Indie Weekends: Haus of Gloi Spring Collection Review

It seems like we just had a Haus of Gloi review, which is true, but amazingly my Spring Collection order arrived already! I wasn't anticipating it arriving so early, and then I was freaking out worrying that something in my order would be wrong. Then I had a moment of panic thinking it was mis-delivered, but luckily the mail person just forgot it and brought it directly to my door. Sheer and utter panic I tell you. But then I just smelled everything and felt much better!

About - Haus of Gloi is an indie bath and body company based in Oregon, and owned by Matt and Britton. They sell perfumes, scrubs, soaps, pumpkin butters, hair oils, lip balms, and a few other various products. Everything is handmade and their scents are their own original creations. They have a main line of scents that are sold year round, and then they have quarterly seasonal limited edition collections.

Shipping - I was so surprised, my order shipped two days after I placed my order. And it arrived in 2 days via USPS Priority 2-day shipping from Oregon to California.

Product Size - The Butterbombs, Lip Balms, and Whipped Soaps are only available in one size, and the Body Emulsions, Perfumes, and Pumpkin Butters are available in sample or full sizes.

Free Samples - I always receive one free perfume sample with my order. It's usually a scent I didn't already order, or a less popular scent.

Body Emulsions - 

I noticed right after I made my order that they finally had the Body Emulsions in stock. I went back for another order to grab these four that I thought would be perfect to try. Two of which I've tried before in the pumpkin butter and knew I liked, the other two I had never smelled before. In the jar, the Body Emulsions look exactly like the Pumpkin Butter, but are a little lighter, and they are quickly absorbed.

Elevenses - "Not quite breakfast and not quite lunch, its the little snack in between. Bring out the old cracked china! Tiny, little, fluffy orange cakes, sugar coated toasty almonds and a wee steaming cup of black tea!"

I opened this and immediately thought of orange cakes, or possibly orange muffins. Which actually gives me a great idea for a recipe, orange muffins topped with roasted almonds...yum! It smells lovely on the skin as well, the almonds and tea comes out a bit more, but the orange is still fairly prominent.

Honeysuckle Lemon Curd - "Rich and lemony with a touch of fresh honeysuckle."

This scent is one of my all time favorites, so I knew I had to try it in the Body Emulsion. If you love sweet lemon scents, this is perfect for you.

Lavender Sugar - "Gentle Bulgarian lavender and a heaping spoonful of pure cane sugar."

I usually tend to like lavender scents, especially for my hands. I like using it at bed time for helping me relax, and I wanted to see how lavender smelled combined with sugar. It smells very nice, I've said before that I love their Bulgarian lavender note. It's just stunning. And mixed with the sugar really balances it out.

Satyr - "Absolutely fiendish creature! And quite frolicsome: Italian blood orange drizzled with blackened vanilla."

I used to have a pumpkin butter in this scent, but I cannot find it anymore. I have no idea where it went, but I'm sure it will show up one day. I had to order the body emulsion in this scent because I love it. It's such a simple combination, but the quality of each note is so superb. And who knew blackened vanilla could change the simple combination of blood orange and vanilla so much!

Butterbombs -

Lavender & White Amber - "White amber balanced with our Bulgarian lavender."

The one thing I love about getting the Butterbombs is that you really get a feel for what some of the Haus of Gloi single notes smell like. Their Bulgarian lavender note is just wonderful, and it really shines in this butterbomb. The white amber balances it beautifully and I find myself loving lavender scents more and more with products like this.

Milk - "Different from many of the milky notes that we generally use. This is a fresh milk."

This is a beautiful milk note, a touch sweet, very creamy, with almost a hint of floral to it even though it doesn't have a floral note. It reminds me of my favorite Black Violet Paper Dolls perfume, but it has a touch of tanginess to it. Pure milkiness.

Orange Blossom - "Orange blossom with a touch of cream."

This is a wonderful scent, it's citrusy like oranges, florally, and creamy all at once. The creaminess also kind of resembles white chocolate, so it's a bit sweet as well. This would make for a delicious flavor of chocolate truffle, but I also wish this was the scent used for the Honeybelle scent instead. I prefer this much more than the Pumpkin Butter version of it.

Rain & Moss - "Aquatic and green notes in a base of soft woods."

