Scentopia! Review of Siberie Perfumes

Hello Lovelies! *press sample*

     It has been a while since my last review and today I am reviewing a magical perfumery called Siberie Perfumes. I was approached by the owner to do a review of her lovely perfumes after she saw one of my reviews. Since I believe that one can never have too many perfumes that make you smell magical, I happily agreed. I sent her a list of perfumes I was interested in trying , since that would be a little easier to list those and the horrid death scents on me. She promptly sent me four glorious full sized scents to review. I was surprised and overwhelmed. Sadly soon after I had the worst sinus infection ever that had to go through two rounds of antibiotics before I could properly smell anything.

    Before I get started on my review, I will remind everyone that perfumes are truly a subjective thing. While I may think that something smells amazing someone else can thing that it smells like bottled wet dog. Furthermore, just because something smells amazing or even kind of meh in the bottle still do a test try. Because as I have said before, BODY CHEMISTRY is EVERYTHING. One of my holy grail scents on me smelled really meh in the bottle but turns into magic on my skin. Like I want to bathe in this scent because I love it so much. So even if you don't think it smells amazing in the bottle be sure to test to see because BODY CHEMISTRY IS EVERYTHING. Now on with the review!

      It was extremely difficult to choose from their massive collection of scents. I found their inspiration and well as the images used for the perfumes really pleasing. The four scents that were sent to me were Desideria, Giselle, Odette and Dragana. They arrived quickly and well packaged in a black bag sealed with a lovely thank you sticker.

Inside each of the full size bottles were enclosed in a black velvet draw string bag which was a wonderful surprise. The bottles are HUGE. Larger than any of the other bottles I have in my collection since they are 15ml and my largest bottle is 10ml I believe. See the bottle comparisons here.

10ml roll on, Siberie bottle, 5ml bottle and 2 dram bottle

 I am alway super paranoid when it comes to perfume bottles since I am SUPER clumsy. I swear it  must be a super power because if I can tip it over and spill it I will. Siberie bottles are completely in mind for us clumsy people because they have stoppers to save us from losing all that gorgeous scent. For you follow slathers it will take a couple of dabs of the perfume in order to get the amount you are wanting but if you are clumsy it is worth the extra dabs.

   Now on to the individual scents..

Desideria is listed on the site as a combination of vanilla bean, wood smoke, with a base of wildflower honey paired with sandalwood & myrrh resin. My body love honey and vanilla so I was thrilled that this was one of the perfumes that was sent to me. Initial cold sniff impressions , I can definitely smell the wood and the smoke with a hint of vanilla. The smokiness is very prominent in the bottle to me. When applied the smoke isn't as overwhelming at all on the skin and fades to a lovely light vanilla honey scent with a hint of sandalwood and myrrh.

Giselle is listed with the notes of ocean air, coconut cream, sweet vanilla, and a soft golden amber and is described as a beachy fragrance with an ozonic base. Both amber and vanilla are two of my go to scents I was super excited to try this one. We are also still sitting in the high eighties here in Florida I would be able to wear this as a "summer" scent.  First impressions from the bottle I get a lot of the coconut cream right off the bat as well as the vanilla sweetness. Applied it dries down light and airy mingled with the creaminess of vanilla and the hint of coconut cream and a dash of amber. It makes me feel like I need to be drinking nice cold frozen drinks with flowers and umbrellas.

Odette was described as sweet wildflower honey, delicate honeysuckle flowers with a base of fresh fallen rain and jasmine sambac. First sniff from the bottle I smell a good combination of rain and jasmine. After it is applied and mellows out on my skin the jasmine and the rain are no longer as strong and the delicate honey and honeysuckle scents come through. It reminds me of rains down here in the summer when the honeysuckle is in bloom. While it is a floral, it is a light floral and doesn't resemble the super florals grandmas love to wear.

Dragana is the bolder of the four with notes of burning firewood, dragon's blood, fresh oakmoss, red rose and a dark amber resin. It is was I would describe as a heavier more incense kind of smell verses the other three which are considerably lighter. First sniff impressions I immediately pick up on the firewood and the dragon's blood since I consider them the heavier of the notes.  Once applied on my skin it smoke and the dragon's blood are prominent at first but later mellow out to more of the woodsy smell of oakmoss and the sexy musk of amber. There is a slight hint of rose but my chemistry loves oakmoss and tends to amp it over. I tend to wear "heavier" perfumes during the winter so this will definitely be at the top of my daily list.


