Darling Clandestine

I came across Darling Clandestine one day while perusing Etsy. I purchased during a 20% off sale; I ordered three sample perfumes and one "Bitsy" vial in Circassian. The bitsy vials are quite interesting; they are 1 dram (about 3.6 mls, filled to the top. Most "5 ml" perfumes contain 4mls in a 5ml container) and are a steal at 4.00$. My only beef with the mini vials, is they don't have a tiny applicator on the lid as my larger bottles do. My total, including shipping, with the discount came to less than 9.00$. If you take a look at the shop (which is currently closed for the holidays, but you can browse past sales!) all of Evonne's perfumes have unique, pretty artwork, and each perfume comes with its own little story. Here is mine:

Odd and wondrous, these trinkets the suitors bring—astonishing flowers that look like paper birds, jasmine tea and black coffee, a costly box of chocolates with a red silk ribbon. You once saw a tiger in Bangkok, a riot in Paris, a machine at Coney Island that they said could really fly. The exotic butters in your fantastic hair, the livelihood you've adopted and the orchards you left behind. Your love is not a curiosity—it's a marvel. Make them earn it.

Carefully blended and infused by me in small batches in vintage green glass wine bottles, this is a warm chocolaty fragrance with intriguing notes of amber and blossoms. A dozen different scent elements and several days of methodical alchemy make Circassian no ordinary scented oil mix—it's a truly inimitable fragrance

I honestly adore all of the descriptions in the listings! In the bottle, this smells like delicious, gooey chocolate; the fondant sort. I am glad I decided to get more than a sample of this one, because it is lovely. On the drydown, the chocolate is still dominant but the amber and coffee beans creep out. All this needs is a buttery pastry to go with it :)

I ordered samples in Ballyhoo, Big Top Train 2010 and Falchion. These sample vials are VERY generous, and are a bit larger than regular sized samples from other companies. Evonne also included two samples in Mad as Birds and Step Right Up!

Ballyhoo: created as a limited-edition fragrance, is back by popular demand. This fragrance is a surprising melange of amber and spice with notes of creamy coffee and lime and dozens of other fascinating notes

Ballyhoo is definitely interesting, and I'm not sure how I feel about this one yet. My skin amps the lime, and I can smell just a hint of spices in the background.

Falchion: deep, sultry, intense, earthy unisex fragrance with a hint of dark chocolate. There’s a smack of dusky, almost fruity spice out of the bottle, but roll it onto the skin and give it a minute—the drydown is superbly sexy. Thoroughly appropriate for gents and bold ladies. More than a dozen different scent elements and weeks of methodical alchemy make Falchion no ordinary scented oil mix—it's a truly inimitable fragrance

To my nose, this smells like a mixture of herbs and chocolate. Like the listing states, the drydown is quite different than the initial scent and becomes quite sexy. I'm surprised by the morph, as initially I found the herbal note too strong, but it mixes together nicely! I don't think my man would wear this one, though.

Big Top Train 2010: VERY rich and spicy, nutty and molasses-sweet for the holidays

Quite spicy in the bottle, and when wet on kin. On the drydown it becomes more nutty, sweet, and smokey. This one really is perfect for the Holidays; It reminds me of the scents that mingle together in a Christmas market.

Step Right Up: Clean, blue-green with a little spiciness. Nostalgic, fascinating. Unisex.

This scent does remind me of the ocean, and it is very clean. It's not the sort of "clean" you get from dishsoap or detergent though, It really is soft and nice.

Mad as Birds: Cool, yellow-green; garden dew with pear and mint and marigolds. Unisex to feminine.

This is another "clean" sort of scent, but more floral and girly. I wish this one had more of the mint.

