mail packages by themselves ordinarily bring lots of joy to an otherwise normal day, though some indie houses like Death And Floral really take mail day to the next level with how much attention they put into their packaging.
seriously, they could have settled for the usual plain brown or white cardboard box with protective bubble wrap around the bottles, but nooo they just had to take the time and effort to create a beautiful surprise that made me squee so many times over when i first saw it in my mailbox and as i was opening this package. each group of bottles in my order had a nice layer of protective bubble wrap and that was layered over with a good-quality high-gsm wrapping paper. plus, i'm sure that the cute donut wrap bag (which enclosed the sturdy cardboard box) must have given even the postman a smile as he delivered his rounds that day.
Death And Floral is a relatively-new perfumery which made its debut onto the indie scent scene in April 2020, though don't let their youngness fool you - everything from customer service to product design and ingenuity is anything but newbie or inexperienced.
their website is organised and relatively easy to navigate, though it only displays eight product listings at a time and personally i would have preferred having more per page to make browsing easier, rather than having to jump back and forth with the arrows.
the owner Brim is fantastically hands-on when it comes to managing the brand's social media. both their Instagram and website have clear turnaround times and daily status updates on current orders being processed, which is the gold standard of transparency making it very easy to get an accurate estimate of where one would fit in the existing queue and how long it is likely to take for the order to be dispatched. she also responds quickly and helpfully to queries and comments on social media. in an era where larger businesses seem to be detaching themselves more from consumers, the personal touch with purchasing from Death And Floral is a good reminder of why indie is better.
shipping is calculated separately at prevailing rates for international and domestic (US) orders, and their current turnaround times are in the region of 10-15 business days which is not too bad for an indie perfumery.
unwrapping six different little packages to reveal all the goodies really made my day - isn't it all just so pretty! the Death And Floral theme of literature, music and all things macabre also comes through in their very unique scent names and references which round out each scent's inspiration and personality.
the nine 5ml bottles that i ordered:
- The wolf only needs luck to find you once (Crisp forest night air, lunar musk, large drifting oakwood trees, the musky scent of a trailing shadow.)
- Mountain cats will come to drag away your bones (Pepper, laurel leaf, wood, musk, tobacco, amber, fresh mountain air.)
- The sweater we buried you with is hanging in my closet (A luscious blend of three different vanillas, resinous amber, Arabian sandalwood, a soft cashmere sweater.)
- Dusty stacks of vinyl records on an antique store floor (Arabian sandalwood, dusty aged paper, cedar, warm stagnant air, patchouli, vetiver, amryris, musk.)
- That first morning moment (Cozy blend of lavender and chamomile tea, with notes of white amber and soft cotton.)
- Decomposing roses for a decomposed romance (Rose, white musk, vanilla, pink peppercorn, honeysuckle.)
- Jo March (Scribbles of pen ink and leather bound books, the scent of a crackling fire on a restless night, warm mature amber.)
- Nobody's happy in a poodle skirt and sweater set (Soft pillowy cotton candy and spring flowers, a field of luscious painted lavender, the scent of a town both pleasant and eerie.)
- The blues are all the same (Smooth vanilla cognac, aged barrel wood, and sticky honey.)
and the eight samples that i ordered:
- The Peach Queen (Delicate blend of rosy golden peaches, skin musk, and white amber.)
- Swamp Elixir (Soft honeysuckle and mossy oak trees, blended with water lilies and sparkling pink lemonade.)
- Filled with the heat of a reckless summer (Realistic blueberry bush, honeysuckle wafting in the air, surrounded by the scent of an aging barn.)
- The soft crunch of bread and bone (Flakey coconut French Madelines, stifling bakery air, vanilla cremé and crunchy macarons, the last sip of green tea with a mysterious lover.)
- We took the gig for the mileage write-off (A waft of a gasoline puddle outside of the stop’n’go, quiet night air surrounding the car parked under flickering fluorescent lights, a tiny tinge of salty sweat, the milky scent of quiet and happy dog feet, asleep in the back seat.) which was a past custom order from someone else who had given permission to have it added to the general collection.
- Lay me in the earth and from my fair and unpolluted flesh let violets spring (Milky baby deer skin, soft fur musk, warm earth, oak trees, floral forest floor moss.)
- Half-hoping to be eaten by a bear (Woody, sweet bare skin; the lingering scent of dry leaves on a cold morning.)
- Two cups of tea, a summer monsoon, and me and you (Rain on cracked soil, wet creosote, a swelling monsoon, desert cedar, black tea.)
just a quick note that since the time i placed my order, prices have increased slightly and Death And Floral no longer offers direct sale of samples (rip!) and samples are now being sold through Ajevie instead. it's such a pity because it's the first time i've seen these baby droppers being used for samples and they are so super adorable, though i can understand that it's a good move by the house to keep the turnaround time manageable as well.
when i placed my order, it was also at the time that Brim was taking steps to prepare an alternate form of their EDPs (by substituting alcohol for isopropyl myristrate) to allow them to be legally shipped by air outside the USA. and i was really surprised by how gracious she was, to include a gift of a full-size EDP in The same way I am in love with the moon (Palo santo blended with smoked sandalwood and a lunar accord. Deep and reminiscent of a breezy night under a looming full moon.) in my order, thanking me for helping with that process.
i thought that the EDP gift by itself was already amazingly generous, but Brim went one step further and outdid my expectations by also adding two free samples of POW! (Cherry soda and bright red lipstick, blended with deep red roses, tonka, and red musk.) and Pop Flowers (Hibiscus flowers and sweet grass, blended with heliotrope and passion flowers.), both from the POP! Art collection.
everything arrived in good condition, although it was a pity that the EDP level was slightly lower than expected and there was a film of it on the bottle and over the nozzle / inside of the bubble wrap. that said, i had no qualms because it was already very generous of Brim to include it as a gift, and with international shipping, stuff happens that may not be the house's fault (potentially ham-handed customs? heat from sitting out on the tarmac or in the back of a delivery van?) yet it also was a good demonstration of how well the labels hold up without smears or peeling at all.
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this review is of products that i had purchased at regular price with my own money, save for the specific products which were gifts as disclosed above. i wasn’t asked to review this as a condition of receipt and didn’t receive any incentives for writing this. i’m not affiliated with Death And Floral or Ajevie, and as always, all opinions remain my own.
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