   I am super pleased with all the scents that I received from Siberie and even with them being in Canada and me located all the way down in Florida, they arrived super quickly and were packaged wonderfully. I am still in awe of how massive these bottles are and for $12.95 per bottle you won't break the bank picking up more than one. If you are new to perfumes and are just starting out I really suggest sampler packages so you can try a variety of scents to see what works with you. Or if you can't decide and want to try samples before committing to a bottle then they have the pick three scents options for 9.95 .They are vegan and cruelty free so get all the honey scents you want the bees are okay! Overall I loved all the scents I received and I look forward to ordering from them in the future.   You can order from Siberie on their website and on Etsy .  Until next time lovelies!

Confessions of a Journaling Fountain Pen Newbie : Review of Piero Lorenzo Journal on Amazon

Hello Lovelies!                                 *purchased at a discounted price*

    I am back after an unexpected delay. I have to say that when things break in my house they tend to break in threes. Patient zero started with our Playstation 3 finally giving up the ghost and refusing to read any sort of disks. Not even a day later (cause when things die they do it ONE RIGHT AFTER the other), my computer blew up. I was on it and the next second there were pixel blocks over the screen and it was locked up. So when I rebooted it, it was the black screen of despair. My husband attempted to do a previous install of Windows and the next morning it looked like I was part of the Matrix. Literally

Houston we have a problem

I was expecting Neo to show up

                         

  Then the following day the router died. In a house that streams everything having no internet is like a death sentence especially with three kids who couldn't comprehend that Netflix doesn't work when the internet is not working. But thankfully my husband managed to get everything working with the exception of the PS3 may it rest in peace. But I am now back and there was much rejoicing. So I am doing a new review of something that I haven't reviewed before however you will be seeing more of these reviews in the future.

      I recently discovered a love a bullet journaling and fountain pens. Since this addiction happened, I am now on the hunt for the perfect journal and fountain pen combination. So when I was approached to do a review for a Piero Lorenzo journal I was extremely excited. I hadn't tried a traveler's notebook yet to use as a bullet journal but it was on my list to do. I placed the order on Amazon and the item arrived quickly and without any issues.

     The notebook itself came in an extremely attractive box wrapped in plastic with a nice new ball point pen to use with it. The pen was nice and extremely classy with a nice feel and weight to it. It wrote immediately with no issues when opened.

The leather on the journal was soft yet sturdy which will be able to hold its shape well however due to the cover being leather I wouldn't suggest throwing it into a bag with keys or sharp edges since they would possibly scuff or mar the leather.

The notebook itself has the classic to bands to easily insert the notebooks that come with it and they also included an extra notebook for future use which is definitely a bonus. The paper for the notebooks is unlined and white and thicker than moleskin paper.

 I did a pen test of the pens and inks that I have in my collection and while the paper shows the shift some of the inks I have I wouldn't suggest using a wetter nib on the paper since there is some ghosting. However I had no issues with my fine and extra fine nibbed fountain pens.

      Needless to say, I was extremely pleased with this journal. The quality is simply excellent and it the packaging makes it a wonderful gift to give anyone who is an avid journaler or someone who is just getting started. You can pick the Piero Lorenzo Journal up at Amazon for $24.99 which is an excellent price for the quality and the items that you are receiving. Have you fallen into victim to the bullet journal addiction? What are some of your favorite combinations of pens and journals? Until next time lovelies....

Item were purchased at a discounted price in return for an honest review. 

Amalgam Scent Company Review!

Hello Lovelies!                                      *press sample*

     I am finally back after a hellish couple of weeks. Things always happen in threes and when disaster strikes this always holds true as well. It started off with our Playstation 3 stopped reading disks so there was much sadness in the house as all three of my kids immediately wanted to play PS3 games but couldn't. Then the big one is our computer BLEW up and was possessed by the matrix which slammed a huge halt to any blogging whatsoever. And finally the router decided to stop working in a house that streams everything. Obviously the last two issues are fixed, since I am finally able to post this much over due blog post.

   I was contacted by Laura from Amalgam Scent Company to see if I was interested in testing out her products for a review. I am always more than happy to review new products so I happily agreed. 

Amalgam Scent Company originally started off with making bath and perfume products but has now branched off into the beauty aspect. All of Amalgam Scent Company's products are vegan and cruelty free which is always a bonus in my book.  What makes this company different from other indies, is while they offer loose pigments, her entire line is pressed. There is always a debate on whether pigments are better pressed or loose but it simply boils down to these two things, what you like and convenience.  I really liked the aspect that her line is pressed because for me pressed shadows are easier to store since I am quickly  running out of room for my loose pigments. Don't get me wrong, I love my loose pigments but I really liked the aspect that she decided to stand out with her initial packaging and stuck with pressed. 

