Quitting Scentbird After a Couple of Months

Scentbird is a subscription perfume service that I had been wanting to try for a while. I love perfumes and the idea of getting a new one every month to test was just too tempting. The cost (including taxes) is $16.00. Each month. That sounded good for about 1 month.

Not worth $16 per month. Nope.

Including a freebie that I got because Scentbird messed up on billing once, I will have received 3 scents as of this month. I have only (sort of) liked one of the fragrances. That was the Pink Sugar scent. And, I really just didn't hate it. Didn't love it though.

Each fragrance spray is meant to last about 1 month. If you like it, then you can purchase full-sized bottles. I haven't yet figured out how to purchase a full-sized but, no worries, I haven't liked any well enough to want to.

There is more though to why I quit Scentbird after trying only 3 fragrances. Lots more.

• It's expensive. $16 a month is not a crazy amount but paying that much for 0.27 ounces of EDP is. More on that in a moment.
• According to Scentbird their vials "equate to about 120+ sprays – enough to apply 4 sprays daily for 30 days." I did not find this to be true. Maybe if a fragrance lasts more than a couple hours for you but, the older you get... Just saying.
• It's kind of shady. Not all the scents listed on the site fall into the $16 monthly payment. For some scents, you have to pay an additional 5 or 10 bucks on top of the monthly amount. 
• You get a free case (to hold a Scentbird vial) with the first shipment - or if Scentbird is apologizing for an error. You have to buy any more after that at (currently) $12.95 each. As far as I know, only Scentbird vials fit these cases. At least, none of my other perfume vials fit the case I have. It's a plastic case. Not worth more than a couple of bucks.
• The site is okay as far as browsing the fragrances but lacks user-friendliness otherwise; the FAQs were seriously old and had no links to the info provided. 
• If you do love Scentbird and are trying to match to a fragrance you might want to try, the "scent quiz" they offer is limited and almost useless. You can't choose more than one Note, Setting, Season, or Mood. So you have to choose between wanting something floral or fruity; for the office or evening; only one season; and whether you feel flirty, sexy, classy, etc. It would be better if they offered a choice of listing scents you already love or just let you choose more than one option during the quiz. I had to keep re-taking the quiz to cover all my bases.

Now, let's get back to the price. That's really the main deciding factor for me. There is a guy who did a really good video breaking down the numbers in detail. You can check that out but all I needed to do was browse a couple of other fragrance sites to know that Scentbird is not worth it.

ScentSplit (which I have used in the past) sells decants of fragrances. Cost varies but if you know what you like but can't afford a full bottle, this is the real deal. By the way, just Google for similar sites for buying decants. 

FrangranceNet - Just pricing a couple of items, I realized that I could get a 0.33-ounce rollerball of Viva la Juicy Gold.for (currently) $14.99 or, with a coupon $9.74. There is also Perfumania where I can get a 1.7-ounce bottle of Jessica Simpson's Fancy for $19.95. And shut up. I happen to like Fancy.

You can also shop Perfumania, FrangranceX, Fragrantica, and even find sellers on Facebook or Reddit. It kind of depends on your taste in perfumes. Or, you can always scope out Amazon, Overstock, etc. If you are into niche perfumes (a boutique or artisanal perfume, not usually with a lot of retail presence), try finding more sites like Fragranceline. I've not used them, but I did sample a box from Olifactif, which was another pricey and not-worth-it (in my opinion) subscription service. With Olafactif, you can find codes to try them on the cheap. I got to try 3 niche scents and didn't like any of them.

There are cheaper and smarter ways to get hold of perfumes - even if you just want small amounts to test. If you shop online at places like Ulta, Macy's or Sephora, you can usually request perfume samples. If you actually go into such a store, you might walk away with enough samples to last a while. I once hit it off with a Sephora sales clerk and left with a $10 product I bought and 4 small bags stuffed with samples of lipsticks and perfumes. They made great stocking stuffers that Christmas.

The bottom line for me is, if I want to get something in the mail on a regular schedule, I can throw my money at Scentbird. It's just kind of a ripoff, in my opinion. I mean, kudos to the chick who owns it because she has a money-maker, for real.

