Darling Clandestine ~ Fisticuffs

Hello, dear friends! I am excited to bring you my very first Darling Clandestine perfume review today, Fisticuffs! I'd like to give a huge thank you to Nadja, as she sent this perfume to me. Thank you, Nadja!

Fisticuffs
Wine and honey and hot blood and concrete, with the green rush of the thrill of the fight.

If I could only review this in one word, it would be, "Wow!" Fisticuffs throws one mean punch. I mean, just upon cold sniff, it really just screams, "Bam! I am Fisticuffs and I'm here!" Of course, that would be in a Spartan voice. I smell a green scent I've never smelled before, like a very sharp green scent. Perhaps a beautiful ivy that's also extremely deadly. This deadly green comes along for the ride during initial application. It demands to be noticed. There is something incredibly elegant about this scent, which is so funny because it is a battle perfume. I asked my boyfriend what this smelled like when it was still wet, and he said, "Flowers . . . I don't know what kind." Spartan flowers! I also get a strong whiff of the concrete, which I'm so happy about because it smells so freaking good. It's a very clever element to this blend. On the drydown, I get the honey note. It reminds me of the honey straws that are sometimes at coffee or tea shops. It does wonders to the green note, making it softer and sweeter. The concrete also comes out to play. Fisticuffs is one of those delightful blends where each note takes center stage in a way that it smells different every time you sniff. I do not have words to describe how amazing this perfume is. Darling Clandestine perfumes are described as truly inimitatable, and I think that rings completely true. I've never smelled anything like this, and it has me yearning for more DC. It's absolutely breathtaking.

Thank you so much for reading, and have a lovely week!

Alkemia ~ Moon Goddess (plus bonus puppy pictures!)

I've come out of my hobbit hole to finally review another perfume! I've been hopelessly addicted to reading Nosleep and Creepypasta, it's really kind of embarrassing.

I've never had the pleasure of trying any Alkemia perfumes until Nadja sent me a bunch in her care package, and among them was Moon Goddess. Today I will reviewing it for you :)


Official scent description:
A magical elixir of narcotic florals — datura, night-blooming cereus, and white poppy enfolded in a aquatically luminous blend of water musks, delicate cucumber, and the palest melons.

Upon cold sniff, the cucumber is the most prominent note; though the aquatic aspects to this blend are also apparent. Initial application for me is an aquatic floral with the cucumber note to add a bit of dimension. I think this perfume should be called Sea Goddess, because it's a beautiful underwater scent. The drydown is interesting because the notes don't change, they just blend seamlessly together to make the most beautiful aquatic floral known to man. This is what Cucumber Melon WISHES it could be.

Oh, and here are some pictures of Cheyenne for those that wanted to see her! :D

Have a wonderful weekend!

Disclaimer: Moon Goddess was kindly sent to me by Nadja. I am not affiliated with or compensated by any of the companies mentioned. My opinions are always my own and honest. Thank you for reading!

Smoke and Mirrors

Top of the day to you, my dear friends! Today I will be reviewing one of the glorious perfumes that Nadja graciously sent me: Smoke and Mirrors by Alkemia. This seems to be a perfume that's adored by all of you, and I can absolutely see why. (Fun fact: When I googled this perfume, the first results page had Su's, Dee's, and Nadja's reviews!)



Scent Description from the Alkemia Etsy:
An elusive, smokey blend of burning wood, Madagascar Vanilla, and Tonka. We find this one to be elementally simple, but unusually mercurial and highly responsive to different skin chemistries… the vanilla and the smoke dance with each other almost continuously… sometimes the foreground is smoky, then sweet, then returns with sweetly smoky, then smoky. 

From the vial, Smoke and Mirrors smells a tiny bit sweet, yet smoky. The sweetness can be attributed to the vanilla, of that I am certain.

Once applied, Smoke and Mirrors smells absolutely wonderful. Like smoke and leaves on a crisp autumn day. Luckily, the smoke in this perfume isn't the dreaded "I smell like a barbecue" smoke- it is a beautiful, realistic campfire type of smoke.

The drydown doesn't really change this perfume. It stays beautiful and smoky, and the vanilla stops by to say "hello" every so often.

This is the first perfume I've ever tried by Alkemia, and I'd buy a full size at the drop of a hat. It's a beautiful scent, and I cannot stop smelling my wrist. This perfume reminds me of Smoky Mountain Mallow by Solstice Scents, and I love that one too!

Thanks so much for reading!


Disclaimer: Nadja sent this perfume to me. I am not affiliated with or compensated by any of the companies mentioned. My opinions are my own and honest.

1 Year, Cheyenne, and Ploughman

Hey friends! I hope you are all doing wonderfully. I have exciting news! Today is my one year anniversary for this blog! I can't believe it's already been a year! I'm so glad I made the decision to start my blog last year, and I'm honored to know you guys through blogging. I wish I had some sort of fancy giveaway planned... But I don't. I've been crazy busy lately. This week I returned to work after spring break, and it wasn't exactly the best work week I've ever had. But on Friday last week, my boyfriend and I rescued a dog that was running through the street. She came home with us and we took her to the vet to get her microchip scanned. It wasn't registered, but the employees were awesome and able to find the owner the next day. We called the owner, which was a crazy conversation to say the least. Apparently her son is mentally unstable, and he broke into her house and let the dog out; then he stole her car. I don't know how her other dogs didn't get out, but I don't know how true her story was in the first place. She then went on to say she was DOWNSIZING and that we could keep the dog. She also said we could return the dog, but that she knew this would happen again. It's 11 years old and I'm pretty sure it's a German Shepard lab. She's such a sweet dog and is very well trained. We still have her, and I really don't want to give her back to a lady that views her as an object to be downsized. But it's been a hard decision to make. I'm almost certain we'll keep her. The crazy thing is that her name is Cheyenne, which is the city my boyfriend was born in. I'll keep you guys updated if you're interested and I'll try to get pictures of her. I have some, but the quality isn't good.

I have an insane amount of perfumes to review, but today I'm going to review Ploughman by Haus of Gloi. They recently released their Spring products, but I did not buy anything initially. Then I read Liber Vix's Haus of Gloi Spring haul here, and she inspired me to purchase a lovely Spring perfume from them- Ploughman! I also got a whipped soap in the same scent.

Haus of Gloi describes Ploughman as:
Well worn leather, dirt n' dandelions, carrot, a pinch of tobacco and a light sheen of feral skin musk.

Cold Sniff: The dandelion note is very strong upon cold sniff. It's quite glorious, though I am a huge dandelion fan.

Initial Application/Wet on Skin: The earthiness/dirt note pops out, though it blends so seamlessly with the Dandelion note that it's just absolutely magical. I never noticed this from my Ploughman imp, but the carrot note peeks out here too.

Drydown: The drydown for me is every note from the scent description dancing together beautifully. Eventually this perfume ends right where it started- with the green dandelion note.  This is truly a unique and wonderful spring scent.

Final Thoughts: Liber Vix told me that this scent kind of reminded her of a hobbit, and I thought that is a perfect description for Ploughman! Working hard in the field all day to plow vegetables, dandelions dancing in the light breeze, riding ponies with leather saddles, and having a delightful puff of pipe weed after a hard day's work. The Shire would most definitely smell like this perfume. I'm happy to finally be the proud owner of a full size.



Disclaimer: All products mentioned were purchased by me for my own personal usage. I am not affiliated with or compensated by any of the companies mentioned. All opinions are always my own and honest. Thanks for reading!