Sarawen Perfume Art

I came across Sarawen's shop randomly one day when searching upon etsy. I was very excited, because not only did she have Harry Potter inspired scents, she is located in Canada! I asked Sara for some recommendations of scents to try, and she recommended some of her best selling foodie-type scents. I purchased a set of 6 sample sized perfumes; Ravish, Cake or Death, Tea With Watson, Deaths Day Feast, Yuletide at Baker's St & Black Apple. Shipping took just over a week within Canada, but I suspect it would have been faster had I not ordered during the Holidays. Photos are property of Sarawen.

Ravish

A delicious blend of summer raspberries and decadent chocolate over incense and amber. Sultry, sweet, and indulgent! Beware, an innocent little nibble could quickly turn into love bites!

In the vial, this smells mostly of rapsberries and dark chocolate. On skin, not much has changed, it remains quite sweet! I'd say the raspberry is more of a raspberry preserve sort of smell, but it doesn't smell fake, like how most strawberry scents end up smelling like Strawberry Shortcake dolls. It reminds me of a sort of cookie my dad bought me as a child. On the drydown, there is a bit of the incense/smokey scent. Delicious!!

Cake or Death

When you -must- have your cake or die! Decadent buttercream frosting and vanilla cake with a touch of spice over a darkened amber base.

I read a review where Sarawen was compared to BPAL's perfumes, and this reminds me of the cake scents they would release for Lillith's birthday. I'm not fond of this in the vial, but on the skin it is purely soft vanilla and amber. I would say my skin amps the amber on this one. I would recommend this for those who like softer foodie scents, or maybe those who typically are not foodies. It smells sort of innocent to me, if that makes sense. By the way, a "foodie" are those of us who *love* to smell of cakes, pastries, fruit, spices or really anything sweet.

Black Apple

 

Sweet, red, ripe apples corrupted with poisoned honey and labdanum. A base of dark incense and roses completes the fragrance. Starts off fruity and innocent, then the darkness emerges.

Yum. This one reminds me very much of BPAL's Poisoned Apple, one of my favorite scents of theirs, and my favorite apple scent. It is a tart, juicy, almost sour sort of red apple. I might even say it smells more of green apples. The background notes compliment it beautifully; there is something else "green" about it, the smell you can't really name, but is like walking through an orchard. It takes a while for the incense to emerg on my skin, but again, smells lovely.

Tea With Watson

Take a break from adventuring and stop at 221 Baker Street for awhile. White tea, delicious yellow cake, and a dash of cream caramel layered over light tobacco and bay rum. It smells just like a tea party at Holmes and Watson's flat! This is a balanced unisex fragrance inspired by the world of Sherlock Holmes.

I get mostly the rum in this one, and with the caramel is smells a little like butterscotch. This one reminds me of BPAL's Grog, one of my boyfriend's favorites, and I will surely have him try this one on! This one is more boozy than foodie, I'd say, but it's a nice scent. On the drydown it becomes more like smokey caramel on me.

Death's Day Feast

Hallowe'en is in the air, and it's time to celebrate! The scent of comforting warm pumpkin, delectable caramel apples, chocolates, and spicy incense fills the Great Hall. Just watch out for Nearly Headless Nick!

Again, Yum! In the vial I can smell a lot of the chocolate, which smells similiar to the chocolate in Ravish. The juicy apple scent is here as well, I'm not sure if I get the pumpkin, but it smells like a delicious chocolate covered caramel apple, if there is such a thing! Again, the incense comes out more on the drydown. I'd say this is one of my favorites of the bunch!

Yuletide at Baker St

Sugared peppermints, delicious butterscotch candy, and almonds with dried fruits decorated around the tree. The scent of light tobacco lingers in the background. Spend your holiday with Holmes and Watson! This is a balanced unisex fragrance inspired by the world of Sherlock Holmes, and is perfect for the merry-making lady or gent! Available only through Winter 2011-2012

Ohhh. In the vial, and when freshly applied to skin, I get a jolt of pure peppermint! I wear BPAL's Spooky quite often, and the peppermint note is quite similiar. The description is pretty accurate; there is a hint of smoke in the background and a hint of nut. This one smells mostly of candy, and, I want to eat it.