I don't get to spoil myself often so I need to be picky and price-conscious at all times. Scentbird is for people who can afford to pay a ridiculous amount of money for teensy amounts of fragrances. Matter of fact, let me just post that video of the math dude. It's an older video but still made sense to me. As far as numbers make sense to my brain.

Even if Scentbird sweetened the pot with, say, a free case included with every order, I wouldn't stay. What I have figured out is how to just shop cheaply for what I want when I want it. I don't have to tie myself to a gimmicky subscription fee once a month. Now, if someone came up with a sub for buying full bottles of perfumes at a discount - either because they are overstocks or returns - I might look at that.

Peace
--Free

P.S.: I recently used a gift card to get a Vica la Juicy Gold 0.33 ounce rollerball from FraganceNet for $15.00 and used a code to get free shipping. Adding in tax, I paid a total of $16.04. Now, I won't be committed to spending another 15 or 16 dollars next month unless I just want to.

Somethin' Special is Really Special

UPDATE 3/6/20:

Well, I have to let you know that the prices just went up over at Somethin' Special. I was going to order some of the Hello Lemon Sugar spray and... Yeah, that won't be happening. It's gone up from $9 to $15. It's a small business but that price jump just put it out of my casual shopping range.

I still think the products are worth the prices - it is a small business, folks. I just can't shop there.

I just wanted to let you all know about this since I made such a big deal of showing those awesome prices...



I'm back talking about yet another fragrance resource. I think I cycle through my indulgences. The other month, I was all about my plants and wanting to do a tank or terrarium system. A while back, I was heavy into using the EC Blends wizard to mix my own ejuice flavor concoctions. I'm really happy that I'm out of my food mood for the moment! Now it's all about the fragrance. Really though, it's always all about the fragrance!

It was either on Reddit or Influenster that I first heard about Somethin' Special. This is right about the time that Glossier was disappointing the crap out of me with their on-again-off-again You fragrance quality. That You fragrance is the kind of thing that is either the best ever or the worst of the worst.

Anyway...

I took a chance on ordering some small sample-sized vials. This is what came in my first order of 3 sample scents that I chose:

Also, included free with my order were two "sniffles" - little cotton pads sprayed with my choice of scents to sniff along with an unexpected sample of a jar of solid perfume in Jasmine Musk. By the way, I think those sniffles are a super-cute idea.

So when I got this first order of 3 perfume oil samples (Lolita Lempicka, Angel Wings, and Hello Lemon Sugar), I thought it was really cool that there was a perfume solid sample on top of everything else. The samples were  $6 for 1/16 ounce.

 Considering that this is a small business, I think that's a reasonable price for the size. And remember these are perfume oil samples.

I LOVE the sample bottle so much

By the way, can I just say how much more I like the sample vials? So much better than those hard to deal with long cylinder type containers. The lid is a screw-on so I don't have to worry about it coming off inside my purse.

I chose 2 samples based on the scent descriptions but, surprisingly, the fragrance I fell most in love with is the one I got to test as a home fragrance.

This is probably the most unique scent I have ever sampled. It's a sugary-lemony-sweet fragrance that smells exactly like the Lemon Sugar part of its name. As soon as I smelled it, I thought using it in a warmer would be a waste of it. I now want the larger perfume oil or the roll-on to carry with me and the Everything Spray - which can be used as a room, car, house, etc. spray. These prices are awesome!

Recent Prices

The Angelic Wings and Lolita Lempicka scents are just as described on the site. Of course, I love a nice, powdery fragrance so I am partial to the Angelic Wings. But that Hello Lemon Sugar... that one is my thing.

Somethin' Special ( I keep wanting to type "something") aims for Zero Waste with its products and packaging. I know that some of you will really like that.

On top of all the scents featured, there is also a page of special order fragrances that I have gaped at over and over. Do check that out. I have my eye on the Prada-inspired scent of Candy.

