Darling Clandestine

http://www.etsy.com/shop/darlingclandestine

Source

stickytapir wrote:Indie perfume extraordinaire! Over 2000 sales on etsy and nearing near the 3000 mark! Only 1 neutral feedback, and no negatives.

I've been a customer since 2011 and every perfume is legendary, and is utterly unique. You will not find perfumes like Evonne's anywhere else, and that is not an exaggeration.

My first purchase a set of 6 samples, and she threw in 3 extras as a bonus! I now own 97% of her collection in full size bottles and solid perfumes (many of her perfume oils I own in solid form as back ups), and not a one smells similar to the other. All so different from one another.

My favourites from Darling Clandestine are Gram Negative, Vardogr, Cloudswing version 1 and Mad As Birds version 1.

Darling Clandestine offers solid perfumes, with the choice of a beeswax base or a vegan candelilia base. I have not tried the candelilia wax base, but do intend to in the future. Her solid perfumes are concentrated, and are quite soft. You won't be rubbing away at the surface, you really only need to swipe your finger over the surface and it melts almost on contact.

The full size oil perfumes can be purchased in roll on bottles or apothecary style bottles. I don't own any of the roll on bottles, just the apothecary style. I've never had any leakages with the bottles, but I don't want to take them with me in my bag, because I'm afraid I'll break the bottle.

There are also 'bitsy' vials, which are 1 dram vials. I have a few of these, which I purchased in scents I knew would probably get used less. Perfect for gifts, or if you want to try more scents and know that that full size bottles are too much product for you to go through.

As with most solid vs oil perfumes, solid perfumes last longer on me, about the 3-4 hour range (and this will vary from person to person, based on your skin chemistry, body temperature, climate you live in etc. So many factors!). Do make sure to not rely on cold sniffing (smelling a perfume directly from the bottle), you will need to apply it to your skin for the various notes to unfold with time+heat.

I've never once had a problem with the products, and have never had to wait too long either. The most I've ever had to wait was a month, and that was a rarity, and she messaged me to let me know there was a delay.

I'm a relatively new fan of Darling Clandestine, but my experience with Evonne and her shop has been great! She's got great customer service, responds promptly when emailed, and is very active with her fanbase. I check the Facebook daily because she is always posting sales, updates, contests, etc! The scents are divine, and I love the themes/packaging/complexity. Sample sizes are cheap, and with a larger volume than many other companies give.

LOVE. I have a verrry hit or miss relationship with Evonne's fragrances, but the ones that work on me are some of my favorites from any brand. I'm discovering her calmer, more unisex fragrances seem to work best on me. My favorites so far are Mishigami, Don Gato, and Hellbender, and I suspect Step Right Up will be another full-sizer for me. I shared my thoughts on a handful of DC fragrances here: http://www.reddit.com/r/Indiemakeupandmore/comments/1so0bo/quick_darling_clandestine_reviews_including/

2/21/2015 update: DC is still my favorite indie perfume company, but some drawbacks have been emerging lately. Evonne has become extraordinarily popular and is now focusing mainly on timed releases of limited edition fragrances. This is a tough combination, because it means things are selling out within as little as three minutes and often not getting rebrewed/restocked. Though companies definitely need to put out new stuff to keep their fans' attention, the emphasis on super-LE stuff means I usually can't in good conscience recommend some of my favorite scents. But that's Evonne's decision on how to run her company, and like a good little fangirl, I will continue buying and wearing her scents.

Despite this big drawback, I'm still really impressed with the company. It's not just the fantastic scents, either. Evonne demonstrated her incredible customer service when a bunch of us had packages lost in the mail after a big release. Once she figured out the problem happened to more than just a couple of people, she sent us all messages (and I believe posted on Facebook as well) with updates about what was going on. When my package failed to show up or even update on the USPS tracking site by a certain date, Evonne refunded me in full and offered me a discount code for my next purchase - as if she hadn't already lost enough money on the missing packages and merchandise! If I hadn't already been a big fan, that would have clinched it.

My personal favorite general catalog scents at this point are: Serpentina, Mishigami, Hellbender, Cloudswing, Don Gato, Morderteile Kelah, Morderkloud (FrankenBitsy with MK and Cloudswing), Supernova Sway, Gram-Negative, Tilt-A-Whirl, and Smother. My favorite no-longer-available scents are Don'tGoPleaseStay and Noose Jewelry.

