Today I bring you a wee spring haul from Haus of Gloi ! It was even more exciting than most seasonal releases for me because it consisted of both a custom scent I worked really hard to design, and a scent that I inspired the Haus to create! They asked for input on Facebook last month on what kinds of scents we wanted to see for spring, and I suggested a blend of orange blossom, white tea, honey, and tonka. They had a butterbomb last year that included honey and orange blossom and I thought it would be awesome paired with a light, refreshing white tea and made creamy by tonka. I was so thrilled and totally geeked out when they posted the spring newsletter and saw my idea translated into their new scent, Honeybelle!





Britton's direction for Honeybelle veered away from mine a little as she was also inspired by the Honeybell oranges from Florida, where she grew up, so Honeybelle ended up being much orange-ier than I had envisioned it, but it was still really cool that they thought my idea was worth using. I bought a full size even though I always try to sample first. It would have felt weird to only get a sample of it, especially when they liked my idea enough to make it! They ended up writing me and telling me they refunded me for the bottle of Honeybelle, which I though was a very sweet gesture and honestly comes in handy because now I can get the Madcap Garden I've been wanting.





So, here is my order in its entirety:









I got a bubbling scrub in Odette on clearance, Honeybelle, Butterbombs in Moss and Rain and Chamomile and Lavender, and a custom scent comprised of Hyacinth, Pink Lotus, Rain, Clean Musk, and Dirt (they were kind enough to accommodate my request for a drop of the fifth note). I received Splendiferous as a free sample.





And my thoughts on the scents:









Honeybelle

A blooming orange orchard, orange blossom honey, soft white tea and creamy white amber.





Like I said before, this was a lot more orange-y on cold sniff than I expected, even though the description clearly states that's what it's going to be. It was a little bitter too, which surprised me. With the dry down I found the orange note faded and became heavy on the amber, with just whispers of the honey and white tea. I actually enjoy the dry down even though it's not exactly what I had in mind. The amber makes the blend warmer/dustier than I had imagined it- I was leaning towards something lighter, softer on the base like perhaps the clean musk note along with the creamy tonka, and I had hoped for the really clean, bright honey note that I love in Madcap Garden, but I didn't really get that at all. It's interesting how easily notes are interpreted differently, and how they can evoke totally opposite things!









Custom Blend





I am so happy with this one. I really put a lot of effort into breaking this one down to create the atmosphere/image I wanted to convey. I was thinking of a cool, sun-sparkling pond, lily pads floating serenely on top, hyacinths growing nearby in wet, freshly turned earth. A floral water-musk, if you will. What I got smells pretty much spot-on, except the rain note is warm to me, not cool or damp at all. It does pair nicely with the clean musk, which, if you like Ploughman, is the note that creates the "light sheen of feral skin musk." My scent smells somewhat like a floral Selkie, minus the wood and sage notes. There is almost a sweet/tart fruity element to it on cold sniff as well. The Pink Lotus? I picked that note even though I don't think I've ever smelled it before; it sounded like it would round out my vision and lend a touch of the exotic. Hyacinth is a pretty strongly scented flower, so even though I adore it, I didn't want it to overpower the other notes, so I asked it to be broken down thusly:

Hyacinth: 25%

Pink Lotus: 20%

Rain: 30%

Clean Musk: 25%

(plus a drop of Dirt)





I get little whiffs of the Hyacinth now and then, where it seems to float separate from the other notes unexpectedly. I could have bumped it up to maybe 30% and dialed down the rain to 25%, but I am still so pleased with it. It's a beautiful, refreshing spring scent!





Splendiferous