Riddle Perfume Oils
Riddle makes high quality, concentrated fragrance oils that are free of water and alcohol. They are made with skin-safe, non-toxic ingredients, and they are cruelty-free and vegan.
What attracted me to want to try Riddle perfume oils was:
- I usually love fragrance oils because they tend to last much longer on my skin
- The customer reviews were overwhelmingly positive
Then what clinched the deal was the Sample Set of 7 one ml roller balls of their scented oils. Although I screwed up my order by forgetting to wait for my discount, Riddle currently has a deal for new customers. The Welcome Offer gives you $10 off the Sample Set and $10 toward the cost of a full bottle. Unfortunately, I couldn’t figure out how to use the $10 off the Sample Set, so I paid full price, $40. The Welcome Offer price of $30 would have been better, lol.
The seven scents with their key notes are:
- Original: amber, musk
- Santal: spicy, woody, aromatic
- Muse: fruity, citrus, floral
- Poppy: citrus, floral, bright
- Ex: floral, woody, musk
- Sphinx: Egyptian musk, sandalwood
- Voyeur: warm, sweet, powdery
Voyeur is my favorite of the seven fragrances. I was quite surprised because before receiving the Sample Set, I assumed I would prefer Original because of the amber and musk notes. But on me, Original doesn’t have much staying power. Voyeur, on the other hand, is enormous on me! Also, to my surprise, Sphinx is intriguing to me as well.
In the meantime, I will continue testing out all seven scents in the Sample Set, and then make up my mind if I want to buy a full size bottle.
Labhouse Eau de Parfums: Rustica
At the end of August when I was at the Waterfront Festival in Gloucester, I met Miriam Shechet, the young entrepreneur, chemist and own of indie fragrance brand, Labhouse Perfumes. She had a booth at the fair, and she was selling the unisex fragrances whose formulas she crafted from natural and synthetic ingredients.
Miriam had testers of her 7 unisex fragrances. She asked me about the kind of notes I preferred as well as some of my favorite perfumes. That helped me narrow down those I wanted to try.
The names and the labels on the square glass bottles were intriguing. Labhouse’s tagline is “A culture of curiosity”.
Here are the scents and their key notes:
- Viridescent: grapefruit, vetiver, oakmoss, cedarwood
- Rustica: Chai spice, fresh ginger, tobacco leaf, suede
- Stellar Bloom: Mirabelle plum, solar florals, clove bud, tonkin musk
- Fever Dream: citrus pith, lily of the valley, ozonic melon, mineral accord
- Mirage: Sichuan pepper, incense, smoked sandalwood, toasted sugar
- Fallen: green apple, Italian lemons, celery seed, woody ambers, cypriol
- Deity: galbanum, Bulgarian rose oil, oud, patchouli
My personal favorites were spicy Rustica and opulent Deity. I decided to buy Rustica in a 15 ml travel size, glass spray bottle, priced at $38. There’s a 50 ml full size spray bottle as well for $68. Since purchasing Rustica, I have found that it is a long wearing scent that I can smell on my skin for several hours. It does not disappoint!
On her Labhouse website, she sells a Discovery Kit with spray samples of all seven of her scents for $38.
Final Thoughts
Although I do sometimes wear well-known fragrance brands, I often prefer something different that I don’t smell coming and going. Riddle, a new-ish scent oil brand, and Labhouse Perfumes, a 2 year old indie brand, are both excellent for a fragrance lover who wants to try something unique. Perfect for a small gift or stocking stuffer. Check them both out on their websites.
I am so in love with that Riddle perfume oil sampler! The packaging is beautiful, it would make a lovely present for any fragrance lover this holiday season. I’m loving spicy notes lately so Santal sounds right up my alley!
Anastasia recently posted…Clean Girl Summer with My Favorite Skincare Basics from NOW®
I agree, Anastasia, that the packaging is so clean and contemporary and the scents are cruelty-free and natural. I thought I might find a new favorite, but I’m still trying them out. Some are quite long-lasting, and others not so much, but that’s just on me.
That Discovery Set sounds divoon. I tried a Riddle perfume oil but it barely registered on me. Guess I’m just not cut out to wear oils.
I don’t think oil is the issue because oils are what I turn to when looking for scents that will last on me. But the scents in the Riddle Discovery Set are hit or miss for me: some don’t register at all and others last forever. Unfortunately, the scent I was most curious about is one of the ones that doesn’t have any staying power on me. I’m wondering if the fact that they’re made with only natural ingredients has anything to do with it? But then only certain scents don’t last on me. Who knows?! xo
Sphinx is the one I can’t smell at all, but sandalwood is such a nonentity on me that I guess that’s not surprising. Which ones failed for you?
Oh boo, I kinda like Sphinx. I just put some on now. We’ll see how long it lasts on me. Original is the one I hoped would work for me because, no surprise, it’s an amber scent.
I’m glad it works on you. I should send you my bottle. Seriously. I will if you’d like it. It’s a 15ml bottle I got through Beauty Pass. (oh, I emailed you back. did you get it?)
I hate to have you spend the money, Gabrielle. If I can pay you back for it? I discovered since last night that the little rollerballs that they sent as samples don’t allow enough of the oil to get out, so maybe that’s why some are not lasting on me. Sphinx is one of those where the rollerball moves but doesn’t deliver enough oil. I may send an email to the company and see what I can do about it?? Thank you for telling me about your email. I have a feeling it went into my spam folder, so I will look for it now!!
My bottle is a rollerball as well. Hmmm… Maybe that is the problem. But I will still send it to you if you like. Let me know. Hope you found my email!