Get over there and check out the entire site. There's more than just basic fragrance oils. I myself am perusing the lotion bars, body powders, etc. Tell your friends - especially folks looking for scents that are cruelty-free and vegan. I said that before, but I want to repeat it for my friends who have trouble finding good products with those labels.  And I want to help support the small businessmen and women.

Now I have to go because I need to order my Hello Lemon Sugar stuff!

Peace
--Free

**REVIEW** Scentbird

Everyone who knows me knows that I love a good fragrance. I don't care if it's a body perfume, a hair mist, a candle, essential oil or room spray.

Recently, I found and tried out a couple of different places to get perfumes. The first one I will review is Scentbird. I am doing this review over several days so that I can go over the experience without forgetting anything from signing up, perusing the site, to tracking the package. Forgive the bad continuity. Here goes.

Signing up was pretty easy. 

I was only tempted to sign up because I found a promo notice that I could get a Glossier sample with a new subscription. Then, because I wanted to pinch a few more pennies, I used the Honey extension to get the normally $14.95 sub for a one-month promo price of $10.39 (including tax). It's one of those cancel-at-any-time deals (more on that later).

If you do sign up and want to use me as a referral use this link: 

https://www.scentbird.com/r/d/scentbirduser7955018

I have loved Glossier's You fragrance since I got a tiny sample in another sub box. The full size is around $60 bucks. The $20 solid (that I did buy and get refunded for) is a total waste of time and money. So, basically, I got sucked in by the Scentbird offer of a Glossier sample - and I was hoping that the sample would be one of the 30-day sizes and not the teeny lose-in-your-purse size I had before.

I actually did lose this for a week in my purse

Anyway, for a month or so I've been thinking that since I quit smoking and am still losing weight by eating less, I can do $15 for a couple or three months to try some perfumes. That's the plan anyway. If I love the service, I will re-work my food budget to keep the plan for a while. As for canceling the plan "at any time", I have heard the usual stories about problems in doing so. I will talk about that shortly.

Perusing the site and choosing fragrances is kind of easy.

As soon as I did sign up, I got an email with this prompt:

Select your first fragrance, skincare, or personal care product here in the next 12 hours. If you don’t make a selection, you'll receive our featured  perfume of the month! 

Okay. Of course, I went into this knowing that I wanted a 2nd Glossier You but since I was already going to be getting a sign-up sample, I decided to choose something unknown for the first month.

By the way, the site is set up so that you can search fragrances by note (musk, citrus, etc), brand/house (DKNY, Gucci, etc),  or type (eau de toilette, solid, mist, etc). Some fragrances are considered "premium" and will cost you an additional $5 or $10 over the usual subscription fee (one of these is My Burberry Blush). You can also add additional fragrances to your cart, outside your subscription for around $17 each.

Setting up your fragrance queue...

or not

You can set up a queue of up to 12 months of scents to be delivered on your subscription but you can't choose the same scent more than once every 6 months. (I think it's 6 months. At any rate, you will get a prompt if you try adding a repeat too soon.) If you don't select a fragrance, you get whatever the "featured" perfume is for that month. This would be fun for me but only if Scentbird would let users set up a more detailed profile of scent types you prefer.

The profile is a quiz.

The profile is, in my opinion, awful because it's developed from a "quiz" that's very limited. You only get to choose ONE answer for each question such as your preference for fragrance type. You have to choose either to be "woody", "floral", "sweet", "spicy", etc. If you look at the perfumes I currently like, they are a mix of spicy, citrusy, and sweet. I want to discover more scents in that arena, not get locked into just a sweet or floral type or whatever else.

Anyway, I did add this new and unknown scent to my queue for the first month. More on this coming up.

Gucci's Envy Me

A friend who knows that I used to wear Shalimar as my signature scent but now love things like Viva la Juicy, You, and By Invitation (I hate that name!) told me about Envy Me. From there, I referred to that delightful fragrance database, Basenotes, to check out similar scents. Of course, Scentbird does a great job of listing notes in the perfumes. I will get to that in a moment...

Of course, I do have a preferred fragrance type - now that I can no longer wear almost anything well... Getting old and having moody hormones changes everything, ladies. At any rate, I noticed that Envy Me and You share some fragrance notes, but not Viva La Juicy.

no Pink Pepper??

