Alkemia Apothecary Perfume Oils Review part II

(Au Lait, Ex Libris Anima, and Vixen)

And we're back, with the second half of my review of Alkemia perfume samples.

Day 4: Au Lait
"A cozy, ultra-cuddly blend of rich, creamy milk swirled with tonka, wild honey, and a touch of caramelized brown sugar."

A funny thing happened with this one. I read the description, and it reminded me of Burt's Bees Milk and Honey lotion, which I like a lot, so I thought this perfume might be very nice. But I was worried that it would smell too sweet with the honey and the brown sugar. Because of that, I debated for a while whether I should try this one, or Mist Becoming Rain before eventually deciding to try both.

I thought that Mist Becoming Rain was more of a risk, since I couldn't tell as much what it would smell like (I thought), but I thought that meant I would also learn more from trying it. On the other hand, I thought Au Lait would smell sort of like my lotion and either be great, or too sweet, but either way, not a surprise.

I was wrong, though not really in a good way. Au Lait smells like melted butter. Several people independently came up with "melted butter" or "buttered popcorn." Now, to me, it smells a LOT like that, so if you're looking for a melted butter or buttered popcorn perfume, look not further, Au Lait may be the perfume for you!...I, however, am NOT looking to smell like buttered popcorn, so I doubt I will be wearing it again.

Again, it didn't give my hyper-sensitive dad a headache, and the sillage and lasting power seemed comparable to the other Alkemias. Sillage was about like Mist Becoming Rain, and it lasted about like Smoke & Mirrors. Smell stayed pretty consistent the whole time.

Day 5: Ex Libris Anima

"The bottled essence of an old, rare book - antique paper, old leather bindings, parchement, dust, and the faint scent of a wooden lecturn."

I don't get old books from this at all. Old books have a delicious, musty, vanilla-y smell, Ex Libris Anima smells much too fresh and almost green. More like a pre-book (i.e. a tree) than an old book. My mom said it smelled oriental, but I don't get that from it. I feel like I can almost, but not quite smell the leather, but none of the other things that are supposed to be there.

Dad says he is borderline about whether this will bother him. But it may have given me a slight headache, but I think that was unrelated, as it went away while I was still wearing the perfume.

Sillage seems about as strong as Ambre I: Ardere.

Doesn't change much from initial application (unfortunately), and fades some, but lasts all day.

Day 6: Vixen

"A captivatingly shapeshifting blend of sexy white amber and luminous late summer night blooming florals awakened by warm caresses of autumnal spice, golden musk, varietal apple peel, sugar pumpkin, jasmine tea, and a whisper of woodland mosses."

The last of my set of samples.
Alkemia is right in the description, this one does change a lot. Personally, I find that annoying, if I put on a fragrance, I'd like to be able to predict what I'll smell like in an hour or so, but it seems that many perfumes are designed to change.
In the bottle it smells fruity.
When I first put it on, I smelled earthy and green--probably the oakmoss.
Once it's been rubbed in, the strongest smell is pumpkin. The pumpkin is not at all pumpkin-pie-y. Instead is smells like a fresh pumpkin. Which was not what I expected, since it says sugar pumpkin, but I like it--it keeps it from smelling too girly (I tend to appreciate more unisex scents). In addition to the pumpkin, I also get a light floral, green tea, a hint of citrus (which isn't listed, maybe I'm smelling the apple?), and slight sweetness and maybe a hint of vanilla (again, not listed, maybe the "autumnal spice"?) that I don't really smell when I sniff my wrist, but float up to my nose when my hand is near my face.
When it's been on for a couple hours it gets sweeter and more floral and the other scents fade somewhat.
A fairly subtle scent, but very pretty. My second favorite after Smoke & Mirrors.
I was afraid this would be too girly, but I don't think it is.
This lasts about like the others (though it changes more), and has a pretty mild sillage.

Final impressions of Alkemia:
These are basically my first perfumes, so I don't have a lot to compare them with, but I did really like Smoke & Mirrors and Vixen. Ardere is also pretty, I'm just not sure I'd want to wear it. Mist Becoming Rain seemed nice, but not my style. Au Lait gave me a laugh. Ex Libris Anima was a pretty big disappointment.
Over all, they seem to last well and be non-irritating, but I wish some of them had a little more presence so that I could smell than without sniffing my wrist.
I would try more scents from Alkemia, and I think I would like to order full bottles of Smoke & Mirrors and Vixen when I run out of sample...and maybe Ardere.

My Firebird samples arrived yesterday, so I'll be reviewing those soon.