Indie Makeup and More

Okay, day 2 of Alkemia samples. :) (10/13).

Vert sur le Vert (green, green, green, and more sweet, smooshed greens). Yes! This is the sharp green of freshly-mown grass and weeds. It's so true-to-life; it takes me right back to summertime as a kid growing up in the country. This is not a great time for me to be "reviewing" it because I actually just applied it less than an hour ago. It does seem to be softening some, though, and I feel like I'm starting to smell a little bit of aldehyde and the bitter sharpness is rounding out. Really loving this so far. I'm hoping it doesn't change much more.

Taste of Rain (a primordially vernal chypre consecrated by silver rain, green ivy, holy basil, lilacs, moss, and wisteria). This is quite sweet, but not unexpectedly so, I suppose. On me, the floral elements are a lot stronger than the green or rain, but I do think the letter help keep it from being cloying. It's very pretty and feminine. Probably not something I'd FS, but I'm enjoying the sample so far.

10/14, some more Alkemia.

Mist Becoming Rain (Rainwater, mist drenched hazel wood, meadow grasses, sage blooms, orris root, ozone, grey amber. Deep, dark, cool and mysterious.) This is pretty nice in the vial, but on me the amber is really dominant. It's a "cool" amber, and there's a bit of petrichor, too, but none of the other notes are evident when I wear it, unfortunately.

The First Dandelion (a bright meadow of sunny dandelion flowers, green dandelion leaves, and warm dirt). This has been a really pleasant surprise. In the vial, it's a little bitter and "weedy". When first applied, it's very green and dandelion-y, but it softens fairly soon into something fresh and softly floral, a little sweet and a litlte green. Quite different from what I was expecting, but I like it. Not sure I like it enough to FS, but I'll see how I feel about it after testing it some more later.

10/15 -- I got quite a few Alkemia samples, and here are some more. :)

Taste of Rain (a primordially vernal chypre consecrated by silver rain, green ivy, holy basil, lilacs, moss, and wisteria). Quite pretty and feminine, with the lilac and wisteria dominating on me. It's faded quite a bit since I applied it, but after dry-down, it was a nice, spring-like floral with a bit of green that added freshness and evened out the sweetness somewhat. After several hours, it's seemed to all but disappear, though.

Athame (an arcane ceremony of melting wax candles, santalum, aloeswood and other rare ritual incense woods, and the metallic spirit of a copper athame). This was one of my bonus samples, and it's definitely not something I would have chosen on my own. When first applied, I thought it smelled like beeswax, powdery chocolate, and sweet incense. After several hours, I'd still say there's a bit of powdery chocolate and a touch of molasses-y honey (like a "dark honey", not a bright one), but it's mostly sweet, woody incense. It seems to have good lasting powder. It's not the kind of scent I really enjoy, but I'm glad I tried it.

I finished up my new Weenie reviews, so I'm returning to a favorite from last year. Today is BPAL Dead Leaves, Vanilla Bean, Pink Fig, and Brandied Dates. I absolutely love this blend, it's earthy fruity and sweet. Just a touch of booziness from the dates. It's a sexy dead leaves blend.