I ordered 4 sets of Deep Midnight's perfume samples some time ago. Each set is supposed to come with 5 samples but this is what I got:
That's right. FOUR extra perfumes! I was so ecstatic!
Besides this, I can't comment much on the customer service since I didn't really chat with Cat, and my order went smoothly. I also sent my order to my cousin's place, so I can't comment on the TAT since she didn't pay attention to when my orders arrived.
For this review, I'm reviewing the Hallows Eve Halloween Sample Set #1, which comes with these scents:
+ Bonus: Haunted Hayride
I'll save my Christmas/Winter themed scents for a later date.
My impression of these perfumes is that you have to keep an open mind. Almost every scent I tried smelled like a scrubber in the first 5-10 minutes. Once you power through and the scent settles, it's better.
As for sillage and longevity, my result was surprising, so I quickly checked with other reviewers to see if my results were common. Other reviews I found either didn't mention longevity or sillage, or mentioned mixed longevity & sillage. So I'm not sure if it's my skin chemistry, but I got a huge mix of throws & longevities too. Certain scents can fill up an entire elevator while certain scents are relatively weak and you have to get close to the skin to catch a whiff. It may be best to try a sample first before committing to a full size so you can figure out the sillage & longevity of that particular scent.
So I guess for this, I'm going to comment on the longevity & sillage of each scent separately in the scent reviews. As usual, scent reviews are done blind until the TL;DR's done, overviews are written if there's any surprising notes.
At first, this smells like a heavily sweetened sekoteng, an Indonesian dessert with a sweet ginger-based soup, palm fruit, sago (kinda like jellies...if you've tried boba, it's close to that, just softer & less chewy) and beans. While the fragrant sugar & ginger smell is strongest, there's still a milkiness in this that makes me think of sekoteng with milk.
After 15-20 minutes, it changes into a sweet and slightly woody, creamy Indonesian spices scent. Some people may enjoy this scent more, but I personally love the initial Indonesian dessert smell, even with the beans...especially with the beans, actually. I get the scent of old books left lingering on my skin when it dries down.
This scent starts at faux whispering distance and stays this way for about 50 minutes before it slowly fades. By 1h 30min from application, you need to get close to the skin to catch a whiff.
TL;DR: Indonesian mung bean dessert turning into sweet, slightly woody & creamy Indonesian spices.
Overview: I have a feeling there may be vetiver in this, since I've been looking at perfumes that have a mung bean smell on me and the common denominator is often vetiver.
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Besides this, I can't comment much on the customer service since I didn't really chat with Cat, and my order went smoothly. I also sent my order to my cousin's place, so I can't comment on the TAT since she didn't pay attention to when my orders arrived.
For this review, I'm reviewing the Hallows Eve Halloween Sample Set #1, which comes with these scents:
- Catrianna's Cauldron
- Children of the Night
- Gardens and Graves
- Samhain Night
- Sleepy Hollow
+ Bonus: Haunted Hayride
I'll save my Christmas/Winter themed scents for a later date.
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Perfume Oils General Review
My impression of these perfumes is that you have to keep an open mind. Almost every scent I tried smelled like a scrubber in the first 5-10 minutes. Once you power through and the scent settles, it's better.
As for sillage and longevity, my result was surprising, so I quickly checked with other reviewers to see if my results were common. Other reviews I found either didn't mention longevity or sillage, or mentioned mixed longevity & sillage. So I'm not sure if it's my skin chemistry, but I got a huge mix of throws & longevities too. Certain scents can fill up an entire elevator while certain scents are relatively weak and you have to get close to the skin to catch a whiff. It may be best to try a sample first before committing to a full size so you can figure out the sillage & longevity of that particular scent.
So I guess for this, I'm going to comment on the longevity & sillage of each scent separately in the scent reviews. As usual, scent reviews are done blind until the TL;DR's done, overviews are written if there's any surprising notes.
