Premium Mini Set

Unfortunately, the scents in this set don't quite do it for me with one exception: Great Lei. Here's the breakdown. (FWIW, I tried them both on me and by smelling the caps, and I tried them right out of the box and after the 48 hour period recommended if you had them shipped to you.)

Great Lei: A really, really nice floral scent. Delicate, sweet, but not sugary - it's definitely floral. The plumeria and jasmine really stand out and the ginger is a very very light note at the back making it slightly more complex.

Grove is in the Heart: This won an award, but I personally did not like it. Recently, fruit-based perfumes have started to smell like cleaning product to me, and I was hoping this one would change my mind, but it didn't. But it's award-winning! I am sure most other folks would find it quite pleasant - it's very juicey...the mandarin is by far the strongest scent.

Holy Ghost: I really, really want to like this one. It's the exact sort of unusual combination of scents that I want in a perfume (My favorite perfume ever has asphalt notes in it) but it hasn't hooked me yet. I did grow up in the church and I wouldn't compare it to the incense you get at mass, it's much more complex and...almost dusty? So far I haven't fallen in love but it's summer right now and I'm going to hang onto it to try it as a fall scent. I think it might work better for darker, cloudier weather.

Tea House: I am SO bummed about this one. I was the most excited to try it but it smells truly awful to me and on me.

tl;dr - the best by a mile was Great Lei, Tea House is terrible. But I ordered this with a full size Garden Heaux and that one has my heart forever and ever and I am SOO happy to get a restock of GH just in time for my birthday!

The packaging for the sample set is well done. I appreciated the card with both notes and space to write my thoughts. Overall, I found each perfume to be well-crafted, delivering the promised notes beautifully.

Great Lei was an unexpected hit for me. I have found similar tropical florals to be overwhelming, but this was an airy yet rich floral.

Grove is the Heart I expected to love, but I just like it. It is a juicier take on an orange grove. The mandarin is the most prominent note to me.

Holy Ghost feels like a meditation on Christian churches. The wine stands its ground against the resins and incense pleasantly. If you love smelling like a Roman Catholic high mass in an old cathedral, this perfume is 1000% for you.

Tea House is actually the reason I bought this sample set. It's a lovely sweet, fruity and floral scent with undercurrents of tea.

I was expecting beautiful scents as I had heard so many good things about Samar's work. I was blown away by the artistry in each of these. Every single one is incredibly well blended and every single one takes you on a journey. They start off strong and morph over each phase. Holy Ghost is my favorite. A haunting, atmospheric scent. If you are on the fence, please make the investment, they are all worth it.

I waited a long time for these but it was worth the wait. The scents are lovely and carefully crafted. I did not realize that I was buying roller balls of perfume oils - the are information isn’t very clear but I can see how I may have just misread things. It doesn’t matter though as a little oil goes a very long way and the scents are certainly worth it. I am looking forward to trying each of the scents in my box and will be upgrading to larger sizes when these are gone.