Walden Natural Perfumes - Rollerball Perfume Sample Set
After receiving a rollerball perfume oil bottle of 'Live the Life' by Walden in my last Love Lula Beauty Box - I was intrigued enough to want to explore this brand and its scents further. I've been using natural scents almost exclusively for the past couple of years now and it's definitely an area I want to embrace further and learn all I can about.
Bryanna at The EcoLogical Blog wrote a fantastic detailed post about all the different scents in the Walden collection. In fact, she made them all sound so delicious that I couldn't decide which one to try next, so I opted for the Walden Rollerball Sample Kit (armed with the very generous 25% discount code from the Love Lula Beauty Box).
7 x 2ml £20.00
These mini rollerball perfumes are just a teensy 2ml each and I was slightly taken aback when I saw them and just how small they were (you'd think at aged 49 I might have some idea of how to visualise sizes by now!)
They might be small, but they are mighty! And I've been rolling the perfume oils hither and thither since I got them and they don't make much of a dent in the 2ml with each use. So put size aside in this instance - these are ample to get a really good feel (and wear time) out of each mini bottle.
Walden Natural Perfume was inspired by the Henry D Thoreau book 'Walden', which is part meditation and part handbook for simple living in natural surroundings. After realising that we actually had a copy of 'Walden' in our collection, I started to read it. It's very dry and very much 'of its time'. I can recommend the perfumes a whole lot easier than I can recommend the book!
But I certainly appreciate the link between nature and scents. These scents are highly evocative of being outside in nature in different seasons and settings. Perhaps my biggest joy is walking in woodland and I have always been on the look out for natural scents which can capture that experience for me.
The Solid Earth
“Talk of mysteries! Think of our life in nature, - daily to be shown matter, to come in contact with it, - rocks, trees, wind on our cheeks! The solid earth! The actual world! The common sense! Contact! Contact! Who are we? Where are we?”
Henry David Thoreau
Top Note: Petigrain
Heart Notes: Vetiver & Patchouli
Base Notes: Amyris & Black Pepper
Of all the scents offered in this collection, I think that The Solid Earth most closely matches the feel of the woodlands that I was searching for. And to be even more precise, it reminds me of a particular local walk (Bacton Woods in Norfolk) which is part ancient woodland, part pine and fir plantation. When you walk from the ancient and into the plantation part of the woods, there is an unmistakable difference in the sounds, smells and in the air. The closely planted tall trees make this part of the wood much darker and cooler(even on a sunny day). It's also much quieter with fewer birds. And of course there's the heady, resinous scent from the fir and pine.
A Gentle Rain
“In the midst of a gentle rain while these thoughts prevailed, I was suddenly sensible of such sweet and beneficent society in Nature, in the very pattering of the drops, and in every sound and sight around my house, an infinite and unaccountable friendliness all at once like an atmosphere sustaining me.”
Henry David Thoreau
Top Notes: Oak Moss, Labdanum and Patchouli
Heart Notes: Bergamot, Smooth Orris, Sandalwood and Rose de Mai
Base Notes: Vetiver, Lavender Green and Clary Sage
This is a scent that really matches its name. An incredibly fresh scent which is lightly floral. This scent epitomises all the promises of new growth and new beginnings and is an ideal Spring scent.
I love how this scent starts out with light and fresh notes - but then deepens to a more sensual and warm scent as time passes. One of my favourites from the set and one which I shall definitely repurchase a full size of.
Two Eternities
“In any weather, at any hour of the day or night, I have been anxious to improve the nick of time, and notch it on my stick too; to stand on the meeting of two eternities, the past and future, which is precisely the present moment; to toe that line.”
Henry David Thoreau
Top Notes: Sweet Orange, Mandarin & Bergamot
Heart Notes: Rose de Mai & Jasmine
Base Notes: Iris
This is a joyful little scent. For me it perfectly sums up the above Thoreau quote about 'just being'.
