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| One Hand Washes the Other (OHWTO) combines spring and summer into one collection |
You can stockpile all kinds of springy, summery fragrances and squirrel away your flowery, fruity scents. But what if that's not good enough for you? "Strawberries? I can buy some from the grocery store and it's the same thing. I want real warm weather, and I won't rest until I find it!"
If this were the beginning to a children's movie, you'd eventually be consumed with madness and set out on an evil quest to capture the very essence of spring and summer, thrusting the world into chaos and plunging it into a never-ending winter while you suck all warmth and joy from the land. Inevitably some sort of youthful gang of heroes with talking animal sidekicks will save the day, and you'll never attain your true goal: Springy Summer in a Bottle.
One Hand Washes the Other (OHWTO) Spring/Summer 2013
One Hand Washes the Other (affectionately known as OHWTO, because let's be honest: that's a mouthful) has combined their spring and summer fragrances into one convenient collection. I'm sure it's different in other areas of the world, but here in New England our seasons towards the end of winter are very....fluid. One week we'll be buried under snow, the next it's 80F and sunny. So this collection has a little bit of everything that makes spring and summer what they are, with an extra pinch of uniqueness (no hostile world-takeover necessary).
The Spring/Summer 2013 collection from OHWTO offers the following fragrances:
- Beach Bum
- Rum Runner
- Make It So
- Dandelion Wine
- The Girl Who Waited
- Chrietzhaus
- Something Blue
- Paradox
In this review, I'll be checking out the first four spring/summer fragrances from OHWTO.
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| Beach Bum by OHWTO |
Beach Bum
Full size: 10mL amber glass bottle w/euro dropper for $10.00 USDSample vial: $2.50 USD
Solid scent: 0.15oz tube for $5.50 USD
Score: 4/5
Sample vial: $2.50 USD
Salt air, tuberose blooms, coconut, sweetgrass, tanning lotion, sand, sea, and sun.
Sandy summer days rolling lazily into sticky, humid nights; sun-warmed skin and beach blossoms placed haphazardly in still-salty hair; running barefoot to the pier to catch the last rays of sunlight before the sun dips below the ocean horizon. Your endless summer starts now.
"Hah! Like anyone can capture that sort of fragrance in a bottle! Dream on!"
How closed-minded. How pessimistic. How wrong.
Maybe you're a beach bum yourself, or maybe you're not. If you're like me, it's extremely momentous when your family finally gets their act together and hauls off to the beach for an afternoon. That being said, my experience as a beach bum is pretty limited, but the sounds, sights, and scents associated with being at the beach leave such an impression that it's hard not to dip into the memory bank during dreary winter stretch and remember the salty, sunny days on the beach.
Whether you're a California surfer or devouring clams along Gloucester's coast, I think most people with beachy experiences will find that Beach Bum "speaks" to them. It really captures that "salty air mixed with sun" essence. It's actually pretty remarkable!
Beach Bum starts out as a sunny, salty, floral fragrance, which I am guessing are the turberose blooms mingling with coconut. I actually hesitate to say "floral" because I don't want you to think this is like some kind of bouquet. It's more of a light, salty sweetness. The coconut and turberose help balance the rest of the scent from turning into straight-up salty sunscreen.
If you've ever been inside a small coastal town gift shop, Beach Bum is a bit reminiscent of one. It's a lazy afternoon with the doors open, a fan buzzing lazily in the back by the register, a light, flowery odor wafting around from the flowerbox by the window, and people browsing around, coated in sunblock with salty sand still clinging to their skin. The sweet flowers fade after about 30 minutes, leaving behind the creamy, salty beach air, still tinged with coconut.
Duration: This was a bit of a dud as far as duration is concerned. I applied a swipe across each wrist around 10AM this morning, hung around the house, bought groceries, made lunch... by the time 3:00 rolled around it was mostly just a faded memory. I typically apply just one swipe per wrist when I'm testing a scent out, so maybe for Beach Bum it needs a bit more to really last.
