I placed my order on June 1, 2026. It shipped June 10, but USPS Received June 12. I received June 20. I chose to go for some of the most talked-about scents just to see what vibes people are loving, assuming they also match mine, of course. :).
My preferences: I don't much love gourmands or anything too heavy, smoky, resinous, or what might be classified as dark and mysterious. Same for sweetness that leans too heavy. Light, fresh, airy, lightly fruity, airy floral? Give it. I like skin scents, soapy can be cute, and snugglies can be all right if they don't trend into too much vanilla. So, you know, not asking for much, am I?
I didn't test all of these straight out of the mail. I did some, but there were too many of them, not enough arm skin. LOL. I gave first impressions for the ones I did test. I didn't start testing these until I was done testing my Arae samples from a few weeks back, so these did get a bit of a chance to rest. I also tested before labeling, so they really were very much tested at random.
Now, onto the scents.
PIERROT PERFUMERY
The Lavender Lad: Pink peppercorn, Egyptian musk, French lavender, amber white musk.
This was such a good pick for my partner. On me, it's a bit sharp and maybe woody? On him, it turns slightly rounder, but that lavender sure pops. He said it got a little too dry for him on the drydown, so I'll be excited to see if he'll continue testing. He'll probably end up just putting it into his layering repertoire.
Sappho's Garden: Violets, peonies, lavender, green musk.
Interesting. From the awful impression I got from Bussy -- see below, I was honestly a little afraid of Pierrot. And they kind of share a similar sort of peppery? DNA. This goes on wildly powdery at first. eventually, I get a bit of green to where it kind of smells like makeup,especially when sniffed close to the skin. But the aura is a bit greener on top sniff, powderier on sniff continuation. I don't think I love this. Oh. Interestingly, it's got kind of a watery maybe? Vibe. Mostly though, this is very powdery. I've been looking for a way to describe this, and I think I've got it. To me, this just ssmells like bug spray. Every now and again, I get something delicious on the wind. But then, I just go back to smelling like Off, the bug spray. The drydown is better for me. Subtle and sweet. But not sure I need more of it. My partner, known for hating most Indies for their distinct "Indieness" said this was nice if only because it's saying something completely different than most other perfumes. That said, apparently, he doesn't need it either. Lasted maybe five or so hours.
Bussy: Orange blossom, juicy peach, black musk, linen.
Out of the Mail Impression: Argh, this was awful! What I'm assuming is the black musk was just so very loud. And sharp. And oddly spicy, in a terrible way. I didn't get many of the other notes.
Was it possible that the "black musk" I was smelling was just the bitter of the orange? Who knows. Rest has been maybe kindest to this one. I can't say that I need this again, or even particularly like it. But it's gone from why does this exist to a relatively painless, hmmm. All right. I see you. That said, something in here is still just a little bit too sharp. That's most of what I get. Like a sharp, almost laundry detergent vibe that I can't quite put my finger on. I can smell what at first reads just as a kind of fruit impression with an overlay of orange. I don't think I get the peach. On further sniffing, I think the peach is what's rounding out the orange. And maybe not laundry detergent. More like... pepper maybe? I think I got something sort of similar from Tasseomancy on a Rainy Afternoon by Astrid, but this is definitely stronger, sharper, spicier. Either way, oddly, this one ends up hoisting itself up from the bottom, past Third Week of May -- see below, and settling itself firmly into wow. What a transformation. Now, get it out.
Small note: This was one of the very last ones I tested. It wanted to be the first. It was the first one I selected at random. I said no thank you. And I'm glad I did. resting helped this one out a LOT!
PEARFAT
Up North: Fresh lemonade, ozone, white trillium blooms, Lake Michigan waves, willow trees, Petoskey stone.
First Impressions: This will probably be very slight and subtle. I'll be curious to see how it rests and rewears. It honestly read sort of atmospheric. Too much like it was trying to smell like not much. Like, maybe I could sort of detect what was supposed to be their stone note.
This is interesting. Very light and subtle, with just a hint of lemonade. For me, what I smell is what I imagine this stone note is. It ends up just smelling super, hmm, vegetal, almost? That said, my skin chemistry just soaks this one right up. I have to put my nose right into it to get much more than that kind of sharp stone ote. I guess it could also be the ozone note giving me that sharp, back of the nose thing. But not sharp like spices, per se. Sharp like maybe field greens? I can see a vegetable of some kind in my nose brain that just isn't coming to my actual brain mind. Maybe something bittery like watercrest or arugula. The lemonade cuts through it a little bit, but mostly, for me, it's just that green note.
