Company Overview: Darling Clandestine

By AG

Nothing to Disclose

Hi everyone! Today I'd like to tell you about an indie perfume company I've really been enjoying.

Darling Clandestine is an Etsy company based out of Chicago, Illinois, USA. As of writing this post, Darling Clandestine creates solid perfumes, fragrance oils, scented body balms, and scented lip balms, all in a variety of fragrances.

Packaging: The solid perfumes are beautifully packaged in 1/2 ounce round metal tins with a scent-specific image sticker on top and an ingredients sticker on the bottom. According to the listings on Etsy, the solid perfumes' stickers are "high-quality vinyl stickers" - per the description, these are slower to disintegrate in one's bathroom or handbag than standard paper stickers. Fragrance oils come in 1/2 ounce amber bottles and body balms come in 4 ounce round metal tins; both have labels indicating the scent name but they don't boast the same individual photography you see on the solid perfumes. Lip balms come in rectangular metal tins with a sliding lid and unique, drawn labels that vary by scent.

I purchased these four solid perfumes. The product color variations aren't due to the lighting - they all look different! Clockwise from upper left: Mishigami, Monstre Delicat, Aragon, Serpentina

I purchased four solid perfumes, and as a first-time buyer, I found the labeling scheme for this particular product to be a little confusing from a practical standpoint. The photographs used for the solid perfumes are beautiful and the stickers are clearly of high quality, but the scent name isn't written anywhere on the tin. I found I had to pull up Darling Clandestine's Etsy page several times and compare my tins' stickers with the listings before I had memorized the names of all the fragrances. It certainly doesn't affect the quality of the product in the slightest, but if I manage to forget the name of a scent I want to reorder, I can't just search for "the one with a close-up of high heels" or "the one with the exposed boob" in Etsy's search box. That said, the photographs are unique enough that it's easy to pull up the shop page and compare.

Selection: Darling Clandestine seems to have a great selection. Between my four solid perfumes and my lip balm (the latter was a freebie with my order), I haven't yet tried the majority of this shop's offerings, but I'm impressed with the variety in both my own purchases and in descriptions of the scents I've not yet tried. Though the scents seem to lean toward the off-beat or oddball end of the spectrum, there seems to be enough variety for everyone to find their own weird favorite. I found this stickied note on their Facebook page to be especially helpful - it lists all the shop's scent names and descriptions, including seasonals. As of writing this post, the shop also offers unscented versions of their body balm and lip balm.

"La Malinche" lip balm by Darling Clandestine. This lip balm was free with my order of solid perfumes. The tin is huge - as tall as my palm!

I didn't see any samples listed in the shop, so I wrote to the owner (Evonne) via Etsy conversation and asked if samples were available. As it turns out, yes they are! She told me she lists them on request, and you can purchase three scent samples for $3.50 (as of writing this post). If you're interested, I recommend sending Evonne a message on Etsy to set up your order.

Vegans should be aware that the standard solid perfume blend contains beeswax, but the shop owner indicates you can send her a message to request a vegan alternative.

Cost: I am perfectly happy with the cost of the products, especially given their high quality and the great customer service. As of writing this post, solid perfumes are $9-$10 each, fragrance oils are $14-$16 each (except a special limited edition scent which is $22), body balms are $22 each, and lip balms are $8 each. The shop runs frequent sales from their Facebook page and Etsy shows at least a couple of listings in which you can buy multiple products for a discount.

Customer Service: As I mentioned before, I wrote to Evonne via Etsy conversation to ask if she offered samples. I received a near-instant response (within ten minutes) and a very kind message. Additionally, she seems very active on Facebook - answering questions as well as posting updates about whatever blend she's currently brewing. All in all she seems very approachable as well as dedicated to providing excellent customer service.

TAT: I placed my first order during a sale (which always slows things down!) on August 22. My order shipped on September 2. I believe the TAT was listed at seven business days, so this is perfectly fine. I understand the owner has a full-time job unrelated to the shop, so I suspect the TAT will always be perfectly respectable but not lightning speed.

Personal thoughts: Scents are so incredibly personal, but for what it's worth, I'm really enjoying my purchases from Darling Clandestine. To my great chagrin I've discovered I'm incredibly picky about scents, but already one of this brand's scents (Mishigami) has become one of my new favorite perfumes. I'm happy enough with what I've purchased that I'm eager to test out more of the brand's offerings. I'll definitely be ordering at least one bundle of samples soon, and I'm already eager for spring so I can try more of her seasonal offerings.

Have you tried anything by Darling Clandestine? If so, what did you buy and what do you think of it? If not, are you interested in trying them out?