Alkemia Haul

Alkemia is a company that I find myself ordering from a lot, mainly because of their great 5 pack of samples for 10 bucks with free shipping. I mainly ordered this time because they had Summer Dandelion in the "Last Chance" section of their store, and I am a bit obsessed with Dandelion scents, and decided that I needed them all.

I also decided to order a sampler pack, because my list of scents to try was growing pretty long, and I decided to take this chance to thin it down a bit.

Now my nose is not very developed. Its very hard for me to pick out individual scents apart from the very obvious ones. But I'll try to figure out which notes I do an do not pick out during this review.

• Summer Dandelion: "An exuberant exultation of sun warmed dandelions and meadow grasses lightly dampened by fleeting summer rain showers." I picked this one up in a full size because I enjoyed my sample that I had gotten earlier, and was scared about missing it and not getting a chance to get it again later. In the vial you can definitely smell the dandelions, but unlike my other dandelion scent (OHWTO Dandelion Wine) its a lot less sharp and a lot more soft and slightly floral. I would actually say I like Dandelion Wine better as it stays more grassy and fresh, while Summer Dandelion tends to go a little more floral and soft on me, but I love them both.

• Midnight Garden: "A lunar intoxication of night-flowering white flowers – tuberose (flower of dangerous pleasures), lily (flower of majestic beauty), honeysuckle (flower of binding love), gardenia (flower of secret passions) and moonflower (flower that inspires dreams of love). Hauntingly beautiful." This one I actually requested as one of my free samples, and I'm so glad that I did. Its gorgeous and floral and wonderful. I am a complete sucker for white florals, and this one does them amazingly. I was a bit worried, because I despise honeysuckle, but I don't smell it in this perfume. I actually cannot smell any of the individual notes, the white flowers all combine together beautifully into a great scent. This is definitely going to be one of the perfumes I purchase in full size next.

• Elixir of Aphrodite: "Luxurious love spell of Persian apricots dipped in orange blossom honey swirling with a sensual enchantment of peach and plum blossoms, mimosa, white star jasmine, ambrette, guiac wood, and vanilla musk." Holy crap is this fruity! Peaches and mimosa and vanilla. Slightly reminds me of Trident Tropical Twist gum. While I like the smell, this is not really something I'd like to smell like, so it will stay in my "wear at home" pile.

• La Sirena: "A mesmerizing spell of oceanic aquatics, saline seaweeds, and garlands of fresh Tiare flowers offered to the sea. Hauntingly elusive" This was the scent that Alkemia chose to send me as a free sample. While I do like it, and I can definitely smell the Tiare flowers, the aquatic scents are just not for me. They remind me so much of bathroom air freshner :( This one is going in my destash box.

• Vanille Vert: "The innocence of fresh ferns, sweet green grass, and tender new leaves juxtaposed against seduction of white amber, Madagascar vanilla orchids, and vanilla musk." On cold sniff, I loved this. There was a perfect mix of vanillas to green notes, however on my skin, the green notes took over, and got a bit too green for my tastes. I'll probably leave this as a perfume to sniff on occasion as I do like how it smells in the vial.

• Moon Goddess: "A magical elixir of narcotic florals - datura, night-blooming cereus, and white poppy enfolded in a aquatically luminous blend of water musks, delicate cucumber, and the palest melons." Part of me feels like I need to label this review as "How I learned I hate Alkemias cucumber notes" I honestly couldn't even skin test this one, the cucumber note was so strong and repulsed me so much. I love fresh real cucumbers, they are one of my favorite snacks, and the generic Cucumber Melon scent found in every drugstore ever, but Alkemias note is a no go for me. I really must blame my boyfriend, who found Lime Cucumber flavored Gatorade one day in King Soopers and insisted we try it. This perfume just conjures up memories of that awful drink.

• Dalliance: "Dalliance is a delightfully unique summer blend of garden fresh English cucumbers, barely ripened figs, iced black Pekoe tea, and cool aquatics." Unfortunately this one has the same fate as Moon Goddess, nauseating cucumbers, I can actually barely tell the difference between this and Moon Goddess, that is how overpowering the cucumber note is for me.

• Paradise: "An heavenly blend of fresh young coconut and Madagascar vanilla with hints of Monoi Tiare." I actually had really high hopes for this one. But while on cold sniff and initial application I can smell the Tiare flowers, they soon disappear and are replaced with a pretty boring Vanilla/Coconut combo. So while I do like this, this is not something I see myself picking up a full bottle of.

You can purchase everything mentioned here (except for Summer Dandelion) at Alkemia.
Everything mentioned here was purchased by me with my own money.