Hey everyone! For today's Company Overview, I'd like to revisit indie perfumer extraordinaire Darling Clandestine. I was impressed enough with the brand that I wrote this post shortly after my first order. Since that review was published 13 months ago, the company has gone through some really positive changes and expansions, and my collection has gone from four solid perfumes to... uh... one of almost everything. Since Darling Clandestine has become my favorite perfume shop by a large margin, I thought I might do it more justice in an updated post.
Darling Clandestine solid perfumes - see scent key at bottom of post!
Darling Clandestine was previously based out of Chicago but proprietress Evonne recently moved to a small town in Texas. She was also able to quit her day job and begin working on DC full time. Congratulations, Evonne!
Darling Clandestine full size oils, ranging from 5mL (far left) to 8mL (dropper top bottles) to half an ounce (brown bottles with round yellow labels). See scent key at bottom of post!
The majority of products are available in a large size and a mini size; in owner Evonne's world, a mini is known as a Bitsy. Solid perfumes are available in half ounce round tins or 3 gram Bitsy spheres. Oil perfumes are available in full sizes of varying amounts (I've seen 5mL, 8mL, and a half ounce, depending on the scent) and most scents are also available as one dram Bitsy vials. Some of the limited seasonal scents are offered in Itsy-Bitsy vial form rather than Bitsy form; an Itsy Bitsy is a half dram, half the size of a standard Bitsy. Lip balms are available in giant tins, but I'm not finding any information about how much product is inside. Body balms are available in four ounce full sizes or "Sharkling sized" one ounce minis. Bug balms are available only as one ounce solid tins. Custom blends of two oils, known as FrankenBitsies, are only available on the one dram Bitsy vials. I know perfume units of measure can be really intimidating to newcomers, so I've scattered photos for size reference throughout this post.
Darling Clandestine Bitsy perfume oil vial in Tilt-A-Whirl
Selection: The scent selection is positively huge at this point, and is growing quickly now that Darling Clandestine is Evonne's full time job. At last count I believe there are over 50 scents in the DC library. With only two exceptions that I can think of (Galilee and Don'tGoPleaseStay) all scents are available in oil form. Most but not all scents are also available in solid form, though a few only exist as oils - Dewlap Valentine, the Halloween scents, Vortex, Morderteile Kelah, and Aequitas come to mind. Transforming oils into solid scents requires "cooking" them, and some scents apparently don't cope well with being heated. It's also worth noting that "cooking" the scents can change them a bit, usually by bringing out particular notes more than others, so an oil and a solid in the same scent do not necessarily smell identical. Finally, any two currently available oils can be combined into a FrankenBitsy for your Exquisite Corpse-esque experiments. This is the closest Evonne gets to custom orders.
Darling Clandestine full size body balm
The scents themselves vary pretty wildly. They run the gamut from sweet to earthy to woody to fruity to aquatic to crisp and beyond. You can find scents that smell like they came from a department store, scents that smell like nature, and scents that smell like nothing you've ever sniffed before. Every DC fan I've spoken with has a different set of favorites, and the majority of people who try the brand seem to find at least a few hits. For a full list of the brand's offerings and the times of year when they're available, I highly recommend checking out the DC Discography. Evonne shies away from a simple list of notes, and prefers to write beautifully evocative paragraphs describing the mood or inspiration behind each scent. If this makes you crazy, leave yourself some time to look up bloggers' reviews before purchasing (I love More Tea, Wesley?'s DC reviews in particular!).
To my delight, the product selection is growing. In addition to the oil and solid perfumes, Darling Clandestine also offers lip balms, body butters in your choice of scent, a bug-discouraging balm, a magnet, and t-shirts in women's and men's cuts. I'm excited to see what Evonne comes up with next!
Samples: Evonne has mentioned the traditional sample vials are quite time-consuming for her to put together, so they are not immediately available in the shop. If you absolutely need to stick with sample sizes you can send her a message to request a listing (they're sold in sets of three), and I believe you'll be very limited in how many you can purchase at once. When I'm trying out a new scent and I don't want to commit to a full size, I stick with a three-pack of Bitsy vials or a Bitsy solid scent.You get a TON of product for a dollar or two more than you would pay for a sample vial at another company.
As with most indie companies free samples are never a given, but I almost always find a bonus in my DC packages. Sometimes it's a Bitsy lip balm or solid scent, but on occasion I've been lucky enough to receive a magnet or a full size lip balm or body balm.
Darling Clandestine solid scent Bitsy containers, perhaps a little less than an inch across. Bitsy lip balms are the same size but have a lip stamp on top for easy differentiation. From left to right: Vardogr, Aragon, Don'tGoPleaseStay
Quality: Overall, I'm really happy with the quality of my DC products. You can check out all our Darling Clandestine reviews here for a more detailed look at the lip balm and body balm formulas as well as a number of scents. The solid scents and body balm spread beautifully on my skin, the lip balm is hydrating enough to work as an overnight balm, and the metal solid scent tins are holding up well despite my best efforts to destroy them in my purse. If you look closely at the photo of solid scents at the beginning of this post, you'll see wear on the vinyl stickers on the tins which have spent the most time knocking around in my purse (row 2 in particular!). The edges have worn down a bit on these workhorses' labels, but the centers remain beautifully intact.
