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Saturday, June 28, 2014

Review: 13 Gypsies Perfumery (Part 2)

I realized in my last review, I forgot to write about my experience ordering with 13 Gypsies Perfumery.  They're currently still having a 44% off sale until July 1.

Packaging








This is a cute extra touch!

The package arrived beautifully packaged and smelling of patchouli. I'm not sure why because I can't spot any leaks, so maybe she scents her packaging with a bit of patchouli? I mean, these are definitely tightly sealed:

Nothing's getting out of that!

I like the little touches she adds like this box the perfumes came in:

The bottles are also gorgeous, so definitely impressed by the packaging.

TAT


Ordered: May 27
Shipped: June 6
Received: June 19

She did mention that orders may take up to 10 days to ship, or longer during sales, on her site. I guess I should take TAT warnings seriously.


Perfume Oils


As for the quality of these oils, I still stand by my previous review. They definitely have amazing longevity, but barely any throw, forcing you to get close to kissing distance to get a whiff. Unfortunately, all the oils I got in these next 5 scents have a sort of artificial smell that didn't agree with me.

Overall, I don't think I'll be purchasing again from them since the scents don't agree with me at all. Would I recommend it? I'm a bit iffy on this. If you want an oil that has longevity they definitely have it. Some people wouldn't mind the weak throw either, since some people don't want a perfume that stinks up the entire room. Honestly, the only oil I was impressed with out of the 10 I got was Xocolatl. Even though I hated the smell, I still admire it for smelling exactly like xocolatl. The rest smells artificial or off to me, but this is very subjective. Some people do enjoy the scents from Victoria's Secret & Bath & Bodyworks, and I find them artificial smelling. They're definitely not as artificial as some brand I've tried, where the smell just hits you in the head and gives you a headache or smell like air fresheners. At the same time, there's still something off. So I guess my stance on this is that the perfumes are worth checking out at 44% off, but definitely proceed with caution. 

As always, the scent reviews done below are done blind, and I only check the notes after I've done my review and before I do my post-description overview.

Desolation Angel

"Egyptian musk, vanilla bean, hint of walnut"

This smells very cottony and soft. This is kinda awkward but...this smells exactly like baby oil. There's even an oily smell in the background. I guess I can wax lyrical about how this smells like innocence and soft cotton, but if I'm being honest, it just smells like baby oil. There's even an oily smell in the background.

Post-description review: The next time my friend's putting baby oil on her baby, I'm going to go, "I smell the luxurious scent of Egyptian musk, delicately blended with rich, decadent vanilla beans. Do I smell the faintest whisper of another note? Ah, yes. Walnuts. There's also a hint of walnuts in it."

Carnivale

"Cotton candy, tobacco, smoke, sugar"

At first whiff, this smells great. It smells like tons of fizzy soft drinks. Awesome! Then it slowly becomes a pure grape soda smell which I find a tad artificial, but still not that bad. Unfortunately, a bitter smell starts to emerge and I'm not sure what's causing it. It's the insecticide sort of bitterness. It's like someone spiked my grape soda with ant poison and hopes I can't smell it.

Post-description review: I don't smell smokiness in this at all. Not the kind of smokiness I got used to from BathSabbath anyway. It just smells like bitter insecticide in the background.

Which Witch

"Light sandalwood, spices, woods, poppy"

Starts of smelling like lemon dishwashing soap but morphs into a slightly powdery white florals bubble bath scent, with a hint of lemons. I swear I can smell the soapy bubble scent that almost every bubble bath I've had has.

Post-description review: What is causing that soapy smell??

Annabel

"Sea salt/ozone blend that also contains dragons blood, earth, and musk"

At first, it's a sharp, sweet and cool florals. I can't identify it since it just goes straight into my head and slightly gives me a headache. It's overwhelming my nose & that's all I can smell at first. Eventually, it calms down a bit, and it becomes very heavy, musky florals, with an oily smell in the background. Just oil. It's not a fragrant oil, it just smells like scentless cooking oil that still has an oily smell. It took a while before that oil smell completely disappears, leaving just heavy, musky florals.  

Post-description review: Maybe the sea-salt/ozone blend caused the initial cool smell, but that disappears fast and this scent just gets very, very heavy.

Bad Witch

"Nag champa, frankincense, sandalwood, dragon's blood, tiny bit of aged Indian patchouli"

Er...it smells like smelly milk. Not sweetened or that cloyingly, play-doh-ish milk smell. It smells exactly like certain unsweetened milk powders that just smell bad -almost a game-y sort of bad. It smells like certain types of milk I've had in India. I learnt recently they may have been buffalo milk instead of regular milk (they did not taste like regular milk) and that may be why they had a game-y smell that I haven't acquired. That scent is the most overwhelming scent. There's a Hindu temple smell of incense, smoke and sweet offerings, but it's hidden behind that smelly milk smell.

After over an hour, there's finally a smell that smells exactly like the rooms of Hyatt hotel in Bali. My family and I used to stay there all the time when I was a kid, and I haven't been back there for close to two decades. But as soon as I smelled this, I recognized it. It's mostly a corporate-type of clean smell, with an incense bitterness that smells more like rubbing your hands on incense rather than burning it, and a whisper of Balinese florals like frangipani and jasmines hiding in the background. I love, love, love that smell. Unfortunately, the smelly milk is not completely gone. I think I'll pass on this.

Post-description review: Well, there's definitely something Indian there. I wonder if just the nag champa, sandalwood and frankincense will recreate that Hyatt hotel smell? I should customize a perfume in that combination.

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