Odette
Clean sun dried linens, tuberose, ginger lily and white musk.
I wanted to love this one so badly. x) I mean it has ginger lilies and some really good reviews plus I got a full bottle. (&I don't think I've ever regretted any of the full bottles I've got from HoG.)
It starts off clean. Super clean, almost like fabric softener if you asked me. But once that powdery clean fades off, heady florals like its place and they don't really change the impression of the aforementioned softener.
(I'm blaming the tuberose really. x) Ginger lilies don't smell like this!!)
However, on the dry down, it's less screechy, reminds me less of laundry detergent and wears slightly more lovely.
I don't think it's the 'clean, sun dried linens' that keeps bringing me back to 'LAUNDRY, LAUNDRY, LAUNDRY'. I remember Solstice Scents had 'Linen & Ivy' that was also a lot about freshly washed clothes but also had a green tinge to it, which made it smell so wonderful. I basically think it's the tuberose that's kinda disagreeing with me.
But like all perfume oils, try it on your skin and give it time. The dry down still doesn't exactly conjure images of floating swans but of flapping clothes pegged on a laundry line, on a hot summer day with a breeze from the flower garden swirling around, but it's a pretty nice scent, once you're more used to it.
I'm probably gonna let my bottle age a bit and see what happens. (Yes, HoG perfumes have this awesome quality of smelling more well rounded and wonderful a little while later. I didn't like my bottle of Fe'ausi at first but I'm utterly in love with it for some reason or other. Review soon maybe. ;D)
Come Hither
Based off of traditional herbs and roots used in Hoodoo to draw and attract a lover, or entice the one you've already ensnared! Bourbon vanilla, tonka bean, a touch of rose oil, Queen Elizabeth root, three threads of saffron and a touch of honey to sweeten the whole deal.
Out of the vial, it smelled so good, like wooden honey and something sticky/golden/sweet. On my skin wet, it smelled equally amazing, so golden and sugary, with a timid sprinkle of rose petals.
It's so lovely but it doesn't stay like this for long; the dry down (on me), makes the scent slightly thicker and just a teensy bit more cloying (tonka bean maybe?). It finally dries down to the dusty almond scent I get from White Raspberry so I'm convinced my skin doesn't really like HoG oils as much as my nose does.
(However, I haven't revisted White Raspberry in a while, and if ageing can make the dusty almonds go away, I'll be so happy. Cause it means that ageing Come Hither will let me be able to wear the golden floral juice, for a long time. ^^)
It's such a nice smell so it's a definite pity I can't wear it. However, a trick I've found is to lightly dab the perfume oil onto the ends of your hair. Yeah, yeah you might look slightly weird grabbing up bunches of your hair to smell throughout the day but it's a pretty nice way to wear scents you can't wear on your skin.
(&sometimes I do this for scents I can wear too. xD)
Spring Tonic #1
Californian lemon, Mexican lime, parsley and dandelion greens.
Like a burst of fresh juicy limes. You pick up the lemon slowly after but to my nose it's lime lime lime from the start.
However, the parsley and the greens definitely help keep this blend from turning into dishwashing fluid (there I go again with the household chores) and it's slightly sweet, earthy and more grounded when the dandelions and parsley smells start to sprout.
It's a pretty linear scent, nothing fancy about it, but sometimes it's all you need. It's as refreshing as a splash of iced tea and it gives you a mental picture of someone using lemonade + limeade to water the parsley and greens, on a hot afternoon. Imagine you're the parsley. xD
Not a scent I'd want a full bottle of, per se, but watch me splash my sample all over me, come one hot day.
Spring Tonic #2
Fresh cucumber, parsley and dandelion greens.
The scent of the dirt and dandelions is definitely more pronounced in this scent. (If you liked the dirt from Ploughman, you can say hi to it here.)
The cucumber is fresh and watery and the whole scent is more of a fight between a just-picked cucumber and some wild greeness than an actual cucumber salad. Unless you like dirt in your salad of course.
Like Tonic #1, it's extremely linear, with no surprises, though *SPOILER* the cucumber wins in the end and dominates for the rest of the scent. It might get slightly synthetic to some but it might be pure bliss after a cold winter to others.
Definitely an equally cheering scent, spring tonic really.
~~~
All in all, I can't say I'm ultra overjoyed with the HoG V day collection but I can't say I'm disappointed either. (HoG, would you ever let me down? xD)
But I'm waiting eagerly for the Solstice Scents V Day package to come (!!!) and I'll definitely try & review them for you all. xD
Hope you had a wonderful Valentines =D
All love,
Alethea
I really enjoy reading your post and how one perfume vial can have so many different layers of scents (coming from someone who can't really smell--me ;) )
ReplyDeleteHa! Your take on the spring tonics was amusing. :)
ReplyDeleteI planned on skipping this release but maybe will get a sample of ST#2, I had been eyeing it before and I do love Ploughman.
Ylbb~ Haha thanks ^^ I don't know, I've been doing a diploma in Perfumery and Cosmetic Science for the past 2 years so at some point or other, you just kinda get more attuned to different smells. xD I'm still noweher near the actual standards of fine fragrance perfumers but hopefully soon? xD
ReplyDeleteI do think it's just a lot of practice. \^^/
Jean ~ Haha thanks. x) They're quite fun scents. ^^
&yes, it's like Ploughman with less earth and a rather fruity cucumber on top. x) If that sounds good to you, then by all means =D