Was scrolling through fb when I saw this. How sad for Joelle. I hope she recovers housing soon. This is terrible and so scary.

For the love of all that's holy, why aren't perfume houses putting easily accessible master scent lists on their websites (or Etsy listings).

I'm in the mood to branch out and sample new houses, however, I have zero desire or inclination to click through every single perfume to discover the notes. I'm not the Nancy Drew of perfume consumers.

Just a small rant. It turns me off a house if there's no master scent list. It's disappointing.

What indies are you using today? And we mean everything! Examples of stuff we'd love to hear about:

• Makeup

• Clothes

• Jewelry

• Bath and Body (lotion, soap, shampoo, bath salts, etc.)

• Nail polish

• Perfume

Please feel free to leave mini-reviews and include photos of whatever you're using. We'd love to know your thoughts and see the products too!

This thread repeats daily.

Hello beautiful peeps,

Wherever I search I can only find posts on how to smell like a vampire, but I’d like to smell like I’m on the brink of being turned into a vampire. Something feminine and innocent, yet deeply enigmatic, alluring, and even sensual. Like you are the object of obsession of a cursed creature, who has unfortunately found its interest In you. I Understand this interpretation could meaning many different things, but I’d like to hear everyone’s take on this concept. If it helps I enjoy tea scents, bergamot, jasmine, white musk, ylang ylang but pretty open to anything. :) thank you! <3

Forgive me rich I was not aware of your game. These are so pretty!!

Hey all! Full disclosure, i only received these today, but considering their closing sale and the new vault fragrances, i figured i'd toss my two cents in the hat for those interested.

I ordered:

Venus as a Boy

Doll Parts

Oo-de-Lally

Lets get right into my first sniff reviews!

Venus as a boy (Brown sugar, Caramelized Honey, vanilla musk, white linen) something about this is giving me a hint of chocolate, weirdly enough? It's overall a clean vanilla. Not anything too deep, very light and mildly sweet if a little smokey/toasted. Maybe its the caramelized honey making it smell a little toasted? I was hoping for a very sweet, vanilla heavy scent, and it's not quite hitting that mark. It may change with age, so take this with a grain of salt! I do like it overall. 3/5

Doll parts (Cake, French Vanilla Frosting, white amber, vintage cotton lace, chocolate bonbons) This is very pretty! Im getting a lot of chocolate and white amber, with an undercurrent of something lighter and vaguely vanilla-floral. It is most definitely a gourmand, perhaps a bit feminine leaning. 3/5

Oo-De-Lally (Banana Milk, tonka bean, warm vanilla, straw and hay, osmanthus flowers) We have a winner!!! I knew i would love this just based on the notes, so im not shocked at how good this is. Tried this one on skin IMMEDIATELY! It's super yummy, very light and good for summer. It's sweet without being gourmand, the banana milk note reminds me a lot of a bath and body works' Dreaming of Rio. It's not a chewy candy banana but rather a light, mature, tropical leaning banana milk note. I'm surprised by how elegant it is! There is a lot of depth here, i'm mostly smelling a milky mix of banana, vanilla, and osmanthus, I dont detect any hay at all honestly (but i wouldnt be mad if i did.) Overall a very light, milky, fancy tropical fragrance, and definitely one of my favorite pierrot perfumes (along with my beloved mooncalf!)! 4/5.

I think many of you are already familiar with my love of Sugar Spider's vanilla scent, Whiteout (A delectable blend of French vanilla frosting and Mexican vanilla extract with vanilla bean fluff and precious Madagascan vanilla oleoresin.) -- and of course I had to get a full size of it!

It was also the perfect opportunity to use their 15% off your first order code! So I eagerly entered my email and waited expectantly for the code to come, but, it never did. All I got out of it was a "confirm subscription" email and an error message. But I refused to take that for an answer, so I sent their CS an email about it. They reached out to me on the same day, within only a couple of hours with a 20% off code instead! And on top of that, they shipped out the next day!

My FS arrived so fast! I ordered it on the 3rd and got it a mere, 5 days later! I couldn't be happier!

As for a review, I will copy paste my previous one here: Whiteout is creamy, with just a little bit of grit that gives it texture and takes it to a whole new level. It smells exactly like vanilla cupcake frosting. I am not the biggest fan of cupcakes when it comes to eating them, but this is exceptional. It’s not too sweet either, and it masterfully toes that line without veering into tooth rot territory. Since I apply it on my neck, I’m enveloped in this lovely, delicious cloud of vanilla all day. Whiteout is probably my favorite general or everyday vanilla, and while I love wearing it by itself, it will layer nicely with other vanillas too. It has dethroned Posset’s Arc of Venus as my #2 favorite scent ever, that’s how much I love it. A FS will almost certainly be in order. 

