Perfume Reviews: The Misery Love Co.
Nov. 7th, 2009 05:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
windinthemaplesI've (finally) been writing up all my reviews for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
miseryloveco's perfume oils. I am pained to discover that they've all been moved into the discontinued section of the etsy shop. (If you ever had any intention of buying these particular blends, I suggest stocking up now! Once she runs out of the small batches she made, Rhiannon is pulling them from the shop forever. :/
Perfumes Inspired by Glamourkin's Once Upon A Hallow's Eve
(A few bottles are still available for sale at Glamourkin's Shop).
LALUNA
The last of her kind, a witch who fails at witchery. Something delectable always baking, remnants of spells gone wrong, herbs hanging in the attic, a steaming cup of blackberry tea, and a pointy black hat cocked at a delightfully jaunty angle.
I wish I knew what some of these notes are! What was interesting, and I think it was LALUNA, was that I got to smell this on several people back in October and it was a different perfume on each person. On me, it is the smell of warm, baking bread. Hearty bread with a ribbon of baked-in rosemary. There are other things and a faint sweetness, but it is all nestled into that comforting bread scent.
YE OLDE POTIONS
Hanging dried lavender and sage and shelves upon shelves of dusty magical potions; a cynical black cat; a ghostly, passing whiff of cinnamon stick and the glimmering gleam of lemon water.
I'm not sure what compelled me to get a bottle of this after I tested the sample I'd ordered. It is usually not-my-perfume-scene with that plant stuff and I *know* that lemon can be a deal-breaker for my skin. It is atmospheric, though, that lavender/lemon/cinnamon combination, and I can picture myself within that storybook magic shop. It's interesting and sweet-tart. My nose keeps going to my wrist, trying to figure out what that combination is that I'm smelling. So many contradictions there--it defies foodie/floral/herby categorization. It's a strangely harmonious blend of it all.
THE DEATH TREE
A lovely, massive tree with leaf-bare hands stretched out for the stars and strong arms draped with children’s creaky swings; eons older than the oldest thing; it is everything and nothing. The crisp scent of autumn in the air and an endless tree: gnarled and twisted dry wood, smoky myrrh, oakmoss, and a drop of maple sap.
Holy crap, this smells like a dead tree! A faintly musky, smoky tree...bare branches and burning leaves. I wouldn't ever wear this solo, I don't think, but I bought it for layering purposes. How often do I buy autumn fragrances with the hope that this sort of autumn forest scent would be part of it? (Every year.) Now I can sorta layer-cake-make my own. A little bit of this, a little bit of apple cider--away, I go!
THE LOVE POTION
Red and black teas, amber, myrrh, and a ghostly drop of berry.
Oh, I love amber. I love that warm and sparkly tone, the effervescent optimism of it. I love that it doesn't smell gross and dirty and overpowering to me the way a lot of other musky notes do.
On me, Love Potion smells like berry Kool-Aid, sugar-powdery Smarties candies, and a hint of incense. I love it.
HARRY'S CUPCAKE
A buttercream cupcake with a tiny piped bat.
These cupcake scents are uncannily cupcake-y. Bottled baked goods. HARRY'S CUPCAKE has that sweet, plain cake and heavy buttercream frosting scent of the sort of cakes I preferred in my youth with Glory (from My Little Pony) painted in purple icing on top. Nothing fancy, nothing weird--just cake!
BLACKTHORN'S CUPCAKE
A raspberry molten chocolate fudge cupcake, a vampire's second love.
You know those chocolate cakes you can make that are shaped like a volcano and drizzled in an oozy lava flow of raspberry syrup? This is that cake. The sweet raspberry and the warm chocolate scents conspire together to make a dark, luscious, sinfully high-calorie scent experience.
THE GARGOYLE'S CUPCAKE
A lemon cupcake with violet icing, topped with sugared violets.
