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| Southern Comforts shares a sliver of Southern life through scents and more. |
One thing I love most of all about the indie scene is playing a role in supporting a new shop. Someone pursues a passion and learns from their buyers, and you as a buyer have a closer relationship where you are able to offer suggestions and feedback. So when a brand new shop hits the scene, I'm always excited to try them out! In the case of Southern Comforts, a new indie bath and body shop on Etsy, things are already growing and changing, and the shop has only been around for barely three months!
For the record, I am so very not southern (would living up in New England make me a "yank"?) - so I know I'm guilty of romanticizing the southern aesthetic. I also imagine the single most comforting comfort of all comforts in the south would be central air conditioning. I reached out to the shop owner Allison asking for her to expand a bit more upon the shop name:
It's nothing novel or new for a company focusing on scents to use the "smell our stuff, go on an adventure!" slant. It's cute and it's true! But what I really like about Southern Comforts is the specific focus on southern US. I've always regarded it as kind of exotic, so that was one of the first things that got me excited to shop!
Southern Comforts
It was important to me that the brand have a Southern theme to it, and because Southern Comfort is a well known company (and they haven't trademarked Southern ComfortS), it would be an easy name to remember, but also clever since fragrances and body care should be comforting. Totally a play on my Southern US theme (and heritage), the alcohol company, the concept of comforting and soothing products, and my current location :)As a New Englander, the number one thing that appeals to me most of all is Southern Comforts's experiential mission statement:
We make luxurious bath and body items with a focus on vegan ingredients that are also great for your body. Here, we are all about creating a scent experience. In that bath, at home, or on the go, you can be immersed in a complete fragrance adventure. All of our fragrances are carefully hand-mixed in Los Angeles, CA, with the intention of taking you on an olfactory vacation to the Southern states.
It's nothing novel or new for a company focusing on scents to use the "smell our stuff, go on an adventure!" slant. It's cute and it's true! But what I really like about Southern Comforts is the specific focus on southern US. I've always regarded it as kind of exotic, so that was one of the first things that got me excited to shop!
Selection
As Southern Comforts is still a pretty new shop, I expect their offerings to expand within the coming months. At this time there are:
Packaging
Much like the offerings themselves, the packaging has already changed since the shop's launch! I'll go into more detail regarding the sample vials themselves.
Perfumes come in 2ml sample vials with the stopper top, 7ml full-size rollerball tube, and 1/2oz solid perfume. Lotions come in a 2oz metal tin, and bath bombs are neatly wrapped in plastic with little cardboard labels.
Samples
Perfumes come in 2ml sample vials with the stopper top, 7ml full-size rollerball tube, and 1/2oz solid perfume. Lotions come in a 2oz metal tin, and bath bombs are neatly wrapped in plastic with little cardboard labels.
Samples
I'm all about samples, and I just want to take this moment to talk about the image used on Southern Comforts's shop to promote their sample pack. How can I say no to plastic dinosaurs?! So it doesn't exactly play into the Southern theme... but they're so cute.
I absolutely love samples, but I love being able to buy them together in a collection even more. For the very fair price of $10 you can purchase a sample pack of 5 vials (so $2 per sample vial).
When the shop first launched, sample vials were small, thick glass vials with stopper. I had a really difficult time with these vials and was not alone - they were sturdy and super leak proof! But a little TOO leak-proof. At the time of this post Southern Comforts has already switched to a new supplier for their sample vials.
Quality
Shortly after the shop's launch, Southern Comforts issued an apology on /r/indiemakeupandmore regarding the longevity of their perfume oils. If you'd like to read the entire post, you can find it here.
They received a lot of feedback about how the scents themselves were well-liked, but they didn't last very long. The original formula uses fractioned coconut oil and sweet almond oil as carriers, whereas the new formula uses rice bran oil. All customers who were dissatsified and purchased perfume during the launch were encouraged to reach out and discuss trying samples of the new formula.
Allison notes,
As for my own experiences, I purchased a small sample pack and wore each scent a minimum of three times. I really enjoyed most of them and found that they lasted between 4-6 hours on my skin depending on the scent. A few wound up smelling way off from what I initially expected (Grandma Odene's House smelled like cookies initially before turning sour and smelling like sweaty lavender). I'll be taking a look at more scents from Southern Comforts in the future, but overall I wasn't displeased with the quality and am excited about the formula adjustments!
They received a lot of feedback about how the scents themselves were well-liked, but they didn't last very long. The original formula uses fractioned coconut oil and sweet almond oil as carriers, whereas the new formula uses rice bran oil. All customers who were dissatsified and purchased perfume during the launch were encouraged to reach out and discuss trying samples of the new formula.
Allison notes,
The new formulations are, in fact, safe and do last somewhat longer. Unfortunately, the fragrance fixatives used by many companies are animal derived or tested on animals, and that goes against my beliefs and many of yours. All I can do is offer the slightly improved formula, and my sincere apologies to the community.I really admire how upfront and transparent Southern Comforts is with their formulation challenges and working together with the community! A gesture like that may seem small, but it goes a long way towards establishing rapport and trust with the consumer.
As for my own experiences, I purchased a small sample pack and wore each scent a minimum of three times. I really enjoyed most of them and found that they lasted between 4-6 hours on my skin depending on the scent. A few wound up smelling way off from what I initially expected (Grandma Odene's House smelled like cookies initially before turning sour and smelling like sweaty lavender). I'll be taking a look at more scents from Southern Comforts in the future, but overall I wasn't displeased with the quality and am excited about the formula adjustments!
Cost
- $10 for a 5-pack of sample vials
- $7 for a 7ml rollerball of the old formula, $12 for the new formula.
- $3.50 for a bath bomb
- $12 for a 2oz tin of lotion
Customer Service
TAT & Shipping
The TAT for my order was stupid fast. The policies page for the shop breaks everything down in more detail. I received my package in 5 days!
Personal Thoughts
Southern Comforts is very young but already off to an incredible start. I think they have all the ingredients for a successful business. I'm so excited to see what new things they cook up and am giddy to check out the upcoming fall scents! Today (September 3rd) "Sneak Peek" sample packs of all 4 fall scents will be available for $8 and full sizes will be available on September 10th.
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