My first introduction to indie perfume was when I was searching on etsy and discovered a little shop called ScentbytheSea. You can find their shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/scentbythesea?ref=pr_shop_more
Their initial set included violet, jasmine, and Lolita, among others. I find their violet and jasmine to be lovely linear oils. I used to layer violet with Lolita and the perfumers kindly created a mix for me.
In my Big Box o'Samples, I found a small amber bottle of Barbary Belle. The description of this one is: Barbary Belle – Miss Scarlett in the Saloon with a revolver; blonde tobacco and cacao
The initial blast is the cacao, but I never get any tobacco, but some slight floral. Like all of their scents, it is quite unique and without any cheap base smell, as some other indie fumes. ScentbytheSea is high quality. They have three sample sets and a set of naturals. I highly recommend.
Alkemia is another etsy house: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Alkemia?ref=ss_profile
I first encounted Alkemia when I ordered her Miel de Sauvage et Tabac...this is by far one of the BEST honey/tobacco scents eva'! Beats out some of the niche houses. I also recommend taking a sniff of her chypre, Farkas. Tres unique. Also another house of high quality.
I'm not a fan of gourmands or heavy vanilla scents as are so many on easy. But these are two that I have fallen for.
And you get a lot of bang for your buck when ordering sample sets from these and other houses.
I HAVE CONFIRMED that Renaissance Botanicals: http://www.etsy.com/shop/RenaissanceBotanical?ref=ss_profile
will once again offer Thorn, Tulla, and a jasmine that I will review later this week.
Enjoy!
