For my first order with Lou Lou’s Soaps, Scrubs and Scents I snagged one of the last bottles of Tropical Dream as well as 7 5/8 dram samples of Coconut Dream, Bananawood, Blueberry, Cheesecake, Pirates Punch, Good Morning, Bunny, and Orange Patchouli Cupcakes. Evelyn also included 2 extra samples! I got Lime Margarita and Haley’s Blend.

Now I’m not very experienced with reviewing scents so this may not be as eloquent as other reviews may be but it should be helpful for others who are new to the world of perfume like me! I know if I like a scent and if I don’t and I can usually pick out the notes that I really like.

The Order

So since I am in Canada I had to contact the owner of the shop to get her to make a custom order for me including international shipping. She was super fast getting back to me and was very reasonable with international shipping. Some places charge an arm and a leg and with $8 (Canadian $) shipping to Canada, this was one of the most reasonable shipping rates I have come across for perfume. Sets of 5 samples are $11(Canadian $) and full sizes are about $5.

The Arrival

I placed my order on May 30, 2014 and received it June 10th. This is pretty amazing for an international order!

The little dudes were really well wrapped. You could’ve dropped the package and they would’ve been fine. You could tell they were wrapped with care.

After getting past the bubble wrap you find these cute little bags holding your treasure!

Each of the perfume bottles was individually packaged in a little baggie, wrapped around the top to prevent leakage.

These weren’t going to be leaking in the mail!

The Reviews!

For the reviews, I did not reference the scent description until after I tested them. I will comment on my impressions from the cold sniff, the wear test, and after reading the description.

I had to grab this one before it disappeared. I may be new to perfume but I have a general idea of what I like and this sounded like it was right up my alley! A version of this scent may come back to the store in the future but that depends if the ingredients can be rounded up in the future.

Description (taken from Etsy Store): This blend starts off with my Coconut Dream perfume oil which is a blend of fresh, tropical coconut, coconut cream, buttery pie crust, vanilla bean, warm woods, sweet amber, and clear musk. I then added additional notes of mango, tangerine, papaya, and pineapple blossoms for a tropical feel. This blend contains some rare and discontinued oils so supply is limited. I may make this blend again with new oils, but it may not smell the same as this original blend.

Cold Sniff: Tropical and fruity. I can pick out the mango, tangerine and papaya notes in there, the pineapple is there but with the other scents it almost smells artificial. On the cold sniff I’m not picking up any of the Coconut Dream, its just fruit.

Wear Test: Still very fruity, it’s like wearing a lollipop as the sweetness is amped up on my skin. After about 30 minutes it mellows down a bit as a hint of the Coconut Dream comes through, but it is still very sweet. After 1 hour it sits very close to the skin and the dry down is mostly the fruit scents with the edges of the scent warmed by the coconut and vanilla.

Final Thoughts: I’m glad I picked up a full size of this before it disappeared as I do like it. It’s something summery and pretty I’m looking forward to wearing lots. This one lasted about 4 hours but sat close to the skin after 1 hour.

Description (taken from Etsy Store): This blend contains an Apple Accord I created along with Leather, Black Tea, and Vanilla Cake.

Cold Sniff: Nope, nope, nope. I don’t know what it is I just am not a fan. It might be the Black Tea and Leather coming through but that’s all I’m getting with this one.

Wear Test: On initial application this one is all Black Tea and Leather and I don’t get any of the cake or apple. After about 30 minutes I get some of the sweetness of the Vanilla Cake and I think I can smell the Apple but it’s still hard to get past the leather and tea scents. After 1 hour it’s still not too much better and the leather and tea are in the forefront.

Final Thoughts: This is not my cup of tea but I can see how it might interest other people. It lasted about 5 hours and sat closer to the skin after about 2 hours but every once in a while I would catch a whiff of it.

Description (taken from Etsy Store): Coconut Dream is a blend of fresh, tropical coconut, coconut cream, buttery pie crust, vanilla bean, warm woods, sweet amber, and clear musk.

Cold Sniff: I get the sweet amber backed by the tropical coconut and a slight creamy edge from the vanilla. I can tell there is a cream scent as there is a sharper note that seems to be in all the scents I choose that have cream or milk notes in them.

Wear Test: This is nice! On application the sharper note disappears and it is all soft coconut and warm vanilla. After 30 minutes there is a slight woody edge to the scent that makes the coconut and vanilla feel even warmer. After 1 hour it has balanced out a bit and I get a hint of coconut and vanilla with the warm woods plus a little bit of the amber. This one sat really close on my skin for the whole wear test and lasted about 6 hours.

