Four reviews in a row! If we’re not careful, I’m going to start thinking you guys like me.
As is always the case when a more popular brand does a seasonal release, we want to get our reviews out as soon as possible. So we’re looking at Haus of Gloi’s Summer release today. Weirdly, both Kristin and I only purchased these as soaps, which means mostly top notes.
Kristin adds: Haus of Gloi will be restocking their summer collection on June 14th but it will not include whipped soaps. They will not be offering whipped soaps again until part 2 of their fall release due to the problems shipping in heat. The summer restock will include bar soaps and "refreshers" - misting sprays.
Kristin: In other, really exciting news, Haus of Gloi will be doing a Reverie release on July 12th! They haven't had one in a while (since last fall I believe) and if this will be your first, here's the blurb from their website:
Reverie products are creations that do not make it into my seasonal releases or general catalog. These fragrances and products will be sporadic, random, and depending on popularity, will either be cast into oblivion or made into a general catalog/limited edition. Each fragrance will come in a random medium (ie. soap, scrub, perfume) and made in limited batches.Without further ado-
The Brier Path
A sun drenched trail leading to a daydream of ripe wild berries and woods’ rose, rich forest loam, ozone, dark amber and cream.I was really excited about this scent for a lot of reasons. Berries are very summer for me, having never been berry picking, cherry picking, apple picking, or any kind of picking. And I love summer scents that don’t smell like a tropical paradise since my summers were spent in the Midwest.
When you open this jar and smell it dry, it smells almost fake, heavy on berry and very little else. It lacks depth. There’s a bit of green underbrush, but overall it is not the most pleasant of dry smells. In the shower, when it hits the water, it flourishes. It smells like being in the middle of a forest and smelling berries and roses. Nothing is overly strong or as if you have just shoved your face in the middle of a berry patch but like it is nearby and you can smell it wafting in on the breeze. It’s really beautiful to call it The Brier Path because it is quite like wandering down a path and finding such lovely smells.
Kristin adds: There's something in The Brier Path that's reminiscent of Milkmaid from the Haus' Spring Collection. In comparison, The Brier Path is definitely more green to Milkmaid's soft floral but there's something in both that hits the same chord. In this soap, the berries are the strongest note for me. The cream note takes it to the sweet side but there's definitely something darker lingering.
Driftwood
Sun bleached driftwood, dry black musk, warm sand, dune grasses and a damp oceanic breeze.AG gifted me her bottle of Driftwood a couple months ago from last year’s collection. I really quite loved the soft water smell that reminded me of her. So I naturally bought a jar of soap. This is a deeper scent than HoG’s Spring water scent Selkie. It is softer but darker as well. I really am going to fail at trying to describe this scent because it is almost impossible for me to do. But it is quite lovely and quite fantastic. I would strongly recommend it if you like water scents but have little idea how else to describe to you.
Kristin adds: Of the soaps that we purchased, Driftwood was the artistic of the bunch with grey swirls throughout the soap.
Komodo
Mangosteen, Tahitian vanilla bean, dragons blood resin and faded tropical blooms.Kristin: I believe that all products in this scent are sold out for the year. :( Haus of Gloi announced on their Facebook page that items in this scent would only last until supplies ran out since the mangosteen note was discontinued by suppliers. However, they're currently looking for a new mangosteen replacement so hopefully this one will come back in future releases!
Kristin: This soap went on my list after I found out that it's one of my co-blogger's, Lisa's, favorites! She has a fantastic nose for scents and I knew that I'd have to give this one a try.
Kristin: I've never had or even seen a mangosteen before - not related to mangos by the way, despite the name - so I have no idea if the soap smells like the fruit but the soap has a very strong, tangy, not quite citrus-y but just as sharp note to it that dominates. There's a slight hint of vanilla, more as a rounding sense than an actual presence. And a light floral in the background on drydown.
Sanctum
A welcome respite: Muskmelon, coconut water infused with bergamot flower, kaffir lime, polished ho wood and sticky benzoin.Kristin: I'd never heard of "muskmelon" before this description blurb and from my wikipedia search, learned that muskmelon is a species of melon that includes honeydew, cantaloupe, and many other cultivated varieties. The melon is by far the strongest note in this soap.
Kristin: I smelled this and I instantly thought of Hi-Chew Melon candy. Jessye picked up a bag of the stuff and I immediately ran around and made everyone smell both the candy and the soap. All polled noses agreed, really close to an exact match - at least right out of the jar.
Kristin: In the shower, the scent softens a bit away from the candy sweet but still retains a strong melon - to my nose, honeydew in specific, scent.
Kristin: The soap itself is a soft pinky color. Besides Driftwood, Sanctum is the only other whipped soap from this release that differs from the normal white.
Sol
The sun at its apex: Dry gingergrass, litsea, cubeba, neroli, frankincense tears, saffron infused honey, rosemary and the faint touch of true cinnamon.There are a lot of scents here that I don’t know how to identify. I’m going to be honest with you. I didn’t know gingergrass existed until I saw it as an ingredient in this soap. The soaps smells like the ginger version of lemongrass. It’s neither as sharp nor as astringent as ginger- the grass smoothing the scent. It’s really lovely and clean to me, certainly like a mythical sun shining down on me. Mr. J finds a bitterness in it that he doesn’t enjoy, which is sad since it was purchased for him, but lucky for me since I do quite enjoy the sharp scent and un-muddled scent.
Zazz
When something feels a bit lackluster, dull and boring, it obviously is lacking zazz. To fix this we recommend something definitely zazzy and not overly complicated: Tart cranberry, pink grapefruit, sparkling champagne all shook up with crushed ginger root.
Kristin: Haus of Gloi included a sample perfume vial of Zazz in my last order and I knew that I'd be getting this one in soap form. This straight up smells like ginger ale. It's perfectly ginger ale in a sweet and lightly ginger form including the sense of carbonation to make your nose just slightly tingly. In the shower, there's a slight hint of a cola note that I'm not sure the origin of.
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Kristin: And that's a wrap! Did you guys pick up anything this round? Waiting for anything in the restock? I know that refreshers are eagerly awaited. I'm personally curious about the bar soap selection! I've wanted to try one for awhile but they're usually only available in limited circumstances. Do you have any recommendations for which I should try?
Zazz was by far my favorite. Sanctum just smelled like a watermelon jolly rancher to me.
ReplyDeleteSanctum definitely has a super sweet candy aspect to it. What did you get Zazz in?
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