Review: Latherati Soap Foundry (Etsy)

Latherati Soap Foundry creates scents "inspired" by works of classic literature, and as someone who loves both books and perfume, I think that's a really neat idea! My biggest issue with buying from this store was deciding whether to buy based on the scent I liked or the book I liked. Luckily, they mostly match up well - hmmm, I wonder how that works out? Spoooky! I have ordered from there twice now, and have the following perfumes (also a couple of lip balms, which I'll talk about in another post):


 Celebration - inspired by The Great Gatsby. With notes  of "sparkling champagne, creamy orange and and a hint of juicy strawberries", this is not really my cup of tea. It's nice, but it's much too fruity for me - all I really got was a big hit of strawberry. I was going to pass it on to Noodle Arms, lover of All Things Fruity Scented, but Makeup BFF J was around yesterday and she found it delightful, so I gave it to her instead. Noodles has more than enough of my hand-me-down scents to be going on with.

Tara - inspired by Gone With The Wind. I love this. The notes listed are "plantation cotton, lemon balm, a hint of spearmint and lovely southern magnolias" - it's like having a big sniff of a magnolia flower while you're chewing on Wrigley's spearmint gum. That sounds bad, doesn't it? It's not - it's gorgeous. It's not currently listed on the site, hence no link. I'm not a fan of bar soap at all, but I'd almost be tempted to buy solid soap with this scent. The combination of the mint and the floral is just wonderful.

Dust Bowl - inspired by To Kill A Mockingbird. One of my favourite books - one of everyone's favourite books - how could I pass this by? It's a pretty floral with a subtle earthy note - described on the site as "A blend of Mrs. Dubose's camellia flowers, rich amber, warm honey, Wrigley's(tm) Doublemint gum and a smidge of Dustbowl Days dirt". I can barely, barely pick up the mint - certainly not as noticeable as it is in Tara. To me, this smells like a more delicate version of BPAL's Jazz Funeral.


Sinister - inspired by Something Wicked This Way Comes. I haven't read this book in years - I barely remember it, but I do remember that I liked it a lot. I also remember Stephen King talking about it at some length in his own classic Danse Macabre. I currently have it on my wishlist at Book Depository. The notes listed for this one are "(f)all pumpkins, black licorice, carnival cotton candy and a hint of spearmint" - I get mostly licorice and mint, with a very slight sweetness in the background. It's quite unusual, and not something I'd get around in every day, but it's interesting. I find I sniff my wrist a lot when I'm wearing it, because it's very more-ish.

Curiouser - inspired by (of course) Alice In Wonderland. Notes of "sweet orange marmalade, white cake, tea and a hint of black pepper" make for a gorgeously sweet, rich scent that reminds of my old favourite Fairy Floss perfume oil from Klein's Perfumery. This one is my favourite of the five, and I have been slathering it over myself for most of the weekend.


The staying power of these fragrances is hit and miss - Tara disappears within an hour, while Curiouser is still hanging around after several hours. However, for $5US for a 9ml roll on, I don't mind having to slather frequently. The shipping was very reasonable and quite fast  - both orders arrived within a fortnight - and both times I received a little freebie gift. Overall, I highly recommend this Etsy store, and I will definitely buy from there again.