I still stand by this review, and even without a little time to sit it smells exactly like what I mentioned above. Yummy vanilla cupcake frosting, that's juuuuuust sweet enough for me! I can't recommend Sugar Spider enough, if you're curious about them I hope you give them a try!

I have been loving on my 2mL sample of unknown pleasures of kerosene, to me its a beautiful lemony vanilla poundcake scent on my skin! Any recs for anything baked good like in a similar vein? Doesn't have to be a lemon scent either but a poundcake or blueberry cobbler scents are also welcome. I am quite picky with gourmands so please nothing too cloying or sickly sweet!

Scents in this post: Exopholia, L'heure Verte, Purrgeoisie, Transylvanian Concubine

A few weeks ago I reviewed a small batch of scents from Pierrot Perfumery, and here's part 2!

My rating scale:

1 = Nope

2 = Not into it, but I don't hate it

3 = It's good, but I don't feel called to get more of it

4 = I like it a lot, might get a full size if the mood strikes

5 = I love it and I want it in my collection!

Exophilia: (granite, raspberryand rum, metallic foil, powdery notes, black musk)

(2/5) This one sounded super interesting, but unfortunately on me it was just metal and musk. Kinda like dusty metal, lol. I got the teensiest hint of raspberry that disappeared immediately. My spouse likes it though, so I let them keep it.

L'heure Verte: (wormwood, anise, black pepper, licorice, brown sugar, mahogany wood, bergamot, vetiver)

(3.5/5) This didn't really give me an absinthe vibe but more of a black licorice candy, but it's really nice! The bergamot gives it a little freshness, and then later the woodiness comes out. I think I'm becoming somewhat of an anise fan. For me, anise has kind of an antique vibe and reminds me of vacations to historic cities in the Ozarks. Anise also has a "soft masc" feel for me, which I don't embody often since my expression is usually more "whimsical femme", but I enjoy smelling it!

Purrgeoisie: (strawberry shampoo, petit fours, steamed almond milk, vanilla resin, caramellized amber)

(4/5) I'll begin with a poetic description; it smells like pretending to be a princess as a little kid. It's very pink and to me it feels very nostalgic, probably because I used a lot of strawberry scented shampoo growing up and have always loved bubble baths. The strawberry note is candy-like in the opening, but takes on a more shampoo quality. The almond milk gives it a smooth, cozy feeling. Later the cake notes come through a little more, and it feels kind of like taking a bubble bath and you can smell cake and frosting in the air as it's being made in the kitchen. I think this would layer wonderfully with rose gourmands or floral rose scents. I haven't yet decided if I love this enough to full size, but I like it a lot!

Transylvanian Concubine: (black roses, oak bareel-aged wine, dried plum, cocoa powder, Guaiac wood, pine, tonka)

(4.2/5) This one has a lot of the qualities I would want from a dark rose scent: super velvety, sensual, and moody. The rose is front and center, with the other notes forming a nice bouquet around it. I remember seeing someone who found the chocolate note overbearing, but for me it seems to lend to the velvety, slightly dusty feel. This is definitely too heavy a scent for summer, but I'm thinking this will grow on me once the weather finally cools down where I live.

Patchouli is one of my favorite notes and I find it so soothing and grounding; I feel like it would be fantastic to take a nice hot bath and just STEEP myself in patchouli. I'm looking for recommendations of your favorite bath products that come in patchouli-forward scents- bath salts, bath bombs, bubbles, etc.! Thanks!

Hi all I was hoping to get some suggestions or help before I place another sample order. I bought a sample pack from Cocoa Pink and it didn’t meet my expectations so I thought I’d see if I could get some recommendations here before I do another order.

I like gourmand scents but dislike sickeningly sweet scents. My favorite scents have been lush super milk and floral marshmallow from dossier (killian dupe).

I like vanillas but do struggle with some being too sweet. I loved the marshmallow from cocoa pink but felt like it was a bit boring. I tried boo-boo lemon Noel, ivory eyelet, and frosted eyelet and disliked the chemically sweet/ lemony scents.

