In my impulsive desire to dive into indie perfumes, I placed an order with Alkemia (https://www.etsy.com/shop/Alkemia) on the same day as I placed the DC order. I went with their perfume sampler deal wherein you can get 5 perfume oil samples of your choice in ~0.7mL vials for $10 with free shipping to customers in the US! Value-wise this equals $2.88/mL, however, I believe Alkemia always includes 1 free sample so the value ends up being 6mL/$10 or $2.38/mL. If I’m wrong, someone please correct me because I’d hate to be the accidental teller of falsehoods. I definitely think the sample set is a pretty awesome way to explore their many offerings without committing to have oodles of stuff you might dislike.

**Value analysis EDITED thanks to the careful eye of /u/moriarty_was_real of reddit who noted the sample vials are roughly 3/16 drams ~ 0.7mL instead of the 1mL I was foolishly assuming. Thanks oodle doodles! <3**

The Order

After obsessively going through their catalogue, I ended up picking Antares, Arabesque, Dalliance, Lux Aeternum, and Repartee and received Moon Goddess as my freebie.

Ordered 8/15

Shipped 8/16

Received 8/20

Lookit DAT TAT!!

My order arrived in a bubble mailer and the samples themselves were snuggly fit into a small ziplock baggie. Despite a strong fragrance wafting up from the ziplock, I didn’t notice any leakage of the sample vials themselves. Subsequent tests run by storing these guys on their sides and upside down have shown no leakage either so yay for tight seals!

Ok, tiny confession wallaby, I received this order before my DC one but upon opening the bubble mailer I was smacked in the face by such a strong, heady floral note that I was rather intimidated and let them rest for a smidge. After a couple days, that scent calmed down and I sniffed my way through my goodies J

Customer Service

I didn’t have to contact the seller during my transaction which is generally a great sign in my book since it tends to mean 1) their storefront was clear so I lacked questions and 2) the transaction in all other ways went smoothly. However, after falling in love with one scent in particular and having a brief moment of “WAIT…is this considered a summer scent!” panic, I sent a quick message via Etsy conversations and received a lovely reply a day later which was a super check plus!

Onto the Smells!

Antares:

Queen of the Night, Dried Wild Roses, Mandarin, Nicotania, Oakmosses, Cactus, Juniper, Acacia buds, Fir Resin, Clary Sage, Cedar Needles, Labdanum, Guaiac Wood, Germander, and White Patchouli lightly bathed in dewy Water Musk.

Cold sniff: What kids think Champagne would taste like (in a good way).

Wet: Effervescent flowers and wood with notes of orange fruityness.

On dry down: Rounded sandalwood and vanilla (where the heck did that come from??) orange peel/rind a very faint hint of melon mingle with a gentle floral. Although I tend to shy away from distinctly floral scents, here the floral works like a good bassist, it provides the rhythm and seamlessly fills the space between the other components in an alluring but unassuming way.

I definitely see why this has been compared to more commercial scents, it reminds me a bit of L’eau d’Issey for men but with a more feminine twist and much less melon.

Wear time: 6 hours.

Sillage: Moderate. I can smell it on my wrists as I’m typing but my boyfriend 6 feet away can’t smell a darn thing.

Full size? Maybe

Arabesque

An exquisitely spiritual blend of beautifully aged Arabian sandalwood, Mysore sandalwood, precious Egyptian kyphi, sweet orris root, benzoin resin, cassia, and blessed spikenard.

Cold Sniff: I was looking forward to this one most. Initial reaction: “why the hell is this sweet? Is it the cassia and sweet orris root? Can they take a back seat soon? Please?” Some spice and wood attempt to make themselves known.

Wet: Smells as it does on the bottle on both me and the boy, HOWEVER! (cliffhanger?)

Drydown:

On him: smells just like the common non-sandalwood incense my family would burn for new years and death anniversaries. For me, it’s the smell of home on a day I am more consciously making an effort to feel and appreciate my family and our shared experiences. This smells red-brown with streaks of yellow. I like this scent but not as a cologne/perfume.

On me: There is a stronger sweet note and I end up smelling a bit like an older, first generation woman hanging out in the apothecary section of the H-mart or a similar store. Around 3-4 hours, the scent calms down and becomes a warm, milder spicey, sandalwood scent which I enjoyed. However, I am not patient enough to wait that long to smell like this.

