Jessye Gets Bubbly! Future Primitive's Autumn 2016!

Purchased

Future Primitive 
Autumn 2016 Review

Last year when Future Prim’s Autumn release rolled around, I was trying to not spend a ton of money so I only bought a bar of soap and some perfume samples. This year, I had a better idea of what I wanted, but still managed to only buy a few things. It’s bath season, and I have more soap and lotion than I’m pretty sure I can get through. So I bought bathing grains! All in Pumpkin ‘Ead and Bell, Book and Candle. Bell, Book and Candle was originally part of the Autumn release cycle but as of this year has been moved to General Catalogue.

I also got a sample of Owlett’s End. So I thought we could go over all of these again. I have noticed some differences between this year and last year, probably mostly due to the fact that these are all in different products from last year. Let’s smell things!

Pumpkin ‘Ead

Earthy, sun-warmed pumpkin flesh, dry cider apple & pear nectar finished with an Autumn spice syrup.

Last year, when I used this as bar soap, it was just a magical shower of mulled cider happiness. It was phenomenal and wonderful and everything I could want in an autumn scent, and I was so disappointed I didn’t manage to get my hands on more things in this smell.

This year, I planned on getting a couple bags of bathing grains and a lotion. But then I found out Bell, Book and Candle was coming to GC and would be in stock at the same time. That was so much more important as a lotion than Pumpkin ‘Ead. I really love jasmine. So I only bought bathing grains. And I’m kind of glad I did.

Until last year, I had been under the impression that I loved autumn and pumpkins and apples and clove and allspice and all those autumn scents. Turns out I love all of those things EXCEPT pumpkin. I don’t think I’ve ever actually smelled pumpkin until a Blooddrop perfume last year. It’s kind of gross, guys. It has the most naturally occurring gourmand scent without vanilla in it that I’ve ever smelled. I guess what I really love is mulled cider and falling leaves.

Turns out, the bathing grains feature pumpkin quite prominently at the top of the scent. I was very unhappy. But it turns out, it’s actually quite pleasant once the autumn spices blend into it. I wouldn’t say I love this scent as much as I did last year, but it is a wonderful autumn scent that I’m glad I’m bathing in. I’ve used it so much: my first bag is almost gone.

Bell, Book & Candle

Mystical aromas of subtle patchouli leaf, seductive trails of night blooming jasmine, a swish of blonde sandalwood & sweet arabian musk.

Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnne. That is all.

(To expound: this is the headiest, most wonderfulest jasmine I have ever smelled. It is like a perfect high end jasmine scent without the high end cost. I don’t even care that I can’t smell the rest of it. It is glorious. I have not detected a scent change between products or between this year’s and last year’s products. Just glorious, glorious jasmine.)

Owlett’s End

A barley field long past its cutting date, an empty old house, simmering black tea, clary sage & coriander leaves, nutmeg dust, cinnamon sticks, sticky dark orange oil, blackened cardamom pods, and dried tears.

So I bought this last year as a perfume sample. I remember having problems with all of the perfumes samples last year, which admittedly was probably more on me than on the perfumes. I get impatient sometimes; and when top notes really don’t work for me, I often won’t give them time to dry down. I was actually pretty excited to see this as my sample. In theory, it sounds really interesting, and I just didn’t get a good chance with it last year.

In actuality, I discovered I don’t like cardamom. There has always been something about chai that has caused me pause. I can now officially say it’s the cardamom. This has a lovely milky chai scent, and people who love those chai tea scents- this is a great lotion to get. It lacks the astringency of most tea scents but also isn’t overspiced. I’m passing off my sample to AG because she loves tea scents and particularly loves those chai lattes, so I think this will be a perfect match for her.

Final Thoughts

I wanted to readdress these scents, partially either the scents have evolved from last year, or because they have some scent change between products. Also- BB&C is life.

I’m really looking forward to more autumn scents and sharing them with you. Hopefully, we’ll have some perfume samples from HoG of Samhain II and Hex. And remember to check out my Instagram, where I will be sharing my favorite Blooddrop decant from the collection of decants I just received in the mail!

Don’t forget, we’ve got Blooddrop bath and body release and Solstice Scents’ Autumn release to look forward to! Oh! And Part 2 for HoG and FP!

