I’ve been curious about indie perfumes for a while now and after seeing so many positive reviews of Smelly Yeti Perfumery floating around, I decided to take the leap and start my indie perfume journey with them. Smelly Yeti Perfumery is a small company specializing in interesting perfume oils with a cute and quirky website to boot! It’s fair to say that I’m now wholly hooked and already drooling at the aspect of not only trying more scents from Smelly Yeti, but also at venturing out and seeing what other indie perfumeries have to offer!
I opted to start out with Smelly Yeti’s sample pack which allows you to choose 5 samples for $15.
Perfume oils are a bit different than your typical alcohol based perfumes. Alcohol based perfumes tend to be more harsh & overpowering (not hating, I love all perfume!) while perfume oils offer a cleaner, truer scent. Many also claim that perfume oils offer longer lasting fragrance than alcohol based perfumes. My only experience with perfume oils is with this one company but I didn’t exactly find that claim to be true here. These fragrances typically lasted between 3-5 hours on me before mostly fading away almost completely, which I still consider quite good wear time. One major upside that I found with this order is that Smelly Yeti’s products absolutely offered something new, unique & captivating and these scents are very different than what you’d normally find lining the shelves at your local Sephora, which I absolutely love!
Bee Tsar
What Smelly Yeti says:
I know nothing of the BZZZZness of ruling.
It’s a little known fact that the collapse of the royal family and subsequent rise of the Bolsheviks was not motivated solely by economic unrest. The Romanovs had many secrets, the least known of these being that they were all literally bees. Well, as you can imagine, when that came out things fell apart pretty rapidly. And now you too can smell like royalty! Masculine yet sweet, tobacco and Russian leather drip with honeyed vanilla.
My thoughts: Holy moly, Bee Tsar smells absolutely, mouth wateringly delicious! Everything in me is screaming “LICK YOUR WRIST!” but I’m pretty sure I would be disappointed if I did that. Okay, if we’re being completely honest here, I maybe, possibly, did lick it. Why in the world would any sane person do that? I can’t explain myself. It just smelled, so, soo good… But let’s move on.
This scent smells like vanilla cake dripping with honey yet it doesn’t smell sickeningly, sugary sweet. I typically don’t like vanilla in my fragrance but this is just the perfect combination. The scent of tobacco and leather is faint in comparison to the honey but it adds a nice level of dimension. I wouldn’t quite call this scent masculine though. Overall, Bee Tsar is incredibly pleasant and will probably leave everyone you encounter with a very confusing urge to take a bite out of you. Keep your guard up.
Ouran
What Smelly Yeti says:
Kiss kiss fall in love!
Roses. Bulgarian roses. English roses. Rosehip jasmine, pikake flower, and yuzu. Basically, FLOWERS. Plus, a hint of the tropical flavor that signifies the mark of a true silly anime – the token beach episode.
The perfect way to be noticed by senpai- or rather, for senpai to be noticed. Feminine!
My thoughts: Rose is one of my all time favorite scents so when I read the description of Ouran, I knew it had to be mine and it has exceeded all of my expectations! It smells like a big bouquet full of pure, delicious, fresh roses with the slightest hint of something citrusy cutting through for a more complex scent. I’ve always loved the scent of roses so I may be a little biased here but I would literally bathe in Ouran if I had a bigger bottle. An extremely feminine scent that I find incredible soothing and relaxing!
Capitalist
What Smelly Yeti says:
“I like my money the way it is… when it’s mine.”
In ancient tradition, different oils had different meanings, and there were some said to bring wealth to those who wore them…sweet orange, bergamot, cinnamon, clove, cardamom and more mix and mingle to bring you a heady spiced citrus scent that will make you wealthier than all your wildest…well, no promises, right?
My thoughts: Capitalist was a free sample included with my purchase. This fragrance is very warm and spicy and immediately reminds me of the holidays. The scent of sweet orange is the first thing that hits me in the bottle, followed closely by the bergamot and cinnamon. Once it settles on the skin, the orange gives way a bit to the more spicy notes, with cinnamon being a strong contender. To me, this scent smells very, very old school, like walking into the incense shop at the renaissance fair old school.
This was by far my least favorite scent of the bunch. Fragrance is a very personal thing and I can’t really say this is bad because it certainly isn’t gross but just very much not for me. I don’t particularly want to smell like I just stepped out of the middle ages but if that happens to be your thing, Capitalist is definitely a scent to check into!
Jeeves
What Smelly Yeti says:
“I’ve been, uh, indexing the Watcher diaries covering the last couple of centuries. You would be amazed at how numbingly pompous and long-winded some of these Watchers were.'”
When there’s something strange in the neighborhood…go to the library. A cup of tea, the dusty smell of leatherclad demonology books, a woody medieval weapons cabinet, and the unmistakable smell of LEARNING. Unisex.
My thoughts: Mmm, Jeeves is an absolutely intoxicating & really unique scent that I agree would work well on both sexes. In the bottle, the scent of tea and leather really hits you but as it dries down on the skin, the tea lessens a bit making way for a strong leathery, woody & slightly musty fragrance with a hint of sweetness. I love scents that lean masculine and this one hits the nail on the head but absolutely does not smell like typical mens cologne so don’t fret! Strong, powerful, rich & woodsy. I can’t get enough of Jeeves!
Psycho
What Smelly Yeti says:
“When are you going to get this, B? Life for a Slayer is very simple — want… take… have”
Assertive and bold, uninhibited and reckless. Faith’s always been a wild card. Wild black cherry, dirty leather, black musk, and a wisp of tobacco smoke.
My thoughts: Whew, when I opened this bottled I was completely put off by the overpowering cherry scent! It was literally the only that I could smell and boy was it pungent! Upon the initial application, cherry was still the most prominent scent by a long shot but after settling down for a few minutes, the cherry begins to subside significantly and the scent of tobacco smoke and leather start to come through with a sweet undertone and creates quite a nice balancing act.
I typically love dark, musky scents and though the description of this sounded lovely, I’ve decided Psycho just isn’t for me. Something about the sticky sweetness of this scent paired with the tobacco and leather just didn’t quite sit well with me. It’s definitely not a bad scent at all and is, in fact, very interesting! It just isn’t something that I personally love.
Queen of the Damned
What Smelly Yeti says:
“What will your mommy sing when they find your body?”
Drusilla, Spike’s sometimes-paramour, wanderer of graveyards, makes for an enchanting and unconventional floral scent. Among the more traditional bouquet of roses is a mélange of darker, cooler notes of cabbage, cedarwood, tuberose moss, dewy grass, and damp earth. The overall effect is one of flowers in a graveyard. Feminine.
My thoughts: Wow, a rather unconventional yet absolutely enticing floral scent! In the bottle, you get strong cedarwood, dampness, something reminiscent of raw cabbage and a hint of floral. Once it starts to dry down, rose becomes the most prominent scent and is surrounded by a mossy, dampened earth smell & there is definitely something slightly dark about it. Queen of the Damned makes me think of nighttime stroll through a garden after fresh rain. I feel like I could inhale this all day.
Overall, I’m really happy with my purchase from Smelly Yeti to the point where I feel like this could become an addiction. Have you tried any indie perfumes? Please, oh please, tell me all about them so I can start my wish list! 
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