This definitely smells mossy, but with a hint of aquatic notes that balances it out. I also get a bit of the soft woods. It's nice, I like it more than Woodland Tea, but I think it would also make a great soap scent.

Strawberry - "Plain and simple strawberry with a drop of vanilla extract."

This isn't the same strawberry note I was anticipated from this scent. It's tangy, and feels like more of a wild strawberry than one you'd get at a roadside stand here in California where there is one on every back country road. It just makes me crave a strawberry milkshake.

Woodland Tea - "A strange blend of smoky black tea, maple syrup and coniferous notes."

I wasn't really sure what this would smell like, since it is a bit of a strange combination. But I get everything, the smokiness from the black tea, the sweetness of the maple syrup, and the woodsy conifers. A lovely combination that reminds me of hiking or being outdoors. It does seem like more of a wintery scent though, so it's strange that it's part of the spring collection.

Lip Balms -

Candied Violets -

I wasn't really sure what to expect with this one, as violets are not something I smell much on their own. The candied portion of it keeps it from being too florally, which I personally think is a little weird for a lip balm. So that added bit of sweetness really benefits it I think.

Lemon Pound Cake -

This was the one I was most looking forward to, it's not very strong. But it is a nice lemon pound cake scent, not too lemony, not too cake-y. Probably my favorite of the bunch.

Strawberry Lime -

I didn't know how I would feel about this one, because while I love strawberry scents, I don't necessarily prefer it with other notes mixed in. The lime is nice though, it's not too tangy or citrusy, the strawberry really balances it out.

Wild Rose -

I honestly don't know why I bought this one considering I have several rose lip balms I'm working on already. But I had to try it for the review! It's pretty similar to Winter Rose which is from the Winter collection, so if you have that you probably don't need this one. I don't think it sold well either. Rose is just not something I typically think of when it comes to lip balm, but it's not overpowering. It's a very subtle rose scent.

Perfume - 

Honeybelle - "A blooming orange orchard, orange blossom honey, soft white tea and creamy white amber."

This smells pretty similar to the pumpkin butter, I get a lot of the tea and the orange blossoms. But I find that it balances out a little more on the skin versus the pumpkin butter. It definitely is sweeter, and less of that basil kind of scent I was smelling with the butter. I think this scent definitely works better as a perfume than a bath and body product. The honey and amber really add something to the otherwise very green kind of scent I was getting with the pumpkin butter.

Milkmaid - "Flushed, but demure. Fresh milk, clean linens, pale musk and pink sweet pea blossom."

This was one I knew I would either love or hate, so I wanted to see how the perfume was before I went back to buy it in anything else. And it's actually very lovely, it's a very soft milky floral. Even though it doesn't turn sour on me, I can smell that it might on other people. I would probably get this in a pumpkin butter, whipped soap, or even maybe a full size perfume. It's like nothing else I've smelled from Haus of Gloi before. Very soft, not much silage. But not heavy on the florals either. I would say it's mostly a musky clean perfume, if that is even a thing. A surprise favorite, I really enjoy this scent.

Ploughman - "Well worn leather, dirt n' dandelions, carrot, a pinch of tobacco and a light sheen of feral skin musk."

I really love this as a perfume, on my skin it morphed a little more feminine than I anticipated. It’s definitely a unisex perfume though, I could see it smelling more masculine on a guy. None of the notes amped for me, which I was happy about because this was one of the perfumes I was possibly going to buy in a full size if I ended up liking it. And I really love it, it’s not too much of anything and the dirt note isn’t as strong as it is in the whipped soap. It has a bit of garden freshness to it. Just a well balanced earthy perfume, which I’ll probably be getting a full size bottle.

Ruth - "Fresh strawberry, green patchouli, rose geranium and crushed violet leaf."

Immediately you're hit with the sweet redness of the strawberry, but it's bogged down by the patchouli. After dry down it does start to balance out, and the sweetness of the strawberry is nicely offset by the greenness of the patchouli. I can't pick out much of the geranium or violet leaf, but I imagine they're there keeping everything well blended. I actually like this one, if you like strawberries and don't mind some green patchouli, then I'd say try it. I like it more than other reviews I've seen, and I wonder how it would be as a whipped soap. Not full size worthy, but I also will be using my sample occasionally. The patchouli does start to dominate after a little while, so be aware of that.