Wear time: 8 hours

Sillage: Holy WHOA sillage for ~2 hours then moderate for the remaining time.

Full size? No

Dalliance

Dalliance is a delightfully unique summer blend of garden fresh English cucumbers, barely ripened figs, iced black Pekoe tea, and cool aquatics. As languidly sensuous as a slow flirtation on a shady porch swing, tantalizing as a gentle breeze across naked skin on a hot summer night. Specially blended for hot weather or for wearing in environments where the temperature will be over 80 degrees F.

Cold sniff: Front smells oddly plastic? Cucumber sweetness (as opposed to cucumber crispness) on a floral backdrop. Some earthy saltyness? River water not ocean water. Cozy rather than refreshing.

Wet: green, floral, surprisingly light. I don’t really smell tea in this.

BF Note: Now that you say there is tea in there, I can smell a faint overtone of something you’d call tea. More of a western tea. There is a middle note of warm cucumber skin.

Drydown Very cozy? A Powdery floral with a hint of commercial cucumber. Some saltyness. Not unpleasant but I was really hoping for brightness. This is definitely a relaxing demurely in the shade with a sweet drink type of scent.

Wear time: 5 hours

Sillage: Light to moderate

Full size? No

Lux Aeternum

An homage to the return of the light and the unity of life and death. Red, ripe pomegranates and roses warmed on a bed of solar amber.

Cold sniff: Sweet, candied roses. Cane sugar not high fructose corn syrup or granulated sugar. With a hint of something…slightly artificial wandering around the back. Reminds me of a scent I might be able to find at Crabtree and Evelyn? Light and springy.

Wet: Sugary rosy soapyness? On dry down it gets powdery and a bit cloying for me personally.

Dry down: Less powdery but increasingly sweet, on me the rose starts to get muddled in all the sugar. It’s just not for me.

Wear time: 4 hours

Sillage: Light to moderate

Full size? No

Note: tested just twice as a friend sniffed it, loved it and has taken it into her possession.

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.

Cold sniff: Holy heady floral sweetness up in here! With a Midori like melon scent bringing up the rear.

Wet: Oh god, it has throw. Imma dieeee. Why’d I put this on? What a mistake. Boytoy, send halp! It’s a floral bombardment.

Drydown (~ 30 ish minutes +): The melon peaks its way out is serves as a subtle sweetness while some light wood and spice notes gallop in to ground things. I imagine a hot air balloon made of flowers with a woven woode basket suspended from it, there is a surprising heat to this scent. Altogether, the perfume becomes quite pretty and well balanced but the florals weigh too heavily for me, personally.

Weartime: 7+ hours. Sorry guys, I couldn’t make it past that

Sillage: Starts almost room-filling heavy and calms down to a moderate waft after 30 minutes.

Repartee

A flirtatious zing of mandarin, a bon mot of yuzu, and a unisexy double entendre of lemon and grapefruit blossoms are followed by a zesty riposte of bitter orange, verbena, ginger root tea, sasparilla, oak moss, and wormwood.

Cold sniff: Sweet, pleasantly sharp and citrus-y, but oddly mellow? A bit of incense. Some concern that it could be too sweet.

Wet/Dry: “YES! This is THAT smell! The one!” a dupe for the scent at Nordstroms mom got me a sample of years ago. Like sipping a carefully blended, old fashioned citrus spritzer with slight anise/ginger nose in a bar where the bartender takes god damn fucking pride in the creations, I can almost see the careful hand firmly rubbing freshly peeled zest along the inside of a scotch glass, a glass you sip in a warmly lit speakeasy filled with the very slight haze of incense, a jazz pianist is riffing in the distance… After 2 hours the scent becomes muted and a bit muddled, it’s still pleasant but less fizzy.

Wear time: Solid 6 hours

Sillage: Moderate throughout.

Full size: Oh so much YES.

Overall

I think Alkemia, with its large catalog organized by scent families, its more commercial leaning options, fast as lightening TAT, and its sampler set deal, is a great place to start when exploring indie perfumes. 🙂 ❤