there are some perfume houses that i've somehow ended up becoming a semi-regular customer of without realising it, because i enjoy not just their scents, but also the whole purchasing experience so much.
to me, Stereoplasm is one of these favourites for many reasons, not least because of how awesome it is when mail day comes around and i get to unbox all my goodies from them. they put such an immense amount of love and effort into their packaging that every delivery from them (even though it's an order that made my wallet lighter) feels like Christmas has come again.
apart from packaging being one of their strong points, i also like that their website is simple and straightforward to navigate. it's so easy to shortlist scents to order - most perfume websites would require one to click on a product listing in order to view the notes, but for Stereoplasm, all it takes is a mouseover of each listing's picture in order to display the full notes list and make a decision from there. further, they also have some helpful and informative sections on indie perfumes in general, a regularly-updated status on the section of the current order queue being worked on, and multiple sorting methods of their products available (by season, scent family and release collection).
notwithstanding that they continually maintain a master scent list on their website, they also include a printed scent reference in each order, which is always such a helpful introduction to each of the wonderful smells inside and a lovely collector's item in itself.
shipping is calculated separately at prevailing rates for international and domestic (CA) orders, though they do offer free shipping for orders over CAD $100. their standard turnaround times are in the region of 14-18 business days which is a little on the longer side compared to other houses, but still not too bad all things considered. for this order, it was 15 business days from when i placed my order to when i received the shipping notification - though in any event their scents are usually worth the wait!
i enjoyed unboxing this one so much that i took a few more photos than usual along the way to show the progress. when i opened the box, i was greeted with some shredded green crepe paper, with just enough to hide and protect the contents while still showing some hints of colour underneath:
and lifting the nest of shredded paper reveals all the beautifully-wrapped goodies underneath... oh, the myriad of colours and the perfect fit there was soooo satisfying!
Stereoplasm had included some more goodies in my package than just the perfume i had ordered - i was pleasantly surprised to find a sachet of maple tea (my first time ever seeing such a wondrous invention!) and a couple of maple candies. it was a lovely way of them bringing a little part of their native Canadian sweetness to their customers around the world, and it was a sweet personal touch that showed i was buying from more than just a brand, but also a team of people who are genuinely passionate about their local products and culture.
i really enjoyed myself unwrapping each of the individual bottles, which had been carefully wrapped in a variety of different colours of crepe paper. this really added a unique personal touch to receiving all my goodies, knowing that their team had done all this by hand. another thing i like about their use of crepe paper is that it makes the wrapped bottles look stunning against the light (like the pink of Odessa and green of Salacious Snail above)! plus, the crepe paper was the perfect verification that everything arrived without any leakage or spills (which can happen from time to time with any liquids going through international shipping and customs checks).
Stereoplasm is also one of those brands that is extremely generous with the bonus goodies given with purchase. for making my order during their second anniversary celebration sale, i received all three birthday freebies available (the minimum spend threshold was CAD $50 to qualify for each freebie):
- Jubilee (Bubbly cherry soda, 1980's sloe gin fizz, line at Teddy's a rush, a push, and the land is ours)
- When My Dragons are Grown (Toasted marshmallow, chantilly cream, cherry almond, fresh ginger and smoked sage)
- Odessa (Subtle yet haunting; fields of yellow wheat and a simple white musk. Bright top notes of fresh peach and yellow custard)
apart from the advertised freebies, i didn't expect to find an extra little box with a personalised thank-you note printed on the top and containing samples of their entire summer 2020 Dimension of Imagination mini collection:
- Eye of the Beholder (Soft white musk, ace bandages, rosewood, tears and bindweed)
- Perchance to Dream (Blue amber, lute strings, dark patchouli, black cardamom seeds, mace and hourglass sand)
- Mirror Image (True moss, twinflower, freesia, tweed, crepe myrtle and fear)
the little box also contained two other freebies from a previous collection, which was awesome because i had previously not had the chance to try either one:
- Eye of the Sahara (Ancient spice, lovegrass, ambergris and sea salt beneath hot sand)
- World’s Fair (Plum brandy, genisteae, melted steel, powdered porcelain and stained glass)
and the other surprise freebie gift in the box was a 4.5ml bottle of Gone Gnome (Top notes of cilantro and key lime rooted in fresh garden basil, english cucumber and melon blossom) from the Garden Creatures collection released for St. Patrick's Day.
additionally, Stereoplasm also provides little bottles of their monthly scent animals in each order. monthly scent animals are mystery scents that aren't revealed beforehand and are usually retired once the month has passed; generally, two different animals are released per month. on occasion, a monthly scent animal may return for a good cause - for instance, the current one available is Lithobates Palustris (Pickerel Frog) (Night blooming jasmine, wet grass, algae, and tomato leaf) with all proceeds going to the farm sanctuary Happily Ever Esther.