     I was sent three shadows, a highlighter and a liquid lipstick from Amalgam Scent Company's first collection, La Isla Bonita (which I always sing thanks to Madonna). If my rusty Spanish is correct, the collection translates to The Beautiful Island.  The items I got are true to the name, they are simply beautiful.  Just take a look at these swatches.  

**All swatches are done over Lunatick Lab's Eyeshadow Primer.**

 Porta Del Sol is a highlighter that is also safe for the eyes 

    Check out that pigmentation! The colors were nice and buttery, super easy to used and so blendable.  I am always worried how pressed items will arrive to me since often whoever handles my mail can get very angry at times and the boxes are not always in the best conditions when they arrive. However, that being said all of the items arrived in perfect condition and were sealed in these adorable little plastic pouches. They easily fit into an empty eyeshadow pan from either TKB or a Z palette.

I also received a gorgeous liquid lip in the shade Encanto. It s a rosy mauve with a hint of brown making an excellent every day shade when dealing with muggles or the school. It wasn't overly drying like some mattes were and is ultra pigmented since this is only one coat!  Check out that swatch and once dry they a pretty much transfer proof and easy to remove at the end of the day.

   Needless to say, I am in love with Amalgam Scent Company. This collection is simply gorgeous! There is a second collection, Soigne, which has released since I have received my products which is strictly liquid lipsticks. They are all gorgeous and I will be picking some of those up in the future.  Her newest collection , Tell Me a Story, is inspired by  Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and releasing on September 23. Not only will it be makeup but also a fall scent. I am super excited to see what that collection brings. You can follow Amalgam Scent Company on both Facebook and Instagram to see swatches, looks and what is releasing next. If you are located in the US you can also try out a shadow for free (with the cost of shipping) to see these gorgeous colors in action. She also has some yummy bath and body items that sound heavenly so head over to Amalgam, I promise you won't be sorry.  So until next time lovelies!

Scentopia! Review of Comet Comforts July Monthly Box. Here be Mermaids!

Hello Again Lovelies! *Purchased*

     

      I am back again with another review! Today I am reviewing the Comet Comforts Box July Box which had the amazing theme of Mermaids. Now this was the first launch of a collaboration between two companies, Comet Vomit Polish and Southern Comforts Fragrance. These two lovely ladies got together and decided to create Comet Comforts which is a themed vegan and cruelty free monthly gift set of polish, scents and a surprise. I was super excited to hear of this collaboration and I am a big fan of both companies, so I couldn't wait to see what they developed.  Once I heard that the theme was going to be mermaids, which I am slightly obsessed with, I knew the box had to be mine

 The boxes went on sale during the middle of  July, shipped on August 1 and showed up in my hot little hands on August 3. When I opened the box I was really impressed with the little extra touches they put into it. Right inside the lid for the box was a fabulous mermaid stamp. It was wrapped nice and neatly with a lovely information sheet describing this month's theme and of course welcoming you to the Comet Comfort's Monthly Box.

I love that stamp and I am now on a quest to find one for myself.

  When I opened the box I was quite impressed with how nice and safe everything arrived and the colorful packing paper that was inside. I had a hell of a time keeping Doom Kitty out of the paper until I was able to pick out everything. Then I just gave up the battle.

Nothing was going to be damaged!

  After you move the paper and the 14 pound cat and kiddo hands out of the way I was left with this.

Check out all the goodies!

   Not only was there a fully sized perfume in a convient roller ball bottle, there was also a full size polish, a mini glitter top coat, a limited edition sample jar #mermaidgoals shadow from Darling Girl Cosmetics, nautical themed nail jewels, several pins, a fish scale heart temporary tattoo (which my five year old promptly claimed for herself), fabric flowers and a ton of swedish fish (which were devoured by my kiddos immediately.)  Another really neat thing about this box, is that if you are all ready a fan of either Soco or Comet Vomit each item in this box is unique to this release and will not show up in their stores. Now on with the goodies!

   We will start with the Comet Comforts Perfume, We Were Only Trying to Drown Her. 

It was a full size perfume in this box, in a 10 ml roller ball fragrance oil. My first sniff impression when I opened it up, it reminded me of the sea after a thunderstorm. There were hints of aquatics, ozone and even a hint of green. (But as stated in my previous review, I am still a perfume newbie and my super sniffer powers of picking out individual notes is very limited) I would definitely say that this is a unisex scent. When applied, my skin definitely brought out the ozone at first and then dried down to a lovely unisex aquatic.

Next up the two polishes. 

 The full size was Flippin Your Fins which instantly got the Little Mermaid song stuck in my head.

