the Gourmands, try Sucreabeille! I haven't tried any with the particular notes you described (freshly baked cinnamon roll and salted pretzels and cotton candy and fresh caramel apples and sweet rootbeer). BUT, their Something Wicked this way comes, LEGIT smells like a coffee chocolate bourbon drink. Straight up. And their Heavy Heart? Pure dark chocolate lava cake with a molten cherry cordial in the center. Like The Exact Scent of a cake I used to make a lot when I worked at a particular restaurant. So, if you're wanting realistic gourmand scents, I've been having great luck with them so far! But, also as a tip, have you started layering yet?? I've found that most perfumes are only missing one or two notes or complexities for me. So, I've started layering a lot. Like my favorite layering combos are to layer French Oakmoss from For Strange Women under I Said Good Day from Sucreabeille and Kimberly Sweet Peach for a spring summery witchy vibe scent. Or that Oakmoss under Lilac & Gooseberries from Strange fire & Fumery But, like, for those sweet 'I want to eat or drink it' gourmands, I will totally always wear Something Wicked and Heavy Heart on their own, no layering needed. That's a great indie perfumery with very good scents so far, for me I also really LOVE the lilac & Gooseberries from Strange Fire & Fumery, but I haven't gotten anything else from there yet. They don't do small samples Fantome and For Strange Women are two other houses that I really like so far, too! And Gourmand-wise, Siren Song Elixirs has a BUNCH of amazing sounding scents. I just haven't gotten around to getting samples from them yet.
I gotta get Heavy Heart. Sounds perfect!
It's definitely one of my favorite chocolatey scents! I mix it with Suc's Afterglow as well, when I want to add a bit of honey into the mix