So you can see what I mean by wanting to explore more than one type of fragrance.

You can re-arrange your queue

A great thing about the queue is being able to alter it from time to time. For instance. after changing my mind about 20 times, I switched out a lot of things I had set up for the next 3 months until I currently have ended up with this.

I am already thinking of exchanging a couple for some more lemon-noted fragrances. (Update: I have already swapped out at least 4 choices.)

The waiting

Once you do select your first fragrance, you can be assured that the first billing has hit your payment method. For instance, I subscribed on midmorning of the 13th and within half an hour, my bank showed the billing. I got the tracking number on the 17th and, I guess because I live close to where it shipped from, I expected to have my package by the 18th or the 19th because the item was already in the state on the 17th when I got the tracking notice. (Update: I got the package on the 18th. That was fast.)

The goodies  the verdict

Okay, this is what happened... What a saga!

My package arrived but only with the Gucci scent. There was no sign of a Glossier sample. (Either I misread the promo or there was just a mixup. The promo was over by this time so I can't get a screenshot of it.)

At any rate... I went on a little tirade and was really rude (I am ashamed to say) to a customer service rep. After some minor squalls, things have been resolved. (Actually, the service rep had more than resolved things in my favor, but I was in such a mood, I wasn't listening. Yes, I am very ashamed.) I will be getting a sample of Glossier sent out to me separately right away and my next order will include a case of my color choice.

(Just to explain - not excuse - my temper tantrum: I've been struggling with worse than usual fatigue and depression so I think that's why I went off on the customer service lady. She was super nice - nicer than I would have been - and accepted my apologies. This does not excuse my nasty attitude, I know.) Lesson learned? Scentbird customer service is stellar.

Anyway, this is what came in the original parcel.

Notice that there is no Glossier sample anywhere...

There is the card highlighting the notes of the fragrance I chose for the month.

But no Glossier sample. Not even one of those little foil stamp samples you sometimes see.

That case is super cute and it's a good thing they provided directions. It's basically a twist-up case. The vial of perfume will lift enough that you can spray it without removing it from the case. See? Cute.

see how the silver part raises to spray?

I have to say that I dig the little perfume compact. That's super cute and is going to be so handy for on-the-go. And it's also nice that they threw in that little cloth bag. But where the heck is my sample??? (As you know from my recounting of "the saga", I will be getting a free case of my choice with next months' scent and Scentbird has already sent out a sample of the Glossier. Can't wait to get it because... I do not like the Envy Me.

This is the vial pulled out of the case.
The inner vial is labeled

As you saw, the perfume comes with a card detailing the fragrance notes and a list of ingredients. I am not thrilled with the scent. It's a nice fragrance to sniff but it's just not great on me. Because of it, I have gone back in and rearranged my queue. This one was more reserved and serious than I like. For next month, I plan to try one of the  I think I need scents with a little more of a floral touch to go with the bitter ones. My sis-in-law will be getting this one to try...

By the way, when I got mad and wanted to cancel, it was easy enough to do. You just go into your account, your subscription choice and look for the Cancel link (instead of changing to a different plan). The one sneaky thing is that CANCEL is in very light-colored font and there are a couple of are-you-sure prompts. Also, there is an option to Pause a subscription which is nice for those thin budget months.

Overall, I am happy enough with this first month to hold on to the subscription for a minute. If I hate the next fragrance, I will add Glossier to the next month or spend the $17 on it as an extra and be done.

I want to mention again that the customer service is stellar. I acted a little bit crazy and the rep was never anything but nice. I don't know how she dealt with me and kept even the thought of a smile on her face...

 Once again, if you do decide to give Scentbird a tryout, you can help me by using this referral link:

https://www.scentbird.com/r/d/scentbirduser7955018

Either way, I would like to know which fragrances you try.

Peace
--Free




I am not in the mood for music today so enjoy a funny guy I watch every now and then to give myself a laugh. This young dude reminds me SO MUCH of one of my nephews that it's scary. His facial expressions are everything. And this "man weave" situation... wow.