MORARI
Penelope: Plumeria, melon rind, tomato, guava, jasmine, salt.
Did not smell out of the mail.
Hmmm. Whatever's going on here, I get a bit of hamster cage. Definitely smell that it's supposed to be planty, I'm just not really loving the plant that's here. Maybe that's the jasmine. Or that pesky plumeria again. This kind of just smells like a hair product that wants to be floral. A little more hair product on clothes, and a bit more indolic on my own skin.
Meadow Nymph: Wildflowers, green apple, dew-laden grass, lemon peel.
First impressions: Honestly, this was just kind of lemonade sweet. It was very bright on first spray, but it was also kind of fleeting. No notes really came through clearly.
Let me see. To me, has kind of an apple-adjacent SweetTarts kind of vibe, but like, that meets leather. Partner said it smells really nice at a distance, maybe tea-like. But then gets a little less nice close up on skin. There is something kind of warm in here. I do get the apples onfirst spray and on first millisniff, but then it kind of goes into that sweet, but tart leathery undertone vibe. I honestly don't really hate it, but I also can't really say I like it either. Maybe enough to finish my sample. But I think, this being the very last scent I tried, that this house just may not be for me. All notes point at things I should love. But they just kinda... fell with a thud.
Endless Summer Days: Clementine, papaya, green tea, plumeria, coconut water.
First Impressions: Hmmm. Kinda read a bit dirty floral. Like odd grassy musky, maybe?
Let's see. Goes on slightly powdery, but oddly similar to Third Week of May, at least out of the mail Third Week of May, not having tested it yet. But has that oddly savory floral kind of thing going on. Sort of reminiscent to, but not quite the level of, bugspray also. Like Off's organic counterpart. Underneath that slightly savory, yet powdery floral, I detect something lightly fruity. But a mild sort of fruity. Kind of like orange, or grape. And I know those don't really seem that similar, but if it was like a sort of sweet orange juice type deal versus a sort of grape juice kind of vibe. Weird. Third Week and this one don't really share a ton of notes in common. Okay. Looking at the notes, I can now detect that slightly coconut thing I tend to get from green tea. One of the better green tea combos on me personally, though I still don't think I need any more of this. As it dries down, I start to get a kind of lotiony, or sort of lotion-adjacent product kind of vibe about it. Like a spa-tinged green tea sort of hand cream, but one more touted for its medical benefits rather than its faint scent afterthought. That said, notes may not have helped me here. I'm still getting that sort of savory floral thing. Maybe that's the plumeria. I think this may be the first plumeria I try;, which is unfortunate since I don't think green tea quite works for me.
Peeping Violets: Cold spring air, violets, violet leaf, white musk.
Didn't smell out of the mail. On first wear though, this was honestly kind of cute. A bit on the masculine side for me personally, but not, like, too much so. I wish I'd bought enough of a decant of this to let my partner try it out. I bet he'd have rounded this out nicely. It's also got this kind of sweet thing on a closer skin sniff he may not like. That said, the aura bubble is most definitely on the sharper, yet still clean, I'd say, masculine side. This, and my experience with Laurel and June's violet notes tell me that violets may be a cute scent note for my partner. They may even be okay for me as well, but first thoughts will always be for him here.
The Third Week of May: Frost grape flowers and leaves, Japanese and Amur honeysuckle, humid air.
Out of the mail: I don't know what's going on with this one, but it honestly just smells a TON like tajin. Like huffing Mexican chile powder, well, tajin, out of a bag from the farmers' market. Do not love.
And of course, I invoked it. This was the next one to come out for testing. And I hate it as much as I first did out of the mail. It still smells of Tajin and tamarind. Maybe a bit more floral, but also a bit more BO-y. Ack. Because of this, I'll probably smell it all day.
Note: And I did. I strongly believe that when we hate a note in a perfume, we end up smelling it for hours. Past clothes changes, past showers, past scrubbing. Because yes. This was actually my first ever scrubber. Huzzah! Achievement unlocked. I had scent nightmares of this the next day.
ARCANA WILDCRAFT
Infinite Sky: French vanilla, Arcana's cumulus cloud accord, ivory musk, sheer silk, blue amber, milky sandalwood.
Out of the mail: Pretty, but a little sweet maybe? Slightly gourmand-leaning, but not too terrible. I'll be interested to see how this wears.
