The description for indie house Kerosene's new fragrance, Unforsaken, tempted me right away, from the "decadent dessert sprinkled with warm coconut shavings and topped with cool clementine slices" to the vanilla cream, ginger and benzoin. I imagined something over-the-top, similar to what their Black Vines did for licorice and spice.
This is not that at all. Still, the first spray captured my heart: shimmering citrus over a pale, creamy backdrop, not quite strong or distinct enough to register as warm coconut shavings or vanilla cream. As it settles on skin, add a lovely floral blend (orange blossom and jasmine, both done clean and dewy), lent a slight tingle from deepening citrus peel notes (yuzu, tangerine) and the vaguest hint of ginger. The dry down stays relatively pale, but the finish has just enough of the benzoin and vanilla cream to keep things warm and delicious, not so much as to make it overly sweet or heavy — even the final stages have a buoyant, translucent feel.
Verdict: Love. You could call it a gourmand, I suppose, but it's a gourmand with restraint, and I would categorize it as a springtime citrus floral with gourmand accents. I found it incredibly cheering on a dismal winter day, and while it isn't an all-day powerhouse, it has just enough heft to wear in cold weather. It's exactly the sort of thing Prada should have, but didn't, do with their flankers to Prada Candy. It went right on the buy list, where it will languish — in good company, mind you — forever, since it does not come in small sizes. I've mentioned, I think, that I'm going to do my best to never again buy more than 30 ml of anything.
Anyway, do try Unforsaken. For a mainstream take on a similar theme, you might try the beachier Lolita Lempicka Elle L'Aime. Lush's Furze is weirder (and stronger) but is another cheerful citrus gourmand. Both of those are heavier on the coconut than Unforsaken.
The quick poll: name an indie fragrance that you think everyone should try.
Kerosene Unforsaken is available in 100 ml Eau de Parfum, $140. For buying information, see the listing for Kerosene under Perfume Houses.
L’Air Du Desert Marocain and Black March.
Great picks.
Darn it, you beat me to Black March. Wonderful stuff.
Black March is Demeter Thunderstorm. I swear.
They are definitely related, and I think of Black March as CB’s answer as to why he left Demeter and went out on his own…
Ditto!
Aftelier Cepes et Tuberose
Slumberhouse Norne
I need to spend more time with Slumberhouse.
I can’t say I’ve really tried many indie lines but I would definitely recommend anyone to sniff 7 Virtues Afghanistan Orange Blossom if they get the chance.
I just looked at their website and they have a deal – you get 10 or 15 mil of 4 fragrances for $115.00. Orange Blossom, Noble Rose and two others that sound nice as well.
It’s not a bad deal but a year ago that same set was 85 dollars. I do with they would offer those 15 ml bottles individualist risk.
*individually though
That’s a pretty one.
I like (and own) Noble Rose of Afghanistan by 7 Virtues.
That’s a nice one too. Have you sampled the new patchouli?
I am patch-phobic, so no 🙂 Have you?
Well, I just smelled it on paper now. First impression is not good. Smells gross to me. Maybe I’m patchouliphobic too?
I’m smelling the card right now (the day after) and it’s quite pleasant now but I still think you’d have to be a pretty big patchouli fan to really enjoy this one.
Cuir Ottoman, LADDM, Tobacco Rose by Papillon, Barry Lyndon by Maria Candida Gentile… and all those I have yet to discover.
Nice way to cover everything 😉
Slumberhouse Ore. Makes Montale Chocolate Greedy look austere.
Thanks, will add to list.
Oh really?! I turned a non-perfumista friend/coworker on to Chocolate Greedy last month. Maybe I need to find a sample of Ore and point her towards a local brand. . .
DSH The Scent of Hope,Kerosene Pretty Machine,and last but not least local South African brand Rose en Bos’s patchouli/lavender bomb named Imithi.SOOO GOOD.
Love Pretty Machine 🙂
Ditto
DSH Scent of Hope would be my pick as well, if I have to pick just one.
I will be sneaky, though, and also toss over the fence Soivohle Nightjar, Neil Morris North Woods, Ava Luxe Opoponax Intense, DSH Oeillets Rouges, and HYLNDS Isle Ryder.
HYLNDS Isle Ryder!
Slumberhouse Pear and Olive
Slumberhouse is doing well here today!
I haven’t liked any from what I have tried. I’ve tried about four scents.
Agreed! It’s a polarizing scent. Try it and see where you are on the spectrum!