Final Thoughts: I wish this one would float around me a bit more. My Mr. didn’t even realize I was wearing perfume until I asked him if he liked it. I found that I had to bring it right up to my nose to smell it. I won’t be buying a full size but I am going to finish the sample for sure!

This scent came highly recommended on the subreddit /r/Indiemakeupandmore so I had to pick it up and try it.

Description (taken from Etsy Store): Blueberry Cheesecake is a blend of creamy cheesecake, fresh wild blueberries, and graham cracker crust

Cold Sniff: Super duper sickeningly sweet. This is so sweet in the bottle that it’s crazy. I can smell a smidgin of creamy cream-cheese and graham cracker but it’s hard to get past that initial berry sweetness.

Wear Test: It’s just plain sweet blueberries on my skin. I don’t get any of the cheesecake or graham crust. After about 1 hour the sweetness mellows down a tad bit and I get a hint of the cheesecake but it feels like the blueberries and cheesecake are fighting each other on my skin. This scent had decent throw and lasted for about 4 hours. It never really balanced out and continued to be a fight between the notes.

Final Thoughts: This scent just doesn’t work on me. I was really looking forward to it due to all the raves on /r/indiemakeupandmore but unfortunately all I get is sickeningly sweet blueberry.

Description (taken from Etsy Store): Bananawood is a blend of ripe bananas, caramel, cinnamon, vanilla bean, and sandalwood.

Cold Sniff: Banana Laffy Taffy. That’s it but I actually like that smell so it’s all good!

Wear Test: Initially the Laffy Taffy smell is there but it very quickly mellows out. After about 5 minutes the banana scent is gone and I am left with cinnamon and a deep woody scent. At the 30 minute mark the cinnamon is very strong with the woody scent hanging out in the background. To smell the scents I have to put my nose right to where I applied the scent so initially the throw isn’t that far but after about an hour I started to notice the scent every once in a while when I moved. At the 1 hour mark the scent has sweetened a bit and a less artificial banana scent surfaces, mingling nicely with the spicy cinnamon which has faded a bit. I can pick up some vanilla and something else sweet that I can’t quite pin down. The dry down is a warm, slightly sweet vanilla banana scent with a slight spicy bite and a warm woody smell lingering in the background.

Final Thoughts: After reading the description I can totally smell each of those notes after it has been on for about an hour. There is a nice balance between the sweetness and the spice in this scent and I find it to be an incredibly comforting scent. This is something that I will be trying on my man. It makes a lovely unisex scent and on me it isn’t too masculine. The throw isn’t strong initially and it sits close to the skin until it warms up and melds with the skin, then I noticed it floating around me. It is noticeable for a while (2-3 hours) and then starts to fade again. It’s still there, but I have to put my nose closer to my wrist to smell it. This lasted for about 6 hours and I did really like the dry down. This has gone into my Buy a Full Size drawer!

Description (taken from Etsy Store): Pirate’s Punch starts out with a vanilla bean infused coconut oil base (vanilla beans infused in the carrier oil for four month). I then added notes of Tahitian vanilla, coconut, lime, bay rum, verbena, and mahogany wood along with some added spices. This is a scent that a man or woman can appreciate.

Cold Sniff: I get warm vanilla with a nip of fresh lime and I think it’s the verbena dancing in the background.

Wear Test: Once on the vanilla fades and the lime jumps right into the front. It’s a nice lime scent, fresh and not artificial. The verbena moves up right beside the lime and I get a hint of mahogany at the edges. The spices come out after about 30 minutes and they sit with the verbena in the forefront but the lime has taken on a slight artificial edge. After about 1 hour its a strange balance of verbena and mahogany with the artificial lime sitting in the background and a hint of rum rounding out the scent. I don’t get the coconut at all and the scent sits close to the skin with limited throw. This scent lasted 4 hours.

Final Thoughts: It’s nice but I was hoping for more rum and spices to come forward. It sits really close to the skin and much like Coconut Dream, I could only smell it when my nose was pressed right up to it.

Description (taken from Etsy Store): Lime Margarita is a refreshing blend of limes, mandarin oranges, lemons, vanilla rum, sea salt, and musk. This blend contains lime and orange essential oils.

Cold Sniff: This smells like the artificial lime flavour you add to shaved ice. Its cloyingly sweet and has that sharp artificial edge.