My co-bloggers and I have written quite a few reviews about DC. Here's our DC tag:

http://www.indieknow.net/search/label/Darling%20Clandestine

We've got reviews of the body balm, lip balm, Tyto, Coma Cluster, Tiny Ice Bees, Cloudswing, Vortex, Blue Valentine, Supernova Sway, Tilt-A-Whirl, and Spurn so far. The updated DC Company Overview has photos of many of the solid scent labels plus a scent name key, because when I was first getting into DC I had a lot of trouble figuring out which pictures went with each scent.

I received my order I earlier than expected. She shipped four days before the stated TAT. Everything was as described and the main reason for my purchase was a solid scent in Inked. It's a really complex scent and I loved it. I was interested in Supernova away as well and by some magic it was my free sample in my order. I was on the fence about the scent initially because she used the word metallic. The sample convinced me I needed that scent as well. I don't know if the owner intentionally sent me something in the same type but it was amazing.

I ordered two (full-size) perfumes from DC and received one sample from a generous soul on Reddit, and I have five more full-sizes on the way. I find Yvonne's perfumes incredibly compelling, complex, and totally unique. They don't feel like individual notes layered together so much as complete works made up of sometimes-identifiable notes. She's an artist, pure and simple. I can't say I fell in love with every scent right away (bar one - Blue Valentine) but all of them keep me coming back and I'm ever more intrigued and enamoured of them the longer they're in my collection.

Her solid scents don't have the names on them, which initially made me feel lost. I'm a writer, and words are how I connect. However, after some more thought, I think this is exactly as it should be. She doesn't list all the notes in her perfumes because that's not really the point of them and they're more than the sum of their parts. They're evocative, and the image labels go along with that. I like it. It bypasses the cerebral and goes to the feel, which is where scents reside anyway.

I sent Yvonne a note to this effect and she responded quickly and graciously. She really is very lovely.

Oh, business specifics. Right. The TAT was pretty much accurate and I received my goods in an expectedly reasonable amount of time, considering it had to cross a border to get to me. The packaging was cute and her business card is great. I'm not a packaging person, so I'm honestly struggling to remember how it came, but it wasn't just stuff in a bag, I know that.

Do recommend. If you want to smell truly unique, in a sophisticated way by a skilled perfume artist, seriously try out Darling Clandestine. I personally love the solids because they're so perfectly creamy and a delight to keep swirling around and reapplying (though that's not strictly necessary when the scents stay quite well on their own - I just like swirling).

I've ordered from Darling Clandestine once so far, and intend to do so again. My package arrived in a bubble mailer. My name and address were hand-written on the front; on the back, there was the rubber-stamped image of a shark, with a hand-written "Thank you!" coming out of his mouth. Very cute, and a very nice touch!

In addition to the three bitsy vials that I ordered, Evonne included a surprisingly large amount of candy--Lemonheads, Starbursts, and Laffy Taffy. The bitsy vials were wrapped in pieces of thick brown paper that were printed with what looks like a century-old housewares catalog. The bitsy vials themselves were very generously sized. One of the vials was filled up absolutely to the top--for my first application, all I needed to do was dip the end of my finger in, rather than upend the bottle.

I absolutely fell deeply in love with two of the fragrances that I ordered--Small Saga and Mad As Birds. They are both very feminine scents that are perfect for spring, and I highly recommend them.

All of the fragrances that I tried lasted at least 8 hours on me.

I definitely recommend Darling Clandestine. They have high-quality products that are very reasonably priced.

I have ordered from Darling Clandestine three times now, one of them being a gift. Every time has been a good or great experience! Everything has been shipped within stated TAT and arrives to me carefully packaged and showcasing Evonne's quirky shop theme.

Customer Service at DC is fantastic! The one order I made as a gift was cutting it close to arriving on time with the stated TAT. Having only mentioned in passing that it was a gift, Evonne wrapped the perfume in a cute linen bag, added a message to it, included extra candy goodies, and upgraded the shipping to ensure it reached the recipient in time. She then checked back in the day after they were to receive it, making sure it arrived on time and providing pictures of the package so I could see how it looked!