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Catrianna's Cauldron
"Sweet frankincense, a concoction of rare spices, and a warm creamy vanilla, all topped off with a whiff of cauldron smoke. A personal favorite… of course."At first, this smells like a heavily sweetened sekoteng, an Indonesian dessert with a sweet ginger-based soup, palm fruit, sago (kinda like jellies...if you've tried boba, it's close to that, just softer & less chewy) and beans. While the fragrant sugar & ginger smell is strongest, there's still a milkiness in this that makes me think of sekoteng with milk.
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| Sekoteng! If you ever get the chance to try this, be very careful since we Indonesians like our ginger strong enough to make our throats and stomachs really burn. If you've ever gotten a package from me, you may have gotten a ginger candy from me. I picked a milder, "tourist-friendly" version of the candy, so if you find it spicy, you need to be careful with ginger desserts in Indonesia. Image courtesy of The Samperuru on Flickr bilingual recipe for sekoteng here (full disclosure, I've never attempted to make this) |
After 15-20 minutes, it changes into a sweet and slightly woody, creamy Indonesian spices scent. Some people may enjoy this scent more, but I personally love the initial Indonesian dessert smell, even with the beans...especially with the beans, actually. I get the scent of old books left lingering on my skin when it dries down.
This scent starts at faux whispering distance and stays this way for about 50 minutes before it slowly fades. By 1h 30min from application, you need to get close to the skin to catch a whiff.
TL;DR: Indonesian mung bean dessert turning into sweet, slightly woody & creamy Indonesian spices.
Overview: I have a feeling there may be vetiver in this, since I've been looking at perfumes that have a mung bean smell on me and the common denominator is often vetiver.
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Children of the Night
"What sweet music they make! A nice Gothic blend of dragon’s blood, silky champas, deep vanilla, black fig, and the haunting faint breath of heliotrope. This unisex scent will leave them howling for more."
There's a cottony and soft smell I normally associate with baby oil, and it's mingled with heavy, powdery florals I normally associate with older women as well as something vaguely toxic. The toxic smell is that chemical smell that smells exactly like those foam toys I used to have as a kid.
It isn't too emphasized on me, and just adds a hint of something sinister on me, but I can see it going crazy on some people. The result on me is pretty intoxicating. Makes you think of the mom who doesn't realize all the boys have a crush on her.
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| I liked the smell so much, I used to chew on them. Image courtesy of bathtimefuntime.com |
It isn't too emphasized on me, and just adds a hint of something sinister on me, but I can see it going crazy on some people. The result on me is pretty intoxicating. Makes you think of the mom who doesn't realize all the boys have a crush on her.
By 25 min, the scent takes a more watery quality to it and the powdery florals starts smelling more dusty. Not a gross kind of dusty, more like an old, forgotten room sort of dusty. Now this makes me think of a beautiful woman who seems more sinister and ancient than she looks.
The scent opens up really strong at casual conversation distance, but quickly fades to intimate whisper distance within 5-10 minutes. It stays this way for about 3h though!
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| She seems nice, we should totally say hi! Gorgeous photography by Amanda Diaz |
TL;DR: Gorgeous, seductively dressed woman from a horror movie. It's always the seductively dressed ones who end up being the one going on a murder spree.
Overview: These seems wayyy too sweet and powdery to be masculine, but it does say it's supposed to be unisex. So I tried it on my boyfriend and yes, it's too feminine on him. The scent on him is similar to the scent on me. The only difference is that the toxic smell is amped up on him so it smells like the slightly cloying, sweet, and stinging smell you get when you burn those packing foam (I had pyromanic tendencies as a kid) mixed with the baby oil and powdery, dusty florals.
Overview: These seems wayyy too sweet and powdery to be masculine, but it does say it's supposed to be unisex. So I tried it on my boyfriend and yes, it's too feminine on him. The scent on him is similar to the scent on me. The only difference is that the toxic smell is amped up on him so it smells like the slightly cloying, sweet, and stinging smell you get when you burn those packing foam (I had pyromanic tendencies as a kid) mixed with the baby oil and powdery, dusty florals.
