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scent_junkiesSpeaking of Violette Market Vintage blends: have a couple of reviews. With bonus Nocturne Alchemy reviews. :) I got kind of chatty here. Um...oops?
Vosages -- Dark chocolate with spicy chilies, cloves, citrus peel, nutmeg and tobacco leaf. Complex and mouthwateringly delicious.
The chocolate is obvious the moment you open the bottle, but once it's on me, I can smell the spices under the chocolate almost right away. The weird thing is that, at about five minutes in, I'm getting a serious shot of cinnamon, which isn't listed in the notes. The clove is strong as well and I get the nutmeg (and maybe the tobacco leaf?) as a nice warm undernote. About ten minutes in and it's still mostly spicy, with a nice little sharp note from the chilies. The chocolate is in the background, which I like, since I'm not a fan of the overly sweet, foody scents. Yes, this is still foody and a little sweet, but it's not cloying. I took a risk with this and I'm glad I did; of all the Vintage blends I ordered, I like this one best; it's lovely.
Snow Baby -- Vanilla bean, crisp winter air and a whisper of icy mint. Smooth rather than sweet, evocative of a walk on Christmas night.
In spite of what I said about not liking foody scents, I'm a total sucker for vanilla/mint combos. BPAL's Lick It is one of my go-to warm weather scents and I also wear it around Christmas time. So I desperately wanted to like this.
In the bottle, Snow Baby is sharper than Lick It; it's almost like smelling straight peppermint essential oil. Once on, it smooths out and gets a little sweeter, but still not nearly as sweet as Lick It. The vanilla shows up around five minutes in and it's got an odd, almost nutty undertone to it and then goes to a really bad place. It's all my body's fault; there's just something about the vanilla the former owner of VM used that just doesn't work with my chemistry. Both Swoon and Elixir are two of the most popular vintage blends and, sadly, they suck on me. I haven't tried anything of Lori's (the new owner) but hopefully she uses a different vanilla.
Both of these are still available at Violette Market for the insanely reasonable price of $9 for a 15ml bottle.
Moving on to Nocturne Alchemy....
I'll admit it; I've kind of resisted NA for a while because their site is, quite frankly, pretty ugly. And yes, that's shallow, but I can be shallow at times. Also, I think they kind of take the LE thing to extremes with that "forum only, available for only 48 hours" deal. However, they reeled me in with vanilla this time around and not only did I order a couple of LEs, but I also ordered the forum only LE, Nocturne: Kobalt. Because I needed another etailer.... *facepalms*
The Kobalt hasn't arrived yet, but the two LEs did, along with a couple samples.
RA's Ambre Vanille (LE) -- 23 Ambres hand selected by RA from 165 Ambers in the NA Collection, Rock Rose Resin, Agarwood, Cedarwood and 8 Vanilla Orchid oils of Cairo, Madagascar, Spain, Reunion and Comoros Islands, West Indies and Kenya.
I was a little worried about the vanilla after my bad experience with Violette Market's Vintage vanilla, but fortunately, my skin seems to like Nocturne Alchemy's vanillas. This is a sweet, almost light amber/vanilla scent given an earthy depth thanks to the labdanum (rock rose resin). I'm not getting the cedar, which is odd since I usually amp it like crazy, but that's okay. While the amber does go a bit powdery after a few minutes, it's not a baby powder/old lady thing at all. I normally don't like to make gender assumptions about perfumes, but this does strike me as being very feminine without making me think of Barbie pink. I really really like it. I belive the vanilla base is Nocturne: Kobalt; if it is, I'm really looking forward to getting my bottle of that.
Hathor's Egyptian Vanilla Tea (LE)-- Keemun Tea Leaves from China, Assam Tea Leaves from India, Rooibos Tea Leaves from South Africa and White Egyptian Vanilla of Cairo.