For those of you who have not tried BPAL, I got hooked on them a few years back, until the prices of 5mL bottles went above 20$. They only ship flat rate (around 14$) to Canada, so they are really not affordable, unless you plan on saving your money and making a few larger orders a year to justify shipping. Their TAT also runs quite long, which I remember being close to a month at times. Their scents are still beautiful, but Sarawen's remind me very much of BPAL, which is a good thing. BPAL has always been praised for their high quality perfumes and interesting scent combinations. Sara's perfumes are highly affordable; samples run at 2.45$ a piece of 6 for 13.50$, and bottles are 10$! I highly recommend giving them a go, especially if you are a BPAL or usually go for more expensive collections. Although I mentioned some scents remind me of BPAL, hers are all truly unique, and maybe it is the unique-ness (is that a word?) that reminds me so much of BPAL.

Check out her Facebook page, as I hear she has plans for a Boxing Day sale!!

Fabric Rosettes

 Halloween hair bow from Elansi

Lately I've found myself gawking at photos of hair goodies on etsy... Now that it's October, I can finally start buying accessories for Halloween. Halloween is my favorite event of the entire year! I would probably wear this hair bow year round if I could. This post is mainly going to be photos galore, of etsy shops I've stumbled across and feel the need to share with everyone.

Silk flower from theloveletter, isn't this one gorgeous? I love the touch of the feather!

Purple and black headband from kurlicues

sugarsugarhigh is currently having a 20% off sale, so be sure to check out her shop as well!

And in case you're feeling crafty (like me!) check out this great tutorial I found to make your own rosettes! The idea is fairly simple enough, especially if you have lots of fabric in your stash.

Joanniel on Etsy

Awhile ago I purchased from Joanniel Creations on Etsy during a Heartsy special. I was very interested in her cloud earring designs which were featured on her Heartsy deal and convo'ed her to see if she had any more in stock. Jo responded promptly (each time within an hour!) to my messages. She ended up making me a custom pair of earrings with gold metal chains. I ended up picking up another pair of earrings with a tree design after falling in love with them on her etsy page! Jo is based in Montreal (Canada). Shipping TAT and shipping itself was very fast.

My order arrived packed neatly in brown boxes with cute flower wrapping! The invoice was included along with a very helpful page on Jewlery Care.

Jo even included a coupon code for 20% off my next purchase in her shop!

Here are the matte gold cloud earrings and matte silver & gold tree charm earrings.

Tree earrings! They are actually fairly light, not heavy on my ears at all. I love trees/earthy designs & think these will nicely compliment any type of outfit.

They are actually a lot smaller then I imagined them to be based on the etsy photos, but they are the perfect size! I think they're gorgeous, and can easily be worn casually or dressy.

Have you ordered from Jo's shop yet?? I will definitely be returning to her shop very soon!

Quintescentials on heartsy

Quintescentials is going to be featured on Heartsy tomorrow! If you are a VIP member, you can purchase the deal today. The deal is a steal, at 6$ for 30$ store credit, good for 3 months and can be used towards shipping!!! Talk about savings.

I also have to mention, the VIP deal is worth it. I believe it's still 7.99 for an entire month, and it paid for itself in one purchase. I've had three deals now that i've purchased, where with the VIP, I've recieved an *additional* 10$ in store credit! The only downside is unless you unsubscribe, they will continue to charge you on a monthly basis after your first month runs out. If you order from heartsy regularly, it is an amazing deal.

So, have you ordered from Heartsy yet? Are you planning on buying the Quintescentials deal?

