Nui Cobalt Designs Collab and New Reviews!

This post is long past due, but Giulia and I have been super wrapped up in school, work, and other personal things, and wanted to give this post the attention and love it deserves. We put so much time and energy into this collab, and it’s grown to be just a perfect representation of what Indie Mood means to us, as well as the importance of our partnership.

What it is: We worked with Nui Cobalt Designs to create a trio of fragrances that represent Giulia, Myself, and our ‘essence’ combined – Indie Mood. These are 5ml fragrance oil blends, they retail for $19 each, and a set of all three is available for $52. These are beautifully hand blended perfumes that are highly fragranced and last all day.

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Why we Chose to Work with Nui Cobalt Designs: Forest and Josh from Nui Cobalt Designs reached out to us in February to review some of their fragrances. I was so excited, because they were a brand I was dying to try. I told them what notes I loved, and they scent me a handful of beautiful perfumes, and I fell in love with the brand. Read our initial review here! Giulia and I had chatted about our dream to do a perfume collab, so we decided to ask Forest and Josh if they would be interested in working with us, and they were! This brand is also personally meaningful to me, because they create oils and tools for witchcraft, and as a practicing witch, they’re products really resonate with me.

The Process: Once we signed on to work with Nui Cobalt, Forest got to know us and our scent preferences a bit more to craft the scents. She asked us some questions about specific notes throughout the process and then sent us the final product. This is how I know Forest is a very talented witch – the fragrances were so spot on in a way that felt like she had known us for years, down to very specific memories attached to notes and words she used in the descriptions. Here are the scents:

Giulia

Unabashed refinement and sheer elegance.

Notes: White santal and sunwashed teak edged with vetiver, silk, and chilled Earl Grey.

Smells: Really bright and clean, with citrus notes on top. As it wears it smells like the most beautiful blend of clean musk, earl grey, and cotton.

Liv

The fecundity of the untamed forest at twilight.

Notes: Earthy patchouli, deep incense, wild blackcurrants, and the lingering smoke of a maplewood fire.

Smells Like: Deep, dark, and mysterious, like a forest at night. The smoke is so realistic and warm, like bonfire autumn air.

Indie Mood

The dynamic harmony of light and shadow.

Notes: Lapsang souchong tea, sumptuous velvet, labdanum and tonka punctuated by precious Peru balsam.

Smells Like: Warm but light at the same time. The base of tonka is sweet and sultry, and the balsam adds a natural element to it. It smells like a tea room full of warmth and spice.

I truly love all three of these fragrances and wear them regularly. Nui Cobalt did such an incredible job capturing who we are, and this is an experience I will value forever. Here is the link to purchase these fragrances. Your support means the world to us.

In other news, Nui Cobalt also sent me some of their new blends to review, so I thought I’d add some of their other recent releases as well.

April Fools Collection:

Flummery

Brand Description: A truly delicious scent to help you gain perspective when people try to twist the truth. Highland Flummery: toasted oats and warm heather honey folded gently into whipped cream and drizzled with a shot of Drambuie.

Out of the bottle: A warm and syrupy dessert liquor.

On the skin: I can smell the toastiness of the oats and a light, sweet honey. This isn’t overly sweet, it’s just delicious. It has a warm, spiciness to it, maybe a hint of cinnamon.

Overall: I have mixed feelings about gourmands, but this one I love. The oats and honey are a more earthy sweetness that is close to the skin. If I hugged someone and they smelled like that, I’d totally trust that person with my life, if that makes sense.

Blarney

Brand Description: A bracing scent to steel your nerves and keep you calm in the face of mendacity.
Irish Breakfast Tea: the warm, tannic comfort of a proper Cuppa sweetened with a touch of raw honey and smoothed with fresh cream.

Out of the bottle: More black tea than anything else. Mmmmm..

On the skin: This is a unique one. At first it has a slight chemical tinge that I don’t love. You have to let it warm into the skin for a while before you get the full bloom of the fresh cream and honey.

Overall: Once I wear this for a while, I grow to like it more. Overtime, it’s more pleasant: warm, slightly sweetened tea. This is one of their more simplistic blends. It’s not overly sweet or creamy.

