Review: Sweet Anthem Handmade Perfumery

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September of last year, I was interested in perfumes.  I looked at the place that many people seemed to have success:  Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab.  To make a long, dissatisfied story shorter: I didn't like ANYTHING I tried from BPAL.  Hated. Everything.  I got horrible headaches any time I tried the samples I ordered. 

Then, I was tweeting one day, and I noticed @hausofgloi was tweeting with @whenyougethigh, who happens to be the perfumer behind Sweet Anthem Handmade Perumery.  Her name is Meredith Tucker and she is a graphic designer by day, awesome and unconventional perfumer the entire rest of the time.  Even in her sleeps.  

If I had not met her and started tweeting with her when I did, I would hate perfumes to this day.  Or maybe I would be addicted to Haus of Gloi's.  Who knows.  I certainly don't.

image courtesy of Sweet Anthem

The first scent I tried on from Sweet Anthem was Rebecca, which was the Limited Edition Halloween scent.  This scent was lovely, but definitely not for me.  It was woodsy with a little floral and something that didn't agree with me chemically.  

The second fragrance I tried was Emily.  Oh goodness, I fell head over heels for Emily.  Next, I tried Anita.  I fell once again.  

From Sweet Anthem's Website:  

Anita:  "And it's a very special thing -- she makes the people clap and sing. Be happy all the time in this nearly drinkable peppermint mocha perfume."  Notes: "Moroccan Mint, Peppermint,Pink Sugar, Turkish Mocha,Vanilla"

How can I tell you about how much I love this scent?  This scent is almost as though it were meant for me.  I smell mint and chocolate first, then sweet pink sugar, and mocha hides in the background like a wallflower, but is noticed because of it's lovely biting bitterness. (Not too bitter mind you, just you know, coffee bitter.)  After a while, it turns sexier, musky, somehow.  I love it, so much.  You should, too.  Gourmand scent.

Emily:  Gourmand - "Still she wears her red dress, and paints her toes and twirls. Emily takes it back to old times of honey, oatmeal, yuzu, almond, vanilla, coconut, and sandalwood."

When I smell her, I smell coconut, and vanilla, and such sweetness that I can't really describe.  The sweet is taken down a notch by the citrusish bite of yuzu, and softened with oatmeal and honey.  The sandalwood makes it a little stronger, not more scenty, but brings out everything nicely.  I am not necessarily prone to loving sandalwood, but I love it in this.  Gourmand scent.

Sophie: Agarwood, Amber, Benzoin, Black Currant, Black Tea, Neroli - "For the last of the red hot dames. A veritable pastiche of plummy, deep fruit, smoky blossoms, and expensive woods with a golden crown of amber on the dry down."

Black tea is what I smell, right out of the gate, with a fruity and semi-floral black currant, and neroli (which is the flower of the bitter orange.)  The agarwood is lovely in this blend and I simply adore amber.  Anita and Sophie layered are amazing, to me.  Love love love it.  Can't get enough!

Stanford: "He once wooed a girl in a red velvet swing, but in the end it ruined everything. Perfect for tarts, harlots, and chastised sweethearts. Absinthe, Angelica, Cassie, Fig, Green Tea, Orange Peel, Osmanthus"

I cannot and will not attempt to pull out all the different parts of this amazing scent.  The first time I smelled it, maybe a week or so after Meredith had brewed it, it was very much a masculine scent.  The absinthe and green tea were handsomely upfront about their presence.  However, maybe a month or two later, Stanford changed.  He became extremely amazingly fruity.  He is perfect in a lotion.  I had never really loved a fruity scent until Stanford.  This can absolutely be amazing on a man.  Love.

Esther: "Dance the hootchie koochie, and be her tootsie wootsie. A gourmand meeting of sweet chocolate, flowers, and candies. Flirtatiously yummy with a fluffy white chocolate-sandalwood dry down. Almond, Coconut, Lychee, Orchid, Sandalwood, White Chocolate"

Almond, coconut and lychee greet me as I take a whiff.  Then Orchid says hello, followed by sandlwood and white chocolate, hand-in-hand.  This is a lovely gourmand/floral/fruity scent that is lovely as a parfum or a lotion.  She smells wonderful layered with Stanford, too! 

Miho: "Is this a mirage? Just a tiny drop will cure any summertime visions with this sweet and fruity floral perfume. Coconut, Egyptian Musk, Lotus, Sea Moss, Sweet Orange,Violet"

I really love Miho as a light lotion scent, not so much as a perfume though.  It is a lovely scent, but on me, on my skin, works better as a lotion. 

Vicky: " Don't be a square peg in a round hole. Be hip with a wonderfully sweet perfume reminscint of a breakfast roll with orange frosting. Almond, Cinnamon, Sweet Orange "

This really does, indeed, smell like a fresh breakfast roll.  Mm.  Love it.  

Thanks for taking the time to read my little blurbs about Sweet Anthem.  If you decide to check her out, let her know that Carolyn sent you!  Also, she does not only do gourmand scents, I simply really love them.  I highly encourage you to check out all her other perfumes either on her website or her Etsy site!  

Other perfumes I suggest are Madeline, Caroline and Ayn!

image courtesy of Sweet Anthem

6 samples for $20.00

Custom 1.5 oz roll-on perfume $25.00

Check out her standalone website Sweet Anthem Handmade Perfumery

And also check out her Etsy:  sweetanthem.etsy.com  The James Brown of Perfumeries

Plus, Meredith is getting married in June and I wanted to make a test locket, to see if she would be interested in a scent locket for her bridal party.  Here are pics, taken with my samples of Stanford and Esther.

This locket is sterling silver sheet and tube which has been cut, pierced, formed and soldered by me.  The chain is fine silver links which have been fused, by me of course.


Let me know if you try out any of her scents!!  They are simply to die for!

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Also:  Don't forget to enter my give-away!  http://handcraftedcarolyn.blogspot.com/2010/04/happy-birthday-give-away.html

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