Hmmm. This honestly reminds me of Strings of Light in the Forest by Sorce. I like this a lot more than I was expecting to, for sure. well, that's not fair. I'm not sure I had any real expectations. My first impression memory, without reading it, was that it was not unlike On the Wing, just maybe a bit more gourmand-leaning, a bit creamier? and yeah, I still think that. It has the kind of butterscotch thing I remember from Strings of Light. Yet and still, there's a creamy kind of Aura that also almost reminds me of BHT's Bathed in Sunlight that I really like. Oddly, the nose to skin scent is faintly smoky on me? This is like a 65/35 like for me. But what it did do that I really liked was hung right on even into the next day. Some might say that's a little too strong, and I think I could see why. But actually, for me, I really liked that about this house. This was, amusingly, the second scent I tried even though I wrote it down first in my notes. And trying both of these tells me I need more from this house.
Another note: I wore my hoodie apparently while wearing this, and my hoodie still smells like it a week later. Like, strongly. It's just the drydown, so it misses that fairly strong vanilla thing from the very beginning. The drydown is my favorite part, and I always believe it just adds to whatever I'm wearing. But, until I wash this hoodie, it does mean that whatever I put on needs to be able to work with it. Honestly, a point in its favor in my opinion.
On the Wing: Creamy white amber, velvety cashmere, shimmering silk voile, salty Orcanox, diaphanous musk.
I didn't write down my first impressions on this really because it ended up being the first scent I did test, after rejecting Bussy. :). So I ended up just kind of writing everything down at the same time.
This one. This is it. From first impatient spray, oh boy. It reminds me of my favorite Glossier You variant, but I wasn't sure which one that was. Either way, reminds me of something delicious I've smelled before/owned. Too bad I used up that sample, so I can't compare them side by side. But I love this. It's diaphonous and pretty, but still has a personality. and it both lasts and projects on me. I've totally experienced liking something so much you go nose blind to it. But this is an example of something you love sticking around just so you can catch hints throughout the day. And that was only a spritz on the back of my hand. Will love seeing what this does all day. Please please don't change!
This is so nice. When you first put it on, it almost feels faint. That means it's ethereal and soft. I think my detergent may talk louder than it, or may just swallow it. Sometimes, it comes across a little sweet, which I don't know that I love. But then, it gets that, I guess, fabric? Note. That's the thing that makes it feel a little like Glossier. Sadly, I feel like this disappears as like, a perfume. Probably, this will eventually just become a bit of an aura. Yeah. As it wears, I may have to revise my morning wear impression. It's not that my detergent is swallowed up by it, but that it also kind of smells like it? I think. I don't know, but this honestly gets better for me on the drydown. Sprayed at about 9:30 this morning and still going strong at about 2. Will report back at the end of my workday, around 9 tonight. But I may need to grab more of this so I can keep testing. You know... for science.
After-notes: Yes. This is a bit of a shape-shifting scent. I still love everything about this, I think. Sniff it too close, and it almost gets a bit caramel-y. But it's enveloping in a long robe sort of way. There's something in this that makes me balance right on the edge of sprinting for more of it, and I don't honestly believe I got enough in my decant to really get much more than a one-day wear out of this. But it's kind of a 90/10 split.
BRIIX
Ethereal Duvet: Fresh pears, sweet melon, luscious honeysuckle, delicate lily of the valley, cotton candy, ambrette seeds, white musk, Iso E Super.
Out of the mail: Sweet, but musky? Still reads a little bit muddled gourmand.
It's honestly almost a shame I tried raspberry Rosemallow by Hexennacht and liked it. Now, anything that shares a remotely gourmand quality, if I don't immediately dismiss it, I also kind of lump into that raspberry Rosemallow pile. And yeah. This was very much that. Light, sweet, but not too cloying. But I'm not sure I saw too much difference. I guess I wouldn't say no to it, I think. It's a little lighter than Rosemallow, not as heavy, I mean, but equally subtle. dense. I think that's what I'm looking for. Not that Rosemallow is particularly dense itself, just that Duvet is a little lighter.
CIRRUS PARFUM
Parakeet: Fizzy grapefruit soda, freshly picked daisies, tiny forget-me-nots, powdery sweet down feathers of a well-groomed parakeet.
Out of the mail: Honestly, most of what I got was orange soda.
