Falloween with Darling Clandestine!

Edit 11/12/14: By the way it has come to my attention that oakmoss (which Don'tGoPleaseStay contains an unknown amount of, but it is listed as a main component) is also a skin sensitizer, much like things like cinnamon can be in perfumes. I personally have not had any negative reaction to it but it's just a warning to anyone who is looking to pick up DGPS or any other oakmoss-containing perfumes in the future. The IFRA also has it listed as restricted, and because their guides inform EU laws, oakmoss will be banned in EU perfumery in 2015 unless it is a special genetically modified version of the plant without the sensitizing chemical.

 You can read a great comment here (written by the author of http://scentsandseaspray.blogspot.ca ) that sums up the dealio.

 Just something to make note of, and remember if your skin is prone to sensitivities (and even if it's not) it's always a good idea to patch test! 

I feel ya Mr. Shark.

Admittedly, that shark is a pretty good representation of me, because I inhaled all the saltwater taffy Evonne crammed into my package pretty quickly. I didn't even share it and I didn't feel a bit guilty about not doing so, though I did pass the Glorious and Treasured and Most Holy caramel apple pop off to my sweetheart, because it's something that must be experienced by everyone.

And after I inhaled the aforementioned candies, I began on inhaling the real treat of the package: my Falloween selection of perfumes!

Left to Right: Fullsize Squander, itsy-bitsy of Spurn, bitsy solid of Don'tGoPleaseStay.

All of Evonne's regular Falloween suite scents come in clear glass instead of amber like her bitsy vials, which is a tad disappointing to me, because that makes them more prone to degrading in light, and my normal perfumes are usually stored near a window. These I'm planning to store off to the side in a corner, because I don't want anything to happen to my preciouses!

Squander I waffled about but ended up getting in fullsize because it sounded divine. All in all it's not quite what I hoped, but it's still a pretty nice perfume. It is described as "rich fruitful notes including clove and nutmeg and sandalwood and ripe red apple". Out of the bottle and fresh on the skin you can easily smell the apple, it's a sweet, bursting ripe blooming apple with a background of spice. It reminds me of the type of fall scent my mom uses to scent our house around this time of year.

The apple, sadly, fades very fast once it dries down and it takes on more of a heady, spicy scent. The clove comes very prominent, almost too much so for me, and takes on a weird medicinal quality that reminds me of Robitussin somehow. However after it sits that fades a bit too and it mellows out to something more faintly spicy and pleasant. I've been playing around with layering this and it works quite well with Spurn, I think it needs something sweeter to balance out the clove, because otherwise it's a bit too much for me. Not a total win, but at least a half-win of sorts. It should also be noted that while weartime is decent, sillage is quite low. This is one that ghosts quite faintly after it's been on the skin a little while.

Spurn I got in an itsy-bitsy, but I wish I'd gone for a fullsize because this is a really lovely fragrance. It's described as "bright bursts of pomegranate, tempered with aged wood and haunted by marigolds. Unisex to feminine. It unfolds magnificently on the skin, tangy at first, and ending very clean." The bright burst is very much there upon opening the bottle and sniffing cold. It's very fruity and tangy, but that fades upon application. 

It dries down and I can smell the faint marigold petals and a soft, warm and very light wood smell, something like sandalwood maybe? It does fade down very cleanly into a warm, soft smell that reminds me of snuggling in warm blankets, fresh from the dryer.

It's a good scent for chilly fall and winter, and is nice layered with Squander. Upon my first layering of the two I swore I could smell marigold very prominent, but now I can't seem to get it to come out again. I'm not sure what happened, but come back marigolds! I miss you!

This one also has low sillage on the drydown, it sticks and I can still smell it faintly after a few hours, but I do have to be quite close to my wrist to get a whisper of it.

Size comparison; Top row, L to R: itsy-bitsy, regular bitsy, fullsize Falloween dropper bottle.
Bottom row, L to R: bitsy solid vs fullsize solid.

Don'tGoPleaseStay is a new fragrance this year, only in a solid form, and it's DC's first all-natural scent. 

I got a tiny little pot of it, and it came topped off with what I think is a little piece of oakmoss? Which is cute but I don't know what I should do with it. Throw it out? Keep it there for infusion or something? I'll probably just leave it for now.

DGPS is listed as " a slow infusion made with a fantastic cacao absolute, the very finest oakmoss, crushed juniper berries, cardamom pods, just a tiny bit of ylang-ylang, a pinch of chipotle pepper, and dark vanilla. Think deep, smoky, mossy chocolate gin. " This description is pretty dead-on for me, because I mostly get smoky bittersweet chocolate. I read someone else (I believe it was MoreTeaWesley, who does great reviews) had very little sillage and quick weartime.

I found weirdly the opposite for me, which is why I linked their review, because it seems this could very much go either way. I was trialing DGPS near my elbow and Spurn near my wrist and I could smell DGPS over Spurn easily, and I kept getting quick wafts of it when I moved my arm. It stuck for quite a while too, at least a few hours. I could smell it was still there when I pressed my nose to the spot. Maybe the elbow spot has something to do with the difference as well? I'm not totally sure.

It doesn't unfold much on my skin, it stays pretty similar to how it smells in-pot for me. Chocolate and a little smoke with that very slight juniper edge. Sometimes I think I get a hint of the chipotle, but then it disappears back into the darkness. It reminds me of being in a fudge shop somehow. A lot of my childhoods were spent in the Dells, with waterparks and huge candy shops, so it's a very nostalgic scent for me. I also find it quite cozy and comforting. It's very much not a fake chocolate scent but a real, slightly bittersweet one, which I enjoy much more so. If you're searching for a chocolate that isn't overly cloying I would recommend picking up a bit of this one next time Evonne stocks it--which, who knows, may not be until next Fall!

All in all these scents were fairly kind to me, I'll be wearing all of them as the leaves drop and white frost creeps over the ground again. Fall and Halloween are almost gone but these Falloween scents are here to stay in my collection. 

And if they intrigue you, hurry fast! I believe there are still a few listings left over at DC before they disappear under the snow and dead leaves until next Autumn.

Available here at Darling Clandestine on Etsy.