   Flippin Your Fins ( I am even still humming it now ) is a beautiful shimmery blue green polish. It applies evenly and I only needed two coats to get good coverage on my nails. I almost painted my phone this lovely color since I am a horrible klutz and dropped the brush since this was my first time dealing with a cap like this. With a nice top coat this last a week for me which is a record because I am horrible with polish. It CONSTANTLY chips on me. 

The mini glitter topper polish included in the box was called,  You Used to Call Me on My Shell phone It is blue/ teal colored glitter with lots of giant different colored glitter circles (I don't know if there is a technical term for it but they are pretty.) in various shades of silver, blue, pink , yellow and black. This is definitely a topper coat since it it would take way to much to attempt to even get full coverage. It gives just the right amount of sparkle when placed over polish. Sadly the photos of my mani with this were accidentally deleted so I will have to add them in at a later time when I redo my nails.

According to the Coco girls, there will always be a surprise guest to each box and for the first box Darling Girls Cosmetics was the guest.

Loved the name of the shadow! Who doesn't have Mermaid Goals?

 Susan from Darling Girls Cosmetics created a lovely shadow for this theme. Which is a lovely light shimmery blue with hints of pink sparkles when the light hits it just right. If you use a sticky base like the Darling Girl Glitter Glue and pat this shadow over it it really shines.

I am completely impressed with this amazing box. Each item was the perfect piece to the overall mermaid theme. Even the names were clever and fit the mermaid theme perfectly. The perfume reminded me of the ocean and what it would smell like after a storm when mermaids would come and sun themselves on rocks. Both the color and the sparkle of the polish reminded me of the mermaid scales. However I may have to give Tiffany the stink eye cause I since the Little Mermaid when I put on her polish.  Finally the surprise guest shadow from Darling Girl remind me of the ocean as well. The boxes of course as I mentioned before are both vegan and cruelty free are shipped to you in the States for $30.  It is a bit more for you international lovelies but they do offer international shipping which is nice. 

Now if you follow Comet Comforts on their social media you will know what next month's theme is..

 So, I needless to say I am an official fan and if there was any doubt I will definitely be picking up more of these lovely boxes.  The Harry Potter boxes go live for sale on August 19th through the Comet Comforts website. Follow them on Instagram for more sneak peeks for the upcoming boxes. Will you be picking up the Harry Potter Box next month? Well that is all for now lovelies, keep your eyes peeled for more posts in the future. Until next time lovelies!

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Scentopia! Review of Twisted Wonderland Perfumery

Hello Lovelies! *press sample*


      I am back with the first of several reviews this month. There will be some changes, revamps and  possibly a new look to the blog over the next couple of months or so as I get my blogging boots back in action. If you are curious where I have been you can look the to previous post of why I feel off the planet (and blogging) for a little bit. However with that being said let's just go ahead and jump right into the review.

    While I was on my blogging hiatus, I discovered the world of indie perfumes. There were only so many "mainstream" scents that really struck my fancy and needless to say I was in total and complete amazement with the various scents, themes and of course businesses that were out there. I will state this up front, I am not means a scent expert, my nose isn't a super sniffer however I am getting to the point of where I can pick up certain individual notes. And also please remember that BODY CHEMISTRY is EVERYTHING. Just because something smells AMAZING in the bottle doesn't mean that is going to smell amazing on you. I have learned this the hard way and often scents that you love to smell betray you and turn to the smell of baby vomit on your when applied to you skin (RIP violets, I love your scent but my body chemistry hates you with a passion). That being stated I was over the moon when Twisted Wonderland Perfumery opened up and was looking for people to do a review for some of their scents. I contacted by the owner , Rae about doing a review of her products and she thought that we were a nice fit.
 
    So I was sent a perfume sampler of five different scents (a mixture of perfume oil and eau de parfum) of my choosing , a lip scrub and a lip balm. The items arrived quickly, well packaged and I loved the labels. There were not issues with not enough wrapping and all of the items arrived without incident. Rae was excellent in letting me know when my package was shipped out.  The samplers arrived in a cute box sealed with pink glittery washi tape.

Inside the five samples were safely nestled in a bed of cotton

For my five fragrances I chose Absolutely Alice, Absolem's Cocktail, Deadite, Killer Klowns, and Stay Puft. 

So let's start at the beginning and work our way down. 

Absolutely Alice is described as "A delightful sweet & fruity blend of fresh peaches, wild raspberries and wafts of tooth-achingly sweet pink cotton candy." Since it is still sweltering down here in Florida and technically still summer I was looking for a light and summer scent that I could wear. The first sniff out of the bottles is fresh ripe peaches. Applied it still smells like fresh peaches with hints of candy and rasperries help round out the scent to make it fruity and light without being overwhelmingly over the top sweet. 

