Very Pleasant Reviews!!!!! Arabesque Aromas Natural Perfume, Orlando!!! House of Matriarch’s Natural Perfume, Ambre Vie!! Karls Didgerdoo Shack Incense, Ancient Mystics,Hippie’s Delight,Prophecy, and Winter Breeze!!! Arabesque Aroma’s Organic Rose Petal Botanical Incense!!!!!

I took my time to write these reviews probably because I was savoring these samples one at a time. I have been blown into Spring with an aromatic gust of wind and smoke, it’s been a nice floaty ride.

The first perfume I want to tell my readers about is Arabesque Aroma’s Orlando, it is named after the Virginia Woolf classic. I love literary perfumes, and I love this one particularily well. Like the masterpeice, Orlando is classy, deep, and hauntingly sweet. It is an oil base, and this seems to increase the softer features, which is great! There is an exotic tea note, that oddly adds to the more traditonal feel of this fragrance. It is warm, and if ever a perfume could conjure up feelings of a comfortable fire place, this is it. The vanilla is so creamy in this, not foody creamy, but wrap around you creamy, if this makes any sense. There is a resinous zing that gives this perfume a mysterious quality, much like the author Woolf had herself. I think that anyone that likes vanilla, but not cake batter vanilla, but of-the-earth-and-sun vanilla will love this. Vanilla in her orchid flower form, with the fermenting pods laying close by. This may be one of my favorites of Arabesque’s. What a delight this one is! The top notes are very lady like and seem to let the base and heart drive this fragrance, which is really a change of pace from the in your face top notes of commercial perfumes.It had really good lasting power on the skin, which is alsways a plus.I suggest if you like a fragrance with a hint of mystery and a dream like quality, then this is for you.

I recently reveiwed some of House of Matriarch’s perfumes, of which I am sure Forbidden could become a natural perfume classic. I was recently sent her perfume, Ambre Vie. It is an ambery perfume, and while there are tradional amber fragrance notes, this perfume has a fresh, up to date vibe. On Matriarch’s website, the first description is “Liquid Gold”. That is a simple but accurate description. The frankincense notes in this could also be golden as well, a mythic frankincense. I have recently become a little more familiar with mimosa and this fragrance has helped me find a fondness for it that I had not had before. There is a sandalwood base note, which seems to add powdery feel alongwith the amber, but not too powdery.There are also earthy notes( patchouli?) but there is nothing “hippie” about this one. The top notes are energetic and lively (a peppery, flirty note), but never immature or flighty.In the heart and base there are resinous incense notes, not just from the frankincense either, I beleive from all my tincturing experiences, it may be dragons blood, which is pretty rare in current perfumes. I would say that this is the perfume for people who love ambery perfumes, but need something new,and unique. For people who may be a bit tired of traditional amber fragrances. It has a airy alcohol base and it also has good lasting power!

Thanks to Andrew Kimball over at Equinox Aromatics, I have been introduced to a newer American artisan incense line, Karl’s Didgeridoo Shack, located in lovely Virginia. They are hand grinded, natural and rolled on bamboo skewers. I was lucky enough to sample about five of these fragrant incenses. I will list them and my take on them (I liked them all).

Ancient Mystics: I appreciated this one immediately. Probably because of the Palo Santo I picked up,which has become a favorite incense note of mine. It burned well, and the pine + Mayan copal had a brilliant synergy.

Hippie’s Delight: I would be a liar if I said that I wasn’t hestiant of this one because of it’s name. I was expecting a very 60′s dirty patchouli, and while there is patchouli in this, I was not “dirty” at all. It was earthy, but the Shack kept it classy, and contemporary. It has zip to it, that enlivens it. This is probably my favorite out of the line.

Prohecy: Simply named, but not generic. It is myrrh and frankincense heavy, but it is tempered well with dragons blood. I could see this being a spiritual incense, or used in esoteric rituals, very nice.

Winter Breeze: Ahh, this one was refreshing. It has camphor, but not typical camphor, it really only breathes winter into the blend. The tea tree is surprising too, it is not the tea tree most would know,  it is also tastefully placed in this composition, the frankincense gives it strength, but the benzoin is what keeps this family of scents balanced honestly. This is another favorite of mine.

I really want to see more of these artisan incenses from Karl’s Didgeridoo Shack, they bring a new feel, a truer, cleaner feel to American combustible incenses. You can purchase them at Equinox Aromatics.

Arabesque Aromas sent me a really pretty loose incense, it was their Organic Rose petal Botanical Incense. It seems a very straight forward incense right? It is, but it is not a just petals ground together and called a loose incense, it is a bit more complex. It is tradional incense, but from the Elizabethan era, not ancient Egypt, which makes it quite different in the incense world. It is an innocent, rosy incense, and I heavy suggest that if one is looking for a romantic scent for a special evening, then they should go get some good charcoal, and give this lovely mixture a try! It’s so pure and rosy, and from a time past, and I can not help but conjure images of young maidens and May poles.

My home smells spectacular for Spring and I have these aromatic artisans to thank for it…