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Gardens & Graves
"Melancholy notes wrap you in a blanket of flowers and damp earth. Be at peace with the scent of rose petals, vetiver, and a handful of fresh dirt."
Have you guys ever grown mung beans in tissues?
You know how that tissue gets this soggy, earthy smell? This smells like that and roses. The rose tries its best to drown the soggy mung bean tissue smell, but alas it has to grudgingly share equal weight in this scent for about 15 minutes. Fortunately, it eventually won over and this smell becomes a watery, candied roses sort of scent with a hint of soggy tissue. By an hour, the soggy tissues scent is gone and it's mostly just sweet water & rose.
This scent is strong and stays at casual conversation distance for about 40-50 minutes. It fades to about kissing distance by 2h, though.
TL;DR: Soggy mung bean tissue with roses.
Overview: It's probably vetiver turning into mung beans on me. Ten Three Labs' His House of Fear also has this mung bean smell and the only thing these two scents have in common is the vetiver.
"The orange and yellow moon is full and gleams through the trees as round as a jack o lantern. You just want to get through the woods and back home for a peaceful night. The crisp and lush smells of fall leaves and acorns, pumpkins, sweet candy treats, and fragrant spices, haunt your senses and relax you. Wait…was that the sound of horse’s hooves you just heard?"
Like my experience with most Deep Midnight perfumes, you have to power through the initial weirdness before the smell settles. Initialy there's a lavender milk smell and something fresh. The milk has a tad of that game-y buffalo milk smell. It's not prominent enough to be horrible, but enough to make me get nervous about this scent. After about 5-8 minutes, the fresh smell starts to reveal itself as a sour citrus smell, but I'm not sure if this is a milk note going sour on me, and it quickly fades back into the smell.
Close to 20 minutes in, this scent finally settles into sheer awesomeness. It's a very relaxing, cool scent with a filling gourmand. It smells like curling into bed after drinking a glass of milk with a full stomach from eating tons of carbs during an awesome Thanksgiving meal where you only focused on the desserts. My stomach actually feels satisfied smelling this. This can totally help me diet if I ever feel like dieting.
This starts of at about faux whisper distance for about 30-40 minutes, and the fades to an intimate whisper distance until about 1 1/2h from first application. You need to get close to the skin to catch a whiff by 2h.
TL;DR: Curling into bed with a glass of milk after stealing all the Thanksgiving desserts.
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| I loved doing this..if you have kids, totally do this. It's fun. Image courtesy of howtokidsactivities.wordpress.com |
You know how that tissue gets this soggy, earthy smell? This smells like that and roses. The rose tries its best to drown the soggy mung bean tissue smell, but alas it has to grudgingly share equal weight in this scent for about 15 minutes. Fortunately, it eventually won over and this smell becomes a watery, candied roses sort of scent with a hint of soggy tissue. By an hour, the soggy tissues scent is gone and it's mostly just sweet water & rose.
This scent is strong and stays at casual conversation distance for about 40-50 minutes. It fades to about kissing distance by 2h, though.
TL;DR: Soggy mung bean tissue with roses.
Overview: It's probably vetiver turning into mung beans on me. Ten Three Labs' His House of Fear also has this mung bean smell and the only thing these two scents have in common is the vetiver.
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Sleepy Hollow
"The orange and yellow moon is full and gleams through the trees as round as a jack o lantern. You just want to get through the woods and back home for a peaceful night. The crisp and lush smells of fall leaves and acorns, pumpkins, sweet candy treats, and fragrant spices, haunt your senses and relax you. Wait…was that the sound of horse’s hooves you just heard?"
Like my experience with most Deep Midnight perfumes, you have to power through the initial weirdness before the smell settles. Initialy there's a lavender milk smell and something fresh. The milk has a tad of that game-y buffalo milk smell. It's not prominent enough to be horrible, but enough to make me get nervous about this scent. After about 5-8 minutes, the fresh smell starts to reveal itself as a sour citrus smell, but I'm not sure if this is a milk note going sour on me, and it quickly fades back into the smell.
