Review & Recommendation: Haus of Gloi Autumn 2014 Pumpkin Butters &Bubbling Scrubs

I recently got a sample size of all the Haus of Gloi (HoG) Autumn scents in bubbling scrub & pumpkin butter form, except Pumpkin Queen because I accidentally missed that while ordering, and Persephone's Descent since my order got a bit messed up. I also got the Candy Corn lip balm.

Pretty presentation!

Unfortunately, the Ghost Puff pumpkin butter came in the wrong size (I ordered full tub),  and my pumpkin butter & bubbling scrub of Persephone's Descent were missing.

I only ordered the Candy Corn lip balm & not the other 2, so I'm not planning to use them until I get my situation resolved. I'm also not sure if those perfume samples are freebies or part of Minkishly's order for a sample of every perfume. We're also missing the full-size of Samhain. 

Customer Service Review

Matt was so nice and let me pre-order since my mail forwarding address is already live (another indie seller sent to the wrong address) and needs everything to arrive by a certain deadline. He was in such a rush to send my order, he sent them without billing me first!

Unfortunately, he got my order wrong and I ended up with a lot of stuff missing, extra stuff & incorrect sizes. I may have gotten someone else's order, so I've emailed and Facebook messaged Matt & Britton to let them know about this. I still haven't gotten a reply and I admit I'm slightly nervous, but HoG usually has amazing customer service (previous reviews here), so I'm positive they'll resolve this.

_____________

Bubbling Scrub General Review

I love these scrubs! They use relatively smaller grains of sugar, so they're not as strongly exfoliating as some scrubs. I like them because they're gentle enough for everyday use, though. It feels similar to using soap with a loofah, so they're perfect for travelling if you're moving from place to place and don't want to keep packing a still wet loofah into your suitcase.

They're slightly more drying on your skin than the whipped soaps, but just barely. You do notice the slightest hint of dryness after washing this off, but it's very slight and not as bad as most other soaps (indie & mainstream).

_____________

Pumpkin Butter General Review

These pumpkin butters are my favourite body lotions ever. When I use them, I can get to typing almost immediately since they're not sticky.

_____________

Scent Reviews

Turns out HoG scents can smell VERY different in bubbling scrub or pumpkin butter version, so I'm doing a scent review for each version. If you ever got a wtf HoG recommendation, that person's nose isn't broken, s/he probably tried a different version of the scent.

These scent reviews aren't done blind since I've spent too long gazing longingly at their newsletter and reading HoG reviews, that I've memorized the notes.

_____________

Ghost Puffs

"Orbs of buttery popcorn and marshmallow goo, presented on a wooden stick."

Pumpkin Butter

It does smell like marshmallows & popcorn! The marshmallow & popcorn scent you get in candies. It's all gooey, very sweet marshmallow at first, then goes to watery buttered popcorn as you rub it in. It's watery in the sense that it kinda smells like you dissolved a bunch of buttered popcorn flavoured jelly beans in water. On me, there's also a lotion smell to this. It's not horrible enough to make me not love the scent, but it's enough for me to find it a bit off.

Bubbling Scrub

There's less of the popcorn smell in this but it's still a marshmallow flavoured popcorn candy smell. As you rub it in, the scent's more of a watery caramel sort of scent. There isn't that off lotion smell, so I'm guessing that lotion smell is just the pumpkin butter.

_____________

Olde Cider Haus

"Old oak, sweet drying hay fields, crushed apple pulp and vanilla husks."

Pumpkin Butter

There's a creamy, almost baked smell to this. Thanks to the oak & hay notes, the apple somehow smells more like a sexy, spicy, masculine perfume than something edible. It's a smell that hits both lusts so I'm a huge fan.