In the bottle, this is a daintily iced lemon cupcake. I'm not a floral girl, but the sugar and fresh-baked cake notes turn the violet into a light, appealing crystalline candy. On my skin, not surprisingly given my past experience with lemon, I amp fresh lemon like whoa. It is only a couple minutes in that the in-the-bottle appeal of the candied violets and yummy sweet-tart lemon cake makes a reappearance.
THE ANGEL'S CUPCAKE
A pumpkin chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing, covered in orange jimmies.
On me, this one comes across as pumpkinFUDGE! and not so much cupcake. Let's be honest, that's a pretty awesome thing. Yummy, seasonal, rich and nuanced. Love it.
CHARON'S CUPCAKE
An apple cupcake with apples and cinnamon nestled inside, topped with cinnamon streusel.
I wanted to have a lot more of a baked-goods grounding to this scent. My skin is amping the cinnamon and the apples in a glossy, candy way, making the scent smell on me like those cinnamon hot candies tossed in with a big apple lollipop. That's a nommy combination, but it wasn't the bready, spice-crumble, hot apple fabulon I'd hoped for.
GHOST CUPCAKE
A shadow of its former glory; a ghostly, ephemeral morsel faintly reminiscent of a moist strawberries and cream cupcake topped with a single translucent glazed strawberry.
I have a memory, half-formed, of some sort of hard candy (were they Life Savers?) that came in a delicious strawberries and cream version. This is a light, mouth-watering play on that swirled combo. I don't get the baked, warmer cake notes from this, but I get an awesome OMGlove! fresh, juicy, natural strawberry scent layered with a sweet cream that I am so loving.
~~~~~
The rest of the scents, below, are all available at http://themiseryloveco.etsy.com
The Princess Bride
BUTTERCUP
A golden, sweet blend of honey, vanilla, chamomile, apricot, daffodil, honeysuckle, cream and sugar.
What I love most about BUTTERCUP is that I can't really distinguish the notes from each other. The floral, sweet, and foodie notes blend together into this perfectly harmonious, creamy, youthful, yummy sunlit scent that evokes everything that made my childhood crush on Buttercup so powerful. On me, after drydown, a glorious fresh apricot with sweet cream combination takes center stage with a subtle summer crown of flowers and that invincible yellow-orange glow of contented, self-assured, being-in-love-ness.
VIZZINI
Inconceivable! A very fine wine indeed, most definitely stolen, laced with odorless, tasteless, deadly iocane powder. Or is it? Let the battle of wits commence!
I only bought a sample size of this Princess Bride-inspired perfume. It sounded like more of a playful themed experiment than a wearable fragrance. I expected it to be a dry red wine. Testing it, though, has totally changed my mind! It goes on with a light, effervescent fruit quality, like a sweet pear sparkling wine I had this summer. On drydown, it stays golden, like peals of delighted laughter with a backdrop of crystalized grape candy. Very cheerful scent for such a deadly drink! I ended up buying a bottle! :)
The Secret Garden
MARTHA
A thick, warm porrige of oats and treacle, tea and toast with orange marmalade, and a crumbly blueberry scone.
It is very subtle and comforting on me, an awesome scent for colder seasons. I smell like fresh baked breads from the oven, gooey with blueberries, brightened with a hint of citrus. It is so yummy and not knock-you-over-the-head the way a lot of foodie perfumes can be. I'm glad this is one of the ones I got a bottle of because I'm going to be wearing it as a coping mechanism until summer rolls around. :D
COLIN CRAVEN
A cold cup of mint tea, a faint remnant of the last application of a soothing eucalyptus salve, a smattering of Mrs. Medlock's herbs, and a jolt from the machine.
Cool and medicinal, I can imagine this as a great aromatherapy blend to battle head colds. As a perfume, I wasn't really feeling it. Too herby for me and my foodie tastes. :D
The Neverending Story
BASTIAN
A dusty attic, a sack lunch containing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a shiny green apple, and one very old, very mystical storybook.
Childhood flashback. Skippy peanut butter, jelly, and a hint of fruit. The peanut butter warms up to something more like a peanut butter fudge--very sweet and warm and comforting. Surprisingly good. I don't totally feel like a little boy wearing this. :D
UYULALA
A glowing and otherworldly blend of blueberry, grape, blue hydrangea, wisteria, and lilac.
