One Hand Washes The Other: Smelling nice for Summer!

Above: From Left to Right: Black Magic Soap Breakaway Bar, Stolen Bouquet Solid Scent, Exhume Solid Scent, I Smell Like a Witch Perfume Oil

Hello and Happy Monday!

I'm here because I received my One Hand Washes The Other package this week and have been wanting to share its contents.  OHWTO (http://www.ohwto.com/)is a vegan bath & body indie company that I wholeheartedly adore and recommend to everyone. Becca (the owner) released their summer scents last month, so I picked up one of the solid summer scents along with a few other goodies.

Above from L to R: Black Magic Soap Breakaway Bar, Stolen Bouquet Solid Scent, Exhume Solid Scent, I Smell Like a Witch Perfume Oil

Product Descriptions

Please note: Italicized text is from http://www.ohwto.com/, regular text is just me!

+ Black Magic Breakaway Bar: Approximately 3oz of Black Magic soap in a reclosable clamshell container with 6 "cubes" molded into the form. Perfect for travel or for sharing your new favorite soap with your friends!! Price: $4.25

My thoughts: Black Magic Soap has been my holy grail skincare product for 6 months now. If I'd known about it sooner, I would have saved myself a lot of time, money, and disappointment on products that never worked for my shitty skin. In fact, I'm planning on doing a whole post dedicated to my skincare trials and tribulations and how Black Magic has turned my skincare nightmare into a skincare fairytale. There's plenty of people that swear by this stuff, and for a good reason: It's affordable, it works great (and by great, I mean it's literally magic), it's not another false hope, and your hard-earned money goes to a small business!

I like to buy the breakaway version of Black Magic when it's in stock. When it's not in stock, I purchase the regular or big Black Magic bars and cut them up myself so I don't waste product! :)

Please do yourself a favor if you're suffering from acne (and suffering is an understatement, I know how it depletes the very soul of the sufferer) and order this soap in the sample size. It is $1.25, but its benefits are absolutely priceless. I know everyone's skin is different and that what works for one person sometimes won't work for another, but I know that it is at least worth the sample size. I personally saw results immediately from the soothing and moisturizing effects of the soap. But I'll save my story for another day. Here's the link if you're curious (which also contains the product description and information about all the wonderful ingredients the soap has in it): http://www.ohwto.com/category_20/Bars.htm



+ Stolen Bouquet Solid Scent: Purple blooms sneakily gathered from the gardens of others while nobody was looking- lilacs and violets, accented with orchids, with a dash of powdery vanilla added to ground the scent. Price: $4.00

My Thoughts: If you're new to OHWTO, the solid scents are my second recommendation of the list of vital things to try. There's a lot of different scents to choose from, and they come in a twist-tube that's the absolute perfect size for throwing in your purse. The ingredients feel so soft and wonderful when I dab the scent on my wrist and neck. I just all around enjoy the quality and ease of the solid scents, and I haven't purchased any that I haven't liked!

Stolen Bouquet really is a nice scent for summer. It's really feminine and floral without being artificial-smelling or overpowering. I've worn it a few times so far, and I'm really happy with it. My only complaint is that the staying power isn't as long as I'd hope for it to be, but that is likely a result of the unbearable summer heat and not based on the product itself! 

+ Exhume Solid Scent: The last olfactory impression one might experience before committing fully to the sweet release provided by Death; sealed inside a casket, buried in the Earth's embrace. Church incense, White spices, nutmeg, cardamom... Peru Balsam, Vanilla, Tonka Bean, Sugar... and a lone white rose laid across your hands to carry you into eternity. Price: $4.00


My Thoughts: I purchased Exhume to tide me over during this long and barrren wait for Halloween collections to be released. And I am so happy I did! This scent is complex and sexy, but not a "safe, everyday department store" kind of sexy. The notes are absolutely stunning together. I find this to be a fun scent to wear, and I can only imagine how amazing it's going to be when the most wonderful time of year (Halloween season! Or, in layman's terms: Fall) finally gets here. I sound so hopelessly desperate. I should be on My Strange Addiction: Wanting Halloween no matter what month it is.



+ I Smell Like a Witch Perfume Oil: A special request for Luna of http://toxid-lotus.net/, I smell like a Witch came about when a little boy told her that the combination of scents she was wearing made her smell "like a witch". Heh. Red & White Roses, Cotton Candy, Bubble Gum, Smoke, Sandalwood, Patchouli & Vanilla Bean. Price: $9.00

I've admired Luna's blog for quite some time now, so of course I was intrigued when this initially came out back in December with the Winter scent list. I bought the solid scent at the time, and I've gone through quite a bit of it because I wear it so much. I was re-reminded of my adoration for this scent when Luna posted about it in April. Since I've gone through so much of the solid scent, and I know I'll miss it when I run out, I decided I definitely wanted the perfume oil version.