How closed-minded. How pessimistic. How wrong.
Maybe you're a beach bum yourself, or maybe you're not. If you're like me, it's extremely momentous when your family finally gets their act together and hauls off to the beach for an afternoon. That being said, my experience as a beach bum is pretty limited, but the sounds, sights, and scents associated with being at the beach leave such an impression that it's hard not to dip into the memory bank during dreary winter stretch and remember the salty, sunny days on the beach.
Whether you're a California surfer or devouring clams along Gloucester's coast, I think most people with beachy experiences will find that Beach Bum "speaks" to them. It really captures that "salty air mixed with sun" essence. It's actually pretty remarkable!
Beach Bum starts out as a sunny, salty, floral fragrance, which I am guessing are the turberose blooms mingling with coconut. I actually hesitate to say "floral" because I don't want you to think this is like some kind of bouquet. It's more of a light, salty sweetness. The coconut and turberose help balance the rest of the scent from turning into straight-up salty sunscreen.
If you've ever been inside a small coastal town gift shop, Beach Bum is a bit reminiscent of one. It's a lazy afternoon with the doors open, a fan buzzing lazily in the back by the register, a light, flowery odor wafting around from the flowerbox by the window, and people browsing around, coated in sunblock with salty sand still clinging to their skin. The sweet flowers fade after about 30 minutes, leaving behind the creamy, salty beach air, still tinged with coconut.
Duration: This was a bit of a dud as far as duration is concerned. I applied a swipe across each wrist around 10AM this morning, hung around the house, bought groceries, made lunch... by the time 3:00 rolled around it was mostly just a faded memory. I typically apply just one swipe per wrist when I'm testing a scent out, so maybe for Beach Bum it needs a bit more to really last.
Score: 4/5
This was a really fun fragrance. I was shocked by how "familiar" it was to me. A "beach day" means something different to everyone. For me it means hot sand and sun, sunscreen, salty sea spray, and some New England clams for dinner. Obviously there were no clams as part of Beach Bum, but this is like a little sliver of summer in a bottle for me. I'll definitely wear it again if my mood calls for it!
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| Rum Runner by OHWTO |
Rum Runner
Full size: 10mL amber glass bottle w/euro dropper for $10.00 USDSample vial: $2.50 USD
Solid scent: 0.15oz tube for $5.50 USD
Basil, bay leaf, cedarwood, clove, lime, petitgrain, vetiver, ginger, bergamot, cardamom, litsea, aged patchouli, and vanilla bourbon.
A decidedly masculine concoction comprised entirely of essential oils; swarthy swagger in a bottle. This is my very own "Bay Rum" blend, if you will.
I may have mentioned this before in the past, but I really don't drink any alcohol. Therefore, I get a bit worried when I test out "boozy" scents because 1) I worry I won't like them, and 2) I worry I won't be able to give an accurate description of what I smell (or even worse, sound like an idiot to anyone who's had a couple of drinks in their lifetime).
With that said... I run the risk of sounding totally outlandish when I say this.
Score: 4/5
Sample vial: $2.50 USD
With that said... I run the risk of sounding totally outlandish when I say this.
Rum Runner smells like Fruit Loops and basil. Fruit Loops, the cereal, and dried spices.
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| I'm not even joking. |
There's a "Citron Green Tea" packet they have at my office, and I sense the same "Fruit Loops" fragrance whenever I brew it. I think it's definitely the lime mingling with the other spices that gives me that same association. However, I don't pick up on anything really "boozy" in this fragrance. You know how there's a very particular medley of spices for autumnal cooking? The classic "pumpkin pie" spices? Rum Runner is like a pumpkin pie's breezy, summer cousin, especially with the spicy lime tang.
After an hour, the bite from the lime eases up, allowing what I am guessing is the vanilla bournon to slip out. It's much softer and smoother, but there's still a bit of spice behind it. It's not heavy in the least. I was actually a bit concerned when I saw patchouli in the list of fragrances because I often have trouble with patchouli (it makes the back of my throat feel like it's burning) - but I really don't notice it much in Rum Runner. In fact, once the "kick" in the beginning has dried down, it's smooth sailing! (Haha... "rum runner"... "sailing"... I'll stop now.)
