Etsy Corner: Flourish Bath & Body Review

My much-anticipated perfume oil samples, purchased from Flourish Bath & Body, arrived on Saturday! As you might recall from my first excited post on this Etsy store, I chose "Woodsmoke & Vanilla", "Saltwater", and "Grapefruit Ginger" as my samples. I am not disappointed! They are amazing scents. It can be difficult to attempt scent-description, but allow me to try:

Woodsmoke & Vanilla is, as the name suggests, smoky - very much like a fireplace or a campside bonfire, yet subtle. The vanilla isn't overpowering, but complementary - as the scent wears down, more of the vanilla comes to the front, but it is soft and sweet. I applied it to the inside of my right wrist and could not stop sniffing it as the hours passed! Just ask my husband how many times I shoved my wrist at his face and exclaimed, "BABE! I smell like a BONFIRE, but PRETTIER!" (...I think he lost count.) It also smells to me of yuletide holidays - not how they actually smell, of course, but more the memory and sense of winter nights and fires and delicious things baking in the oven. I think this would smell great on either a woman or a man - it's not gendered one way or the other, it's simply delicious.

"Saltwater" is almost exactly how Brooke describes - from the item description: "But I wouldn't say it smells exactly like the ocean. (Would you even want it to? Dead fish, seaweed, and all?)" And she's right - it doesn't smell exactly like the ocean, yet it recalls it perfectly. It is slightly spicy and salty, very fresh and watery. It is a crisp, clean scent that wears beautifully. I like that there are spice notes in the fragrance - I even got a whiff of licorice in there, though that might just be my own nose. It isn't overpowering but it stays with you as you wear it. This is another one that I have been eagerly showcasing to my friends - "Seriously, smell this, it's like the beach". One friend said it reminded her of the lake she liked to visit. When I wore "Woodsmoke & Vanilla" on one wrist and "Saltwater" on the other, it smelled like a bonfire... at the beach! This is another very unisex scent. It's what dude cologne should smell like (and not like, say, Davidoff "Coolwater", which beats one over the head with imagined olfactory masculinity).

Of the three scents, I haven't really worn "Grapefruit Ginger" yet - I've been too preoccupied with these nature-inspired wonders - but I am pleased to report that it smells mouthwateringly lovely - sparkly, bright, and genuine (not sort of plastic-y, the way some fruit scents can come off). It's sweet with a delicious tang, and as my favourite grapefruit scent was discontinued (from one of those big-chain bath & body stores), I am pleased to have found a most satisfactory replacement!

Do visit Flourish Bath & Body today - don't forget, as well as perfume oil samples, you can also purchase a set of four mini-soaps to try out, too!

(And Karina, the proprietor of my other favourite bath-and-body Etsy store, Soaps that Make Scents, was featured in the Etsy "Quit Your Day Job" series today! It's a great interview, I highly recommend you check it out.)