Scodioli Creative has been on my 'to try' list for a couple of years, but I'm not a massive fan of solid perfumes so I just never got around to it. However, I'm trying to branch out a bit so after waiting around FOREVER for the weather to be safe, I decided to order some samples and see what they were like. (As it happens, the day they turned up was 32 degrees celsius - in the middle of Autumn. Luckily I was home early and they didn't have to sit in a hot metal letterbox all day. But seriously - WTF Adelaide????)
The samples come in a set of 3 for $18US. That might seem expensive for samples, but it makes sense when you see the size of them. Check out one next to a clam shell, which is the usual sample size for a solid perfume, and a full size Darling Clandestine solid perfume:
There is 1/4 oz of perfume in each, and according to
The packaging is gorgeous. These are very sturdy screw top tins with an old-fashioned banner label stuck around them. I could have one of these floating around the bottom of my handbag of doom and not worry about it leaking everywhere. In fact, that's probably what I will do with them. I am trying to acquire a taste for solid perfumes because they are just so much easier to carry around and reapply than oils are. The 3 I chose were Euphorium, Odeda and Boheme. I don't feel as though I need a full size of any of these as they are well big enough for me, and the full sizes are a massive 30ml. However, I will buy more sample sizes as there are a few others I want to check out too, namely Farewell (lilac and bergamot), Timshel (tobacco and vanilla), and Oracle (exotic fig, spices and musk).
Euphorium - almond, milk and honey.
This opens with a strong hit of almond - a note I often detest, and in the tin it is straight up marzipan, bringing back horrific nightmares of 1970s wedding cakes coated with a sheet of almond icing. However, after a couple of minutes the almond mellows nicely into the background to just add a slight nutty note. The honey isn't really noticeable on me - maybe it's that tiny touch of sweetness, but mostly what I get from this is a warm, milky vanilla-ish scent that is pretty much a dupe of my beloved - and discontinued - Firebird Almond Milk. So if you're a fan of that one and you missed out on stocking up before it disappeared, Euphorium is definitely worth trying out.This one was instant love for me.
Odeda - saffron, musk and honey.
This was the one I was most interested in and sadly, the only one I hated. My favourite Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab perfume is a limited edition called Love's Philosophy, which was released a couple of times for Valentine's Day but to my knowledge hasn't been around for about 6 years. I have two half full bottles that I picked up from forum sales, and am constantly keeping an eye out for more. The notes in it are vanilla, cream and saffron and it's the saffron in it that I adore. It adds a tiny kick of spice to the standard vanilla/cream combo and just makes it amazingly warm and sniffable. So I guess I was hoping that Odeda would be similar, but alas, it was not to be. The saffron is completely overpowering to the point where I could never at any time smell the musk or the honey. It was just a really strong, slightly band-aidy spice smell that gave me a headache and took forever to go away (in my experience solids last a couple of hours if that - this one of course hung in there for a good 8 hours). This is definitely not for me and I won't be going near it again.
Boheme - vanilla oak.
It is what it says it is - a woody unisex fragrance sweetened slightly with vanilla. It's like a really nice smelling furniture polish, and I don't mean that in a bad way; if I had fancy wood furniture (rather than a house full of Ikea) I would totally rub this all over it. Actually, I probably wouldn't because fancy wood furniture is really expensive, but you get what I mean. Like Odeda, this is quite strong, but I find that on my skin with most woody notes. I didn't love this, but I did like it - I'd be more inclined to wear it in cold weather so I think I'll put it away for a month or two and then haul it out mid-winter.
Overall, the blends are quite simple (not a bad thing), and I'm happy enough - Odeda notwithstanding - to try more. Scodioli is a good little shop worth checking out, and they also sell soap and manly beard wotsits for those of you who are into such things.