Duration: Not stellar, but not terrible - Rum Runner lasted about 5ish hours on me. Towards the very, very end it was mostly a smooth, gentle spiced vanilla. Vanilla scents usually stick a bit longer to my skin, so this had pretty good milage. What's nice is that the "spiciness" sticks around to tickle at your nose, even if it's light and subtle.
After an hour, the bite from the lime eases up, allowing what I am guessing is the vanilla bournon to slip out. It's much softer and smoother, but there's still a bit of spice behind it. It's not heavy in the least. I was actually a bit concerned when I saw patchouli in the list of fragrances because I often have trouble with patchouli (it makes the back of my throat feel like it's burning) - but I really don't notice it much in Rum Runner. In fact, once the "kick" in the beginning has dried down, it's smooth sailing! (Haha... "rum runner"... "sailing"... I'll stop now.)
Duration: Not stellar, but not terrible - Rum Runner lasted about 5ish hours on me. Towards the very, very end it was mostly a smooth, gentle spiced vanilla. Vanilla scents usually stick a bit longer to my skin, so this had pretty good milage. What's nice is that the "spiciness" sticks around to tickle at your nose, even if it's light and subtle.
Score: 4/5
I was fully prepared to dislike this scent. "BAH. Rum?! I don't like rum - I don't like any booze. Tut tut!" However, Rum Runner proved me wrong. Spicy, tangy, smooth vanilla, and confusingly like Fruit Loops, all those crazy ingredients somehow come together to make quite the complimentary summer blend. I like it enough that I can see myself reaching for it again, although I'm not quite sure I'd invest in a larger size. Maybe!
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| Make It So by OHWTO |
Make It So
Full size: 10mL amber glass bottle w/euro dropper for $10.00 USDSample vial: $2.50 USD
Solid scent: 0.15oz tube for $5.50 USD
Lucky for me, Make it So does a pretty bang-up job passing for an actual cup of black ceylon tea spiked with oranges. There's a wet juiciness to it when you first apply it - not "juicy" from the orange, but "juicy" as in "I can drink this, right?!" It reminded me of a sharp iced tea, and it was very refreshing, especially first thing in the morning after rolling out of bed.
I can't really get too poetic with this one. I mean... it's black tea with oranges. It's not pretending to be something else. It knows what it wants, and it happens to be quite good at it too. The closest fragrance I've gotten to Make It So would probably be Elevenses, although the orange scent in Elevenses is much sharper and more bitter, and Make It So has no fussy biscotti toasted almond funtimes.
Sample vial: $2.50 USD
Black Ceylon tea and Bergamot, Skin musk, Mandarin, Neroli, Orris, and a hint of Ozone.
An ode to everyone's-okay, not everyone's- favorite starship captain, it's like tea in space.I'm not a trekkie, so I couldn't tell you who everyone's favorite starship captain is, or what he has to do with tea, but I can tell you that Make It So does a lovely job capturing the essence of a good cup of black tea! I'm a big fan of tea, although black tea is not my favorite. Make It So was quite the surprise though! After sampling "Elevenses" from Haus of Gloi and "Blossom Jam Tea Cakes" from Solstice Scents, my hopes for "fragrances that smell like actual tea" were a bit low, as neither of these scents really hit the nail on the head.
Lucky for me, Make it So does a pretty bang-up job passing for an actual cup of black ceylon tea spiked with oranges. There's a wet juiciness to it when you first apply it - not "juicy" from the orange, but "juicy" as in "I can drink this, right?!" It reminded me of a sharp iced tea, and it was very refreshing, especially first thing in the morning after rolling out of bed.