I've got nothing against flowers, but when I smell them in perfume blends, I tend to think, "Grandma!". I'd rather smell like green tea and cucumber, tea and scones, something warm and delicious. This is a very nice floral blend, tamed with a sweet sparkle of blueberry, but by its floral nature, I'm immediately ":/" about it. Pleasant, but just not me.
The Last Unicorn
THE BUTTERFLY
A very silly, slightly discombobulated blend of kiwi, orange, strawberry, peach, banana, watermelon, and black cherry.
You know how the worst thing about fruit salads is when you order one in a restaurant and it always arrives as a sad bowl of underripe melon with a couple grapes and a sliced strawberry on top? THE BUTTERFLY goes on wet as a vibrant rainbow of fruits--dominated by the tropical kiwi--and it smells like a very expensive, very delicious fruit salad. My dream fruit salad. On drydown, those bright chunks of aroma blend into a sort of kiwi-banana smoothie. The backdrop fruits start to warm up and join in. It is sweet and colorful without a single hint of anything serious. Fruity, silly, and bright.
MOMMY FORTUNA
A witchy yet sinister blend of sandalwood, cedar, ginger, lemongrass, lavender, cinnamon, and juniper berries.
MOMMY FORTUNA, on me, has a sweet and herby astringent thing going. I get a focus on lemongrass and juniper berries--sweet-tart--with a backdrop of interesting herby spell ingredients. It's like Rhiannon's other perfume oils in that it is well-balanced and beautiful as a whole, but there is something in there, some genius combination, that spices the nose and sparks a creepy bit of unease. "Witchy and sinister", indeed!
What have you tried? What did you think? Are you ordering any of the latest releases or the Hallow's Eve stuff before it disappears? I'm totally undecided. I've gotten a lot of bottles and have been weighing whether I need (and can afford) more than one of some of the ones I really, really love. Limited edition perfumes mess with my mind that way. I have to combat my instincts to stockpile. :D
The Misery Love Co. Shop
miseryloveco's perfume oils. I am pained to discover that they've all been moved into the discontinued section of the etsy shop. (If you ever had any intention of buying these particular blends, I suggest stocking up now! Once she runs out of the small batches she made, Rhiannon is pulling them from the shop forever. :/Perfumes Inspired by Glamourkin's Once Upon A Hallow's Eve
(A few bottles are still available for sale at Glamourkin's Shop).
LALUNA
The last of her kind, a witch who fails at witchery. Something delectable always baking, remnants of spells gone wrong, herbs hanging in the attic, a steaming cup of blackberry tea, and a pointy black hat cocked at a delightfully jaunty angle.
I wish I knew what some of these notes are! What was interesting, and I think it was LALUNA, was that I got to smell this on several people back in October and it was a different perfume on each person. On me, it is the smell of warm, baking bread. Hearty bread with a ribbon of baked-in rosemary. There are other things and a faint sweetness, but it is all nestled into that comforting bread scent.
YE OLDE POTIONS
Hanging dried lavender and sage and shelves upon shelves of dusty magical potions; a cynical black cat; a ghostly, passing whiff of cinnamon stick and the glimmering gleam of lemon water.
I'm not sure what compelled me to get a bottle of this after I tested the sample I'd ordered. It is usually not-my-perfume-scene with that plant stuff and I *know* that lemon can be a deal-breaker for my skin. It is atmospheric, though, that lavender/lemon/cinnamon combination, and I can picture myself within that storybook magic shop. It's interesting and sweet-tart. My nose keeps going to my wrist, trying to figure out what that combination is that I'm smelling. So many contradictions there--it defies foodie/floral/herby categorization. It's a strangely harmonious blend of it all.
THE DEATH TREE
A lovely, massive tree with leaf-bare hands stretched out for the stars and strong arms draped with children’s creaky swings; eons older than the oldest thing; it is everything and nothing. The crisp scent of autumn in the air and an endless tree: gnarled and twisted dry wood, smoky myrrh, oakmoss, and a drop of maple sap.
