Haunt! Palmist and Fates reviews

 Haunt is a new company for me.  But when she had her Halloween sale, I found that she had added two GC's...Fates and Palmist.  And I had to try them, even though both list the dreaded patchouli as an ingredient.  This company does things a little differently from most of the others I buy from regularly.  Her seasonal sale stuff goes FAST - as in, sometimes only minutes.  But her GC's as far as I can tell, are available most of the time.

 Palmist:  blackberry and leaf, dark plum, wild violet, sweet patchouli leaf, sandalwood, vanilla orchid, and black spices.

Wet - sweet berries and plum, almost candy-like. Thankfully no patchouli in sniff.
Drying - Ohhh, violets.  I'm finding that the combination of violets and blackberry seems to be one of my favorites.  Still no patchouli, which is great, considering that the bottle even lists patchouli oil as an ingredient...Oh, this is good....
As this dries, it gets progressively less sweet and more dark. I still am not (thankfully) getting the BO/dirt smell I associate with patchouli, but I can tell that there is something in the background darkening up the scent.  Maybe a blend with patchouli I can actually wear??
 Dry:  Plum and violet...this is yummy!  Definitely a keeper and I am so glad I got a bottle! 

Fates: plum, pomegranate, davana flower, clove, cardamom, frankincense, patchouli, sandal heartwood, red musk, and bourbon vanilla.

In bottle:  Not as sweet as Palmist - pomegranate?  But it's not tangy, either.
Wet, on:  Yes, that's pomegranate...mmmm.  And vanilla...and red musk.
Drying: Here come the spices!  Definitely clove and cardamom. And ah, there's the plum.  Again, with this one, no dreaded BO/dirt smell that denotes patchouli to me.  This one is a bit of a morpher: one sniff I get plum/pom and the next I get spices.
It's drying down to mainly spices now, but every now and then I'll get a whiff of plum/pom and vanilla.
I don't like this one as much as I do Palmist, but it's still good, and still a keeper.

All in all, for a first experience with a company, this was excellent.  I also must mention her packaging: The little cloth (muslin?) bags she uses are adorable, and the included sample of Fright Night was in the smallest amber glass bottle with a cap that I have ever seen.  I didn't even know you could make glass bottles that small!

As always, the folks at Haunt don't know me from Eve, other than a random customer. I purchased the oils on my own, and I was not compensated in any way, shape, or form for this review.

Midnight Gypsy reviews: Wicked Jack and Hesperides

In a probably futile effort to narrow down this year's perfume buying to just ONE pumpkin scent,  I'm testing the sample of Wicked  Jack that Tina of Midnight Gypsy was so kind as to include with my order of the big bottle of Pomona (which is absolutely amazing and an all time favorite scent of mine). 

On the left wrist this time I have Wicked Jack, and on the right wrist, Midnight Gypsy's version of Hesperides. (I am differentiating here because BPAL also has a discontinued blend called The Hesperides).

Wicked Jack's description, from Midnight Gypsy's website is: "Lavender absolute blended with pumpkin, fragrant ginger, cinnamon, & cloves - underscored by vanilla, cream, & caramelized sugar - and just a titch of molasses. A whisper of sweet hay & the faintest breath of rich & complex beeswax absolutes round it out. Haitian sandalwood & dark patchouli come together to anchor it all, and the addition of blood orange gives it a distinct orange spice tea scent straight out of the bottle. It dries down to a lovely spicy scent on the skin, which is where the gorgeous note of spiced honey laced with traces of wildflower & sweet grass really shines - that's the beeswax absolute making itself known."

On me, Wicked Jack is indeed, wicked, and he is certainly not shy!  Wow!  I probably should have been a bit more cautious in my expectations for this, given that both lavender and patchouli tend not to like me.  This is NOT your typical spiced-pumpkin autumn scent!  I can see a LOT of people really loving this because of that.  It is very well-blended, and I get quite a bit of spice, and I can definitely tell that there is patchouli in the base notes.  Once it dries down a bit and stops punching me in the nose,  it's mainly patchouli and warm spices.  Not for me, but as I said, I know a lot of people who will adore this blend.

The site description of Hesperides says, "Honeysuckle, sweet pea, and apple enveloped in a rich base of amber, vanilla, and cedar. I've rounded it out with subtle nuances of sandalwood and champa, and then anchored it with a deep animalic musk - but just a whisper!  This blend, on the skin, truly IS the embodiment of a decadent, golden nectar - golden apples, indeed! It dries down with a rich, creamy, almost powdery note with plenty of tenacity."

Now this....this is nice! Wet, I got a blast of apple wine, but as soon as it started drying the wine note disappeared and I got a rush of sweet, juicy, apple.  Beautiful.  As it dries down, the honeysuckle and sweet pea come out a bit.  This is a very pretty, light, scent.   It reminds me a little bit of a cross between Silver Apples of the Moon and Glittering Apples of the Stars from last year's BPAL 'Weenies collection.  Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, depending on your point of view), it seems as if this is one of those blends that my skin is just going to eat.  Which means I might have to have a bottle...I really like this!

And again, the obligatory disclosure.  I purchased these perfumes of my own accord, and I was not compensated in any way, shape, or form for these reviews.