Ah the elusive tea scent. Even though I prefer to drink my tea weak, I love the way brisk strong tea smells. Sadly, experience has taught me that a good black tea is a) hard to find and b) vanishes into my skin all too quickly. Still, hope springs eternal and when I saw that this was tea with vanilla and NO cream (I have yet to find a cream accord that doesn't turn into sour milk on my skin), I had to buy it. I'm really glad I did, because it's a lovely combo of brisk tea and smooth vanilla with just a hint of sugar. It's not particularly complex scent--it doesn't morph much--but (!) the tea sticks around for much longer than I'm used to; a half hour in and I can still smell it. It isn't nearly as sweet as the Amrbre Vanille, but I'm really liking it.
Eternal Egypt -- White Amber, Red Egyptian Musk, Egyptian Amber and the sands of Egypt. A beautiful enrapturing scent.
This was a freebie sample; they say it's their signature scent. Oddly enough, this is almost aquatic at first sniff, both in the bottle and on my skin. The musk must be a very light one because it's not at all earthy or animalistic. The ambers are nice without being overpowering or powdery and I have no idea what they mean by "the sands of Egypt" as this doesn't smell like sand at all. Several minutes in and I'm still getting a cool, green note along with a smooth amber. If I had to say why it's particularly Egyptian (bearing in mind that, sadly, I've never actually been to Egypt) I'd say that the blend was made to smell watery like the Nile. It's nice enough, even though I don't normally like aquatics, but it's not making me want to buy a full bottle.
Ozymandias -- Resin of Royal Sweet Frankincense, Languid Amber filtered through Royal Amber Resin and harsh-less white pepper essential oil.
The other sample included with my order. On first sniff, it's all amber; in fact, it smells a lot like the really inexpensive "Temple Amber" solid perfume I bought at our local New Age shop. And then...it simply vanishes. I've had it on for less than five minutes--you can still see a little bit of the sheen on my skin from the oil--but all I can smell is a very very faint amber. Sadly, Ozymandias perfume is not as eternal as that statue in the sand that Shelly and Smith wrote sonnets about. It's unfortunate because I was prepared to like it based on the notes.
Still, three out of four from a new e-tailer is doing pretty good. That'll teach me to dismiss a product due to its web site design.
All of the Nocturne Alchemy scents reviewed here are still available here but if you want the LEs, you only have until May 29 to get your order in.
Vosages -- Dark chocolate with spicy chilies, cloves, citrus peel, nutmeg and tobacco leaf. Complex and mouthwateringly delicious.
The chocolate is obvious the moment you open the bottle, but once it's on me, I can smell the spices under the chocolate almost right away. The weird thing is that, at about five minutes in, I'm getting a serious shot of cinnamon, which isn't listed in the notes. The clove is strong as well and I get the nutmeg (and maybe the tobacco leaf?) as a nice warm undernote. About ten minutes in and it's still mostly spicy, with a nice little sharp note from the chilies. The chocolate is in the background, which I like, since I'm not a fan of the overly sweet, foody scents. Yes, this is still foody and a little sweet, but it's not cloying. I took a risk with this and I'm glad I did; of all the Vintage blends I ordered, I like this one best; it's lovely.
Snow Baby -- Vanilla bean, crisp winter air and a whisper of icy mint. Smooth rather than sweet, evocative of a walk on Christmas night.
In spite of what I said about not liking foody scents, I'm a total sucker for vanilla/mint combos. BPAL's Lick It is one of my go-to warm weather scents and I also wear it around Christmas time. So I desperately wanted to like this.
In the bottle, Snow Baby is sharper than Lick It; it's almost like smelling straight peppermint essential oil. Once on, it smooths out and gets a little sweeter, but still not nearly as sweet as Lick It. The vanilla shows up around five minutes in and it's got an odd, almost nutty undertone to it and then goes to a really bad place. It's all my body's fault; there's just something about the vanilla the former owner of VM used that just doesn't work with my chemistry. Both Swoon and Elixir are two of the most popular vintage blends and, sadly, they suck on me. I haven't tried anything of Lori's (the new owner) but hopefully she uses a different vanilla.
Both of these are still available at Violette Market for the insanely reasonable price of $9 for a 15ml bottle.
Moving on to Nocturne Alchemy....
