Company Overview: Haus of Gloi

By Unknown

Purchased

Haus of Gloi keeps me coming back season after season

When I first began exploring the world of indie perfumes, Haus of Gloi was the very first company recommended to me. Since then I've been sucked down a rabbit hole of goodies (very, very nice smelling goodies) and amassed quite the collection of perfume samples. But Haus of Gloi does so much more, and it's about time we take a look at the company as a whole.

Haus of Gloi

If you've spent any time exploring the indie perfume and/or bath and body scene, you've most likely come across Haus of Gloi or at the very least heard of them. Run by Matt and Britton, they are both dedicated to crafting high quality vegan products from scratch that rotate by season.  It seems pretty simple, but simple works in their advantage because it allows them to tightly manage their catalog without letting it grow unwieldy. The true complexion comes from the depth of some of their fragrances and of course the overall high quality.

Selection

Haus of Gloi has two main ways of organizing their products - either browse by season or by their regular catalog offerings. At the heart of their catalog are their fragrances which are offered as perfumes or bath and body products. You can choose from the following:

• Handmade Soaps
• Bubbling Scrubs
• Emulsifying Scrubs
• Pumpkin Butters
• Body Emulsions
• Perfume Oils
• Hair Oils
• Lip Balms
• Bath Bombs
• Refresher Sprays

Full sized and sample vials

Perfume Oils

I love the perfume oils from Haus of Gloi. They're blended using a fractioned coconut oil base and come in both sample sizes and full sized 5mL amber bottles. What I love best about Haus of Gloi's perfume oils are that they have different types of scents to cater to different preferences: whether you're a foodie or more fond of florals, they dabble with every type and range from masculine to feminine and unisex. 

While there's the core catalog of fragrances that remain year-around, the true draw are the rotating seasonal scents. This is an exciting deal for Haus of Gloi fans (and maybe a smidge frustrating because seasonal products sell out VERY quickly). Each season they put up products in special limited fragrances. Some fragrances are recurring each year, others are brand new or maybe returning from several years ago. (AG adds: Lisa isn't kidding about the seasonals selling out quickly! I've seen some of the more popular products sell out less than 20 minutes after launch.)

Sometimes the Haus folks might decide to be a little daring and experiment, and they'll put up the results as "Reverie" posts. Sometimes a reverie scent might be so popular that it becomes incorporated into the regular catalog. 

Haus of Gloi also provides the option of creating your own custom blend by choosing from a list of available notes. While this option does cost more ($20 instead of $15 for a 5mL bottle and no sample sizes), the benefit is you are able to tailor the perfume to your personal tastes. I've never personally tried to blend my own, but if you're feeling particularly daring I'd check it out!

You can never have too many lip balms.

Lip Balms

While the catalog of fragrances are often infused into all the other products for sale, lip balms often have their own special fragrance blends that are separate from the perfume oils. They also are part of seasonal releases instead of the core catalog. All lip balms have a base of coconut, safflower, candelilla, and pomegranate oils with shea butter. The formula is decadent! I love Haus of Gloi lip balms because they glide right across my lips and tend to stay smooth even if I've reached halfway through the tube. Some smell good enough to eat! (And if you did eat them, you'd probably be okay, but I don't recommend it.)

Refresher sprays!

Refresher Sprays

These are the newest products in the Haus of Gloi catalog. Refreshers are water and oil based linen + body sprays. Similar to the burnishing glaces offered by Solstice Scents, the summer refreshers come in a spray bottle and are great for misting. However, unlike the burnishing glaces, the oils separate quickly from the rest of the blend and require some vigorous shaking before use. Due to the lack of preservatives, it's recommended to use them up within six months. The scents available for the refresher sprays aren't part of the regular catalog either and are unique to the sprays. I personally own the "Buzz Off" spray and find it not only keeps mosquitoes mostly uninterested in me, I love the therapeutic herbal blend of oils, particularly the lemongrass!



AG says: Hi everyone! I've used a number of other Haus of Gloi products, and Lisa has kindly allowed me to crash her Company Overview and add some thoughts. I apologize - I'm having technical issues with my camera and sadly can't include photos for most of these.

Handmade Soaps

The first thing to note about these soaps is they're gorgeous! Each scent comes in a different set of colors, and they swirl together to create a beautiful final product with a wavy top edge. I tried Driftwood, which was one of the Summer 2014 releases. The formula was great in that it lathered up nicely, made me feel clean without drying my already dry skin, and washed off without leaving residue on my skin or my tub. It weighs (masses?) in at only 4 ounces, which means I used up a bar in about four weeks. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed to find the Driftwood scent didn't seem to come through the bar; it mostly smelled like the lovely, earthy hot process soap base. I'm still really happy with the product itself, but lesson learned - if I want to test out a scent, I'll make sure to stick to the other products.

Bubbling Scrubs

These are quite popular and unusual body scrubs. The texture is hard to describe, and it's firmer and denser than a standard oil-based scrub. The photo on the Haus Amber Bubbling Scrub page should give you a good idea of the texture of this bubbly white product. Though it gives a very satisfying scrub to the skin, I found it left my very dry skin feeling uncomfortably stripped. Like I said, it works well for a lot of people, but the formula is a miss for my particular skin type.

