Darling Clandestine for Beginners

Darling Clandestine has a reputation of making "weird" perfumes. I have to admit, when I first navigated her selection, I was pretty uninterested in any of the perfumes because they didn't strike me as anything I would wear.

Boy, that took a totally different turn. I've made two purchases and I'm already planning my third.

The point of this post is to introduce you to some DC perfumes that are "beginner friendly", because I for one, am a wuss and doesn't like to venture into unsafe perfume territory. I like things that smell pretty and well, more or less like what perfume smells like. In the realm of indie perfume, the boundaries of what perfume can smell like are stretched beyond the catalog of scents I'd personally wear. For example, DC has a perfume that smells reptilian (Dewlap Valentine, if you're interested).

Recently, Evonne, the owner of DC added a very helpful "boss level" guide to her perfumes, ranging from passable as perfume to “omg why do you smell like you’ve been rolling in stars and destiny and gasoline". Not gonna lie, I might just pick up something with a boss level of 10 so I can smell like the galaxy even if I just wear it to bed. Below, you'll find six scents I've sampled that are quite safe if you're just starting out with indie perfumes.

Bitsy vials @ $12 USD for three

Kendraberry: This is a bright, effervescent honeysuckle spritzer, tempered with fresh fruits and juniper and green tea and amber and ozone.
Kendraberry hit me with a burst of something bright and vast. This reminds me of a cold, pristine blanket of snow against a bright, morning sky. I like it! It's pretty, yet it doesn't evoke the headiness that comes with commercial perfumes.

Morderteile Kelah: Notes of amber, hyacinth, milk and strawberry jam.
This doesn't smell like fresh strawberries, but I'm not sure why I expected that it would, because it's strawberry jam in here. This smells very warm and sweet with a little spice...like you're in a cozy little hut by the fireplace and you've put your nose up a bottle of strawberry jam.

Serpentina: Green tea with a smoky opium bite
I'm struck with the same "brightness" I smell from Kendraberry on cold sniff. On my skin, it smells like a chilled and heavily sweetened green tea scent. Interestingly, the first time I smelled Serpentina the first time after my package arrived, it was all smokiness. I've read that fragrance oils need to settle after being transported, and I'm happy to say that when I tried it two days later, it smelled completely different. I get very little of the smokiness now, and only towards the end of its wear time. I really like this one, and want a full size. I have no idea what opium smells like so I can't comment on that note.

Small Saga: With notes of green figs and tea and cream and apricot wine, this scent opens deceptively sweet and creamy but then unfolds its complex layers and settles in a mellow, woody finish
This smells like creamy, creamy greenness. I've only eaten figs twice in my life (the texture grosses me out), but I do pick up the fig from this scent. I love it enough to buy a full size of this too. I've paired this with Alkemia Apothecary's Carmen 7 and it makes for a wonderfully sweet, creamy, feminine scent.

Tilt-a-whirl: Bright summer citrus and passionfruit mellowed with sage and other wonders. Juicy and fruity but not too sweet, candy for grownups.
This smells like orange medicine to me. If orange-flavoured cough syrup exists, I imagine this is what it'll smell like. On my skin, it smells like orange tinged with something green and weird (the sage?). Of all the 6 scents, this is the only one I didn't enjoy.

Pistolas:Soft, mellow gardenia and lavender (Abuelita's favorite), with an undercurrent of city sidewalks and just a kiss of tobacco leaf.
Straight up gardenia with a slight, metallic edge. I suspect this is the concrete note. If you like the scent of gardenia, you'll like this one.

My top three are: Small Saga, Serpentina and Kendraberry, probably in that order. I put these babies on in the morning, and can still smell them on me by the end of the day so they have great lasting power.

I also wanted to take a moment to gush about Evonne's customer service. The way she communicates clearly shows how she loves her customers and her job. She writes to each and every one of us like she's writing us a love letter. If you follow the DC page on Facebook, you'll know what I mean. I've corresponded with her via Etsy once about my order and it gave me warm fuzzies.

On an ending note, even if you're a beginner with perfume, there are certainly scents from DC that are very safe and smell good even though they don't smell like traditional perfume. If you're brave, there are plenty of fun choices to pick from.

DC is currently closed until mid-October. When it reopens, I urge you to check out the shop. She makes perfume oils, solids, lip balms and more. I love that she offers mini sizes because 1) miniatures are cute, 2) you can sample scents.