NCD: Return To The Big Island 2019 Review

 More goodness from NCD, the last instalment of our review trilogy! If you've missed the previous posts, don't worry, I've got you covered: 

As a thank you to my readers, I've collaborated with Nui Cobalt to bring you a discount code for these scents and their beautiful new Fall collection as well! 

Use the checkout code: AUTUMN19 for 10% off your entire order - you can use this for your entire checkout, and it will be valid until October 15th so be sure to pick up something you like before then! 

If you want to find out more information about how or where to buy their scents, click here, or here for some more reviews! If you're looking for Critters 2019 review, click here! For Fae Folk, Nymphs, and Otherworldly Beings click here, and for Witches Utility Blend, click here!   

Return to the Big Island: 

Kahuna
An empowering scent to unveil your hidden powers and remind you of your inherent nobility. Toasted coconut spritzed with lime, garnished with blackberry, and sprinkled with fresh-grated ginger.

Wet: A burst of deletable sweet coconut, a dash of lime and a hint of mint. It's tropical, it's fruity and a thirsty quencher.

Dried down: Although ginger doesn't really show up to me, there's a herbal sharpness, which smells a lot more like mint than ginger. The blackberry is also only a very faint berried sweetness, because the star of the scent is the coconut.
The scent comes to life as a shaken cocktail, coconut cream, freshly squeezed lime all topped in a cocktail cup rimmed with sugar, garnished with a few sprigs of fresh mint. It reminds me a lot of a speciality cocktail at a bar I worked at before, with its creamy, rich sweetness of coconut cream, the cane sugar sweetness of desiccated coconut- the denser, syrupy and indulgent sibling of coconut milk. If you've ever tried a coconut mojito muddled with blackberries, this is the indulgent drink at the poolside while the summer sun warms your skin.

Perfect for: The scent that screams "Summer holidays" but if you bottled it, poured into a cocktail and topped with mint. 

 Ohana
A comforting scent to welcome you, ease your mind, and make you feel at home wherever you are. Soft sand, sunwashed driftwood, the cooling shade of the front porch and a plate of homemade haupia malasadas (coconut custard donuts).

Wet: Imagine the beach, the faint tinge of salty winds, the amber-y body of 'sand' notes from a Yankee candle and the faintest hint of sunstreaked wood.

Dried down: Imagine, the breeze bringing a whisper of sweet coconut and vanilla. Soft sand runs through your fingers, sea spray and warm, dry breeze dances on your skin. The warm sun light on Destiny Islands, the smell of driftwood swords clacking together, sounds of laughter from wooden shacks, and the sweetness of papou fruits lingering on your lips.

The dry, sunwashed driftwood is fragile, dried medium bodied woodiness touched with a distinctly golden, amber-y softness of the sand, with the faintest whiff of coconut husks and baked donuts.

Perfect for: someone looking for an evocative beach scent, with a touch of wood and a hint of sweetness. 

Tiki Bar
An uplifting scent for celebration and frivolity. A torchlit cabana flowing with Pina Coladas, banana daiquiris, Island Mules, and one flaming snifter of blue Curacao.

Wet: A hint of pineapple, a decadent shot of blue Curaco (think orange liqueur) and a sweet breath of banana daiquiris. 

Dried down: The banana is bright and sweet - the smell of yellow ripened bananas with a touch of Tokyo banana cake, just to add a bit of creamy sweetness with the coconut in all those Pina Coladas. Paired with the slight acidity of pineapple, and a shot of orange running through the banana, it's a precariously high turban of tropical fruit. Unlike the opening, the sharp scent of shots and rum fades away to the pleasant aroma of fruity syrup, chunks of pineapple and a tipsy, and very satisfied you.

Perfect for: if you like pina coladas! or! getting caught in the rain.
Or you really love pineapples and cocktails in your perfume.


The brand has sent these for me to review, but I am not sponsored for this review or affiliated with this brand, and all opinions are my own.