That is one bizarre but fascinating scent. I keep trying it, for the crazy arc it makes. It’s NOT boring, or just like anything else. (Closest thing would be Womanity, for the savory vibe, perhaps?)
Great review Robin, and you’ve created a huge lemming!
I’d recommend SSS Champagne de Bois, but I think most everyone already knows about it. Also, her Cocoa/Sandalwood – it’s not at all foody, and for a natural it has great lasting ability.
I think it will be widely liked…it’s easy to wear, like Pretty Machine.
Agree on both of those! In fact, I think I’ll wear Cocoa Sandalwood tomorrow. 🙂
CdB is great…I would like a bottle.
Slumberhouse Sadanne in extrait, in fact, try them all in extrait! Even if you previously tried them, they are improved!
Thanks.
Yessss! Sadanne is fascinating!
This sounds positively delicious! I adore Furze. Will try to obtain a sample of this!
This one is more “easygoing” than Furze, if that makes sense.
Oh this sounds so good and right up my alley! I haven’t tried any Kerosenes yet but now I am so tempted!
One of my favorite indie houses is 1000 Flowers and I own every single fragrance that Jessica September Buchanan (the perfumer behind the brand ) has made…I especially love Reglisse Noire…it converted me to a lover of licorice notes…..
And I also second Sonoma Scent Studio…not one fragrance in that line that I don’t like (have sampled them all) but I adore Jour Ensolielle and Winter Woods.
Oh and because I am on a really tight budget these days both lines are very affordable…..Last year 1000 Flowers was having a terrific sale and I got five bottles for a bit over one hundred dollars….
I think Reglisse Noire is the only one from the brand I’ve tried, I should try more.
Oh, this might be the scent that prompts me to look into this line. I am tempted by the idea of a split…
SSS Forest Walk is my indie must try suggestion- just gorgeous and unique! Not to mention a great spring scent that is very energizing and Zen-like at the same time. Plus it it lasts and lasts and lasts…
I love Forest Walk.
Me three.
Me four!!!!
I’d have to go with SSS Tabac Aurea. Gorgeous, just gorgeous.
SSS is getting plenty of love today too 🙂
Adore Tabac Aurea.
I second Tabac Aurea although anything Laurie makes is gorgeous….
It’s a great tobacco for sure.
I really want to try Unforsaken now. The press release description sounded too sweet and gourmand but if the foody aspect is kept in check I think I’ll love it.
As for indies that should be sampled, Anya’s a Garden Pan (I don’t know why I love it so much; natural,lavender-heavy masculines are usually not my thing) and CBIHP Wild Hunt.
Oh, and all three Papillon scents. I MIGHT have said this before, but they are really wonderful. 🙂 I’m on an Angelique kick right now and it might be making me curious to try some very slightly iris-y fragrances again.
Wild Hunt is a great choice. Burning Leaves is another distinctive one from CBIHP.
I’m sure someone will think it is, but my my standards, it’s just barely sweet.
Do you buy decants Robin? How much of this would you by if you could?
I am mostly giving up on decants, too. I have a gajillion of them, and they spoil faster than perfume in the original packaging. So I am not resolved to never buy one again, but I have no desire to start buying tons of them the way I used to.
Also true that in general I feel less acquisitive about perfume than I used to. I have plenty, and enjoy trying new ones but don’t feel like I have to own everything. Ha, that only took 12 years!
But to answer the 2nd part of this, I would like to have everything in 10 or 15 ml if I could, and spray, not rollerball. If everyone made little travel sprays like Hermes, I would buy a lot more perfume than I do.
But perhaps you were looking for a measure of how much I like it? In which case, hard to answer in those terms. Furze is on my buy list too but I think I’d wear this more often than Furze.
Funny, I’ve been buying decants for about 5 years and I’ve never had a problem with them spoiling (teeny samples, yes), though I know other people do. I too am less acquisitive these days so have settled into decants as the primary mode of collecting, 5mls for a like, 8mls for a really like, 15 for love. (Rarity also plays into this judgement too, of course.)
So yes, I suppose I was after a measure of how much you like this one!
I’ve been buying decants for 12 years, that’s the problem. Quite possible your storage conditions are better than mine, of course, but it’s only been over the past few years that I’m finding a big percentage of spoilage w/ the early decants I bought. Most bottles I bought then are still good, although I’ve lost a few of those too.
Aftelier’s Palimpsest, my new favorite from that line. It actually has a little in common with the way you’ve described this one—yuzu, jasmine, a hint of vanilla. I’d also second Cepes and Tuberose that Foxbins mentioned above.