Absolem's Cocktail is described as "A tall glass of watermelon lemonade with just enough sweet mint muddled in." I love watermelon so I simply had to try this scent, This is the first time I have ever tried watermelon as a perfume on me so I was hoping that my body chemistry would agree to my love of watermelon.  First sniff is just like cutting into a fresh sweet watermelon in the kitchen. Applied on the skin it still smells like heavenly watermelon (thank you body chemistry) with the clean crisp lemon scent and a tiny hint of mint. My body tends to amp up lemon scents so I was concerned with it overpowering the watermelon but it didn't . This is probably my favorite out of the five and I will be picking up a full size of this one asap.

Deadite is described as "sweet blackberry jam with a sinister twist of patchouli, black pepper and vanilla." When hearing that there were Army of Darkness/Evil Dead inspired scents I had to pick up one because I am such a huge fan. First sniff from the bottle blackberries and patchouli. My chemistry also amps up patchouli as well so my fingers were crossed that my chemistry didn't drown out the blackberry. When applied on the skin it is an equal balance of blackberries and patchouli however the vanilla mellows out the scent as well and doesn't make it as strong as patchouli can be. I didn't catch the hints of black pepper on my skin however my sniffer hasn't gained that super power yet.

Killer Klowns, while I had a distinct hatred of clowns I couldn't resist the description which is listed as "blue raspberry slush, cherry slush and cotton candy". My love of cotton candy overcame my clown hatred. First sniff is mainly blue raspberry and cherries. Applied on the skin is an equal balance of the blue raspberry and cherry and later as it dries down and mellow more of the cotton candy. This one is super sweet ,light and a lot of fun.  My five year old daughter loved it so much she claimed it as her own. 

Finally, last but not least, was Stay Puft. I am still trying to figure out if my body has a love hate with marshmallow so I took the plunge and order this scent to finally figure it out. It is described at "fresh marshmallow, marshmallow fluff, two vanillas and a dab of patchouli. First sniff  was a heavenly mingle of marshmallow and vanilla. Applied on the skin the vanilla rings through the marshmallow to make it a yummy foodie kind of scent. It reminds me a lot of marshmallow rice crispy treats. 

All of the scents had decent staying power which is about 4-6 hours on me since my body tends to devour lighter scents quickly. While I enjoyed all of the scents, out of the five Absolem's cocktail was my definite favorite since I can't get over that amazing watermelon scent. Deadite was a close second followed by Absolutely Alice.  All of the fragrances are vegan and of course cruelty free.

Next up is the Jumbo Eat Me Sugar lip scrub. I chose Pomegranate Margarita for the scent/ flavor.  

    As you can see the label does over the cap of the jar and when I asked Rae about it she stated that it was a printing error and she will be getting other labels once these have completely run out. If you do get a jar with a label like this all you need to do is use a pair of scissors right around the area and it should open up easily and you still get to have the pretty label on the front of your jar.  The scent of this lip scrub was simply heavenly! It smells just like it states and made me want a margarita ASAP! the scrub itself was a nice fine sugar easily applied to the lips to scrub. It left my lips soft and smooth. This product is also vegan and cruelty free.

Finally, last but not least, is the Deadly Kiss Lip Balm.

Due to crappy Florida weather and it constantly raining,I used the  flash and it washed out the label. See the lip scrub for actual label coloring.

 I seriously can not have enough balm in my house . Between the five of us, there is always someone stealing my lip balms to use. However this time the culprit was Mr Dreadful. I chose the flavors Green Tea and Honey and it was simply amazing the times I am able to steal it back from my husband. He is in love with it. The balm is just the right consistency without being overly hard or soft.  It also smells amazing. I have given up the good fight for this lip balm and allowed my husband this small little victory but I will be ordering more soon. For those of you who are vegan, this is item does contain beeswax. However like the rest of her products it is cruelty free. 

Final thoughts, I am really impressed and pleased with the products I have received from Twisted Wonderland Perfumery. Rae has been kind and professional answering all of my questions and the products she has put out are wonderful. For those of you with finicky body chemistry, like myself, sampler packs are a godsend so that we are able to try a little bit of everything without ending up with a bottle of something that smells amazing but doesn't work on us. I highly recommend checking out Twisted Wonderland Perfumery and trying some of her awesome product. Rae was also kind enough to give me a coupon code to share with all of my readers. DREADFUL10 will save you 10% off your purchase. 

So until next time lovelies!