Scents of summer: A wee Darling Clandestine fragrance haul (and first impressions) | Hello Pretty Bird! - A beauty and not-so-glamorous lifestyle blog

08 June, 2015

Scents of summer: A wee Darling Clandestine fragrance haul (and first impressions)

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I've got a little Darling Clandestine haul to share, y'all! Normally I prefer to test things out for a looooooong time and write individual reviews, but most of the items in today's haul are seasonal, so I wanted to write about them while some of them are actually still available for purchase. Wild, I know.

Darling Clandestine Etsy haul

Editorial note: There were actually three pieces of candy thrown in as a gift with my order, but I ate two of them before I managed to snap a picture. Whoops.


I've written about Darling Clandestine on my blog a few times before, but it's been a while, so let me give you some basic info: DC is a Texas-based Etsy shop specializing in unique, handmade fragrances. Sometimes she has lip balms and body balms too! Most of her scents have a story behind them (which you can read in their individual descriptions). As I said before, a lot of her catalog is seasonal, so not all of her fragrances are available at all times but you can get a great overview of all Darling Clandestine scents past and present in this Facebook post.

Most of the Darling Clandestine scents I already have are in oil form, but I decided to go with only solids this time. Solid fragrances are just easy to store without fear of leakage, y'know? A lot of her catalog is available in both formats, sometimes also in "Bitsy" (AKA mini) size. When I placed this order the full-sized solids were selling for $9-$10 each and the Bitsy solids were selling for $4 each.

Darling Clandestine Etsy envelope shark stamp

Oh, I forgot to mention that Darling Clandestine orders usually come with a shark saying stuff stamped on the mailer. These sharks amuse me. (I may still have one from a past order tacked to my bulletin board because it made me laugh so much.)

Darling Clandestine solid bitsy bitsies Cloudswing Elecricity So Fine ESF Mishigami

Let's start with the Bitsy solids. All three of these scents were new to me, so I'm glad they were available in mini form. (You never know when a note is going to go funky on you....)

CLOUDSWING (Currently unavailable)

Official description from the mega-Facebook master list:
"A tumble in the hay! Lemongrass and vanilla and resiny wood and marigolds and new-mown clover and sun. A summer favorite---especially since the lemongrass gives it the added bonus of discouraging mosquitos. Unisex."

This was the scent I was most on the fence about when I ordered, but I ended up liking it the most. Lemongrass is the strongest note here to my nose—it's very vibrant and fresh, and the vanilla sweetens it up and keeps it from smelling too much like citronella candles. I'd buy a bigger size!


MISHIGAMI (Currently available in Bisty solid, Bitsy oil, and full size oil)

Official description:
"Inspired by that greatest of lakes, Lake Michigan, my very favorite lake in the world, and all its moods and shores. Much more than an "aquatic" fragrance, this has indescribable, sandy depth. It’s been known to show up unexpectedly throughout the year. Unisex."

As the description would suggest, Mishigami is a very aquatic scent. I feel like it has sort of a floral element too though, like lilacs or hyacinths. Either way, it's a very soothing scent. I find myself wondering if the oil has better staying power, because the solid disappears pretty quickly on me. I still like it though!


ELECTRICITY SO FINE (Currently available in full size oil):

Official description:
"A night-black canvas of artemisia absinthum and mosses and blackest tea and port wine, splashed with an electric sizzle of sparkling violets. Unisex."

Well if that isn't an awesome description, I don't know what is. Unfortunately I think I've come to the conclusion that a lot tea scents don't play nice with my body chemistry... they tend to go sour on me for whatever reason. This is one of them, alas. A pity, because underneath the sourness there's a greenness that I like.

Darling Clandestine solid fragrance Carny Wedding tin

I also purchased a full-sized solid of Carny Wedding. I already have a Bitsy vial of this scent in oil form and like it, but I wanted a solid because oils are sometimes a pain in the ass to tote around.

Official description:
"Opens with butter and sugar, unfolds to a tangy, charred wood resin, ends in a puff of sweet smoke. Some love it for the sweet, some love it for the smoke."

This one is interesting because it smells mostly like burnt wood on cold sniff, but once it warms up on the skin it gets all buttery and sweet. I think the wood note is actually more prominent in the solid than it is in the oil though... is it because of the formulation or a minor batch variance? Not sure. Either way, that charred woodsy smell is what sets it apart from other sweet, marshmallowy scents. It's like a toasted marshmallow, much heavier on the toast than the mallow. Unusual but still very wearable.

Darling Clandestine Cielito Frito mini bitsy lip balm

There was also a gift with purchase in with my order: A mini-sized Cielito Frito lip balm! I've been tempted to buy her lip balms before but always end up taking them out of my cart at the last minute, so it was nice to finally try one. None of the balms seem to be up for sale at the moment, but I'm sure they'll come back at some point. As I recall, Cielito Frito is supposed to smell like churros, and that seems pretty accurate. It's sweet and cinnamon-y smelling (but not sweet tasting, interestingly enough). The texture of this balm is a bit thinner and less creamy than what I usually prefer, but it's perfectly smooth and melts onto the lips nicely. Not too shabby!


All in all, I'm happy with my haul! All of the links and details above are accurate at the time of publishing this post, but Darling Clandestine's inventory tends to change around a lot, so if the links aren't working anymore just visit the main shop page and browse around. Evonne is also pretty active on Facebook, so it's worth following the Darling Clandestine Facebook page for upcoming release announcements.


Are you a fan of Darling Clandestine? Which of the scents from my little haul sounds the most appealing to you?


Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. For more information, check out my full disclosure policy.
 

14 comments:

  1. Ooh Carny Wedding sounds awesome! I also love the shark stamp, too cute!

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  2. Yes I love the shark stamps! If you search out my past Darling Clandestine posts, I think I included pics of the sharks in those too. She also has a shark-themed scent. Sharks sharks sharks!

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  3. These sound amazing! Carny Wedding sounds like a really unique scent. I love her descriptions for all of these!

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  4. Cool stuff!! I have my eye on that Laffy Taffy!!

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  5. I think I have two small solid perfumes in my collection, one being Daisy by Marc Jacobs. But I never find myself using them. I like the convenience of sprays at home, but I can definitely see the benefits of a solid one for when out and about! And you have to love a package that involves cheeky sharks and candy!

    Wendy | Fashionable Heart

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  6. CLOUDSWING sounds the most up my alley.

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  7. You should have a look at the DC Etsy shop - there are some even more elaborate descriptions/stories about the scents. There are some of her fragrances that I know I probably won't like based on the notes, but they're fun to read!

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  8. This is ridiculous, but I was craving Laffy Taffy before I got the package. I even sent my BF out in search for some, but he couldn't find any at the closest corner stores. DC delivers and then some! <3

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  9. I think the tricky thing is that a lot of indie companies don't offer EDT sprays: It's either solids or oils. Oils are nice and tend to have better longevity, but sooooo messy to deal with if they leak. Of course I still have a bunch despite that, haha.

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  10. I need to try this brand. I love testing out different indie perfumes! The Carny Wedding sounds like such a perfect scent. I like the notes in Electricity So Fine, but like you, tea sometimes doesn't agree with my skin. How nice that you can get mini solids too!

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  11. Yes, I really dig the mini solids! I've been purchasing from DC for a couple of years and she didn't always have those, so when she added them to the shop I was VERY excited, haha. :)

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  12. Carny Wedding + Tilt-a-Whirl = 💖
    The sweet in C.W. tends to hide on me, but adding the citrus kick of T-a-W brings it back a bit.

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  13. Ooh, that sounds nice! I think I have a sample vial of T-A-W, so I guess I should try it.

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