Latest perfume samples

 Some of you may recall that a few weeks ago I wrote about my desire to try a few perfumes by Indie perfumers, here. Since then, a very kind and generous lady, Carol, offered to send me some samples she had. I'm sure a lot of you already know of Carol (Waft blog), but in case you don't her perfume blog and fragrance boutique can be found here, and here respectively. 

I knew the package was on its way, but as we've had some severe postal delays in the UK as a result of the severe snowy weather recently, I wasn't sure if it would arrive before Christmas. In any event, when I arrived home last night, lo and behold there was the package in the hall. Hurray!

I'm really excited about trying these, as I've literally not encountered any of them before, so it is a unique experience for me. I'm approaching these samples with no preconceived ideas and am looking forward to writing about some of them over the next few weeks.

I won't mention individual perfumes, but some of the perfumers include:

• Dawn Spencer Hurwitz
• Ayala Moriel
• I Profumi di Firenze
• Roxana Villa
• Bruno Acampora
• Amanda Feeley
• Laurie Stern

I'd just like to say a special thanks to Carol again.

Image credit - http://www.flickr.com/photos/helenaliu

Longing to try Indie perfumes

For quite some time now I have been visiting the websites of, and reading about, a number of so-called Indie Perfumers. In particular I've been checking out Neil Morris, Anya's Garden, Roxanna Illuminated Perfume, and DSH Perfumes. I like the idea that many of these people are trying different things and not afraid to express themselves outside of the constraints of the IFRA regulations. Now that is a massive subject in itself, and much debated, so I am not even going to attempt to add my two pennies worth!

I do have a dilemma though - I want to order some samples from some of these perfumers, but damn, they seem to have so many different perfume ranges that I find it totally confusing. I'm particularly fascinated by some of the perfumes on offer at DSH Perfumes. Dawn Spencer Hurwitz has a vaste range of perfumes, divided primarily between her Parfum des Beaux Arts line and what she calls her Essense Oils. However, within each of these categories lie further subdivisions, plus essential oils, aromatherapy products, you name it. Is it just me, or is this totally confusing?

Now, the purpose of this post is not to criticise DSH Perfumes by any means. In fact, I like the fact that there are so many fascinating products to try. However, for an Indie newbie like me who wants to dip his proverbial toe in the water, it is extremely difficult to decide what to try first. I can purchase various sample sets, or individual samples, across numerous ranges. Yikes.

Now usually the question I'm going to ask is better directed at a public forum, like say on MUA or basenotes, but as I trust the judgement of you, dear reader, I am instead going to pose the question here - if you have any knowledge of DSH Perfumes, please could you give me some recommendations of where to start? As some of you might already know, I like earthy, animalic accords, so for example ambers, leather, musk, oud, patchouli, deep woods, spices and incense are all up my  alley.

Incidentally, I'd enjoy reading your experiences of Indie Perfumers to date, and whether there are any you'd particularly like me to try.


Image credit - http://www.copyright-free-photos.org.uk/