Flytrap on Etsy

Flytrap was recently featured on Heartsy, and after eyeing their store for a while, I jumped on that heartsy deal and immediately picked up their poppy dress! The dress is normally 34$ + shipping, and I got it at a steal for the 12$ heartsy deal for 30$ store credit, and paid the remaining 6$. So 18$ for a 38$ dress. When I went back on etsy just now to leave feedback, the dress is now selling for 38$ + free shipping ($2 if your in Canada/Intl). The seller sent me the invoice for the remainder of the money very promptly (within a couple of hours) and send me another email later that evening saying it had been shipped! Wow, talk about a quick TAT! It was purchased on April 15th, and arrived here in Canada today (the 27th.)

They're envelopes are the cutest thing; I'm a lucky duck! But being made out of paper I would be worried if I had ordered this during winter.

It arrived neatly folded in pretty green tissue paper. No invoice was included.

The dress is dark grey with Flytrap's Poppy design screenprinted.

The dress only comes in one size, which is supposed to fit up to a size 6/medium. I'm pretty tiny and normally wear a size XS, and 0 in jeans, and was honestly nervous when I unfolded it from the tissue paper. It does fit pretty snug, I'm happy I didn't order a smaller size. I don't any other american apparel items, so I don't really have anything to compare it to...but I was a little unhappy that the edges of the dress are all raw/unserged. Especially around the bustline, I can see it shredding/ripping pretty easily. I guess AA dresses are meant to be worn without a bra though, which I don't plan on doing. I think the cut is pretty flattering though, and the material is quite comfortable. It's casual, but with the style of the sleeves it can be transformed more dressy/chic.

What do you think? Did you pick up anything from the store during the Heartsy deal? Anything in the store caught your eye? I'm wishing I picked up another deal, the cloth napkins are quite pretty!

Tree Bark Earrings

OruAka is currently being considered for an etsy deal! Hopefully this post will give you some incentive to purchase. In the meantime, you can stop by his shop using my coupon code listed a few posts back. I had William custom make me some earrings and buttons, and picked up a few other things from his etsy store.

Each set of earrings and my hair clip arrived packaged in these little boxes. I really think that's a nice touch! I'm going to be giving a pair to my mom, and the boxes make them perfect for gifts.

The buttons are my favorite, especially the toggles! I use them for cowls, cardigans, etc... Even when added to a simple knit, they look fabulous. The buttons are all uniquely shaped and sanded to a nice finish. The majority of these are Cedar wood, and the round ones at the bottom are Spalted Oak.

Aren't these gorgeous?? I'm going to have to pick up more items in Dogwood, the grain is just so beautiful.

I love the rustic/earthy feel of these tree bark earrings.

These are Elm wood, again, isn't the grain gorgeous?

And finally, a hairclip made from Dogwood! I'm already wearing this in my hair.

If you're looking for gorgeous handmade buttons & wooden jewlery, I highly recommend checking out William's store. I've purchased from other etsy sellers for wooden items, and will continue to be a repeat buyer with OruAka. The quality is outstanding, he is a pleasure to deal with, and is always very quick to reply to convos if you ever have any questions or are interested in a custom order! Please check out his shop, and support handmade.

Heartsy: Dennis Anderson Soap Company

A while back I purchased the Heartsy deal for Dennis Anderson's Soap (13$ for 35$!) I was excited about this deal because the Anderson Soap company is one of the largest Etsy B&B sellers. I ordered the same day (April 7) and the shop was shut down for a few days to deal with the overwhelming overload from Heartsy deals. Even so, my order shipped on April 9th, and arrived today! That is EXTREMELY quick shipping for US --> Canada! Shipping fees were $8.00.

I ordered body butters in Satsuma and Chocolate Drizzle, body lotion in Levo, and soap in Sea Salt Caramels.

Chocolate Drizzle: the scent isn't overwhelming, and it smells just like Chocolate. Very similiar to Quintescential's chocolate fudge scent which I adore. The body butter itself is very thick and creamy, and comes in a 1 oz size. For $6.00, I don't think the price is too bad (especially with the Heartsy deal) but I will be using these as a travel lotion for my hands. I use a lot of lotion to the extent where one jar would probably last me one full body use...

