Σάββατο 23 Μαρτίου 2013

My Twyla order and Perfume reviews

When I read Dee’s and Su’s reviews on Twyla I was really excited to try her perfumes. I was intrigued by her floral blends and the fact that she uses only natural ingredients, made me wanting to buy some samples even more.

I ordered: 9 samples + one free because was my first order. She also sent me another on as a surprise.

I used the code from Dee’s blog as well! So, it was a very good deal.

The shipping was almost 12usd but when I got my package I noticed that the actual price was less than that. I emailed Twyla and she sent me 6usd back immediately! That’s what I call costumer service!
So, the international shipping was only 6usd for 11 samples.

I bought All of her chocolate inspired blends! I couldn’t resist guys. I love chocolate scents and especially the chocolate+floral combo!


Chocolate Roses:  Rose otto, milk chocolate, tarragon and mint

From the imp I am getting chocolate and mint. No roses!! It disappears on my skin whatever I do… I put all the sample in one go and still nothing…. Colour me disappointed

Strawberries and Chocolate: Dark chocolate, vanilla and green cognac

This is super Yummy from the imp! It smells exactly like a chocolate that we have in Greece which is with cream and strawberry mouse!
If this was stronger and it lasted longer on my skin maybe I would buy a bottle.


Rasberries and chocolate: Dark ckocolate, vanilla and roibos

This is very similar to Strawberries and Chocolate maybe a little bit more tart. I can smell the tannins from the roibos tea it’s very nice and gives an earthy note to the blend but again it doesn’t stay on me!

White chocolate and apricots with vanilla and coconut

Starts a little bit weird with that alcoholic grapey apricot note but I really like the dry down. Again not very strong but it lasts maybe an hour on me.

Chocolate Violets: Dark ckocolate, vanilla, violet, tiare

From all the chocolate blends I was looking forward to try this on the most! I think this one is my favourite from all the Twyla chocolate scents. The chocolate note isn’t pronounced is a candied violets scent. The tiare gives an exotic tone to the whole. I guess this is how face powders of the past would smelt like1


All in all, I liked her chocolate scents but they were very weak on me. I won’t buy anything in full size but I was happy to try them.
Twyla uses a cocoa absolute to her perfume but I notice that it doesn’t resolve in the scent No matter how hard I tried. This has never happened to me before. Usually I roll the bottle, The cocoa absolute and the other ingredients mingle together and then I apply my perfume. I don’t know why this is happening here.

GENERAL CATALOGUE SCENTS



Bone Flower

Bone Flower, another name for the lovely tuberose; Tropical flowers on a grave - mysterious, cool, ethereal and beautiful. The complex tuberose blended with the musky scent of loamy, tropical soil and unearthed bones.Tuberose Absolute, Balsam of Peru, Maile leaf (used in Hawai'ian funereal services), Styrax, soft Musk & Sandalwood Absolute.

Tuberose is one of my favourite notes. When I saw that Twyla had a scent named after my favourite flower I almost bought a bottle unsniffed.
This is so light, no wonder why Su couldn’t smell this one at all…
If I try really hard I get a very beautiful scent but that is just for a moment… Bummer.

Honekakala


The Hawai'ian word for "honeysuckle".
This was inspired by the lei shop near my old apartment in Makiki-Tantalus. I would stop in at least once a week to buy a lei or at the very least a flower. Walking into the scent of that shop had a way of making me feel drunk, purely on the fragrance of flowers.
Honeysuckle absolute, pikake, plumeria absolute, Tahitian gardenia maceration/absolute, tuberose absolute, massoia bark, lilikoi accord, Monoi de Tahiti and a dribble of aged sweet patchouli



Gardenia, Honeysuckle, pikake, gardenia, tuberose! I love all of them! Let’s see if I have a better luck.
I think I smell Ylang Ylang too. This is nice but it’s similar to Narcosa from HoG and I like narcosa best. The patchouli is not very strong here. So, if you like white flowers don’t let the patchouli scare you!



Magnolia Street
Magnolia, pink lotus absolute, zdravetz, nagramotha, cannabis flower, coffee flower, peach blossom, sandalwood absolute, aged patchouli and a generous swirl of spice.

I get a hint of spice but it isn’t cinnamon or clove to my nose. This is nice and feminine. I get good amount of patchouli on the dry down


The golden lilies
Lily-of-the-Valley, tiare flower, apricot, tonka, davana, amber, sandalwood and fire tree.


Ohh Fire tree! This is a new note for me!
From the imp I don’t like this. It’s sour and sharp. Like I have said this reminds me sweet white wine. This has good staying power. So bad that I don’t enjoy it.


The Sacred Queen

Beautiful, ruthless and fiery - The Sacred Queen, with over 14 essential oils, is a deceptively sweet, complex and unmistakably regal blend of honey and smokey vetiver, amber and vintage patchouli, frankincense, neroli and bitter almond with smoldering spices, sacred incense and a heady blend of florals.  

Earthy patchouli and vetiver. Now this one I like! It’s smoky and interesting and has good staying power. I have similar blend but still this one is very nice if you love resinous scents. I don’t detect neroli or almond in this but I do get a white floral note as the vetiver burns of.


Breathless
Red and white rose, vintage patchouli, myrrh, cacao absolute, bourbon vanilla, and sandalwood. 


This one is my favourite from all the Twyla scents that I have tried. I have a similar scent from Arcana though.  The rose isn’t overpowering and it compliments the other notes and helps the blend not to become to earthy. Cacao and patchouli are the strongest notes here.
This has very good staying power too! I highly recommend it for patchouli lovers!




All in all, I loved the concept and the inspiration behind these perfumes but unfortunately none of these is full bottle worthy for me.  I even tried to put some of the in my scent locket but still I couldn’t smell them through the day.

Perfume is very subjective and has a lot to do with the body chemistry. For example I never liked any of The morbid the merrier scent but I know a lot of people who loved them!
Twyla is very friendly and I highly recommend checking her site out and her FB page where she has regular sales. You can always try before buying her scents and I always appreciate this in a perfume company!


Have a nice Week-end everyone!




4 σχόλια:

  1. Oh great reviews, Amanda! I heard that Twyla is strengthening her blends which is awesome because all her perfumes are wonderful but for the strength.
    I am just about to send you an email :) x

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    1. Thank you Su! That's wonderful that she is taking feedback for her customers and stregthening her blends. Maybe I will try her blends out again in a couple of months.
      I sent you a reply too:)

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  2. Oh it's so nice to see your take on the Twyla scents, sweetheart! Like Su said, I believe the perfumes are being reformulated to last longer. So that would be lovely!

    By the way, I definitely need to invest in a scent locket one day! Where did you get yours?

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    1. Thank you Rachel! I had these scents for a while now on my desk and finaly I decided to review them all together.

      I got this cheap one from etsy:
      https://www.etsy.com/transaction/29476336
      the shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/jonikay52?ref=seller_info
      I really like that it has the moon and a star on it. It does the job nicely and it's a different experience because sometime you smell the perfume which difuses from the scent locket but it seems like it's from someone else or the air!

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