Emulsifying Scrubs

Now THIS is more like it! I absolutely love the Emulsifying Scrubs, which are also known as Sugar Exfoliants. They're hands down the best scrubs I've ever tried, and the only ones that don't leave my skin feeling stripped. They're quite heavy on the oils, so do be aware they'll leave your tub pretty slippery. Though they're excellent for rubbing away dead skin, I actually prefer to use them for the ultimate leg shave. I take a small palmful of scrub and rub it all over my leg for 15-20 seconds until the sugar dissolves and I'm left with a thin layer of oils and butters coating my skin. I use this coating in place of shaving foam for a smooth, comfortable shave. When I get out of the shower, I find I almost don't need to apply lotion to my legs after using this product, which is absolutely amazing given how dry my skin is!

Pumpkin Butters

I really like the Pumpkin Butters, which I believe are the richer of Haus of Gloi's two lotion-type options. Though they're a little greasier than I find ideal, they sink in well enough (and quickly enough) that I can tolerate the last bit of shiny, oily butter left behind after rubbing it in. I keep a mini in my purse because it's the perfect size to tote around, and a couple full sizes at home to use at night. I find I need so little (in spite of my dry, greedy skin) that it takes me ages to get through even a mini! These are also quite good for layering with their coordinating perfume for some serious longevity - I find that a scent that fades after a couple of hours on me in perfume oil form will stick around for a good 10-12 hours or more in Pumpkin Butter form.

Hair Oil

Haus of Gloi's hair oil is a staple in my hair routine! You can find my full review here.

Thanks so much for letting me invade your post, Lisa! Back to you! -AG

Packaging

Haus of Gloi keeps things pretty simple but efficient. Their branding is clear across their entire line of products, and I really love how each product has its own color-coded label. This is a god-send when you have oodles of sample vials or bottles and you just want to grab something on the go.

One thing I dislike about the packaging labels is that they're sensitive and can easily smudge. When you're opening a bottle that has perfume oil, it's a bit frustrating to have your label rub off if the oil gets on it, then later on you're unable to read it.




AG adds: I really appreciate that all of Haus of Gloi's tub products (including sample sizes) come safety sealed! It makes me feel really good about giving them as gifts.

Samples

I really love my Haus of Gloi sample vials

While Haus of Gloi only offers perfume samples in 1mL vials, they charge little to nothing for shipping only sample vials if you're shipping within the US. This is excellent because not only can you select which samples you want to purchase a-la carte, you run little risk by raking up shipping fees. Everyone wins!

Quality

I've been buying from Haus of Gloi for a little over a year and have never purchased a product with subpar quality. I've had fragrances I wasn't fond of, but the quality was still very excellent. I find their perfumes to be among some of the best in the indie community and definitely some of the most long-lasting blends. They last a long time as well and don't tend to settle as quickly as other indie perfume blends I've sampled.

Cost

Haus of Gloi is fairly priced. Their samples are a little cheaper than many other indies, and when you factor in the ability to often pay nothing for shipping if you live in the US, you really can't beat a deal like that. On the flip side, I rarely (if ever) see them offer any sales or coupon codes, but I prefer having prices consistently fair rather than always wondering if I should hold off for a sale. Considering the superb quality, I rarely ever feel guilty about spending too much on my purchases.

Customer Service

I feel Haus of Gloi has some of the best customer service I've experienced! They consistently go above and beyond for their customers. I contacted them back during the spring asking if Maedwe was coming back - instead they tossed in a sample vial they had leftover! They've sent me extra packaging/bottles, and when my order was missing something they shipped off the missing products immediately, no questions asked. Approachable and professional!

AG adds: I agree wholeheartedly with Lisa. Haus of Gloi has consistently stellar customer service. Emails are answered so quickly (even on holidays) that I'm not entirely certain Matt and Britton sleep, and on the rare occasion when I've had an issue, they've helped me resolve it immediately.

Shipping + TAT

The Shipping FAQ page does an excellent job highlighting their policies so I won't expand upon it in excruciating detail. I will say that when I place an order from Haus of Gloi, I live on the opposite coast and typically receive my package within 2-3 days tops. Each order is neatly packed up in a little cardboard box stuffed with newspaper and a piece of tissue paper containing a little bag with the goodies (and some extra sweets).

Personal Thoughts

If you didn't guess by now, I'm a huge fan of Haus of Gloi. They just hit all the right notes. Branding, efficiency, professionalism, and a clean, easy-to-navigate website and catalog are all lovely to have, but if your actual products aren't good it doesn't help as much. I would highly recommend Haus of Gloi being a great introduction for someone just getting started with indies because they make shopping with them so easy.

If I had to offer some suggestions from improvement, I wonder if it would compromise the quality to produce larger batches of seasonal items during release. I actually set an alarm on my phone when a new seasonal release is posted so I don't miss everything before it sells out - they truly do sell out QUICK. However, if more stock puts the quality at risk... I can be patient!

Either way, Haus of Gloi raises the bar and serves as a shining example for other indies (and companies in general) to follow.  If you haven't tried them by now, I honestly can't imagine what you're waiting for!