Holy crap, this smells like a dead tree! A faintly musky, smoky tree...bare branches and burning leaves. I wouldn't ever wear this solo, I don't think, but I bought it for layering purposes. How often do I buy autumn fragrances with the hope that this sort of autumn forest scent would be part of it? (Every year.) Now I can sorta layer-cake-make my own. A little bit of this, a little bit of apple cider--away, I go!
THE LOVE POTION
Red and black teas, amber, myrrh, and a ghostly drop of berry.
Oh, I love amber. I love that warm and sparkly tone, the effervescent optimism of it. I love that it doesn't smell gross and dirty and overpowering to me the way a lot of other musky notes do.
On me, Love Potion smells like berry Kool-Aid, sugar-powdery Smarties candies, and a hint of incense. I love it.
HARRY'S CUPCAKE
A buttercream cupcake with a tiny piped bat.
These cupcake scents are uncannily cupcake-y. Bottled baked goods. HARRY'S CUPCAKE has that sweet, plain cake and heavy buttercream frosting scent of the sort of cakes I preferred in my youth with Glory (from My Little Pony) painted in purple icing on top. Nothing fancy, nothing weird--just cake!
BLACKTHORN'S CUPCAKE
A raspberry molten chocolate fudge cupcake, a vampire's second love.
You know those chocolate cakes you can make that are shaped like a volcano and drizzled in an oozy lava flow of raspberry syrup? This is that cake. The sweet raspberry and the warm chocolate scents conspire together to make a dark, luscious, sinfully high-calorie scent experience.
THE GARGOYLE'S CUPCAKE
A lemon cupcake with violet icing, topped with sugared violets.
In the bottle, this is a daintily iced lemon cupcake. I'm not a floral girl, but the sugar and fresh-baked cake notes turn the violet into a light, appealing crystalline candy. On my skin, not surprisingly given my past experience with lemon, I amp fresh lemon like whoa. It is only a couple minutes in that the in-the-bottle appeal of the candied violets and yummy sweet-tart lemon cake makes a reappearance.
THE ANGEL'S CUPCAKE
A pumpkin chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing, covered in orange jimmies.
On me, this one comes across as pumpkinFUDGE! and not so much cupcake. Let's be honest, that's a pretty awesome thing. Yummy, seasonal, rich and nuanced. Love it.
CHARON'S CUPCAKE
An apple cupcake with apples and cinnamon nestled inside, topped with cinnamon streusel.
I wanted to have a lot more of a baked-goods grounding to this scent. My skin is amping the cinnamon and the apples in a glossy, candy way, making the scent smell on me like those cinnamon hot candies tossed in with a big apple lollipop. That's a nommy combination, but it wasn't the bready, spice-crumble, hot apple fabulon I'd hoped for.
GHOST CUPCAKE
A shadow of its former glory; a ghostly, ephemeral morsel faintly reminiscent of a moist strawberries and cream cupcake topped with a single translucent glazed strawberry.
I have a memory, half-formed, of some sort of hard candy (were they Life Savers?) that came in a delicious strawberries and cream version. This is a light, mouth-watering play on that swirled combo. I don't get the baked, warmer cake notes from this, but I get an awesome OMGlove! fresh, juicy, natural strawberry scent layered with a sweet cream that I am so loving.
~~~~~
The rest of the scents, below, are all available at http://themiseryloveco.etsy.com
The Princess Bride
BUTTERCUP
A golden, sweet blend of honey, vanilla, chamomile, apricot, daffodil, honeysuckle, cream and sugar.
What I love most about BUTTERCUP is that I can't really distinguish the notes from each other. The floral, sweet, and foodie notes blend together into this perfectly harmonious, creamy, youthful, yummy sunlit scent that evokes everything that made my childhood crush on Buttercup so powerful. On me, after drydown, a glorious fresh apricot with sweet cream combination takes center stage with a subtle summer crown of flowers and that invincible yellow-orange glow of contented, self-assured, being-in-love-ness.