the two monthly scent animals i received in this order were:
- Delphinus (Dolphin) (Blue ocean, pink coral, white water lily and seaweed)
- Phoenicopteri (Flamingo) (Pink lemonade, melted ice cream and blooming mango flower)
i just had to take a family photo of everything after all the joys of going through wrapping paper were done and dusted. Stereoplasm's transparent bottles with their defining black bar and individual colour tint look amazing in any perfume display.
when i made my order, the square bottles were officially sold as 3ml bottles, but since then the description has been updated to 4.5ml to accurately reflect the higher fill levels in them. the brand has also made the welcome change of moving towards an increased concentration level to boost the throw and longevity of their scents, which i'm looking forward to try considering that i've been wishing for a while that their scents would last longer.
naturally, the increase in concentration did also result in a slight price increase on their products and there will also be a label change going forward to differentiate the new version from the current one. in my view a price increase was reasonable considering that their perfumes are generally affordable to start with, and i'm curious to see the effects of the label change given that their existing minimalist design is already so elegant.
anyway, in this order i purchased three 4.5ml bottles of their birthday collection:
- The Cake (Rich vanilla cake with zesty tangerine frosting, decorated with pale pink peach blossoms and freshly blown-out candles - wax melting slightly and sending happy curls of smoke into the air)
- The Presents (A jar of homemade apricot jam, the worn pages of a favourite book, a golden yellow beeswax candle, a soft cashmere scarf to keep you cozy all year long)
- The Teapot (Steaming steeped black tea with bergamot, orange rind, dark tonka and budding roses - steamy and comforting, with a floral fruitiness that warms from within)
as well as the two community customs which were suggested, customised, voted on and created by their Instagram community:
- Daybreak (Cool rain, dried fig, fresh cut grass, muddled tomato leaf, warm sweater, wet tea leaves, green cardamom pods, tilled mulch, yellow dandelion, hybrid tea rose)
- Golden Hour (Tatarian honeysuckle, lemon basil, crab grass, garden tomato leaf, sunset musk, cilantro, peeled rhubarb, sun shower, pink carnation, daisy stems)
and three 4.5ml bottles of their Forest Creatures collection:
- Salacious Snail (Dew on canopy leaves, forest moss, bleeding hearts, androgynous musk and sea salt)
- Melancholy Moose (Endless black spruce, aspen bark, pine cones, blackberry, oak moss and wet leaves)
- Darling Doe (Meadows of black-eyed Susan, pink clover, lemon verbena, switchgrass, pyrite soil and Lancelot crabapple)
last but not least, two 4.5ml bottles of the scents that most piqued my curiosity from their Chiptunes collection:
- Lavender Scarab (golden amber/English lavender/blackberry/incense) - A lavender-winged and iridescent beetle encased in golden amber (traded for blackberry incense at the southern temple)
- Binary Sonata (vintage musk, forest berry accord, thyme, ether) - Arrangement of notes said to materialize rare or extinct fruit, herbs, berries and experiences (forbidden music node that disorients and causes general confusion)
i had also ordered a six-piece sample set of other scents from the same collection, though unfortunately that batch hadn't made it into this shipment. i suspect that it was because at the time i placed my order, their method of ordering customised sample sets involved checking out first and then after that selecting the scents included through a separate form with the order number - so when their system ran into some technical email issues, it meant that it was harder for them to match selections to orders, and they had to manually reach out to their customers by email to confirm the orders. since then, they've changed to a comment section at checkout for the scent selection, which should be more straightforward for customers as well as order fulfilment in future.
that said, this was the first time in my three orders from them so far that i've encountered an issue like this. and it's a testament to Stereoplasm's A++ customer service that when i reached out by email to let Meaghan and Norah know that i was missing the set, they were really nice and arranged to send a replacement over for free. they also were kind enough to offer to bundle it together with anything else i wanted to purchase, and i was happy enough to pick up some of the newly-released Declassified collection scents. with another package on the way already, it looks like this is only the first of many Stereoplasm hauls and reviews to come!
postscript: the missing samples arrived speedily, and left me lost for words when i opened the package. full story now up here.
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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 Stereoplasm, and as always, all opinions remain my own.
Stereoplasm's catalogue is available here. prices are CAD $6.50 (about US$4.90) for a 1.8ml bottle, CAD $16.50 (about US$12.44) for a 4.5ml bottle and CAD $26.50 (about US$20) for a 7.5ml bottle (before shipping). at the time of writing, they're also offering a clearance sale on their existing stock of lower concentration fragrance oils available, which is a good place to start trying out their collection.
all information correct at time of publishing.
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