They were also kind enough to send me a beautiful candle with the scent Hogwash. The brand describes this scent as an elegant fragrance to keep you poised and polished when people try to throw you off balance. Shrewsbury Cake: simple, delicate, soft-baked butter biscuits (cookies to you American folk) scented with rose water and a scant pinch of lemon zest. This is such a beautiful and complex gourmand. The buttery cookie scent is very sweet, but the rose water and lemon add so much elegance and zing. The warmth of burning it as a candle makes it that much better, I absolutely love this!

May: Critters

Little Brown Rabbit

Brand Description: An auspicious blend for abundance and great good fortune. Nutmeg and tonka bean nuzzle up against fluffy marshmallow, cottonflower, pink pepper, and a trace of carrot seed.

Out of the bottle: Ooo! Sweet and herbal and a bit of carrot! I love this instantly.

On the skin: This is sweet, warm, and earthy, all at the same time. There is the most natural bit of floral, like wildflowers in a field. This smells like a hug, or like the title suggest, a warm bunny belly.

Overall: This has quickly become an unexpected favorite for me. The nutmeg and tonka create a base of natural sweetness and warmth. There is nothing overly gourmandly sweet in this blend, but you can smell the marshmallow in the best way. I’m trying to make words describe something that you really can’t. It’s just so precious and warm.

Silver Fox

Brand Description: White tea with honey and rice milk, almond macaron, soft grey cashmere and cool woodland musk. Wear when you must put your best foot forward and make a positive impression.

Out of the bottle: I can instantly smell the amaretto with a bit of spicy musk.

On the skin: Oh I love this so much INSTANTLY! Like love at first sniff. Nui Cobalt has mastered adding gourmand notes to blends without making them overpowering and too sweet. It’s the perfect blend of almond, a sultry musk, and soft cashmere. This is just… foxy.

Overall: This and Little Brown Rabbit have become all time favorites for me. I would never thing to combine amaretto and cashmere, but they pair perfectly here. This is the perfect blend of sexy and warm, like a cabin with a fire place and shag carpet. I want to wear this always, but it’d be perfect in the fall.

Black Crowned Night Heron

Brand Description: A Gothic blend for workings of nocturnal magic.
Labdanum and myrrh, clove-infused tobacco, black tea, skin-warmed Egyptian cotton, and a trace of star anise.

Out of the bottle: OH yes. I can smell the clove and incense right away. I’m transported to a goth bookshop inside the Pyramids of Giza (if only such a place existed).

On the skin: This is really unique. The clove is an interesting note that really stands out to me. There’s something else, the anise, that adds an allure. You would think clove and anise together would smell like chai, but I’m getting more of an Absinthe vibe.

Overall: This is really sultry and unique. I’ve never smelled anything quite like it. The incense, combined with black clove tobacco and Absinthe, really give this a feel of 90’s “The Craft” era witchiness. The Egyptian cotton notes give it a warmer allure. I absolutely love it.

They were also kind enough to include a Hex Breaker Bath Spell, a beautiful glass vial with a spell that you put into your bath to break any malefaction, magical or not, that someone has cast upon you. I’m saving this for when I need it, but it’s absolutely beautiful, and the ingredients have been so thoughtfully chosen for their purpose. The brand describes it as such, “Banish malefaction and ill will with this powerful purification ritual. Lemon, angelica, eucalyptus, dill, and sage are brightened by blackberry and grounded in dark patchouli, pipe tobacco, and vetiver.” I also have a beautiful black protection candle that I want to use for a ritual on Tuesday’s New Moon.

If you don’t know Nui Cobalt well – they release a new collection every month. Their newest collection is called “Witches Utility Blends“, and they sound fantastic.

Nui Cobalt Designs has quickly become a favorite brand of mine, through their beautiful and thoughtful blends. The love of their craft shines through in every product I’ve tried from them, and I’m really grateful I’ve gotten to know and work with this brand closely.

All products here were complimentary for review, but that doesn’t change my opinion at all, and this post is not sponsored.