Review & Recommendations: 4 Scents from HoG's Summer Collection

I ordered from Haus of Gloi's (HoG's) Summer collection last year but ended up procrastinating on the reviews since I rock at procrastination.

Not pictured, The Brier Path whipped soap & Komodo pumpkin butter because I stupidly finished them up before taking this photo.

 Then HoG announced Komodo's getting discontinued since the mangosteen note has been discontinued by their suppliers, so I thought I better finally write up the review so people can decide whether or not they should snap it up now.

So for HoG's scents, it's important to remember they smell differently across different mediums. That's why a scent that smells amazing in a whipped soap can smell completely gross in pumpkin butter or perfume oil versions. I love HoG's scents in their bath products, but the same scents in perfume oil version often doesn't work on me. That's why I'll mention which form I'm reviewing each scent in.

I only got these scents in pumpkin butter & whipped soap versions and for a more detailed review of HoG's whipped soaps, you can head here. I've discussed the pumpkin butters here and there, but I realized I never really went in depth with my pumpkin butter review:

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Pumpkin Butter Review

HoG's pumpkin butter has become my standard for all body butters. They leave my skin extremely soft yet they get absorbed so fast! They're usually absorbed within 3 minutes, 5 minutes max depending on how wet my skin is prior to application. I end up comparing every moisturizer, indie and mainstream, to these pumpkin butters, and so far the only product I like as much is Haunt's skin glossing oil.

Texture-wise, it's like softened butter, and spreads very easily. Before being absorbed into your skin, it leaves a thin layer of oiliness and a honey-type of stickiness. Real honey, not the fake kind. If you're buying real, pure honey, they're actually not that sticky. One way of testing your honey to make sure it's not mixed with sugar is to smear it on your hands then put tissue over it. With real honey, you should be able to peel the tissue off easily, without ripping it.

The scent's very strong –when I put it on my legs, I can smell it even if I'm sitting up. The smell lingers on your skin until the next morning. This has better throw than a lot of solid perfumes I have.

So on to scent reviews!

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Komodo

"Mangosteen, Tahitian vanilla bean, dragon blood resin and faded tropical blooms."

Whipped Soap

Oh my gods, this is gorgeous! It smells like the perfumed version of mangosteens (ie. more fragrant and none of that fruit sap scent actual mangosteens come with), with that scent you get when you cut thick, juicy plant stalks. If you've tried Fresh's Mangosteen perfume, it's that same mangosteen note. When I wash this down, the scent that lingers on my skin is this sweet, tropical fruit medley that smells so familiar. It's a scent I've smelled before as a child, and probably in some mainstream soap or shampoo version. It's a really gorgeous scent.

Pumpkin Butter

/u/minkishly gave this to me because she hated the scent no matter how hard she tried to like it, and that confused me. The whipped soap smelled so great! As soon as I tried it, I got it. The first clue I got was that I don't smell the same, fragrant mangosteen in the tub, and got more of the plant stalk bit.

As soon as I put it on, the most prominent smell in the pumpkin butter is this wood incense smell. It's the smell of unlit incense, which can be awesome for some people, but for people who grew up in Asia, it smells like an old, dank, dimly lit store that's often manned by an old Chinese man in a singlet or an old Chinese woman in shapeless short-sleeved shirt and pants. There's still the mangosteen, but it's not as fruity and fragrant as in the whipped soap and smells more dull and muted. The plant stalks bit also doesn't smell as fresh, and smells more like plant stalks that have wilted for a day under a hot sun.

I'm still a huge fan of this scent in whipped soap version though, and will probably buy it again in whipped soap version, and maybe even try out the bubbling scrub version.

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Sanctum

"Muskmelon, coconut water infused with bergamot flower, kaffir lime, polished ho wood and sticky benzoin."

Whipped Soap

I was wondering how watermelon and coconut would smell like, and somehow, it ends up smelling like a melon chewy candy. It's soooo delicious! As I wash the soap down, I'm getting this lime spritz sort of scent, only the spritz part is with a very sharp and dry in a wooden way.

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The Brier Path

"Sun drenched trail leading to a day dream of ripe berries and woods rose, rich forest loam, ozone, dark amber and cream."

Whipped Soap

If any of you reads Discworld novels, I thought this smells like what walking up to Margrat Garlick's cottage would smell like. It starts with this sweet flowering garden scent –a medley of berries and florals. There's a bit of a herbal sort of smell, which I'm guessing is from the loam. The herbal smell is more of an old English apothecary sort of herbal. As you wash it off, you get hints of this wood & thatch sort of cottage scent.

I imagine Magrat's cottage looking like a less manicured version of this. I first saw this on Pintrest, but can't find the original source  or the location of this cottage anywhere.

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Zazz

"Tart cranberry, pink grapefruit, sparkling champagne all shook up with crushed ginger root."

Whipped Soap

I'm getting that champagne note that smells like fizzy citrus, and the other fruits mixed into the scent makes me think of pink champagne. The fizz gets really, really spicy and even has a wood resin sort of bite to it as I wash it down, which I think is the ginger root at work.