Fantôme Perfume: Eos, Kensington, Kuiadore, Namba Review

If you've missed the first part from Jasmine's order from Fantome, check out this post! The bottles are also beautiful and very elegant, and they look very striking so I've taken a few pictures!

If you want to find out more information about the brand and all that, I've compiled them at the bottom of this post, but for now, the exciting scent review comes first. 

Word of warning: these labels to smudge very easily, some of the names and letters on some of my vials have smudged right off (including the gold on the labels), so if things seem missing, I have tried my hardest not to smudge them with increasing difficulty! 

Eos

Bright, fruity, citrusy. Tart lemonade with fresh raspberries, candied rose petals, wild berries, and a hint of zesty ginger.

Wet: This is a quiet but demanding scent, in the vial it's a sweet and unassuming lemonade with a touch of fruit, but once it touches my skin it turns into a zest heavy, bitter rendition of the tart lemonade from the bottle. Ginger lives as a refreshing afterthought, just a whiff of sharpness. 

Dried down: This scent on me wears a touch more bitter than it is in the vial, but much sweeter than initial dry-down and sour berries are the topping on the ice cold lemonade. There is just the lightest touch of sweet rose to round out the scent, but feels mostly like a sweetened iced lemonade with a few crushed berries on a hot summer's day. 

On my skin, it's just the softest whisper of citrus sweetness, like lemon jelly, freshly squeezed lemonade with a heaping of sugar and sour berries just to make it a little more gourmet. It's comforting, and entirely perfect for summer. I actually adore this because of how refreshing it is and I almost wish I ordered this in a 10ml as well! 

Eos has a wear time of 2-3 hours, with low projection. 

Perfect for: Anyone looking for a lemonade scent. It's refreshing, clean and citrus without ever verging into toilet cleaner territory.  

 Kensington

Vanilla, citrusy, creamy, floral. Earl Grey tea, cashmere, dark vanilla bean, smooth cedar, dried rose petals, mandarin zest, pink peppercorn, and a burst of fresh bergamot.

I do love my Earl Grey scents, so I've had to give this a try! 

Wet: In the vial, this is a strong citrus, orange rind with a slight kick from the pink peppercorn. The spiciness lingers on the skin, the cedar giving it an earthy warmth on top of a sweet orange and bergamot base, tempered with a few drops of vanilla. There's something in the base that almost verges on creamsicle, but never quite turns that playful. 

Dried down: On my skin, I amp a lot of sweeter notes (in comparison to Jasmine) and due to my newfound knowledge, I tried this on another friend - and this scent turned downright spicy on their skin, whereas this mellowed into a beautifully bright and sharp citrus scent that reminds me a lot of Aesop's Rind Concentrate Body Balm, which is one of my favorite scents in the world. It's not a gourmand, but the notes of pink grapefruit, orange rind and lemon rind are extremely comforting to me. While this never turns towards Earl Grey, the fresh bergamot gives an aromatic herbal note to the blend. Unfortunately, cashmere never shows up, buried under the strong citrus note. 

On my skin, this scent is a soft, citrus rind blend with hints of woody cedar to ground it, and a touch of vanilla bean to give it a different profile of sweetness - a little heavier with a bit more body. 

Kensington has a wear time of 4-5 hours, with a medium projection. 

Perfect for: Anyone who loves citrus. This is a citrus forward scent that never veers too much towards bitter or artificial, it stays sweet, without being too simple. 

I found this full size worthy, so I decided to upgrade my vial of Kensington to a 10ml ($20USD).

 Kuidaore

Gourmand, vanilla, sweet. Fried pastry dough, fluffy vanilla cream filling, and a light dusting of matcha powder.  

Wet: In the vial, this is heavily sweet sugar, like confectioner's sugar by the mouthful, not unlike Poesie's Sucre Vanille. On my skin, the slight 'baked' note starts to build, which I can only describe as 'bread-y' paired with vanilla based sugar. 

Dried down: The 'baked goods' scent is interesting, it's both whipped cream in spades, a touch of vanilla custard, yet there's something bitter that drifts around the cream puff scent. It's a touch of bitterness, but it's only the barest dusting of matcha that makes me wonder if I've even smelt it. If Kuidaore was a scene in Dontonbori, you'd be standing outside the cream puff store, wafting clouds of butter, pastry, vanilla, and only the barest hint of green tea from the matcha store across the street. 

It feels more like a soft breath of matcha powder, but then it starts to turns slightly strange. 

There's something that I can only describe as 'motor oil' esque, a bitter, gas note. When I first wore this, I mistakenly thought I had worn Namba instead, because of the distinct 'aquatic' and 'motor oil' gas-like note I could pick out on my skin - in which there are definitely overlapping similarities between Namba's motor oil that features as a very toned down note in Kuiadore. 

On my hair, this scent takes a while to warm up, but it wears much better than it does on my skin. The scent stays as a fluffy vanilla cream with a very light dusting of bitter aromatic note. It wears like a soft cloud of vanilla sweetness so I would be interested to see how it wears as a EDP with perfumer's alcohol!

In regards to the hunt for the perfect matcha scent, unfortunately this is only a flicker of a candle next to the strong matcha note I've been dreaming about, only registering as a slightly bitter, slightly herbal note. 