Close to 20 minutes in, this scent finally settles into sheer awesomeness. It's a very relaxing, cool scent with a filling gourmand. It smells like curling into bed after drinking a glass of milk with a full stomach from eating tons of carbs during an awesome Thanksgiving meal where you only focused on the desserts. My stomach actually feels satisfied smelling this. This can totally help me diet if I ever feel like dieting.
This starts of at about faux whisper distance for about 30-40 minutes, and the fades to an intimate whisper distance until about 1 1/2h from first application. You need to get close to the skin to catch a whiff by 2h.
TL;DR: Curling into bed with a glass of milk after stealing all the Thanksgiving desserts.
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Haunted Hayride
"A veritable Halloween feast of delights! Envision an evening hay ride through a haunted forest where many a spook and spectre await you... and at the end of it all you are welcomed safely to a cozy barn filled with the scents of sweet pumpkins, roasted marshmallows, candycorn, soft notes of hay and leaves, sprinkled with warm spices, and tossed amongst base notes of rich vanilla and buttery Tunisian Frankincense. A gourmand delight! BOO!"
Since I have never sniffed actual hay before, this was what assumed this is what hay would smell like - slightly sweet, warm, fragrant grass. That's before I sniffed some realistic "hay" scents and they all smelled like dried grass and old earth. So I'm guessing I may have to alter my expectations of what hay smells like...
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| Look at this! Don't you expect it to smell beautiful too?? Image found on Huffington Post, courtesy of Getty Images |
So this is a romanticized hay smell with something that smells nutty. I caught a whiff of what I think was apples in the beginning, but it blended into the scent fast.
The smell is bordering on turning into a bubble bath scent at times so that's something to watch out for. I did catch an artificial fruit smell in the beginning but it mellowed out nicely on me. If your skin tends to amp up the artificial fruit smell, definitely watch out.
This scent starts off at faux whisper distance but quickly goes to intimate whispering distance within 10 minutes. It gets pretty faint around 1h and you definitely have to get close to the skin to get a whiff.
This scent starts off at faux whisper distance but quickly goes to intimate whispering distance within 10 minutes. It gets pretty faint around 1h and you definitely have to get close to the skin to get a whiff.
TL;DR: Romanticized hay with something nutty.
Overview: This smell really doesn't smell gourmand at all, and smells closer to a bubble bath scent than something you'd want to eat. It's also more fresh than creamy, unlike what I'd expect from the scent description. I tried this scent two more times since I was so confused. Not sure if it's a note going whacky on me.
Overview: This smell really doesn't smell gourmand at all, and smells closer to a bubble bath scent than something you'd want to eat. It's also more fresh than creamy, unlike what I'd expect from the scent description. I tried this scent two more times since I was so confused. Not sure if it's a note going whacky on me.
Samhain
"The veil grows thin as midnight approaches. The sounds of dry leaves and a sighing earth fill your mind as tendrils of frankincense, amber, sweet red apples and an offering of red wine caress your body."
The first 5-10 min is not that great for me -it smells like grape soda & liquorice. Grape soda smells gross to me, and I always find the smell of liquorice too much like cough syrup -the kind where the manufacturer doesn't even try to hide the fact that it tastes like crap -so I wasn't a fan initially.
If you power through, it suddenly smells like a fruity potpourri bubble bath. Somehow, the two cloying smells clashed and ended up cancelling each other out. There's still traces of that artificial fruity smell though, so that's something to watch out for.
This scent has a significantly weaker throw than the rest. It starts of at faux whisper distance and immediately gets close to the skin by 5-10 minutes.
TL;DR: Fruity potpourri bubble bath.
If you power through, it suddenly smells like a fruity potpourri bubble bath. Somehow, the two cloying smells clashed and ended up cancelling each other out. There's still traces of that artificial fruity smell though, so that's something to watch out for.
This scent has a significantly weaker throw than the rest. It starts of at faux whisper distance and immediately gets close to the skin by 5-10 minutes.
TL;DR: Fruity potpourri bubble bath.
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