Luvmilk: A Very Patreon Special (Review)

There's one thing I absolutely love about Luvmilk and it's Milky's amazing taste in shows. Last year, Luvmilk released a Patreon only scent inspired by Aki and Angel from Chainsaw Man, and I really loved the sound of both of them! I was able to pick these up eventually, which was so good because I wasn't sure they'd still be available because they're limited editions. For this Valentine's, Luvmilk also had a special event where you could add either Burning Love (cinnamon) or Sweet Heart (strawberry) arrows to any scent to any scent in the general catalogue! These scents were all Patreon specials, but also limited editions, but I'd love to see them come back as GC options. 

I bought most of these scents in the Luvmilk body spray - I'm a huge fan of body sprays as they're a quick and accessible way to moisturise my skin, and the spray option also makes it easy to apply as a general burst of scent anywhere you'd like. It's multipurpose, although the trade off is that it's a little heavy for shipping. I personally prefer the body spray over the perfume oils, as I think the longevity and projection of the scents are better here, and I prefer the application of a spray bottle. 

TAT and Shipping: 

If you'd like to order internationally, you have to contact Milky directly as the website doesn't allow international orders. I've had to order through email a few times because international shipping rates keep changing and can be unpredictable, so I usually place my order first, and pay for shipping in a separate invoice afterwards. 

For new rates, this was the information given to me for shipping to Australia. 

First Class International Shipping (roughly 15 days)
1-2lbs: $27.41
2.1lbs-3lbs: $44.18
3.1lbs-4lbs: $50.83

I tried to keep everything under 2lbs so I could keep shipping at a reasonable rate and was able to fit quite a few things - I got an 8oz, 4oz, two 2oz and three 1oz sprays, with five 2ml perfume oils and just managed to keep it at the lowest shipping cost! 

TAT was very quick, I placed my order through email on the 19th of February, and was sent the invoice on the 22nd of February, and got my shipping notification on the same day after I had paid. Milky is always very responsive and helpful with any questions you might have, so I've always had no issue with the customer service.  As I am also terrible with Patreon, Milky was kind enough to throw in the Patreon membership fee so I didn't have to stumble through an extra few steps. 

Scents: 

Out of Touch: Creamy strawberry ice cream and red bean paste surrounded in sweet shortcake.

If you've tried Bubble Tea Sprites, this strawberry accord reminds me a lot of it. It's a little less complex and noisy than Bubble Tea Sprites (which honestly, wasn't my favorite), and the result is a more cohesive blend. I definitely really wanted to see how the red bean paste note here was going to fare, and it's a little less sharp and sweet than I was expecting, it's giving me more of a muted, nutty, red bean - more reminiscent of a Chinese dessert with less sweetness and more of a soft scent profile rather than traditional Japanese anko in wagashi. I recently got a pack of red bean ice cream incense from Japan, and the accord here is like the passing breeze of anko. The dominant note is definitely more the strawberry ice cream with a little touch of the red bean to ground it a little bit, and the sweet shortcake just adds a more buttery, sugary profile to it. I think this is definitely one of my favorite Luvmilk blends for sure, I really like seeing these new accords popping up, especially since it's probably the first red bean note I've tried from an indie house. I do wish it was a little stronger, but I really like it regardless. 

Out of Time: Baked apples with a sprinkle of cinnamon; tobacco, vetiver, smoke, and warm bourbon.

I was a little hesitant about this scent because I'm not huge a fan of vetiver, but Luvmilk often includes a lot of other accords just to give a bit of dimension to the scent and this actually works amazingly here. Although it's not a straight realistic foodie kinda scent, it's in line with the rest of Luvmilk's catalogue...  like a kawaii-fied version of a cozy warm apple pie and it's amazing. The apple here is a bright fresh candied apple, and the cinnamon just adds a hint of warm sweetness, and the rest of the notes are barely discernable. I really like this, and I'm a little sad I wasn't able to upsize this to an 8oz to layer with Out of Touch (which is the BEST combo). My only gripe about this is that this scent is a little low on the projection and intensity compared to every other Luvmilk scent I own, it's comparably a little faint and has a slightly shorter wear time (3-4 hours). I think it would be absolutely perfect with just a smidge more intensity to the scent, especially since I've rarely seen Luvmilk do apple scents, and this definitely doesn't disappoint. Fingers crossed this might get added to the GC in the future, I'd definitely rate this as one of my top blends from the house for sure! 

Magical Girl + Sweet Heart - Sweet, toasted marshmallow + heavily sugared strawberry. 

This was recommended as a combo on the page listing, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to try cinnamon or strawberry, or what scent to go with, so I just went for something a little simple and easy. I like Magical Girl because it's sort of the scent equivalent of easy listening music, but I really enjoy the little twist of strawberry here - it's a fun addition that gives a little extra dimension to the scent. I'm glad I picked this one up, though I admit I'm curious about the cinnamon note! Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to get that before the event times out, but I hope this comes back sometime in the future. For those curious, Luvmilk also does a Monster Mash event which uses Magical Girl as a base in its other blends as the girlfriend base, and I had a lot of fun with that one last year! 

Disclaimer: I was not sponsored for this review or an affiliate with the brand, and all opinions are my own, and do not reflect any brand's opinions or interests. All products mentioned in this post were purchased by myself, and not provided for purposes of review.