VIZZINI
Inconceivable! A very fine wine indeed, most definitely stolen, laced with odorless, tasteless, deadly iocane powder. Or is it? Let the battle of wits commence!
I only bought a sample size of this Princess Bride-inspired perfume. It sounded like more of a playful themed experiment than a wearable fragrance. I expected it to be a dry red wine. Testing it, though, has totally changed my mind! It goes on with a light, effervescent fruit quality, like a sweet pear sparkling wine I had this summer. On drydown, it stays golden, like peals of delighted laughter with a backdrop of crystalized grape candy. Very cheerful scent for such a deadly drink! I ended up buying a bottle! :)
The Secret Garden
MARTHA
A thick, warm porrige of oats and treacle, tea and toast with orange marmalade, and a crumbly blueberry scone.
It is very subtle and comforting on me, an awesome scent for colder seasons. I smell like fresh baked breads from the oven, gooey with blueberries, brightened with a hint of citrus. It is so yummy and not knock-you-over-the-head the way a lot of foodie perfumes can be. I'm glad this is one of the ones I got a bottle of because I'm going to be wearing it as a coping mechanism until summer rolls around. :D
COLIN CRAVEN
A cold cup of mint tea, a faint remnant of the last application of a soothing eucalyptus salve, a smattering of Mrs. Medlock's herbs, and a jolt from the machine.
Cool and medicinal, I can imagine this as a great aromatherapy blend to battle head colds. As a perfume, I wasn't really feeling it. Too herby for me and my foodie tastes. :D
The Neverending Story
BASTIAN
A dusty attic, a sack lunch containing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a shiny green apple, and one very old, very mystical storybook.
Childhood flashback. Skippy peanut butter, jelly, and a hint of fruit. The peanut butter warms up to something more like a peanut butter fudge--very sweet and warm and comforting. Surprisingly good. I don't totally feel like a little boy wearing this. :D
UYULALA
A glowing and otherworldly blend of blueberry, grape, blue hydrangea, wisteria, and lilac.
I've got nothing against flowers, but when I smell them in perfume blends, I tend to think, "Grandma!". I'd rather smell like green tea and cucumber, tea and scones, something warm and delicious. This is a very nice floral blend, tamed with a sweet sparkle of blueberry, but by its floral nature, I'm immediately ":/" about it. Pleasant, but just not me.
The Last Unicorn
THE BUTTERFLY
A very silly, slightly discombobulated blend of kiwi, orange, strawberry, peach, banana, watermelon, and black cherry.
You know how the worst thing about fruit salads is when you order one in a restaurant and it always arrives as a sad bowl of underripe melon with a couple grapes and a sliced strawberry on top? THE BUTTERFLY goes on wet as a vibrant rainbow of fruits--dominated by the tropical kiwi--and it smells like a very expensive, very delicious fruit salad. My dream fruit salad. On drydown, those bright chunks of aroma blend into a sort of kiwi-banana smoothie. The backdrop fruits start to warm up and join in. It is sweet and colorful without a single hint of anything serious. Fruity, silly, and bright.
MOMMY FORTUNA
A witchy yet sinister blend of sandalwood, cedar, ginger, lemongrass, lavender, cinnamon, and juniper berries.
MOMMY FORTUNA, on me, has a sweet and herby astringent thing going. I get a focus on lemongrass and juniper berries--sweet-tart--with a backdrop of interesting herby spell ingredients. It's like Rhiannon's other perfume oils in that it is well-balanced and beautiful as a whole, but there is something in there, some genius combination, that spices the nose and sparks a creepy bit of unease. "Witchy and sinister", indeed!
What have you tried? What did you think? Are you ordering any of the latest releases or the Hallow's Eve stuff before it disappears? I'm totally undecided. I've gotten a lot of bottles and have been weighing whether I need (and can afford) more than one of some of the ones I really, really love. Limited edition perfumes mess with my mind that way. I have to combat my instincts to stockpile. :D
The Misery Love Co. Shop