Wear Test: Once on the lemon and lime scent sits at the front but it’s the artificial lemon scent you get from a cleaning product. There is a hint of what I think is the sea salt but it is hard to tell. After about 30 minutes the scent is still very sharp and artificial smelling on my skin and I am not getting any of the other notes. After 1 hour a bit of orange joins the party but it just adds to the cleaning product scent. This one had throw for the first 20 minutes and then settled in right by the skin. I ended up washing it off after 2 hours as it wasn’t really nice on my skin.

Final Thoughts: I never got any of the vanilla rum or musk notes and for some reason my skin decided it did not really care for this scent. It amped up the fruits but in a way that made them very sharp and fake smelling. Into the swap pile with this one!

Description (taken from Etsy Store): Sugar crusted blueberry muffins with butter, a bowl of maple syrup drizzled oatmeal, sugar cookies, and a warm mug of vanilla bean infused milk

Cold Sniff: Maple and cinnamon, french toast and waffles with a sharp sweet note that I can’t identify.

Wear Test: After application the sweet note is amplified and the maple and cinnamon dances in the background. After about 30 minutes the sweetness mellows out a tiny bit and the breakfasty smell comes to the front. I can smell the french toast and waffles right at the front, the cinnamon and maple sitting right at the front. After an hour they are still sitting at the forefront but the sweetness is sitting right behind and that is followed by a mellow creamy scent I can’t really identify; it’s kind of vanilla-y and a little bit cakey. The throw was pretty good and I could smell it floating around me all day. After 2 hours the scent really mellowed and the sweetness faded, leaving a creamy and slightly spicy scent with maple dancing in the background. This scent lasted 9+ hours. It was still there when I went to bed, sitting close to the skin.

Final Thoughts: I really like the dry down of this scent but am not a fan of it in the first 2 hours of its lifespan. I find it to be pretty sweet and it made me a little nauseous. This scent is in my Use it Until the Sample is Gone and Then Decide if I Want a Bigger One pile but I don’t think I will want a full size.

Description (taken from Etsy Store): Bunny is a blend of carrot cake, bakery spices, vanilla bean, buttercream frosting, marshmallow fluff, strawberries, cocoa, and amber on a bed of green grass.

Cold Sniff: Warm cake and butter with a hint of vanilla in the background.

Wear Test: Immediately after applying it morphs into crazy sweet strawberry with powdery cocoa. The grass comes through but doesn’t balance well so it smells weird with the strawberries. After 30 minutes my skin continues to amp the strawberries but they are starting to come across with that sharp artificial edge my skin seems to create. The grass is a little sharper and is battling with the sweetness and the amber is there right at the end. This one had good throw for about 2 hours and every once in a while after I would catch a whiff of it. The vanilla and cake never came back and unfortunately I never got any of the bakery spices, buttercream frosting or marshmallow fluff. This lasted for 6 hours.

Final Thoughts: I was really hoping for a spicier, cake-ier scent but that doesn’t come through on me. I think I will have to be careful with fruity scents as apparently my skin likes to make them smell funny. If it hadn’t morphed so much from how it smells in the vial, I would have liked it more. This one is joining its buddies in the swap pile.

Description (taken from Etsy Store): Orange Patchouli Cupcakes is a blend of blood oranges, orange essential oil, patchouli essential oil, and chocolate cupcakes frosted with coconut buttercream frosting.

Cold Sniff: Yuck. This smells like dirt with a strong citrus bite and a cake undertone. It reminds me of a dirty old cupcake left in the park for a week in the sun and rain, forgotten after a birthday party. So I don’t like Patchouli at all.

Wear Test: I do not like patchouli but my skin does. I am not able to give a good review of this scent as I was not able to leave it on for longer than 45 minutes as it made me feel nauseous. On application I got that bright artificial orange scent with a strong scent of dirt and yuck. There is a bit of sweetness from the chocolate but I do not get any of the coconut buttercream. After 30 minutes the orange and patchouli are still right at the front but a really sweet note has joined the party. At 45 minutes I washed this off. Throw was pretty good and I smelled it all around me.

Final Thoughts: If you like patchouli then you might like this one. I am not a huge fan but now I know!

Summary of Thoughts:

These are nice perfumes scents but most do not really work for me. I am going to wait on placing another order until after I try some other brands. These didn’t have as great of a throw as I would like; I want to smell my perfume floating around me. I want people to be like, “Oh, what smells so good!” and so far no one has noticed that I am even wearing perfume. I have to ask my Mr. to smell me for him to notice!

It’s a nice little store with some interesting scents, my skin just amps up the wrong notes. The owner is really nice and communication was super fast! You can find the store here and check things out for yourself!

(All reviews and statements are my honest opinions, and all products are purchased by me unless otherwise explicitly stated.)