Now I really want to try this one—I think I’ve tried only one so far from Kerosene.
Palimpsest is gorgeous! Quite different from this one though.
I like many of the other suggestions, and I’ll add Aftelier Tango and La Via del Profumo Mecca Balsam and Sharif. I also like D.S. & Durga My Indian Childhood, but it’s discontinued and I’m not up on current options.
Yum, then I’ll add La Via del Profumo Tawaf too!
LADDM and Anubis would be my top recommendations. Oh, and PHI Rose de Kandahar if it were not a LE!
At least it is a cyclical LE…and hope it will keep coming back.
Is PG indie enough to count? If so, then Praline de Santal.
To me they are niche and not indie, but that’s also true of a few brands listed above 🙂
Not sure if Ulrich Lang is indie, but I can’t say enough about Aperture, just a really to-die-for restrained, meditative, smokey incense scent.
I got in in my Olfactif sampler, and I keep pushing it hoping somebody else has tried it so we can obsess together! Anyhow, a bottle of this stuff runs $200 – alas, I shall never have a full bottle. However, one of the few indies/niches that really fulfills its price point. the materials are gorgeous.
Niche, to me, but still interesting so thanks!
Roma Imperiale by Profumi del Forte. Just wonderful.
although that may be too ‘niche’…. not a lot of indie in this neck of the woods…
Profumi del Forte’s Tirrenico is magnificent! But I hope you like fennel, because it really comes out to play. Nice and salty too.
This is what a “water” scent should be – and no calone at all
They’re niche, but thanks!
Unforsaken sounds delish – I love the combination of citrus and cream (creamsicle, anyone?). I have to agree with many folks here about Sonoma Scent Studio – really great scents – and should also add Smell Bent’s line up of fun and inexpensive perfumes (of which Incensed is my favorite). I also have a great deal of respect for Ava Luxe, from which comes No. 23, one of my top five perfumes, ever.
What’s with Ava Luxe these days, do you know? I never see any new scents on the website but don’t know if she has mostly switched to Etsy.
I think she only does made to orders, now. So, you can order any fragrance listed on her website, and then she makes it for you. Which is good, cuz’ I’m a huge fan of No. 23, which I originally bought because my sample reminded me of Ormonde Jayne Woman, but which I have come to love as an even more wearable scent than OJW.
Thanks so much!
I love Soivohle–Amun Ra, Centennial and Rosa Sur Reuse are favorites. EnVoyage makes perfumes that seem to be failsafe with my chemistry– Lorelei, Indigo Vanilla, Cafe Cacao and Nectars des Iles are all on my buying wish list. I also like Seattle Chocolate from Olympic Orchids and Santal Exotique from The Exotic Island Perfumer
How did I forget Olympic Orchids? Tropic of Capricorn is one of my all time favorite scents and Dev 4 is gorgeous. I also second Centennial.
Olympic Orchards is another on my list that I never get around to.
I think cafe v and ballet rouges from Olympic Orchid are also worth trying. Cafe v smells great on my boyfriend, but not me. Ballet Rouges is a rose chypre.
En Voyage anything, especially Zelda. It’s gorgeous. My other favorite indie is Imaginary Authors – Memoirs of a Trespasser is on my top ten list.
I need to try Zelda, I’ve heard good things. Thanks!
Olympic Orchids Golden Cattelya and Red Cattleya. Apply sparingly — two dabs, tops — and enjoy.
And if you apply more than 2 drops??
Red Cattleya would become overwhelming, IMO. One could go heavier on the Golden. Mind you, I am easily overwhelmed, and YMMV 🙂
Aftelier Cuir de Gardenia!
Yum.
And a lemming is born. Un forsaken sounds amazing. I have thoroughly enjoyed Candy, and Candy L’Eau, much to my gourmand hating surprise.
Indie houses have been hit or miss for me. Tauer’s L’Air du Desert Marocain is an austere beauty, cult classic, but it’s not my most frequently worn of his lot–I wear Reverie au Jardin far more often. Slumberhouse Pear & Olive is another weird and wonderful scent, as is Sadanne. Sonoma Scent Studio (as people have mentioned) has many good scrnts, and I would point newbies toward Champagne du Bois and Jour Ensolielle as some of her best work. Happy sniffing!
(Wish I had Kerosene nearby to visit at leisure 🙂 )
This is not as sweet as Candy, I don’t think — see what you think! But I do think they should have done a lighter, more citrus – floral thing for spring. L’Eau & Florale did not suit me.
I like Commando and Brussels Sprouted by Smell Bent.