The scent is redolent of all of the sticky and sweet long, hot summer holidays of my childhood where I had nothing to do all summer long but busied myself doing nothing - where digging in the dusty soil with a stick seemed like the most important job in the world! This is the scent of orange ice lollies and the heady floral atmosphere of a summer English garden. A sure fire way to lift the mood!
A Little Star Dust
“The true harvest of my daily life is somewhat as intangible and indescribable as the tints of morning or evening. It is a little star-dust caught, a segment of the rainbow which I have clutched.”
Henry David Thoreau
Top Notes: Iris & Coffee
Heart Notes: Jasmine & Ylang Ylang
Base Notes: Amyris, Labdanum, Tonka Bean Vanilla
A Little Star Dust is one of those very changeable scents. The Iris and Coffee is an interesting scent combination but one that works really well.
With crisp and sharply sweet floral opening notes - the heart note of Ylang Ylang and Jasmine is just a little too indolent for me, but just when I think that I'm not so keen on this scent, the dry down, all warm Amyris, Labdanaum and Tonka Bean wins my heart again when the combination of notes are reminiscent of festive mince pie spice!
Castles in the Air
“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”
Henry David Thoreau
Top Notes: Bergamot, Lemon, Petitgrain Paraguay
Heart Notes: Iris, Champaca, Ylang Ylang
Base Notes: Lavender, Rosemary
Castles in the Air is deep, sweet, spicy with a little bit of a mischievous playful edge! This is one of the scents that reminds me of a much warmer climate - maybe holidaying somewhere in the Mediterranean - particularly the heart notes.
See the Moonlight
Top Note: Bergamot
Heart Notes: Jasmine & Rose
Base Notes: Sandalwood & Ambrette Seed.
“I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains.”
Henry David Thoreau
This is a warm Chypre scent which leads with a sharp and fresh Bergamot top note. The floral heart is soon apparent, but for me, I prefer the dry down and the lingering scents of Sandalwood and Ambrette Seed. I'd never heard of Ambrette Seed before - Abelmoschus moschatus (also known as Musk Mallow) has a woody/musky/floral scent and is said to be an aphrodisiac. It's also said to calm anxiety and boost the mood - which is probably another reason why I'm enjoying this scent so much.
A Different Drummer
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”
Henry David Thoreau
Top Notes: Bergamot & Tobacco
Heart Notes: Cedarwood, Black Pepper & Patchouli
Base Notes: Amyris, Tonka Bean & Vanilla
Never have I tried an array of samples where I've liked every single one, but this is certainly the case with this Walden sample set. However, I think that I've found my favourite in 'A Different Drummer'. As soon as I apply this I have a really strong sense of safety, happiness and warmth. The opening notes of tobacco leaf give a surprisingly fruity scent which I wasn't expecting. I'm also delighted to detect a faint hint of Patchouli which always (in moderation) is a favourite scent of mine.
Live The Life
"I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."
Henry David Thoreau
Top Notes: Bergamot & Orange
Heart Notes: Tuberose & Sweet Violet
Base Notes: Sandalwood, Brazilian Rosewood & China Jasmine
This is the 10ml Rollerball Perfume Oil which came in the December Love Lula Box and the scent which made me want to explore Walden Natural Perfumes more.
But interestingly, after trying every sample from the set, it's the least of my favourites. Not to say that I dislike this scent, I actually really like it. But I'm definitely favouring the more woody, spicy scents from Walden and that's an area that I think they really excel in.
Live the Life is more of a traditionally 'feminine' scent - all sweetness and light florals.
This sample set is a fantastic introduction to Walden.
If I had one grumble then it would be that the scents are not very long-wearing. Although I am more than happy to keep re-applying throughout the day I would prefer to have a scent that does a bit more wafting! Walden scents are more ambient than bold. I'm often only reminded of the scent by bringing my wrist close up to my nose. I have body butters and body oils that have a stronger and longer-lasting scent time than these perfume oils. Which is a bit of a shame as the scent combinations are all really quite beautiful - I just wish that they'd announce themselves a bit more obviously throughout the day.
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