Demeter fragrances

Perhaps you've heard of Demeter Fragrances, they are well known for their unusual scents such as Dirt, Paperback, and Rain.  I've always been curious about their scents, and they have a large catalog of perfumes.  I appreciate that you can buy a small vial of it for $2.50 each, before investing in a huge bottle of it.  Lush used to do that with their perfumes, but they revamped them by discontinuing a lot of scents, and no longer selling small vials to allow people to test drive them.  

Like many things in life, scent is completely subjective.  Not only do is it the scent itself, but when mixed with our body chemistry it can result in a one of a kind smell.  We could each wear the same scent, but it would be different on each of us.  So, let's get on with this review!

I purchased in alphabetical order:

• Earl Grey Tea
• Chai Tea
• Funeral Home
• Giant Sequoia 
• Gin & Tonic
• Gingerale
• Green Tea
• Ocean
• Paperback
• Pineapple
• Pizza
• Rice Paddy
• Salt Air
• Sushi
• Thunderstorm
• Red Poppies was one that they gave to me for free, which was a pleasant surprise.  I didn't expect any samples, but they provided me with a 1oz container of it.  Nice!

OK, first let's start out with the bad.  Just terrible.  I had to immediately take a cotton ball soaked with rubbing alcohol to take out the smell off of my skin. 

• Pizza.  It was a risk, but I was open to it.  What I envisioned was a hint of tomato with a mild basil smell.  What I got?  If a wet dog humped a pizza, and then months later birthed a scent out of its butt - this is that smell.  It was awful.  It made me feel a little ill.  
• Chai tea.  I had high hopes for this one, I like strong aromatic spices, especially cinnamon, but what?  It smelled like sickly sweet artificial bathroom spray.  I like Oprah's Chai Tea that is sold at Teavana, and Starbucks, and maybe I'll just steep that and spray it on myself.  Or just sprinkle some in my hair. 
• Rice Paddy.  I thought the scent would be fresh, clean, and green.  I don't even know how to describe what it actually smelled like.  Hairspray, maybe?   Funky, trying to hard to be spunky hairspray.  
• Green tea.  Eh. It smells like a small boutique store that has a layered the air with different scents trying to convince you that you're wealthy.  So, I guess it smells like lies. 

The scents that I liked the most:

• Pineapple.  Straight forward: it smelled like pineapple.  
• Sushi.  No, it didn't smell like raw fish.  The scent really was more rice with a hint of ginger, and sweet sake or something.  It smelled clean.  
• Thunderstorm.  Reminded me of Gap's old scent grass.  Who knew?
• Ginger ale.  I don't know how, but it captured the fizziness of ginger ale.  Very light.  

The other scents that I'm not sure on, as in I didn't hate them, but I didn't love them and will be giving them another smell test are:

• Funeral home.  C'mon, you know I had to try this one!  My husband is a funeral director for God's sakes.  No, it doesn't smell like decomposing dead body, it smells more like a chapel full of white flowers.  Kinda musty.  
• Paperback.  It has a sweet smell, believe it or not, and there's another scent that I can't describe.  It's that other scent that makes me waver on whether or not I like this.  
• Earl Grey Tea.  Another sweet musty smell, but lighter.  
• Gin & Tonic.  Um, I don't know.  It smells like it has alcohol in it, which makes sense.  
• Salt Air.  It has this weird light citrus-y smell.  I like citrus scents, but this one sort of smells like laundry out of a dryer. 
• Giant Sequoia.  It does have the smoky earthy smell as advertised by Demeter, but there's something that odd about it.  Upon initial smell, I liked it, but then the scent hit my mind nose and I thought, "oh.  I don't know about this."

While smelling all of these scents, I was reminded of a scene in Bob's Burgers Dawn of the Peck episode where after fighting off various fowl the family and some of their friends sit down for a turkey dinner.  Bob, the dad, unveils this roasted turkey and no one wants it because they're all still traumatized by these turkeys, ducks, and geese viciously pecking and attacking them.  One of the characters says, "I can still smell 'em, Bob.  They're inside my mind nose."  And that's how I feel right now.  I don't want to smell anything ever again.  I don't even know if I want to eat pizza for a while.  Now, THAT scent is still in my mind nose.   
-Thanh-Thuy