Perfume Soothes Me

So. Everybody who knows me well knows I love perfume. I always have. When I was teenybopper, I learned to use baby powder and vanilla extract. Then came Love's Baby Soft, Heaven Sent, Emeraude, and others. Then I discovered Shalimar. Oh my.

These days, I've experimented with several fragrances. Whatever I can afford and whatever family and friends gift to me on special occasions. This is great because I often end up falling in love with a scent I would never have tried.

For Christmas this year, my family got me 2 new fragrances. This one is Shi by Alfred Sung. I had never heard of it before but I mentioned that I liked his Sung for Women scent. This one is really nice. It's soft and feminine and nice for everyday wear.

And doesn't that bottle remind you a little bit of a gnome?

The other fragrance really surprised me. For one thing, I'm only vaguely familiar with Micheal Buble and I didn't know he had a fragrance branded to him. For another thing... Wow. Totally knocked flat by how much I like this.

The bottle is gorgeous. The USPS must have knocked the package around because the tip broke off the top. This is what an undamaged (and better photographed) bottle looks like:

Notice that the little circular piece is not missing from the top of the bottle... The glass part holding the perfume is sort of floating inside the metal outer ring. Very classy looking.

The scent is a smoky, Oriental type of fragrance. Before applying it, I was thinking that it smells a lot like Rhianna's fragrance, Reb'L Fleur:

I have a bottle but my lid went missing during the move from Alaska.

However, when this is applied to my skin and mixes with my chemistry, it's just glorious. Reminds me of a darker, smokier version of Opium if Opium was married to Shalimar. This is the kind of fragrance that will make someone want to nuzzle your neck. Another plus is that it takes very little to get a full effect, and the scent actually lasts for quite a while.

Now, you all remeber my beloved Shalimar that a niece gifted to me before I left Alaska:

Yeah, you guys have probably seen that pic before. I post it so much! I think I mentioned that Shalimar no longer lingers well on my skin. I've been using its brother fragrance, Habit Rouge. It's marketed to men but smells wonderful on females who like Opium and Shalimar.

The perfumes I've gotten are my favorite gifts this past year. I guess it's been about four or five years since I discovered Viva la Juicy. Man, I love that scent. It has been my go-to fragrance for a while now. I've used up most of my supply and am down to the little collection type bottles.

So glad for those miniatures!

Now, if some of you were wondering as I have exactly how those celebrity fragrances come to be, then this article thoroughly explains the process.

The only thing I hate about perfume is that they are kind of unreliable. Either a scent you love will start to hate your body chemistry and just stop working or - and this is what I really hate - a scent will just be discontinued. Ugh! That's the worst. That happened with Flori Robert's Gold. Also, whatever happened to Cher's fragrance? It was pretty nice.

For now, I'm happy to have my gifts so THANK YOU, fam. I'm tightening up my already squeaking budget and perfume is the first casualty. What you want to bet I can make my current supplies last for at least a year?

Peace
--Free

**REVIEW** Vanilla Grapefruit & Coconut (fragrances by Making Cosmetics)

Instead of doing separate posts, I'm going to tell you about 2 fragrances from Making Cosmetics, all in one.

Vanilla Grapefruit & Coconut

First, my personal favorite of the two, is the Natural Vanilla Grapefruit fragrance.

Before I go on, let me share the Seller's description (with my boldfacing parts I want to highlight):

Blend of natural and synthetic fragrance, miscible in water and oil. High amounts may cloudy a clear product. Water-insoluble. CAS# none. INCI Name: Fragrance. Odor: Earthy, warm but fruity scent, well balanced. Use: Typical concentration in creams and lotions 0.2-0.5%, higher for shampoos and conditioners (1-5%). Miscible with other fragrances. Potential for discoloration of final product (dependent on cosmetic ingredients used). High amounts may cloudy a clear product. For external use only. Applications: All kinds of personal care products (e.g. creams, lotions, cleansers, shampoos, shower gels, conditioners).

I'm not sure I agree with the "fruity" part of the odor description. "Fruity" makes me think of "sweet" and this is not at all cloying. I smell the earth tones of the vanilla and the rind of grapefruit. It's a really nice combination.