Darling Clandestine mini oils - top row is Itsy-Bitsy vials, bottom two rows are standard Bitsy vials (see scent key at bottom of post!)
If I had to name a fault in DC's products, I'd say they're not especially long-lasting. I get two or three hours of wear out of most of my oils and solids, though I will say that's partially due to my skin chemistry and my preference for lighter scents and light applications. The body balms last much longer for me, though, so that's a good option if you're determined to stay moisturized and scented all day.
Cost: In general, I find I pay a little more at DC than other shops, but in exchange I get a lot more product for my money. For example, it's really common to pay $15 for a 5mL full size bottle at a lot of the popular indie perfume shops. At DC, general catalog scents are $18 or $19 for a roughly 15mL full size bottle. Solid scents are generally $8 to $10 and last ages - I've made it a third of the way through my very favorite in the year since I purchased it. Bitsy solids are generally $2 to $4, and even after multiple applications I can't see a dent in any of mine. Bitsy oils are $5 for a single or $13 for a pack of three. The Itsy-Bitsy vials which were introduced with the most recent Falloween launch are more expensive for less product (I believe average price was $6), presumably to reflect the limited quantity and greater effort required to fill them. Lip balms are $8 for a huge tin which should easily last me four to six months of heavy nightly use. Full sized body balms are the most expensive item in the shop aside from the t-shirts, but I feel the huge tin justifies the $22 price tag. Since almost every product is available in a miniature size for a miniature price, I think this is a really approachable shop for newcomers, collectors, and folks on a limited budget alike. And if you're up for taking a risk, preorders of new scents are often available for a noteworthy discount. Keep your eyes on the Facebook page for announcements!
Darling Clandestine lip balms (rectangular tins) and unlabeled full size body balm (normally these come with a beautiful label on top)
Customer Service: As if the products didn't shine enough, Evonne's customer service stands out, even in the customer care-focused indie community. I believe I've only had one mix-up among my dozens of orders from the shop, and Evonne immediately sent out a replacement product (plus a bonus full size product, if I remember correctly) to correct the mistake. But her customer service truly won me over during an issue last month. Something like 25 orders from the Falloween release went missing in the mail, and unfortunately mine was among them. Evonne sent regular messages to all of us who had runaway packages, and ultimately gave timely refunds to everyone involved. What's more, she offered a private discount code to everyone whose package went missing to make up for the inconvenience. As if she hadn't already lost enough money on us! You'd better believe the majority of my refund went straight back into her shop when she restocked.
TAT: Evonne's turnaround time is currently five days, but you can check the announcement at the top of the Etsy page for the TAT when you purchase. I believe Evonne is now shipping packages every Tuesday and Friday.
Shipping: Products come wrapped in thick paper, generally tucked into little zip-top bags, and are mailed in a bubble mailer. I've never had the slightest issue with items denting, leaking, or breaking during transit. The best part of receiving a Darling Clandestine package is the stamps which have started appearing regularly on the back of each envelope:
I've gotten a different stamp and message every time I've received a package, and the messages are frequently related to your order. Falloween packages had a shark stamp wearing a hand-drawn Halloween costume. I can't even describe how cute this is.
Personal Thoughts: I can't put into words how much I love this shop. The scents can be hit or miss for me, but I have a lot more hits here than any other perfume shop I've ever tried, and many of the hits are among my all-time favorite scents. Not only do I love the products, but Evonne makes the shopping experience downright fun, and I feel really confident that she's got my back if something goes wrong with my order. Darling Clandestine gets three thumbs up, a million points to Gryffindor, and one giant shark-shaped stamp of approval!
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Scent key to solid perfume photo at top of page:
Top row: Fire Eater (one-off supersized to a one ounce tin), Galilee (usually available in a carved wooden box, shown here in a carved stone container)
Second row: Gram-Negative, Serpentina, Mishigami, Cloudswing
Third row: Supernova Sway, Sharkbender (the Love & Sharks label is shown here), Love & Sharks (special edition label from a contest), Blue Valentine
Fourth row: Don Gato, Hellbender, Carny Wedding, Monstre Delicat
Bottom row: Suicide Mix, Ballyhoo, Harpy
Scent key to full size oils in Packaging section of post:
From left to right: Dewlap Valentine, Vortex, Mishigami, Selas, Serpentina, Hellbender, Squander, Falter, Spurn, Wither, Smother, Moderteile Kelah, Aequitas
Scent key to mini oils photo in Quality section of post:
Top row: The Moon Is Leaving For The Wheels, What Mandy Makes
Second row: Gram-Negative, Morderkloud (FrankenBitsy mix of Morderteile Kelah and Cloudswing), Tilt-A-Whirl, Step Right Up, Pestanas
Bottom row: Limerence, Maudlin & Bedlam, Fisticuffs, Pistolas, Curiosities' Ball, Tapadero
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