Tuesday, May 30, 2017

That Bohemian Girl: Arcana and Haunt Perfume Oil Order


My friend Jean commented on a post not too long ago about some hidden Arcana gems on the internet at That Bohemian Girl and I had to investigate. Sure enough, it was a jackpot. Not only were there older Arcanas but also Haunt Beguiling scents and Poisoned Apple Apothecary perfume oils. Haunt has been closed for a few years now so that should give a clue about how well aged these are going to be. There is a very popular train of thought that, more often than not, perfume oils tend to only get better with age. I will certainly be finding out about that first hand with these guys. 


These took about 10 days to arrive after placing the order. The Haunt scents were regularly $12, marked down to $3.95 and the Arcana's ranged from $6.95 to $15.95. The Poisoned Apple ones are on sale for $4.95, normally $18. I had a few in my cart but decided to back out and perhaps try them later.


I won't be doing any in-depth thoughts unless you want them as the scarcity of these (unless you buy them from That Bohemian Girl) will make these hard to find. I do still hold out hope that one day Haunt will come back.

Sword & Lion- Notes: Smooth black tea leaves, orange peel, sweet hay, dark myrrh, and exotic spices.
Spiced Christmas tea with clove studded slices of pomanders floating on top. Warm, sweet, and inviting.

Cinnamon Girl- Notes: Creamy vanilla, sticky molasses and fresh coconut shreds lit with cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and nutmeg.
A spice lover's delight. The coconut and molasses feel like threads of dark sable against the cardamom and cinnamon. Sweet and fluid and mysteriously comforting. About a 4 hour life on the skin. Love.

Batik- Notes: Smoky beeswax and resin darkened honey.
 A fathomless well of dark resinous honey, smells exactly like the description. Lasted about 3-4 hours with a close sillage. Perfect for a close scent that won't swallow the people around you. 

Carpathian Lore- Notes: A bit of native dirt and dark patchouli, blood orange and ylang ylang.
Earthy, loamy patchouli with a sharp edge of green given by the ylang ylang. This is raw patchouli. True patchouli. Dank, dirty and strong. You know I like it.

Gloaming- Notes: Vanilla, dark patchouli, amber, yellow mandarin and clove.
Black heart patchouli, enhanced and buoyed but the other notes but still all about that sweet orange spiced patch.

The patchouli based scents have a healthier longevity on the skin versus the others. I am happy to wear these given the incredibly affordable price point. If I decide the shorter life span on the others bothers me I plan on making some bath salts with them as I had great results doing that with my Alamo Candelaria perfume oils.  At $3.95 a pop these are well worth it for me. 


These are the Arcana scents I gathered up. There are a couple more on the site that I didn't get but I may still if they linger there much longer.

Mulled Apple Layering Note
Oh yum! This one will be worn copiously and with abandon this coming fall... I might have to bring it with me to The Big Apple in November. It reminds me of my beloved Mulled Wine scent from Candles From The Keeping Room. Red apples brewed into a boozy potion full of unfiltered pomme goodness, deepened with spice and a hint of the wooden stein that it is served in. A glogg for fortification on a cold grey evening. This is the 5ml for $6.95. Still some left at time of writing.

Zombie's Cucumber- Notes: The poisonous apple known in the voodoo world as concombre zombie, carries a wicked and perverse reputation. Our homage to this narcotic night-bloomer reeks of Egyptian musk, Haitian vetiver, crisp apples, sweet clove, black pepper and a host of dark spices.
The earthy decaying tang of wild vetiver arises and is then folded into musk and a slightly aquatic leaning apple. I think with age the pepper and spice burned off.

Ruby Crow- Notes: A folkloric mash of red raspberry, steam-distilled lime, honey, cream, blue Egyptian chamomile, beeswax and a pinch of lemon.
The lime with the cream and honey is bringing Key Lime Pie to the mind. It turns sour and powdery pretty quickly and reminds me of children's multi-vitamins mixed with lemon-lime.

Little Ghouli- Notes: Jack O'lanterns, ginger cookies, chocolate candy and a frisson of overwhelming delight.
Warm chocolate cookies with possibly some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups crumbled within emerge from the oven on a brisk late October evening. The cookies transform into gingerbread cakes and all the tiny grubby hands reach out to capture them in their delicious fervor. 

Of the four Arcana's I love Mulled Apples and Little Ghouli the best. I will probably keep the other two and wear them from time to time. 


I was not expecting samples! And some in scents I was interested in smelling too. The scents were in Mutiny, Ambrosia, Fugue, and Sturm and Drang. If you want me to give my impressions on these scents let me know. Sometimes Julia brings back older scents if requested. So though these might not be on offer at the moment, they could potentially be at some point.


Look at that juice coloring!!! Mmmmmm, so intense!

So there ya go. A lil' blurb about my That Bohemian Girl order. There is still stock on the website, I linked it above. Do you know of any hidden treasures tucked away in the nooks and crannies of the internet?

7 comments:

  1. Ahh, you got the coffee grape scent too! :D You mentioned the children's vitamins, I think I recall getting that also from T.S. Goodfellow's Winter Correctives: Laughter, maybe it's the raspberry note.

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    1. Thought you might like this GC review list in case you haven't come across it! https://hottiemcnaughty.com/2013/01/12/entire-arcana-general-catalog-of-perfume-oils-review/

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    2. btw, I was just was browsing and the samples are all in production except for Fugue (a production list as of 2015, http://arcanasoapslove.livejournal.com/146683.html)

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    3. It was too funny because we were JUST talking about it!! I think it must be the raspberry giving me that vibe too. Hm. Interesting. I am not really one for fruity scents and was on the fence based on the notes but wanted to try it out just for giggles. Thank you for the GC list. I was only really going on by what Julia has listed in her eBay store. I love having a list now! You are the best. And thank you for letting me know about the samples. I am already loving Mutiny and Ambrosia on cold. I need to spend time with the others still.

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  2. Zombie's Cucumber, Little Ghouli and Ruby crow fascinate the heck out of me. To be honest they all need a little sniffing! Little Ghouli surely has my attention even with its iffy chocolate candies note.

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    1. They are really creative scents. I am loving most all of Julia's fragrances that I get. I am not a chocolate fan really but if it leans spicy or earthy I can dig it. And I dig Little Ghouli. I will send you some samples!

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  3. Oh you grabbed that bottle of Cinnamon Girl! I was looking at that after you pointed me in the direction of the shop, but forgot about it. I remember getting a few Haunt perfumes through destashes but completely forgot about them until now. One is blackberry lemonade and the other is a Tahitian Rum Cake scent. I need to dig those out again but I remember feeling a little underwhelmed given all the Haunt hype.

    Mulled Apple sounds good! Have you tried layering it with Holy Terror? She did an Apples Crave Terror blend before that is incredible. I bet these two would go well together

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