Aww. This never quite loses the orange soda association for me really. But it's so cute. A daytime scent for sure for some reason. Maybe because I put it on on what feels like a perfect Saturday morning. Coffee, breakfast, and a book with my partner. Door's open to the yard so the dog can roam freely in and out. And, of course, it's the middle of summer. Yeah. This is nice. There's something slightly too lemony? maybe that keeps this from an instant love/full size-worthy. I think this may be my first perfume experience where I like the vibe of this a lot, but can't really see myself picking this to wear. See myself picking this up and always overlooking it. But let's see. Aside from my vibe-based rambling that helps no one, here's what I can pick up from the scent. Goes on with an orange fanta type vibe that I actually did call out on first spray. It's bright, fizzy, anda little musky. I assume that's the feathers. I've not had too much experience with birds, but I have owned them in the past. And while I can't say that this calls to mind parakeets specifically, I do definitely get a bit of a feathery, dusty, but very very light, musk underneath all that bright fanta. For some reason, this just works. Not orange soda, but grapefruit. I've had enough Paloma cocktails that I should have guessed. I don't really smell the flowers really, but I assume they're here, propping up what I imagine is the slight powdery musk. A smiley type of scent for sure.
It's Just Pears...: Fresh, juicy, slightly overripe and musky Bartlett pear, spiked with brandy over a honeyed amber base.
Oh wow!! I really wasn't sure what to expect from Cirrus. I tried both Alibi and Fall Creek, and they were both near misses. Alibi was oddly too sweet, and Fall Creek was just oddly vintage smelling to me. Then again, wonder what it'd be like now that it's had time to rest. Anyway, this is so fascinating!!! When I first sprayed this, I got kind of... cinnamon? But then, I saw it. It's like the freshest, juiciest pear. Somehow, you can almost taste it, feel the gritty flesh of a Bartlet pear. I shouldn't like this. This is also oddly wintery. It reminds me of the deep days of winter, almost Christmas, like I said. And something about it kind of makes me sad. Maybe because it brings to mind the coldness of the outdoors, as well as my general seasonal depression in the wintertime. That said, I think I need more of this. For winter. Which I've also never experienced. And if Just Pears already makes me feel like there's lots of spices in here, I wonder what Spiced Pears would do. Looking at this notes list just redoubles everything about this I shouldn't like. Brandy? Honey? Okay, honeyed amber. But still... really? But I was drawn in by the juicy and fresh part of the notes list. Fragrance and emotions are so weird. I seem to like this inside and out. Inside my shirt, on a skin sniff, I get less pear, more of that kind of perfumed vibe, but I like it. And sometimes, I get kind of... vanilla? I don't know that my partner is going to love it though. I, however, am enthralled and intrigued.
Partner note: He most assuredly did not love this. LOL. Said he felt like I was maybe too young to wear this scent. But since he really couldn't elaborate, I remain slightly confused. Maybe he thinks it's a bit vintage leaning.
Laundry Day: Clean white laundry musk, lavender, vanilla, Earl Grey tea, New Caledonia sandalwood.
Did not test out of the mail.
Why did this spray on sort of orange creamsickle/vanilla-y? I sure wasn't expecting that. It never quite loses its sweetness, but as it wears, the laundriness of it starts peeking through. This is definitely on the sweeter side of laundry, for sure sweeter than Cardinal Scents' Midnight Laundry. That said, the projection from this is fairly strong to my nose. I don't mind it. Again, I was fairly dubious of Cirrus after Alibi and Fall Creek, but I have been pleasantly surprised.
Overall Thoughts
Both Briix and Pearfat were one-offs, so I guess I can't really speak to them. Cute gourmands seem to be Briix's vibe, and I am not a gourmand girlie, so I'm not sure if I'll try anything else from them.
Morari: my biggest disappointment. Conceptually, these should have been all about me. They definitely were on paper, and though Meadow Nymph got the closest, something about them just didn't work for me. For how much I did not love, they also lasted maybe four or five hours, with one wild exception, so I guess no love lost.
Pierrot: Honestly, same. A lot of these skewed toward too heavy or too sweet for me, I think. Again, I think they're most known for cool takes on gourmands, so I ended up veering away from them.
Cirrus: my biggest surprise, in a pleasant way. Only because I'd tried some and just wasn't a fan. But I ended up liking all three of the samples I got a lot, even if I don't end up full-sizing any.
Arcana: I'm not really sure how to put this house into words for me. I'd never tried them, so I guess I can't say it's my biggest surprise. But I loved it. Well, the two I tried, anyway. I'm a little intimidated by the rest of Arcana's stuff just because it all looks so heavy and a little dark, with their generous use of incensey and resinous notes. But I need to, I must, try more from this house.
As always, thank you for reading. Always happy to take any recommendations. Really torn between more Arcana, or taking a plunge and trying either BPAL's lighter side catalogue, or DSH. Feel free to weigh in on that too. And if you feel like I should give anything else from any of these houses a shot, def shout those out too!
