Haus of Gloi: Valentine's Day 2015

By Unknown

Purchased

What new goodies does the Haus have in store this year?

Over the past year, Haus of Gloi has experienced a massive explosion in popularity. I suppose it's not too much of a surprise given the quality of their products, the range of fragrances, and just how gosh darn likeable they are. Add to that the free shipping on samples, bath and body goodies... well, you can read our company overview for more details and praise.

However, with great expansion comes a price, and there have definitely been growing pains. With any upcoming release now, I set an alert on my phone and am on the website 10 minutes beforehand in preparation to add what I want to my cart in a mad dash. I've had products sell out before I even finish paying! It's frustrating, but at the same time I can't help but feel pleased for the Haus's massive success and am hopeful that as they get a handle on things so that future releases won't be quite so frenzied.

Haus of Gloi Valentine's Day 2015

For this year's Valentine's Day release, I was pretty fortunate. Many of the scents I already owned from last year, but there are some newcomers (and one I forgot to try last year). Let's take a look!

Scents I reviewed last year that are part of this year's collection:

• Come Hither
• Odette
• Risque

Haus of Gloi's First Blush

First Blush

Full size: $15USD for 5mL

Sample vial: $3 sample vial

Tahitian vanilla bean, white tea, lavender and peach.

When Haus of Gloi first announced this year's Valentine's Day lineup, First Blush was an instant must-have for loads of people. I was pretty worried I wouldn't even manage to grab a sample vial.  I lucked out and snagged one though, and boy am I glad I did!

When you've been buying from indie perfume companies, after a while they all sort of "smell" like they're part of the same family. I'm not sure how to explain it, but I'll smell something from Solstice Scents and go, "Yep, that's definitely from Solstice Scents" without even wearing it for a full day. Maybe because they use pretty much their own collection of core notes. First Blush is definitely a Haus scent to me. I recognize the tahitian vanilla bean notes from Komodo (another seasonal favorite), and the peach notes remind me of Peach Mama. Even though it's a brand new blend, it instantly smelled familiar.

Does this mean First Blush is boring? No way! This is a delightfully sweet and girly blend. It opens light and juicy, the peach is pretty strong off the bat. After about half an hour it turns less wet but is definitely still a bit of a tang tempered by the vanilla bean. This is a creamier cousin to Haus of Gloi's Mango Lassi. I was a little disappointed that the tea notes were pretty much unnoticeable on my skin, but white tea is pretty mild in scent to begin with. I drink baimudan daily and it has a very light, dainty fragrance. 

Duration: Being a daintier, delicate scent, First Blush is no powerhouse. I actually reapplied it twice as the day progressed (partly because I enjoy it so much, and partly because I wanted to recapture the first 2-hours of notes again and again). But it's not like it's completely evaporated after a few hours either. What's left hugs closely, making for a very nice cuddling fragrance.

Score: 4.5/5

I really like First Blush, but I also own a lot of other scents just like it. I will probably not spring for a full size, but I can see this making for a lovely pumpkin butter or hair oil. If you already know you enjoy the fruitier offerings from Haus of Gloi, you'd be making a mistake passing this by.

Haus of Gloi's Cozy Rose

Cozy Rose

Full size: $15USD for 5mL

Sample vial: $3 sample vial

Cozy Sweater and our Rose City blended together harmoniously: Pale skin musk, faded perfume, Egyptian amber, softly burning nag champa incense and a fine aged vanilla + Red roses and the earthy wet scent of aged patchouli.

Cozy Sweater and Rose City are both popular offerings in the general Haus catalog. I enjoy Cozy Sweater (highlighted here by me and given even further deserving spotlight and praise by Valentine here), but I've stayed away from Rose City out of fear of the patchouli notes.

Unfortunately, my fears were pretty much confirmed, and Cozy Rose has been added to the pile of patchouli fragrances I can't wear. Even with a tiny dab on either wrist (the teeniest of dabs, barely swiping the wand against my skin), my sister declared I "reeked" and pulled her turtleneck over her nose as a gas mask. This stuff is STRONG and smells more like a soapy rose with none of the loveliness of Cozy Sweater on my skin. But don't let my experience put you off - Rose City is quite popular so there are loads of people who can pull it off!

Duration: I scrubbed this off my wrists within half an hour. I felt bad subjecting my sister to it, but she was a real trooper and still sat next to me during dinner. True sibling love.

Score: 1/5

If you have trouble with rose or patchouli, steer clear. This is probably very lovely on others but just does not work for me.

Who Needs Love

Full size: $15USD for 5mL

Sample vial: $3 sample vial

A mahogany box filled with chocolaty orbs, coated in crystallized coffee - filled with a pomegranate and raspberry filling. Who needs love when you have something this decadent?

I missed out on this one last year, but I also tend to avoid gourmand fragrances... maybe it's because if I smelled like food all day I'd really have to rein in my appetite! However, I think Haus of Gloi got it backwards with Who Needs Love - this is a box filled with coffee orbs dusted with cocoa powder! The first five minutes are "whoa, CHOCOLATE" but that quickly turns into "WOW COFFEE!!" - but a really pleasant coffee to be sure.

I don't drink coffee, but the smell is definitely yummy. The "pomegranate and raspberry filling" to me is actually a dead ringer - it doesn't smell like pomegranates and raspberries, it smells like actual candy FILLING you'd find in a chocolate truffle. It's subtle but definitely there to add some depth to the coffee.

Duration: Not quite as heady as Cozy Rose, but definitely more robust than First Blush, Who Needs Love will probably keep you going for an entire day's wear. And why not? If I'm indulging in a box of chocolates, I want to make it last as long as possible!

Score: 4/5
Despite not being into gourmand scents and having no desire to pick up a full size, this fragrance does exactly what it says it's going to do, and it does it well. It smells exactly like the described ingredients, it lasts a long time, and it's decadently rich to boot. A solid choice if you're into this sort of thing.

Final Roundup

Valentine's Day 2015 Collection count:

• 3 sample vials 
• 1 lip balm (not reviewed here, I'm still finishing one from Halloween!)

Price:

• $14.82 for the purchase
• $3.00 per sample (a little more than the $2.50 price per individual vial in the general collection)

Worth It?

I'm always really happy to see Haus of Gloi experimenting and trying out new blends. While some experiments have not always been my favorites (I'm looking at you, Tonic #4) they really hit a home run with First Blush, and I can see it becoming a huge fan favorite very quickly... if people manage to get their hands on a sample! Otherwise this is a very solid lineup with favorites from past years and enjoyable blends.