Selkie - "The break of waves, gurgling sea foam, kelp, rain tinged air, sand smoothed driftwood and wild sage."

This is probably one of the best aquatic scents I've ever smelled, which is not saying too much considering I don't have a ton of aquatic scents in my collection. But this is by far the best one. I can really pick up the sage in there, which gives it a bit of an herbal quality. It's not too pungent either, which is great. I wouldn't want a scent like this to be too strong. I was already considering blind buying this in full size, but decided against it until I had it. Especially since I knew even if I loved it, there was no way I was going to use the whole sample vial before next year. It's safe to say if you like fresh aquatics, this is the perfect scent for you. And I will say I would probably skip this in full size perfume, and instead buy it in more whipped soap. This is the perfect soap scent for me.

Splendiferous - "White cake, lemon zest glaze and sugared violets."

Lemons and violets! This one is quite tangy, but also a bit floral and a tad gourmand. It kind of reminds me of Beguiled from the Summer collection. It has the same lemony cake goodness to it. The violets stay in the background for the most part, with the lemon cake right up front. I like this one, probably not enough for a full size, but it does feel very spring-like.

Pumpkin Butter -

Honeybelle - "A blooming orange orchard, orange blossom honey, soft white tea and creamy white amber."

I figured this would be a safe bet for a pumpkin butter for this collection, but I don't like it as much as I anticipated I would. To me, it smells like basil which is strange considering that's not even a note. It could be the combination of the tea and orange blossom making it smell that way, but I'm not sure. On my skin, it tends to get pretty strong too, so it could be a case of my skin chemistry just not getting along with this product. I wish instead they had switched the Butterbomb Orange Blossom scent with this, because I really liked the creaminess aspect that had to it over this version.

Whipped Soap -

Ploughman - "Well worn leather, dirt n' dandelions, carrot, a pinch of tobacco and a light sheen of feral skin musk."

I grabbed two whipped soaps, one in Ploughman and the other in Selkie figuring B and I would use them. We both were drawn to both of these scents, so I bought both to see which one we each wanted to use. Ploughman is less dirty than I thought it would be, and the leather isn't strong either. I think this soap would be perfect for men or women, it's got a unisex quality to it. I would say it's the scent of digging in the garden for an afternoon, but in the whipped soap form it's not strong. It's a very well balanced scent, there are many other notes keeping it from smelling like straight up dirt. B also preferred this scent over Selkie.

Selkie - "The break of waves, gurgling sea foam, kelp, rain tinged air, sand smoothed driftwood and wild sage."

My skin tended to amp the sage note in this for the perfume, but in whipped soap form it's a beautiful soft aquatic. It reminds me of the beaches in Northern California, where it's a little colder and windier year round. I prefer this scent in soap form, the perfume was great, but because of my skin amping the sage note, didn't feel balanced like the scent does in the whipped soap.

Overall, I really enjoyed this collection. I think there was a little of something for everyone, and some of the ones I was worried about working for me actually were better than I anticipated. Selkie as a perfume was probably the only one that didn't work as well as I had hoped, but I think it has something to do with my skin chemistry amping that sage note in it. The Butterbombs were amazing as always, the lip balms were ok I would say you could skip those unless there was a scent you really love from those. My stand out perfume favorites were Honeybelle, Milkmaid, and Ploughman, with Ploughman being the only one I will mostly likely purchase full size. Honeybelle as a Pumpkin Butter was a complete fail for me, I didn't like that at all. And Ploughman and Selkie were great as whipped soap scents, I might go back for some other scents in those.

Customer Service - I did not have to contact customer service regarding any problems with my order. Wahoo! Finally! I was waiting on pins and needles for this to arrive crossing my fingers there would be no problems. And there weren't!

Availability - Some of these products are still in stock, but there will be one and only one restock on April 5th.

Overall Satisfaction - My favorite perfumes were Honeybelle, Milkmaid, and Ploughman. I am quite happy I did not have any problems with my order this time around, I hope it's a sign of progress on their growing pains. I'm already looking forward to the Summer collection!

What did you think of the Haus of Gloi Spring Collection? Let me know in the comments!

For all other Haus of Gloi reviews, click here