The scents themselves are fantastic! I don't fall in love with every one, but they are all incredibly complex and interesting. I find myself going back to sniff even those that I don't fall in love with or those that didn't work well with my skin chemistry (which only totals two, so far!). I have fallen in love with Carny Wedding (sweet/smoky) and Mad as Birds (musky floral). They're all wildly different scents so the fact that I (who had renounced all perfumes until DC) love them says something!

There are only two things I can think of about this company that I'm not crazy about. The first is that there's no tracking provided for the orders. This isn't a huge deal to me, but I know it's a big thing for some. The second is that the wear times on these are pretty varying. Some scents last less than two hours, others all day. Most last pretty well through an entire workday, though the throw might fade sooner. Again, how much of a bad thing this is, will depend on personal preference.

Overall, I find Darling Clandestine to be a fantastic company and will continue to order from Evonne for a long time!

[UPDATE 02/22/15]:

A few updates on my review. One of the things I'm not being crazy about was the lack of tracking on parcels. Evonne now provides tracking with each order!

I've tried quite a few more scents from Evonne at this point, and I have to say Darling Clandestine is my very favorite indie scent maker! There are still a few general catalog scents I have yet to try, but I've tried and really enjoyed most of what I've smelled. Only a handful of things went to new homes - these were scents that didn't work with my skin chemistry or had notes that I really didn't enjoy, even if they did work. This is normal, because I'm still learning new things I like and don't like with each perfume order I receive!

Like I've seen others mention, I'm not a huge fan of the mad rush to buy new releases, but I'm really happy for Evonne that her popularity has skyrocketed so much!

Customer service continues to be excellent! Evonne answers all questions in a super timely manner, no matter how ridiculous they may seem or when they're asked (i.e. thirty minutes before a release I'm so sorry)!

I'm hooked. I requested a set of 3 samples which she was nice enough to get back super quickly about making a custom listing for me to purchase and 3 bitsies to start with. I quickly went back and bought a full size of one and a solid of another and more bitsies to try. The bitsie size is great, I'd like it if more places had that option. The solid is very nice and convenient but it does change what notes are more prevalent compared to the oil. Most of the scents I've tried are really interesting and some have shot right up to my favorites. I have a wishlish ready for more and I would certainly recommend. (I'm also rather enamored that my last package came with a shark stamp that said "rock and roll can never die.")

I always have a good experience with DC. Evonne is always very very good at communication if anything is wrong or if you need to email her about something.
-Everything shippped within TAT and is always packaged in a bubble mailer.
-She was the second indie perfumery I tried, but she is my favorite so far. Her blends are fantastic and I have liked most of the ones I got. She is very good about evoking that same feeling she is trying to accomplish with the scent.

Darling Clandestine is great - I've ordered from Evonne dozens of times and always love trying her scents, even if they don't end up working out for me. As a shop owner, she's very easy to get in touch with and super sweet. For example, I'm vegan, and she makes me vegan versions of her solid scents on request. When she released a bug repellant balm last summer, she made me an experimental vegan version of that, too. I appreciate it so much, because she's certainly under no obligation to do things like that and could surely make her life easier by saying no.

Lately her shop has experienced a bit of an explosion of popularity, which has made new releases more stressful than I'd really like - you have to be ready the second things go live in the shop, and check out as fas as possible to ensure that you get what you want. I don't love it, but I'll continue to do it because I really love her products and they're worth the anxiety.

Shipping is always within TAT, and while free samples are only occasionally (and randomly, it seems) included, packages always come stuffed with candy and adorned with adorable shark stamps.

Some of my favorite DC scents are La La La, All Right (#1 with a bullet), Cloudswing, Vardogr, Harpy, Tapadero, Ballyhoo, Hellbender, and R/Hug of Death... but new ones are always being added to the list!

I haven't had a lot of experience with Darling Clandestine. I only ordered one scent. There were no problems with my order. My package shipped out in time and arrived intact. The scent wasn't really something I would wear. I am still learning which notes I like and which I dislike so it was it had nothing to do with the quality of the perfume oil. When you browse through the shop you can see it is very unique, which I enjoy. The owner has obviously put a lot of time into developing her brand. I will be trying other scents in the future. It was a nice experience even though the scent wasn't for me.