Hey friends!

How was your weekend?

Mine had some ups and downs. The highs: I ate French fries and got a new haircut. The lows: I had to spend the weekend writing the data analysis chapter of my thesis.

In fact, this post is being written as I take a break from analyzing data. (Did you know, one pro of qualitative research is you get to use different color highlighters? Just thought I would share that, if you were considering grad school.)

Anyway, it’s time to analyze some real data. Like, how are the Haus of Gloi Yule scents? Well, I can answer this research question below!

Oh, and in case you missed it, I reviewed their Autumn Collection last week here. Because I am ON IT, friends. 

First of all, if I know you in real life, you should probably stop reading because you are most likely receiving a Haus of Gloi Yule product for Christmas. Just fair warning.

Everyone else, you can keep reading, but you are also probably receiving a Haus of Gloi Yule product for Christmas because they apparently had over 600 orders when they released the collection last Sunday.

This is my second foray into Haus of Gloi, and since I’m such a newbie, I decided to go with samplers of the perfumes and a few bath products to get a better feel of the company’s Yule products. I’m feeling like next year I will be an indie perfume pro, but as a beginner I’m still finding surprise hit and misses. Since samples are $3-$4.50, it doesn’t cost me much to take a risk. 

Despite the crazy rush, my products shipped on Wednesday and I got them Saturday, which is a pretty excellent turn around time. At the moment I think HG is on back order a little due to an issue with a supplier, but I’ve had good shipping experiences both times I’ve ordered from them.

So without further ado, here’s my take on the scents:

I do have to say before even smelling anything, I like the Autumn labels better. These Yule labels are bananas, there is a lot going on! This isn’t a a big issue though, just me getting overwhelmed by perfume labels.

Eggnoggin’-The Haus ‘nog! Cream, sugar and a shot of dark rum topped with fresh grated nutmeg.

The Haus ‘nog? That is not safe. Dear owners of HG, please get yourself some real eggnog. Just a PSA from Rebs.

Perfume oil ingestion aside, this smells exactly like eggnog. Good eggnog though, not the crap you can buy in a gallon from the grocery store.

This is creamy, sugary, and I can even smell the hint of rum and nutmeg. HG totally nailed it. I personally am not sure this is something I want a perfume in, but spoiler alert: it’s great in bath products. This is perfect if your life’s wish is to smell like eggnog.

It also makes me think of how my bestie @SparkerPants and her dad once made George Washington’s eggnog. I heard it was real good.

Fancy Bread-Ripe banana, roasted nuts and brown sugar folded into a delicious quick bread.

If I’ve learned anything about HG in the two months we’ve gotten to know each other, it’s that they can make a mean foodie scent.

Again Fancy Bread smells exactly like banana bread. I can pick out the banana, the nuts, the brown sugar, and it all smells perfect together. You will want to lick your wrists, it smells that good. Also, if you own a pet they might stalk you thinking you have banana bread. Fair warning.

I normally don’t like extreme foodie scents, but I do kinda want to smell like banana bread or Fancy bread, whatever. Spoiler: This is also amazing in bath products.

 Hearth-The warm glowing center of home. Autumns last apple pickings, warm bread, orange rind, various fire roasted nuts, cracked black pepper all nailed down by an oozing sticky benzoin.

This is an interesting scent and there’s a lot going on here. The first scent I come across is the apples, and then the orange rind. In the back, I can pick up the nuts and benzoin, not sure where the pepper or bread is, though.

This doesn’t really bring to mind a hearth for me, but I do get a picture of fall turning to winter, thanks to the apple and nutty notes. Mr. Danger likes this one because to him it smells like, “Beer and baked goods”.

I’m glad I got this in a bath product, but I’m kinda torn on it as a perfume. It may just be too fruity and nutty for me. Interesting, makes a nice bath product, but not a full sizer for me.

Parkin-Glorious ginger cakes celebrating Guy Fawkes Day! Brown sugar, black treacle, oats, a peculiar blend of white spices tossed with chopped roasted chestnuts and coated with the lightest of icings.

I’ve never had a ginger cake, but I have had gingerbread, and this scent smells like that! This is very gingery, but it’s light, not cloying and overpowering. There’s a nice balance with the black treacle, (which I’m just assuming is kinda like molasses), and the white spices, that keeps is spicy and sweet. This scent was also pretty strong on me and I got whiffs of it throughout the day.

I do think you probably need to like ginger scents to enjoy this guy, but I like fresh baked gingerbread and I wish I had gotten this as a whipped soap.  

Plotter’s Breakfast- Oatey porridge, stove smoke, kindling wood, a hint of gunpowder and pinch of sweet pipe tobacco. Or as Mr. Danger refers to it for some reason, Plotter’s Revenge. (He’s not the best with names. He also said this perfume smells like salted ham, so his judgement in general is questionable.)

Full disclaimer: I really like Haus of Gloi’s scents that lean more masculine, and I really like both tobacco and wood smoke scents, so I kinda love this one.

To me this perfume totally smells like a pioneer guy eating some porridge with bacon by his wood burning stove. He’s probably smoking a pipe and wearing a raccoon fut hat, too. (He’s quickly becoming Davy Crockett, so I’m going to stop with the imagery.)

I mostly get the smoky notes, (like I said above, bacon too), peppery oats, and that sweet tobacco note that appears after a few minutes. It kinda smells like a spicy, burnt Tobac, (which is beloved by me). I am so weird because I really, really like this. But I’m torn because I don’t know where in my life it’s appropriate to smell like a pioneer eating breakfast. Ughhhh, maybe I can buy a full size and pretend it’s for Mr. Danger?