The fragrance is so nice that I backed out of plans to use this as an additive to homemade personal care items. Instead, I am going to be using it almost solely as a perfume. Not only is the scent very nice, it lasts . Women who are older (okay, 50-ish) might notice how body chemistry changes affect perfume wear. For me, fragrances don't typically last forever the way they used to. Most go faint after and hour, then disappear almost entirely. This is why I have been using natural oils for fragrance. This one really lasts well and after I've had it on today for about 6 hours, I can still catch a whiff of it.

I will be ordering more of this so that I can (maybe) bring myself to use it in some hair care and bathing products. Probably, I will just keep using it all up as a perfume though! Also I have to mention that it takes very little of this to get a nice scent effect.

The Coconut fragrance is very plainly identifiable as coconut, no doubt. While some might like that for a perfume, it's my preference to use it as I intended with the Vanilla Grapefruit. I already added some to a hair moisturizer and I love the smell. The fragrance seems more potent than the V.G. scent. That might just be because coconut is such a clear fragrance. What I like about that is it took just 2 drops of it to scent one of my 18-oz bottles of (store bought) shampoo. The shampoo was originally fragrance-free, but I wanted something that smelled nice in the shower. I am going to also be adding the coconut to one of my scentless hair moisturizers that I am going to be using to make a leave-in*.

Here is the Seller's description of the Coconut fragrance:

Description: Blend of natural and synthetic fragrance, miscible in water and oil. High amounts may cloudy a clear product. Water-insoluble. CAS# none. INCI Name: Fragrance. Odor: Scent of coconuts. Use: Typical concentration in creams and lotions 0.2-0.5%, higher for shampoos and conditioners (1-5%). Miscible with other fragrances. Potential for discoloration of final product (dependent on cosmetic ingredients used). High amounts may cloudy a clear product. For external use only. Applications: All kinds of personal care products (e.g. creams, lotions, cleansers, shampoos, shower gels, conditioners).

Totally agree with their description of the fragrance. It's straight coconut, no frills, no distractions.

I could see the coconut fragrance being excellent in sesame or some other very light scented oil to use as a massage oil. The scent is definitely soothing and pleasant.  I like the idea of having that scent in hair products and bathing soaps (especially if I follow up with organic coconut oil as my moisturizer). This would also be nice as a room fragrance.

I think these are both wonderful products for adding to products or using as fragrances. I'm pretty happy that I was able to use part of my birthday gift certificates to try them out.

Speaking of "trying out" products, be aware that both these fragrances are labeled with this: "Item is Non-Returnable, Consists of Raw Materials".  And Seller tells you that right up front.

I also saw a notice of a "subscribe and save" offer for Prime members. It sounds like a great arrangement for thing like the Vanilla Grapefruit fragrance (since I would actually re-order this), however, since the Seller's products are not Prime eligible... :-(

If you are at all into being a cosmetics kitchenista (TM) Haha.. definitely check these out.

Peace
--Free

*I found several wonderful recipes online for leave-in conditioners. (I have to alert you to the awesome Naturally Curly site. Their recipes can be searched by options.) Some online recipes were from scratch, using pantry items, but my favorites were the ones using store-bought products. After checking out several recipes, I combined a few to come up with this for my use. (Keep in mind that I have, apparently, 4b/4c hair. It's very dry and kinky. I aim to ease breakage and add as much non-oily moisture as I can.)

In a spray bottle that will adjust to a fine mist (I got mine at Walmart for around a dollar), combine the following:

• 8 oz water (bottled if your tap water is hard or otherwise not great)
• apprx 1 Tbls Aussie Moist 3-in-1
• apprx 1 tsp oil (I used olive oil in one blend and in another I used non-fractionated coconut)
• a couple drops of fragrance oil

I tried the spray with the olive oil for just after I'd shampooed because it was a little heavier. For between shampoo upkeep, I did need to use a little more on my crown and nape.  I will be using the spray with the non-fractionated oil.

Next post, I will have to tell you how my Cherry Lola hair treatment went...