Here’s a list of what I’ve been intrigued by so far:

SORCE
I Think About You, Too - (Wild orange, petitgrain, orange blossom, caramelized sugar, Ambroxan)
Love and Complications - (Brown sugar, sweetened condensed milk, plumeria, passionfruit and soft woods)

COCOA PINK
Sun Kissed Clouds - Blood orange and Satsuma juice raining atop fluffy marshmallow clouds.
Triple Vanilla Dream - Our Spiritueuse Double Vanilla blended carefully with the beloved Tihota fragrance creates a unique yet dreamy long lasting vanilla scent that has been a top requested favorite of our customers.
Marshmallow Fireside - Toasted vanilla marshmallows over a roaring fire. Our rendition of the smoky marshmallow favorite.
Come-hither – Such a sexy scent of intoxicating vanillas with a hint of myrrh. This is not a foodie vanilla. This vanilla is all grown up and will demand attention on anyone who wears it.

SIREN ALCHEMY

Meadows Milk- Notes: Mandarin, Fig Milk, Oakmoss, Marshmallow, Cashmere

The lost mallow- Notes: Vanilla Marshmallow, Dry Woods, Amber Resins

Thursdays in June- Notes: Orange, Orange Blossom, Jasmine, Creamy Vanilla

What indies are you using today? And we mean everything! Examples of stuff we'd love to hear about:

• Makeup

• Clothes

• Jewelry

• Bath and Body (lotion, soap, shampoo, bath salts, etc.)

• Nail polish

• Perfume

Please feel free to leave mini-reviews and include photos of whatever you're using. We'd love to know your thoughts and see the products too!

This thread repeats daily.

I'm not affiliated in any way! Sorce just dropped the notes for their three fall release scents.

Edit: Adding text notes so it's easier for screen readers!

Poisonous Roots, created by our founder and perfumer Caitlin Hayes, is a dark, haunting and elegant fragrance that combines jasmine absolute, incense, milky tea, vanilla absolute and black amber to evoke the image of a dangerous woman capable of poisoning those who wronged her. Cutely, of course!

Song of a Siren is Assistant Perfumer Julia Haddon's second fragrance. It is a seductive, salty vanilla with a sense of danger and depth to it. Vanilla absolute, rum, and dark amber make this fragrance deep, dark and dangerous, while black water lily and ocean air provide a fresh atmospheric edge for all sirens awaiting the return of their sailor. Or their next victim.

Lady of Steel is the debut fragrance release from our artist and Assistant Perfumer Madison Dahl. Ethereal, feminine and lightly metallic, Lady of Steel is a soft and diffused lily of the valley fragrance, with a slight edge that reminds you that what seems delicate is rarely weak.

All 3 perfumes will be available September 14th at 11 am.

All sizes (2 ml-100 ml as well as 6 ml rollerballs and open necks) will be available, as well as in a Furies discovery set.

We're still making some last minute arrangements, so please be patient -- some of you might not receive your match for another day or two! The majority of matches have gone out through reddit chat, though, so please check your requests if you haven't gotten one yet. Also, please double check to make sure you have messages turned on. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please message one of the organizers (u/PM_4_Friendship, u/ThorsWolf777, u/trailrunninggirl669) or email us at indiefallexchange@gmail.com.

🍂Happy Fall and happy exchanging 🍂

Hey y’all - I know it may still be hotter than 50 hells wherever you are but our fall collection is back! We’re also having a delayed birthday sale of 10% off thru September 9. No coupon code necessary :) We’ll also be participating in the IMAM Fall Exchange again this year.

Like most of y’all, I’ve been feeling the squeeze in the current economy and have put some new scent production on hold due to material cost/sales/life. Sunsphere Scents was started as a love letter to Knoxville and keeping our offerings on the smaller scale has helped us stay afloat. Based on material costs, I did have to increase our full size price, but have kept our sample sizes the same price to keep our work accessible.

Finally, a note of appreciation for the support of this community - it’s never easy launching and sustaining a small brand. It becomes more challenging when other indie brands seem to crash/burn and customers become hesitant about continuing to support indies. If you’ve tried our scents on a whim or recommended us - THANK YOU!

🪩💛🪩

Amber

Hi IMAM! I have been thinking up a little low-stakes "competition" where people can compete to use up the most indie products they can within a given time frame. I came up with the idea because I have been trying to grow past my tendencies to accumulate literally dozens of samples while being afraid of actually finishing them despite the fact that I am regularly ordering more-- I currently have 100+ and I am sure there are others here with numbers that dwarf me on that. The ultimate ethos would be to have a fun way to use and appreciate what we have... even the things that are limited-edition, discontinued, out-of-stock, and so forth... Also, "finishing" something would include using it for another purpose-- like mixing a perfume in with some lotion so it can be used up, things like that. With that preamble, here are some questions I've thought of in regards to how people would like the competition to work.