Jessye Mixes Things Up: Blending Perfumes into Lotion

Purchased

Blending Perfumes into Lotion

Most indie lotions are too heavy for me to use daily, especially in the summer. This is a really big problem for me. I miss out on the opportunity of seasonal lotions pretty often. If I buy them, I usually use them on Mr. J. But I kept reading how easy it was to scent things like glace- no duh, you dump oil into oil.

I figured I’m smart and I could figure out how to scent lotion. The couple of articles I came across first were to just dump the perfume in and shake. Umm……. No thanks. The next one I came across talked about making a hot water bath for the bottle, liquefying the lotion, dumping the perfume in with colored dye, shake it up until the dye had gotten everywhere and letting the lotion re-solidify. That’s sounds reasonable, but that seems like a lot of work, and I’m afraid of melting plastic. So I made up my own deal.

First, I chose lotion- HoG’s Body Emulsion. This is a beautiful light lotion that I use like crazy and reviewed last spring. Pretty much my favorite indie lotion.

Then I chose my scents. My first pick was Solstice Scent’s Conjure Dark (look out for that review in the months to come!). Then I knew I wanted something lavender - I ended up choosing NAVA’s Athena perfume. I have a bottle of jasmine essential oil that I didn’t have a use for, so I decided I would use that one. But I bought 4 bottles of emulsion. And I remembered how much I love apples as a scent note, so I chose Sixteen92’s Last Exit for the Lost-  as a perfume it didn’t stay very long on my skin, unlike some other apple scents, but it’s too great a scent to just get rid of.

I’m going to show you how I mixed a perfume lotion and the essential oil lotion. I also used 2 different methods for redistribution. But the beginning is the same. I emptied the bottle of lotion into a clean bowl, free of dust and dog hair. It just took a lot of patience and less than 5 minutes to do.

And now the differences-

For Perfumes

The one good thing that I read was that you only want scent to be UP TO 1% of your lotion. The amount of lotion in a full Body Emulsion translates to about 200 mL, so no more than 2 mL of perfume added to the lotion. This is the other reason I chose the perfumes I did- I had a larger sample of Sixteen92, a lot of Conjure Dark, and I ordered what I needed for the NAVA scent. For me, 2 mL seemed to be the correct amount of perfume.

Using a clean silicone spatula, I stirred it for at least a minute, making sure that the perfume had oozed its way all over the lotion. For this method, I just slowly scooped the lotion out of the bowl and scraped it into the bottle, making sure to leave an air pocket so the lotion could slide down and not bottleneck. This was surprisingly fast and I lost very little product.

For Essential Oil

I have a lot of random things around, like pipettes and empty perfume vials and bottles. Meant for decanting larger bottles if AG and I want to share a scent. So I used a pipette to pull up a large portion of essential oil from the bottle and then delicately and carefully added 3 drops. Essential oil is SO concentrated and you need to be really careful when interacting with it- it can really agitate your skin if it’s sensitive and you’re not careful.

After stirring the crap out of it, I filled a sandwich bag with the lotion. We found bags that were biodegradable and lacked oils on the bag to preserve them. I snipped off the corner of the bag and left the bag unzipped so air could escape. This was incredibly quick, but I feel like I lost a lot more product. But still really easy. And in the grand scheme of lost product, it’s still less than a full use overall.

After I stirred them all, I shoved them back on the shelf. About once a day, I would grab the bottles, shake them around, and then give them a good sniff. They smell fantastic. I might need to add a little bit more jasmine EO to its lotion, but that’s because it’s currently weirdly smelling of peaches. Can’t figure out how that happened- I’m assuming gnomes. After the smell had settled, about 3 days, they were ready for use. Of the three I’ve made so far, they’ve all turned out great, and I will definitely do this in the future when these bottles are gone.

Have any of you played at being chemist? Let us know what you used and how it turned out for you in the comments!

Jessye's Burning Up Again! Candles and Wax Tarts from Frostbeard Studios!

Purchased

Frostbeard Studios

I ran out of candles. Again. So obviously I had to buy more. I have seen a lot about Frostbeard Studios, specifically all those geeky names. So exciting! I tried to curb my spending, I swear. It didn’t work so great, but that means more candles for you to read all about!

I made sure to grab some wax tarts too. I recently bought a new wax tart warmer that allows for multiple bricks; I could probably fit a whole pack if I wanted to. I have not figured out how long it takes these to melt- I have not managed to melt any of these to a point of lacking scent.

