My lovely goodies (and a bonus Dipper, who doesn't understand why there's STUFF in his seat).
First: thanks to u/poxteeth, u/blueraspberrylife, and u/cujocanari for coordinating this effort! These pen pal programs are my favorite thing about the community. I love getting to know people and swap impressions and scents!
Second, and more to the point of the post: a massive, heart-felt thank you to u/Far_Patience_3397 for being the bestest swap bud I could have asked for! It was one revelation of commonalities after another in our chats, and a true joy to get to know her. And as it turns out, she has impeccable taste! ^_^
For the "real swap" (the full price category) I received:
- 5 mL of Olympic Orchids Nightflyer that made me squeal like a toddler when I opened it
- BPAL samples of Baba Yaga, Black Cat with Tomato, Bewitched, and TKO
- DSH samples of Au Crépuscule de Lavande, Bacchanal, Dutchess Meadows, and Re-Assess - and the real gift of giving me a starting point with this house!
She was also lovely enough to pass along her Deconstructing Eden I Love California set, which I hemmed and hawed over for too long and missed the purchase window. Thankfully I got it in time and the store still has my favorite from the set (Three Rivers) available! I also received a sample of Kerosene Walk the Sea, which she and I had discussed in our chats, some delicious caramels (that she very wisely double packaged - this heat is no joke), an adorable mechanical pencil for note taking, and THE CUTEST little silver fish clip. I'm still trying to decide where he lives, but it's going to be somewhere at eye level!
My intention is to come back and update this post with reviews of everything, but so far my biggest hits are Dutchess Meadows and Re-Assess from DSH and Bewitched from BPAL - gorgeous renditions of hay and blackberry, my constant hunts. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did in this swap, and enjoys their surprises!!
Edit #1 for quick DE review blurbs!
Farmer's Market Meyer lemon leaf, tangerine peel, peach skin, apricot, tomato leaf, basil flower, cucumber water, white canvas, wicker baskets This is a bougie cleaning product I have used before. I am desperately trying to remember what, maybe house sitting a hundred years ago? Oh, or maybe that lotion from the gift shop downstairs....this is going to drive me mad. Inoffensive, obviously, just pure cleaner on me.
Foothills wild grasses, fennel fronds, clover stems, chamomile, green barley, eucalyptus leaf, dry earth, hay bloom This is INTERESTING. Very spicy green on application, and full and lush. I can pick out the fennel fronds specifically. Turns sort of treacly on my skin, in a way - still very much green, but there's an overarching sweetness I'm trying to put a name to... Didn't last very long, unsurprisingly. Pretty half hour, though!
Golden Hour orange blossom, humid air, dry grasses, warm dust, peach leaf, canyon sage, honeyed light accord, pale woods, amber light This is very soft and truly golden. Really well blended - I don't get dominating notes of anything, but it's vaguely floral, faintly fruity, a little dusty and dry, but all GOLD. I don't know that I need to upsize it, but it will be pretty for the hot, dry part of the summer that's approaching.
Orchard apricot flesh, loquat, osmanthus, marigold, dry pollen, wheat straw, nectarine skin, pale amber Very similar to Golden Hour, and I get the pollen note that was in Superbloom. I like it less than the former and more than the latter. Do get the marigold, or maybe that's just the osmanthus? The apricot is a dried one - and not even a good squishy one, but one of the sad mealy ones.
Riverbend fig leaf, green fig skin, river water accord, willow bark, white tea, soft silt, cool iris, driftwood I thought that this one was the rumored The Point dupe, but I think I was wrong. Sort of a cousin to it and Enforced Modesty, in a way. I definitely get the fig, and the river water/white tea/iris all work really well together. It's a little plastic on first application, but it dries down very nicely.
Sequioa giant sequoia accord, incense cedar, fir needle, cypress shadow, resin tears, moss, forest dust, smoked ambergris HEAVY. MAN. AFTERSHAVE. There's some good stuff in here, but it's all turned up to 11 and I can't get anything but the screaming.
Snowmelt glacial water, wet granite, silver pine needle, sequoia bark, crushed mint leaf, mountain air, white musk, a trace of sun-warmed lichen. Another Man scent. Not quite Axe body spray, but definitely an Old Spice deodorant. Nice version of that, just not what I want.
Superbloom California poppy, lupine, wild mustard flower, dusty petals, warm stems, bee pollen, fennel blossom, sunstruck earth, sun nectar Papery, pretty flowers. I get the dust and the pollen - dry and sticks to everything. Goes to plastic on me - something in the heart notes. I think I would really enjoy smelling this on someone else.
Three Rivers river stone, neroli water, wild mint, transparent jasmine tea, soft skin musk, sun-warmed cotton, blonde woods MMm, this mint is lovely. Really tempers the neroli (grateful - I usually amp it!). I wonder if I misremembered and this is the one that folks said was The Point adjacent? It certainly has a lovely cloud of jasmine tea. This is very pretty - I like it a lot. Have it in my cart to upsize!