I can't really get too poetic with this one. I mean... it's black tea with oranges. It's not pretending to be something else. It knows what it wants, and it happens to be quite good at it too. The closest fragrance I've gotten to Make It So would probably be Elevenses, although the orange scent in Elevenses is much sharper and more bitter, and Make It So has no fussy biscotti toasted almond funtimes.
Duration: Make It So has a mission. It wants you to think about that orangey tea all morning. That fragrant orangey tea will keep going strong. Even long after the "tea" part of the fragrance dies down, you'll still be able to smell the orange. While I felt the orangey part of Make It So definitely does soften (it is never a tangy citrusy orange, not even once), my sister still claims it's sharp, even after wearing it for 5 hours. This fragrance probably won't last through an entire day and night, but it does well.
Score: 4.5/5 if you like tea and oranges.
I really don't think this is one of those "Well, if you don't like [whatever the fragrance is based on] you should give it a shot anyways!" deals. It smells like black tea. If you don't like the smell of tea spiked with oranges, you will probably not like this either. I don't even like drinking black tea, but I certainly enjoy the smell! It's fresh and perky and makes for a fantastic pick-me-up. It also doesn't cling quite as closely as some of the other OHWTO fragrances in the summer collection. Give it a try, and try to refrain from drinking the oil vial. It smells pretty darn convincing.
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| Dandelion Wine by OHWTO |
Dandelion Wine
Full size: 10mL amber glass bottle w/euro dropper for $10.00 USDSample vial: $2.50 USD
Solid scent: 0.15oz tube for $5.50 USD
Sweet green grass, Dandelions, Tobacco, a hint of Smoke, Atlas Cedarwood, Heliotrope, and a wee touch of Patchouli to ground it.
A custom scent blend for Jamie, and named for Ray Bradbury's classic novel of the same name; here's to packing all of summer's joys into one bottle.Wow, what a positively lovely scent. I keep pausing to sniff at my wrists... I'll never get this written at this rate!
The sweet grass in Dandelion Wine is the star of the show. ANYONE who has spent time outdoors around grass will have some kind of instantaneous gut response to this fragrance. For me it's afternoons sitting outdoors on the grass during recess and rolling down the grassy hill in the yard and rubbing all kinds of earthy goodness on my purple dungaree overalls (I'm sure my mother loved that).
I don't really notice any of the cedarwood or patchouli, and if I really try I can pick up on the smoke. The green grassy scent tapers off a bit after about 15 minutes, letting what I'm assuming is the dandelion fragrance to float through. See, I always felt dandelions smelled kind of like bananas... (is my nose broken?!) so what smells like a dandelion to me might not to you. However, it's close enough to my own dandelion-experiences (and given the name of the scent) that I'm figuring it's the dandelion part of "dandelion wine." It's very light, earthy and sweet, and it clings to the skin snugly, like a lazy afternoon nap on the lawn in the sun.
Dandelion Wine has really opened my eyes to just how many different kinds of "green" fragrances there are. You can sit there and say, "Oh, it smells green!" then try another scent that is radically different but easily falls under the "green" category. It really makes you appreciate how varied nature can smell! This kind of reminds me of Haus of Gloi's "The Brier Path" summer fragrance sans berries and ozone, which might be why I enjoy it so much.
Duration: I find OHWTO's scents don't seem to last on me as long as some other fragrances. Dandelion Wine stuck around for a good 5-6 hours though, which isn't too bad. The "freshly cut greens" scent starts off strong before tapering off and allowing the sweeter, cleaner, "dandelion-ier" side to come out. Towards the end it's a few wisps of almost powdery sweet grass, but not much else. It's a very soft, "cuddly" scent when it dries down.
Score: 4.5/5
This makes my nose happy. Dandelion Wine is warm, grassy sweetness with just the faintest whisper of smoky earth. However, it's still very wearable and gentle. I think it errs on the feminine side, but there's something unmistakably clean and "aflutter" about this scent - somehow it manages to stay grounded while at the same time being very airy. If you enjoy classical music, Debussy's "The Girl With the Flaxen Hair" is the song I'd pick to represent Dandelion Wine.
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