Satsuma: This one is a little too perfumey/strongly scented for my taste. It smells mostly of grapefruit and orange to my nose.

Levo: The lotion is primarily made with cocoa butter, and thus smells of delicious cocoa! Honestly, it smells just like an Aero chocolate bar. This lotion comes in a 4oz bottle size (at the same price of the body butter) but is thinner in consistency. I do think it's a really nice lotion though, it's not too light (even for my dry skin!)

Sea Salt Caramels: On first smell is smelled dead on like my herbal Throat Coat tea, just like licorice. I get tiny notes of caramel mostly on the bottom of the bar. I will probably let this one sit for a while before I decide what to do with it.

Here's a comparison for the body butter size, it fits into my tiny palms. I'm honestly not 100% sure if they're made with a base, but from the ingredients listed in the etsy listings, they look to be completely homemade. It's also important to note that both the butters and lotion are vegan! The ingredients are listed on the Levo lotion & soap label, but not on the butters.

Blaze on

I haven't raved about Brazen Cosmetics for quite some time, eh? ;)

A order arrived today of some random deals I got in on (3 3g pots/$10), mystery grab bag deal, and a 20g pot of Hi-Def I needed as my little pot has been running low. As always, my packaged arrived neatly packed with tissue paper and love!

Aren't these the cutest bags ever?? I love cupcakes!

The entire order! I grabbed a 20g pot of Hi-Def, Perfumes in Girly Girl & Dreamy, 5g pot of Luxe, Oath, Frenzy blush, Cheeky, Blaze lipgloss, and the new Au Natural lipgloss. The Dreamy perfume smells like a fancy store brand, and has a very comforting scent.

As always, ingredients are fixed on the label of every pot!

Now for my rave about Blaze... The moment I opened my package I HAD to try it on! Isn't it just a hot color? It looks totally retro, a bright opaque red-orange. It can definitely be toned down, but I think it would look super sexy with winged eyeliner. I'm just bare faced here!

Frenzy, Oath, Luxe, Cheeky, Main attraction, Jet setter glitter gel, Blaze, Summer LE: Au Natural

Frenzy, Oath, Luxe, Cheeky, Main attraction, Jet setter glitter gel, Blaze, Summer LE: Au Natural

If you haven't already, go on over to Brazen's facebook for info on new products and all sorts of crazy deals!

Package from Rosella Resin

My package from Rosella Resin on etsy arrived today! Shipping was extremely fast (within Canada) took three days. As mentioned before, the owners Jessica & Gwynne have great C&S. They responded promptly to my convos, my package arrived bubble wrapped and neatly packaged with a thank-you note. I'm very pleased with their shop and quality of items, I will definitely be a return customer!

Both my bangle and ring arrived packaged in a baggie, with a tag from their shop I felt was a nice added touch. (Also love their logo!)

The bangle! Aren't the feathers just gorgeous? The bangle is made of resin, which is hard to describe, but it's very lightweight. The items have very small air bubbles, proof that they are individually handmade. The bangle measures 7.5 inches around (size small in the shop), and fits my tiny wrist fairly well (I could almost use a smaller size :P)

A view of another feather on the bracelet.

The lovely ring! The red feather is even more stunning in real life. Again, the ring is very lightweight, so even with it's size it's not heavy at all. This ring is a size 6, and fits on my ring finger (second from the pinky.) The ring sizing is fairly accurate, I believe my diamond rings are all a size 5.5-6. I might consider purchasing a 7 next time, to have it fit my index finger.

Side view of the ring.

Just gorgeous!! I am extremely pleased with both of the items I purchased! I always encourage people to buy handmade, and with all honesty, have you ever seen jewlery quite like this? To me it's worth every penny of the Heartsy deal I purchased, although I would gladly pay full price for orders to come!