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Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Review: Midsummer Dreams Apothecary (Part 1)

I recently purchased a sampler pack of all of Midsummer Dreams Apothecary's Fairy Tale perfumes and two solid perfumes (Sultan's Daughter & Snow White) since:

a) I always love supporting indie brands
b) I'm a sucker for pretty packaging
c) Art Nouveau logo?? LOVE.


Customer Service


I have to say, Cheryl from Midsummer Dreams Apothecary is freaking awesome. So my credit card screwed up and I got charged $3,000 for a $30 purchase. I got a text message from my credit card company immediately to tell me I just spent $3,000 and I shat my pants. I immediately called up Paypal & messaged Cheryl, and they were both great. Cheryl was so responsive and I got more help from her than from my private banker. I'm so, so, so grateful for all her help. When my bank insisted on the merchant sending me proof that they only charged me $30, I got a response in less than an hour from her. And this was with a crazy time difference.

All this happened on April 7, I got everything settled and my order was shipped on April 13, I received it today on April 29. Pretty awesome for an international shipment (US to Indonesia). 22 days turnaround time while dealing with a credit card screw up is incredibly impressive! 


Packaging

My order came in the cutest packaging ever!

Stickers? OMFG yay!

Don't you feel all giggly and girly just looking at the packaging? Love!

Some of the perfume oils were leaking so I got a whiff of how all the oils would smell blended together and it's actually pretty nice! It sounds really weird, but it smells like a socialite granny: powder rooms, something a very classy & clean, and a hint of something old (could be all the amber). You imagine this perfume being worn by a very proper, Julie Andrews style grandma who's constantly wearing Chanel suits. I instinctively felt the need to sit up a bit straighter.  



Solid Perfume Review

I've only tried the solid perfumes since I'm saving the perfume oils for when I get back from Singapore. The packaging is obviously gorgeous. I love the tube too, makes it easy and convenient to apply. I find that the scent is not as strong (like most solid perfumes) and start fading after 1h for Sultan's Daughter and 2h for Snow White.


Now for the solid perfume fragrance reviews:

Sultan's Daughter

Image courtesy of: Midsummer Dreams Apothecary


Notes: Vanilla, Jasmine, Amber, Fig, Ylang Ylang

First impression: I can see this smell being very exotic in the US, but for an Indonesian, it smells very nostalgic. It smells like the oils they usually use when you get a Javanese massage - a smell that always makes me think of jasmines & batik.

5 min in: Still smelling like an Indonesian spa with a hint of a heady incense. A very creamy, flowery smell. My coworker says it smells like when you're getting a masage. 

30 min in: The heady incense smell is gone, and there's a clean, almost soapy, jasmine smell. Reminds me of Balinese hotels.

1h in: The smell is mostly faded.

Overall impression: This scent is like a trip to Indonesia. I'm not sure if Cheryl has ever been here, but she really captured the essence of the country in here. My Indonesian coworkers say it smells "normal" but if I get a whiff of this back when I was still in the US, I'd probably bawl from homesickness. 

Snow White

Image courtesy of: Midsummer Dreams Apothecary

Notes: Vanilla, Apple, Ylang Ylang, Balsam, Cedar, Rosewood, Pear, Bergamot, Fig

First Impression: I thought it smells like minty rain with a hint of apples.

5 min in:  I smell more of the apple now. It's smells like a deeper, more complex version of DKNY's red apple perfume. Love it!

30 min in: I smell a hint of something warm and sugary. Almost like brown sugar?

1h in: Smell's a bit faint but smells like apple pie. I'm hungry. I just want to eat myself...in a non-sexual way.

2h in: The smell's very faint now and it's a bit more floral. 

Overall impression: I love, love, love this scent. It's an apple smell that's delicious but light at the same time. It makes me hungry and yet doesn't make me smell like ants are about to swarm me.

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