Kuiadore has a wear time of 4-5 hours with medium projection. 

Perfect for: 'unique' gourmand lovers. This is not your average 'vanilla' scent, it has a little kick of something else, but it's sweet enough to warrant a room on your shelf. 

 Namba

Aquatic, atmospheric, vanilla. Salt water canals, melted vanilla ice cream, buzzing neon, and a grounding hint of motor oil.

Wet: In the vial, it's unassuming, before the sharp slightly salty note of motor oil smacks you in the face. On my skin, it's slightly sweet from afar, but the closer you get the more salt water floods your senses, a bright blaring bustle of a riverside dock, and a bit too much petrol. 

Dried down: The petrol mellows out, resting in between the waves of salt water and the oddly accurate representation of 'neon', like a sharp demanding crackle of fumes and glass. 

My memory of Namba persists in bullet trains, salt ice cream, endless rows of shops, stretching walls of greenery and fountains, whereas this rendition of Namba feels much more like a bustling industrial region, or even Wakkanai with its frequent ferries, bordered by different oceans.

On my skin, this is a small melted cone of ice cream in saltwater, bobbing around a few too many ships docked at the wharf. 

Namba has a wear time of 4-5 hours, with low projection.

Perfect for: Aquatic lovers, with a bit of a twist. If you're partial to motor oil and you love aquatics, this is basically the perfect scent for you. 

Information about the brand: 

Fantôme is run by Bree and Megan Elliott (who are married!) who reside in Washington state. I love supporting indie perfumeries because they are typically run by women, and it's amazing to support queer women as well.

The brand is inspired by world cultures and the "thread of magic" throughout human history, and it's lovely to see the inspirations that they've used for their small but finely tuned catalogue, which include both perfume oils and eau de parfums.

The EDPs are typically alcohol based, but EDP orders outside of the USA are replaced with Isopropyl Myristate (IPM) because alcohol is typically not allowed to be mailed internationally (some brands and shipping companies allow for this, such as Solstice Scents' smaller 2.5ml samples, and DHL so make sure to check!)

Their permanent catalogue is relatively small, which is a shame because Jasmine's two orders alone already covered mostly everything they were offering, and it was definitely very easy to just keep ordering because of how well made everything is.
Split into two, the general catalogue and the Japan collection covers a lot of ground between white florals, aquatics, citrus notes and atmospherics. The descriptions include three key words to describe the scents, which I really appreciate, because it's much easier to just target the type of scents you gravitate towards (me looking for, vanilla, gourmand, sweet).

What's coming next for the brand? After reaching out to Bree and Megan, they very kindly let me know that they were coming out with a new release soon, within the next month and are hoping that there won't be such a big gap between collections, and will be releasing more information on Instagram within the next few weeks - so keep your eyes peeled if you're a fan, and I know I am!

Shipping: 

As Jasmine mentioned, their TAT time is great, and shipping rates are relatively affordable.
I placed my order on the 16th of July, but added something I forgot on the 19th, before the order shipped on the 20th, and arrived to me in Australia on the 26th in the early morning! This ridiculously quick shipping honestly blew me away, and I can definitely recommend this.

International shipping to Australia is about $14, but any order over $35 automatically qualifies for free shipping! This is so great for me, so I can't wait to just bulk order everything when their new collection comes out.

Pricing:

 Fantome leans towards the more affordable end, their sample half dram vials for oils (1.85ml) coming in at around $4.6 USD for each, or $2.5 USD per 1mL.

The other size for perfume oils is their 10ml bottles, which come in at $20 USD, a super affordable option at $2 USD per 1mL.

Their sample EDPs are 3.3ml for $9 USD, making them a smidge pricier than oils at $2.7 per 1mL.

In comparison, their large size 1oz/30mL EDPs in the gorgeous glass bottles are $45, which make them the best deal at $1.5 USD per bottle.

In regards to their sample packs, here are the prices per bottle you get.

Perfume oils

3 for $14 --> $4.67
5 for $23 --> $4.6
7 for $32 --> $4.57

EDPs
3 for $24 --> 8
5 for $40 --> 8

If you want the best bargain, you can opt for the 7 bottles sample pack, although the savings you make are very minimal, whereas EDP costs will be the same regardless of how many you order.

My order: 

From Jasmine's second order (for a full size of Olwyn) she very kindly ordered scents I had been eyeing but hadn't picked enough to merit free shipping yet.The list included, Namba, Kensington, Eos and Kuiadore - all of which I managed to get and have very much enjoyed.
As I mentioned above, I've already placed my own order, a 10ml bottle of Kensington, a 3.3ml EDP of Eos, with sample vials of Tatami, Gion and Kyuu Kohi, and arrived with a sample vial of Lycanthrope.

I absolutely love Japan, although I wish there has been more added to the collection- such as cherry blossom, red bean or some Japanese tea, because there are such unique scents that I absolutely love, because anything relating to matcha I will instantly buy on my hunt for the perfect matcha scent! In addition to that, I think a lot of the scents in the Japan collection are super unique in regards to the broader inspirations that North American indie brands tend to gravitate towards.

Regardless, I absolutely love the brand and I'm so excited to see what else they continue to release, because everything I've tried I've absolutely loved.

I also have a video review here with a small unboxing and my general thoughts!