Left is Daniel Henney and right is what looks like the most amazing apple pie ever. This is too hard. Which one should I choose???
Images courtesy of hearts4kpop.wordpress.com & ohladycakes.com

Bubbling Scrub

There's a spiced apple cider & baked smell to this at first, but when you rub it in, it's mostly a masculine apple. It's a spiced apple scent but the spices are the kind that makes it smell more like a masculine perfume. This is awesome! This scent lingers a bit on your skin and you can definitely smell faint traces of it even after you've washed it off.

_____________

Pumpkin Eater

"Cream, glowing pumpkin, rich vanilla bean and the tiniest touch of nutmeg butter."

Pumpkin Butter

This smells like vanilla & pumpkin, only the vanilla's the stronger note on me. It's also more of a sugary rather than creamy sort of vanilla. I also smell a fruity tartness to this that smells like baked raisins, but I'm not sure if it's a vanilla/caramel note going sour on me. Bubbling scrub's not available for this one.

_____________

Spider Silk

"Procured from a dream: delicate water mint, wispy grey musk, crystalline webs of amber, oakmoss, torchwood, copaiba resin, and a touch of withered violet leaf."

Pumpkin Butter

There's a slightly astringent, candied violet smell (smells like a powdery, blue sort of floral). The violet isn't heavy at all, and while it's powdery, it's countered by this dry, astringent and slightly minty scent. It smells like an expensive face cream prescribed by a dermatologist.

Bubbling Scrub

Oh wow, this smells totally different and I'm a bigger fan of the bubbling scrub version of this scent. There's a rounded, suede-like sort of woody smell that reminds me of the homes of Indonesian socialites. There's hints of wood from some wooden furnitures, but they're tampered down by the smell of luxury in a home that's cleaned twice a day by an army of maids. It's a home that usually looks like this:

Though there would be more marble in an Indonesian socialite's home...
Design by Michael Abrams Limited, found on houzz.com

_____________

The Horseman

"Autumnal forest and wood, distant fire, smooth saddle leather, brown musk and the lingering scent of a dark gentleman's cologne on a black woolen coat."

Pumpkin Butter

This smells like fallen leaves on the ground, with the earthy bitterness you'd expect. There's also old leather in this -one without the sweetness of new leather. There's also a scent that reminds me of rustling pages of an old book.

Bubbling Scrub

I smell a musky leather sort of scent on the tub, but once I wash it in, it's a bitter, musky old leather smell. The leather is sweeter than the leather in the pumpkin butter version, though. As it washes off, there's a bit of a cool wooden smell that makes me think of books in an old library. Now it smells like leather seats in an old school library, in an English castle where it gets drafty at times.

The Chirk Castle library, which looks so awesome

You get this sweet, lightly musky men's cologne smell lingering on your skin it's musky enough to make me think of an older gentleman, but not that old and definitely hot.

_____________

Tobac

"Pipe tobacco, a wisp of smoke, bourbon vanilla and two cedarwoods."

Pumpkin Butter

This scent makes me think of an old bar in a now abandoned town. A bar that has seen better days and now is old and decaying.

Used to be classy and totally not haunted at all..
Image by Þorsteinn H Ingibergsson

There's the smell of old wood, sour chewed tobacco and a hint of a boozy vanilla all blended together. It's a weirder type of scent but I kinda like it.

Bubbling Scrub

The scent in the bubbling scrub doesn't blend together like the pumpkin butter, and the notes come in separately. This opens with the most delicious boozy vanilla smell, but it's quickly drowned out by the strong, sour, chewed tobacco smell. Luckily, the scent it leaves lingering on your skin is a slightly boozy & woody vanilla. 

_____________

Candy Corn Lip Balm

HoG's lip balms are unsweetened, and they tend to be the waxier kind. I definitely got a bad batch because this is very different from the Beguiled lip balm from HoG that I've tried before. The previous lip balm is pretty strongly scented, but this one barely has a scent. I think I can taste a bit of candy corn, but I may be imagining it because I thought I accidentally ordered an unscented & unflavoured lip balm when I first put it on. I can even taste the waxy lip balm taste. Anybody else with a Candy Corn lip balm can let me know how it is?