I'll admit it; I've kind of resisted NA for a while because their site is, quite frankly, pretty ugly. And yes, that's shallow, but I can be shallow at times. Also, I think they kind of take the LE thing to extremes with that "forum only, available for only 48 hours" deal. However, they reeled me in with vanilla this time around and not only did I order a couple of LEs, but I also ordered the forum only LE, Nocturne: Kobalt. Because I needed another etailer.... *facepalms*
The Kobalt hasn't arrived yet, but the two LEs did, along with a couple samples.
RA's Ambre Vanille (LE) -- 23 Ambres hand selected by RA from 165 Ambers in the NA Collection, Rock Rose Resin, Agarwood, Cedarwood and 8 Vanilla Orchid oils of Cairo, Madagascar, Spain, Reunion and Comoros Islands, West Indies and Kenya.
I was a little worried about the vanilla after my bad experience with Violette Market's Vintage vanilla, but fortunately, my skin seems to like Nocturne Alchemy's vanillas. This is a sweet, almost light amber/vanilla scent given an earthy depth thanks to the labdanum (rock rose resin). I'm not getting the cedar, which is odd since I usually amp it like crazy, but that's okay. While the amber does go a bit powdery after a few minutes, it's not a baby powder/old lady thing at all. I normally don't like to make gender assumptions about perfumes, but this does strike me as being very feminine without making me think of Barbie pink. I really really like it. I belive the vanilla base is Nocturne: Kobalt; if it is, I'm really looking forward to getting my bottle of that.
Hathor's Egyptian Vanilla Tea (LE)-- Keemun Tea Leaves from China, Assam Tea Leaves from India, Rooibos Tea Leaves from South Africa and White Egyptian Vanilla of Cairo.
Ah the elusive tea scent. Even though I prefer to drink my tea weak, I love the way brisk strong tea smells. Sadly, experience has taught me that a good black tea is a) hard to find and b) vanishes into my skin all too quickly. Still, hope springs eternal and when I saw that this was tea with vanilla and NO cream (I have yet to find a cream accord that doesn't turn into sour milk on my skin), I had to buy it. I'm really glad I did, because it's a lovely combo of brisk tea and smooth vanilla with just a hint of sugar. It's not particularly complex scent--it doesn't morph much--but (!) the tea sticks around for much longer than I'm used to; a half hour in and I can still smell it. It isn't nearly as sweet as the Amrbre Vanille, but I'm really liking it.
Eternal Egypt -- White Amber, Red Egyptian Musk, Egyptian Amber and the sands of Egypt. A beautiful enrapturing scent.
This was a freebie sample; they say it's their signature scent. Oddly enough, this is almost aquatic at first sniff, both in the bottle and on my skin. The musk must be a very light one because it's not at all earthy or animalistic. The ambers are nice without being overpowering or powdery and I have no idea what they mean by "the sands of Egypt" as this doesn't smell like sand at all. Several minutes in and I'm still getting a cool, green note along with a smooth amber. If I had to say why it's particularly Egyptian (bearing in mind that, sadly, I've never actually been to Egypt) I'd say that the blend was made to smell watery like the Nile. It's nice enough, even though I don't normally like aquatics, but it's not making me want to buy a full bottle.
Ozymandias -- Resin of Royal Sweet Frankincense, Languid Amber filtered through Royal Amber Resin and harsh-less white pepper essential oil.
The other sample included with my order. On first sniff, it's all amber; in fact, it smells a lot like the really inexpensive "Temple Amber" solid perfume I bought at our local New Age shop. And then...it simply vanishes. I've had it on for less than five minutes--you can still see a little bit of the sheen on my skin from the oil--but all I can smell is a very very faint amber. Sadly, Ozymandias perfume is not as eternal as that statue in the sand that Shelly and Smith wrote sonnets about. It's unfortunate because I was prepared to like it based on the notes.
Still, three out of four from a new e-tailer is doing pretty good. That'll teach me to dismiss a product due to its web site design.
All of the Nocturne Alchemy scents reviewed here are still available here but if you want the LEs, you only have until May 29 to get your order in.