This perfume has another significance to me. When I was two, I learned a Halloween song about a particularly vile witch. Apparantly I wanted to mention the song on a whim, because I turned to my lovely mother and said, "Mommy, you're a mean old witch." Of course, my mother is very far from being a mean old witch. In fact, she is the exact opposite. It's become an inside joke between the two of us since she told me that story. My mom even ordered herself the solid version of I Smell Like a Witch because she liked the scent on me and because of the little joke between us. :)

I was initially intrigued by not only the inspiration behind this perfume, but the notes it consisted of. As individuals, the notes are recognized and adored by many. But this is where the beauty about it resides... As a team, these notes don't necessarily seem like they'd win the scent superbowl, but they absolutely work together! I'm really glad I gave it a whirl because it is immensely intoxicating. The main notes I pick up are the roses, smoke, and bubblegum. The rose is the strongest note of the notes I can decipher, which I'm happy about. It's nice to have a rose perfume with unexpected extras! I Smell Like a Witch is so endearing, unique, and really beautiful, and I'm glad it didn't disappear right after winter.

Above from L to R: X's For Eyes, Dirty, Toxid Lotus, and Snayke Oil.

I also very generously received four samples with my purchases. I received three solid scent samples and one sample of unscented Snayke Oil. The following italicized product descriptions are from  http://ohwto.com/ :

+ X's For Eyes: A decidedly masculine scent, this one's reminiscent of summer nights spent crossing out the eyes of every person in every photograph in every catalog or magazine in the house. Aggressive! Cologne samples, Sunscreen, Citrus drink, Night air, Juniper bushes and the ever-present aroma of mom's herb garden.

+ Dirty: Musky, feral, earthy DIRT. Notes of dirt, topsoil, a trio of sandalwoods, sensual musk, all set off with subtle spices and a breath of carnation.

+ Toxid Lotus: Everyone has a darker side. Another scent created for Manda of http://toxid-lotus.net/, this one is like I Smell Like A Witch's older sister, you know, the one always in trouble for doing something devious. Blackened dark Musk, Red Wine, Damask Rose Absolute, Frankincense, Baby Roses, Myrrh, and a hint of White Amber.

+ Snayke Oyl: Formulated as an after-shower (or bath) oil spray, this oil helps to seal in moisture when applied to still-damp skin, and using it in this manner it will help your bottle go a lot further than using it straight. However, it's also wonderful when applied to dry skin, where it acts sort of like a light lotion. Another excellent use for this product is as a detangling, frizz smoothing spray, but go lightly, lest you make your just-cleaned hair look all greasy again! Snake Oil is a multi-purpose workhorse that you're sure to find plenty of uses for, so don't be afraid to experiment!






My Thoughts: Holy shit, these solid scents samples are inebriating! X's For Eyes is what summer would smell like if you could bottle it up! It's really quite the perfect scent for summer with the ideal amount of edge. I've worn it more than once this week, and I'm digging it! I thought I liked it was my favorite scent from this order, but then I smelled my other samples again and realized how amazing they all really are. I'm wearing Dirty this very moment, and I really think I need the full size in my life. It's sexy as hell, and perfect for this whole Fifty Shades of Grey craze. I know it's peculiar to associate a scent with a book, but that is how my brain works I suppose. Gah, I just can't stop smelling my Dirty-slathered wrist! XD  Toxid Lotus is also quite a treat, and it's a treat that I'm very thankful to have because I was seriously considering adding it to my cart when I placed this order. It's close enough to I Smell Like a Witch to know it was inspired by the latter, though not so close that the two aren't distinguishable. I like it a lot, and I'm planning on trying it layered with I Smell Like a Witch to see how these sisters get along! I've yet to try the Snayke Oyl, but I am very grateful for the sample and plan on using it in the very near future. It sounds like a wonderful product!

Above: The contents of my entire OHWTO order. :)

I'm going to wrap things up immediately, as this post has taken me days longer than I've hoped. I do hope that it was enjoyable and helpful!

If you'd also like to smell nice this summer, One Hand Washes The Other can be found here: http://www.ohwto.com/

Thanks for reading!