Rosy Cheeked-Pink grapefruit, fir needles, juniper berries, rosemary, a sprig of parsley and bright winter lilies.

Well, I just told you how much I love manly scents, but hi, I also enjoy a nice fruity, floral, feminine scent, and that’s what Rosy Cheeked is.

When first applied this is straight up grapefruit, but as it dries, the fir, berries, parsley and lilies gradually appear. This kinda smells like the Christmas section in a nice craft store or home decor store, but with grapefruit.

I think of all the Yule scents, this one lends itself to a perfume better. It’s also probably a safe scent if you’re thinking about gifting someone HG products but aren’t sure what they like. (Case in point: hope my sister-in-law isn’t reading this.) While I like this, I don’t love it, so I’ll just enjoy the sample. 

Sweet Potato Treat- For me, this is the epitome of holiday comfort food: Sweet potatoes with mild spices, butter and brown sugar baked off with marshmallows.

I was a little weary of this scent, because my last HG marshmallow scent was Ghost Puffs, and it just attacked me. My entire being smelled like a marshmallow.

But Sweet Potato Treat is less marshmallowy, and more sugary, buttery and sweet, with a hint of spice that keeps it interesting to me. There definitely is a bit of toasty marshmallow, but it’s more balanced in this scent. If/when this gets restocked I’m probably going to buy it in everything.  EVERYTHING.

 

Three Treasures-Sacred gifts of frankincense, myrrh and gold. Smouldering with warmth and brightened with a touch of mandarin rind. 

Well, I finally learned that I don’t like myrrh. I’m pretty sure this is a hit or miss kind of scent. If you know you love the aforementioned sacred gifts, with a hint of orange, you’re going to love this scent. While I appreciate that this is a sophisticated, warm perfume, I can also tell it’s not my jam. It’s just a bit too stuffy and and thick for me.

Snow Wolf-Bristling and prowling, lonesome and haunting. Three howling firs, white frankincense, vanilla bean husk, tainted by droplets of blood cedar.

I read this description to Mr. Danger and I could see a yearning gleam in his eye. Considering that he’s the only one in our household that currently has a full size perfume, (Devil’s Tongue from Solstice Scents), I told him to slow his roll.

He’s not wrong though, this is a really nice masculine scent. The firs are the first scent I get, then a bit of the cedar and frankincense, with just a hint of vanilla at the end. It does bring to mind the image of a snowy forest at night.

If you want to get your gentleman friends into indie perfumes, this might be an easy scent to help them transition into the scene. I may end up getting a full size bottle for myself for Mr. Danger.

Wintervale-Snow covered blue spruce boughs, frozen woods, crystalline sugared violets and sharp wintery air, all wrapped around a minty mug of hot cocoa.

Huh. How does this perfume oil manage to smell like snow? Ah, the joys of indie perfumes.

Like the name suggests this scent is indeed very cool and frosty. Though the frozen woods and violets do show up after the scent dries, I mainly got mint and something else cool and refreshing, (I think the spruce), as the main notes. Unfortunately, with my skin chemistry, after an hour on me it turns a bit powdery, but it still smells nice.

If you are looking for a wintery scent that’s not just your average mint, I would suggest Wintervale. Whereas Snow Wolf definitely leaned masculine, this is more of a unisex scent, I think anyone who likes cool, fresh scents will enjoy this. 

Bath Products!

I finally tried one of Haus of Gloi’s Soft Bubbling Scrubs. Though Hearth is okay as a scent to me, I really enjoy this texture. The scrub is very gentle and foams up a bit when water is added to it. I like using this on my hands as just a gentle exfoliant. I would definitely buy a Bubbling Scrub again, and I plan on trying to snag some as gifts.

This smells like eggnog frosting, and to me it’s even better than the perfume oil smell. As an exfoliant this is really soft, and not harsh at all. I used it on some dry areas of skin and afterwards they felt very smooth and moisturized. And smelled like eggnog for quite awhile after my shower. I really like this and would definitely buy again.

WHIPPED SOAP. How have I lived my life without HG whipped soap? I’m never using shaving cream again. This is amazing. I need like 98.

This is the consistency of thick whipped cream, (the real stuff, not Cool Whip!) and it lathers into a thinner consistency when water is added. I used this for shaving and my legs were smooth, moisturized, and smelled like banana bread.

This whipped soap was obviously very life changing for me. I highly recommend it. I think I like it in the foodie Fancy Bread scent, but honestly I would take any scent. Just give me more whipped soap.

Overall, I know a lot of people live for Autumn scents, but I actually really enjoyed Haus of Gloi’s Yule Collection. There were some delicious foodie scents, some nice masculine scents, and a few other unique ones to keep things interesting.

My wishlist for restocks? If I’m being realistic?
I do want to pick up some bubbling scrubs and whipped soaps as gifts, preferably in foodie scents.

For myself, I really want Sweet Potato everything, another sample of Plotter’s breakfast, (I can’t justify full size), and 89 more whipped soaps in every variety.

So this adventure with Haus of Gloi has helped me to see that in the future, I should probably get more bath products and less perfumes. Because I love them. You live and learn, and hopefully I helped some internet friends make educated indie decisions!

Questions of the Day:
-Do any of these scents sound like your jam?
-When is an appropriate time in my life to smell like a pioneer eating breakfast?
-Are you already thinking holiday gifts?

Back to my grad student cave to work on the thesis now!

Love,

Rebs!