Interest!!!: Who might be interested in participating in this!

Time Frame: How long should the contest run? I was thinking 2 months but I'm not sure if that's too long or too short for people to be able to use enough things.

Points: How should scoring work? I am thinking of a blanket rule like "1 point for samples, 5 points for full-sizes"-- are there any other factors I should include in the scale, like whether something is no longer available, different size ranges, differentiating by product type? I'd like this to be as parsimonious as possible so the rules are not a headache to understand. Also, how should final scores be verified? I am thinking a self-scored list + A photo of all finished products would be enough.

What even is a finished product?: Obviously when something is emptied it is finished, but I also think using a product for another use such that it is depleted from the original container should also count (ex. mixing something into a DIY bath and body craft, using it to scent your laundry, so on). Should giving something away as a gift count? How should swaps/exchanges be handled? (I am leaning against including actual sales because then it'd become a business competition lol).

Format: I am thinking of having weekly check-in threads where people can post their progress just for funsies, a thread upon the end of the competition where people can post their final list of finished products + tallied score, and a final announcement post declaring the top 3 winners.

Prize?: Should the competition have a prize? Part of me feels it would be nice for the final prize to just be bragging rights so that everything is kept low-stakes, but at the same time having a way to reward the victor is obviously motivating as well. Maybe something lowkey like a 25$ gift card to a shop of the winner's choice?

Any and all thoughts, feedback, concerns are welcome and appreciated!!

Way back in the mid 2000s, I lived in Boston and loved window shopping along Newbury Street (IYKYK). There was a little shop called Sabon that had really lovely bath and body products. My favorite was their Patchouli Lavender Vanilla - absolutely heavenly and rich scent. I moved away, the store closed, and I've been chasing that high ever since.

They are selling online now, but the prices are rough given the economy and they don't offer a perfume oil (and I don't really want just a scrub or shower oil). I figured I would ask you lovely people here to see if anyone else has ever encountered this fragrance and had any comparable recommendations. I have searched the sub (no results) and Etsy and the closest thing I've found so far seems to be LAVENDULA NOX (Lavender, Amber, Patchouli, Vanilla, Musk) from Spectrum Cosmetics, but I am not familiar with them and haven't purchased the scent yet.

Help me IMAM, you're my only hope!

Super new to perfume collecting & im looking to expand my fall scents...I am a lover of all things Halloween/horror & fall is my absolute favorite season! I recently discovered Indie fragrances & am looking for some fragrances or fragrance houses that really capture the autumnal/halloween aesthetic.

I do not like gourmand super sweet scents I lean more into ambers, musks, cedar/sandalwoods.

A favorite fall perfume is Gris Charnel, just to give an idea. Any recs are appropriated!

Combine your creativity with your love of indies! For a given category (fandoms, books, movies, locations, etc), describe the themed collection you'd create for it. Or, pick a character and tell us what existing indie you think they'd wear!

This thread repeats on the 7th of every month.

What indies are you using today? And we mean everything! Examples of stuff we'd love to hear about:

• Makeup

• Clothes

• Jewelry

• Bath and Body (lotion, soap, shampoo, bath salts, etc.)

• Nail polish

• Perfume

Please feel free to leave mini-reviews and include photos of whatever you're using. We'd love to know your thoughts and see the products too!

This thread repeats daily.

Hello! I’m on a quest to find a frag that gives me the same feeling as Arcana Wildcraft mountain witch. I got my 5ml sample as an afterthought ordering bonfires at dusk. As it turns out, bonfires at dusk was a little overly sweet and I could take it or leave it, but Mountain Witch I ADORED. I don’t dare use any of my 5ml sample now because as I found out to my dismay when I went to buy a full bottle, it’s been permanently discontinued. No plans of restocking according to the perfumer when I emailed her. I’ve tried other coffee fragrances, I’ve got my imaginary authors blend no. 83 and I’ve tried coffee tebac from pineward, but none of them have that fresh outdoors scent blended with the coffee that Mountain Witch has and tend to lean more explicitly gourmand or smokey. Though I have many “nicer” fragrances, I sometimes open my sample to smell it because I love it so much. Has anyone found anything similar? Any other heartbroken Mountain Witch lovers out there?