The candles state they last about 65 hours- I think mine lasted about 40? I didn’t watch it as closely this time; I’ve only gotten through one and I accidentally left it lit overnight. When I derp, I derp hard. Even still, it lasted much shorter than the 65 hour advertised time but I also burn my candles for 8-12 hours at a time instead of the recommended 4 hour chunks.

I haven’t managed to burn through any of the others, despite trying. Candles + portable AC unit = potential fire hazard.

Onto the scents!

Soy Candles

Cliffs of Insanity

Sea mist, Caribbean teakwood

This is surprisingly a little cloying. It’s very oceanic, but it’s a little too sweet for my tastes. After a couple of hours, there is enough scent from this candle for me to last the day. I do really enjoy it, but in very small bursts. I was surprised at how strong the scent is from these two notes.

I’m having a lot of problems describing this. It’s supposed to be so simple! It’s two notes, but it’s neither salty nor woody. It’s definitely a water scent, but it’s not a traditional water scent.

Mr J says it smells like, “bonfire on a high cliff above crashing waves during a zombie attack in Maine.” High praise from him. I’m assuming the bonfire comes from the burnt wick. I’m not sure where the zombie attack came from, but there it is. It’s a pretty good image.

Purchase Link

Lallybroch

Whiskey, Peat Moss, Woodsmoke

I’m afraid to burn this candle. I’m not going to lie. I am terrified to burn this candle. This candle is freaking stinky just when I open the jar that I am afraid to burn it. This smells like a really sweet whiskey with hints of smoke. Like a whiskey, you can smell the hints of citrus and oak barrel once you get beyond the burning hoarking smell of whiskey in that first moment. It’s going to be a wonderful candle when it’s cold out. And I’m betting if you love that tang of whiskey and all the little intricacies that go with it, this is going to be a wonderful scent for you.

Purchase Link

Oxford Library

Oakmoss, Amber, Sandalwood, Leather

This smelled like the worst sort of leather ever when it first got to me. I was not looking forward to burning this candle when I first got my hands on it. Once it settled, it was wonderful. Smooth leather and amber. This was such a treat to burn- it’s the only one I’ve finished so far. My whole apartment smelled like wonderful fresh leather, like a new handbag or shoes. I clearly have my priorities straight. ^.^

Purchase Link

Sassenach

Lavender, Thyme, Basil and herbs

This is such a bright, fresh scent. Definitely one of my kitchen scents, but manages to extend beyond just being a kitchen scent. All these herbs bring with them an undernote that sustains them and brings to them something almost dark. This is the one I have gotten the farthest through after Oxford Library. It’s a lovely clear scent that just makes my apartment smell so inviting. It smells like I’m cooking something fresh with plenty of herbs and it’s just waiting for a taste. I love when my apartment smells like happy.

Purchase Link

Soy Wax Tarts

Sherwood Forest

Cedarwood, Moss, Pine

I would not have guessed cedar was in this. Cedar is usually such a strong scent for me, and I don’t smell it here. I do smell A LOT of pine and woodsy undergrowth. It’s a fantastical forest scent that is probably even better when it’s cold out, but it’s still been pretty damn awesome in the hot weather. I’m sitting here, racking my brain for that cedar scent- it’s actually hanging out in my warmer and turned on right now while I’m writing this, but I still smell just wonderful pine and undergrowth. And this is PINE, not a synthetic blah that smells like a sprayed down Christmas tree, but the real stuff, out in a forest, surrounded by pine trees PINE. It’s awesome.

Purchase Link

Wibbley Wobbley Timey Wimey

Driftwood, Black Currant Tea, Juniper

This is a surprisingly fruity marriage of black currant and juniper. But it’s sweet, not tart. I actually have a friend who is incredibly scent sensitive- I don’t burn anything or wear any kind of perfume when she comes over, and she loves this scent. It’s a pretty simple scent in its complexities, and definitely subtler than the others I bought, though still a very strong scent in its own right. It’s very smooth and sweet. I overdosed on it pretty quickly when I left it on too long, but it’ll definitely roll back around to a scent I want to smell again.

Purchase Link

Final Thoughts

These are amazing candles that are all scented strongly enough to ensure that you smell what you purchased. It’s wonderful that they have found a way to scent their candles so well. I’ve already been eyeing a couple more (Wordsmith anyone?), and will definitely bring them to the blog for review if I do. Have you tried these book-lovers candles? What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!