My first experience with Darling Clandestine was a few months ago, when I managed to score the limited
/r/Hug of Death perfume oil in a destash. I really liked it, so I decided to place another order with the summer release, looking to hopefully get a feel for what Darling Clandestine has to offer other than cutely packaged LE scents pandering to places I spend a lot of my time at. I placed my order the first day of the summer release, May 7th, and my order took the full 14 business day turn aroud time and shipped on May 28th (dammit holidays!). I had my goodies in my hands on June 2nd, after USPS decided to drive my package all over the state for no reason whatsoever. I hope my perfumes had a nice time in the truck.
I ordered three perfume oils - two from the summer collection (Morderteile Kelah and Tilt-a-Whirl), and one from the spring collection that was still hanging around (Blue Valentine). I picked up two in small "bitsy" sizes, and one full size (as it wasn't offered as a bitsy). Darling Clandestine offers both traditional perfume oil in liquid form, and solid perfumes. I ordered all three of mine in regular liquid form, but was pleasantly surprised to see a bitsy of a solid perfume included with my order in Electricity So Fine from the summer collection.
Let's talk about the scents!
Morderteile Kelah is described with "
notes of amber, hyacinth, milk and strawberry jam. Spicy and sweet." I normally avoid scents with amber, since amber tends to go all old lady on me Opening the bottle, the scent is subtly spicy, with a touch of strawberry. Wet on the skin, the spice is still there, like a touch of pink pepper. There is a light floral note mixing with the fruit of the strawberry as well. As the oil dries, the fruity strawberry intensifies, along with the spice of the pink pepper from earlier, all mixing with the light floral hyacinth note. There's also something slightly creamy about the final drydown of the scent as well. The wear time is okay, about 3 hours or so before fading. Throw was moderate, nothing that will overpower a room. This sort of reminded me of /r/Hug of Death, mostly because of the fruity notes.
Review - 4/5
Tilt-a-Whirl is listed as
"bright summer citrus and passionfruit mellowed with sage and other wonders. Juicy and fruity but not too sweet, candy for grownups." From the vial, the scent is summery and happy, bright, sweet, and fruity. Wet on the skin, the scent is still fruity, with a subtle earthy spice grounding the scent. As it dries, the scent expands to include a pepper note, and the sage becomes detectable, all while keeping the sweet fruit from the initial sniff. This scent hugged close to the skin on me, and lasted for about two hours. I liked the scent, but I was disappointed in the longevity.
Review - 3/5
Blue Valentine is from the spring collection, and I snagged it in bitsy form. "
A moody bouquet of hyacinth and violet and poppies and figs, washed down with shots of real whiskey and bitters and delicate musks and mint." Opening the bottle, the scent is all violets and mint. Wet on the skin, the whiskey and bitters surfaces, mingling with musk and mint and violet. When I smell it, I can feel the mint on the back of my throat. As it dries, the scent stays minty but becomes a bit more fruity. This scent had a bit more throw, than the others in this post. As it faded, it stayed as a bit of mint that hugged closed to the skin. I could still smell this on my wrist after about four hours.
Review -
4/5
Electricity So Fine was my bonus solid bitsy that was included in my order. From the summer collection, it is "
a night-black canvas of artemisia absinthum and mosses and blackest tea and port wine, splashed with an electric sizzle of sparkling violets." In the tub, the scent is floral - thick perfumed floral, imagine heavy tropical blooms. Right after applying onto the skin, the scent is floral and a bit powdery, like baby powder. It smells like the violet of my Guerlain Meteorites. As the solid perfume sinks into the skin, the scent becomes a little more green. The throw is okay, but this stays mostly close to the skin. I'm not sure if this scent is for me, but it was cool that I got to try the solid formula!
Review -
3/5
Now that the summer stock is gone, I need to think about possibly getting stuff from the Darling Clandestine general catalog to try. The solid formula is really interesting, and I'm curious to know if the solid lasts longer than the traditional oil.
