This is my first summer scent release from Haus of Gloi, and I'm excited to share it! Haus of Gloi seasonal releases are getting bigger and bigger, and that means more and more cutthroat. The summer Haus release went up at 3 PM on May 17th (I remember, because I was at the laundromat refreshing on my phone...) and Komodo oils sold out like, instantly. Good for the company, bad for us poor indie consumers just trying to smell nice for the season. But anyway, let's talk about what I managed to pick up! Here's a list of the goodies:
- Whipped soaps in Komodo and Zazz
- Hair oil in Sanctum
- Bubbling scrub mini in Sanctum
- Perfume mini in The Brier Path (my free sample!)
My order was placed on the 17th, and was sent out on the 21st - super fast considering how big this release was! It was in my hands on the 26th. No order issues for me, though my last Haus order had a mix up, but their Customer Service fixed it for me. Now let's talk about the scents!
Sanctum is described as "muskmelon, coconut water infused with bergamot flower, kaffir lime polished ho wood and sticky benzoin." I picked this up in two products, a hair oil and a bubbling scrub. Sometimes, scents can differ depending on the product they are in, but Sanctum smells the same to me in both forms - like a watermelon jolly rancher. I assume it's the muskmelon note working overtime, since none of the other notes even come into play for me. Maybe the benzoin is at work playing up the sweetness, but it is just sugary sweet synthetic melon scent for me. I'm torn on whether or not I want to keep the hair oil due to how overly powerful this melon scent is. What's great is, the scent stuck around for 4+ hours in my hair. The bubbling scrub was nice, it bubbled and exfoliated - I used it before shaving. Definitely give it a try!
Zazz is "tart cranberry, pink grapefruit, sparkling champagne all shook up with crushed ginger root." I picked this up in whipped soap form, though I waffled on this or Sanctum for hair oil (and am now sort of kicking myself.) This is my first whipped soap from the Haus, and their formula is a bit lighter than other soaps I've tried (I'm partial to the whipped soap from Savor!) but it really lathers nicely. I really liked the scent of Zazz, though, and I think it may be the favorite of what I've gotten so far! The scent was light and summery, all citrus and champagne. And I'm a sucker for champagne scents. When the restock happens, I might pick up Zazz in everything I can get my hands on.
Komodo was the big seller this year due to the announcement that it would be discontinued after this season, since they could no longer get the mangosteen note needed for the scent. Komodo is "mangosteen, Tahitian vanilla bean, dragons blood resin and faded tropical blooms." Maybe it's because I only got it in whipped soap form, but I really don't get much of anything from Komodo. I get a faint whiff of something sweet, but that's really it. No flowers, vanilla, or fruit, nothing tangible to really write home about. I'm sort of glad I didn't get the full perfume oil bottle I was going for...good thing the hype won out and I missed it!
The free sample given to me, The Brier Path, is not something I would pick for myself. The notes are listed as "ripe wild berries and woods' rose, rich forest loam, ozone, dark amber and cream." As I've learned from past perfume reviews, loam is a fancy word for dirt. I also am not a fan of amber. The first sniff from the vial is berries and amber. Wet on the skin, the scent is sweet and rosy, with a hint of dirt (you can call it "loam" and be fancy if you want but we all know what it is, it's dirt.) After the dry down, the scent is amber and rose, and it reminds me of incense you can buy at the mall. I'm sorry mom and dad, I really shouldn't have burned so much of that crap as a teenager. This scent is definitely not for me, but the incense nostalgia factor was nice for a minute. I really don't like amber.
