The Best Perfumes on Etsy

"Tarot" Steampunk perfume from BirdcageandLabyrinth

I love perfume! Who doesn't? Making it and wearing it are some of my favorite hobbies. And since commercial perfumes can be quite unhealthy, organic perfumes, natural perfumes, and botanical perfumes are quickly rising in popularity and making a huge niche market for themselves on Etsy and other hand-made goods websites. While there are over 200 shops on Etsy that sell perfume and scents, I am obligated to say that not all perfumes are created equal. Those that I am listing are either all-natural or mostly natural and have a less mass-produced feel than some of the shops. I have not tried perfumes from all of these shops, but from the sellers profiles I can tell that healthy personalized scents in small batches are their priority.  So here are just some of my favorite (and the best) perfume sellers on Etsy:

BirdcageandLabyrinth: Steampunk and Gothic perfumerie.  I can vouch for how awesome these perfumes are; I make them!

PacificPerfumes.Etsy.com: New Zealand Award Winning & Handcrafted Solid Perfumes in various themes.  I've never tried these, but they look lovely.

scodioli: Madame Scodioli makes unique and intriguing perfumes, soaps, etc...  I've never tried these, but they look lovely.

pixxxiepieandposie: Fantastical fragrance creations from the land of the fairies.  I've never tried these, but they look very whimsical.

GreenManNaturals: Eco-friendly literary themed solid perfumes and perfume oils.  I can vouch for how awesome these perfumes are; I make them!

ForStrangeWomen: Natural Perfumery - Forest & Victorian-Inspired.  I've tried some of these and they are definitely an acquired taste.  Some people love them.  Some people don't.  I happen to love them.

ArabesqueAromas: A Botanical Apothecary.  I've never tried these, but they look lovely.
 
ofravensandvultures: Hand-made aromatherapy, fragrant, and metaphysical oil.  I've never tried these, but they look lovely.

Maoli: Fun and Natural Perfumes made with Aloha.  I've never tried these, but they look lovely.

Ciao!
The Lonely Alchemist 

Steampunk Game Review: "City of Steam"

It is one of the great travesties of the world that Steampunk themed games are few and far between (and it's hard to find the good ones).  So we at the Lonely Alchemist are committed to testing and reviewing every Steampunk-ish MMORPG and casual game we can find, just for you!

Today we review "City of Steam," the first mainly Steampunk MMORPG in the history of games!  This game mixes Steampunk, Fantasy, and Sci-fi aesthetics (mostly Steampunk), and take it from us, it does not disappoint!  We had the pleasure of playing the closed Beta last night, and the game exceeded our expectations for so many beautiful reasons.  So let's take a gander at our favorite aspects of the game so far:

Poetry Tuesday: Salvinia Molesta, a poetry book review

The book Salvinia Molesta by Victoria Chang is a tangled trellis of image and emotion, weaving a story of fear, loss, and violence.  From this framework of intense and frightening subject matter, each poem hangs like an over-ripe fruit, eloquent words making the outside palatable, while the inside remains an upsettingly truthful vision of humanity’s disillusionment and depravity.  In her uniquely gentle and motherly tone, Victoria Chang reassures us while simultaneously forcing us to open our eyes to the gloom that surrounds us, as in the elegant yet desolate opening stanza of “Ars Poetica as Dislocated Theater:”

Poetry Tuesday: "Risk" by Anais Nin

And then the day came,
when the risk
to remain tight
in a bud
was more painful
than the risk
it took
to Blossom. 


Ciao!
The Lonely Alchemist

A selection from "The History of Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes

In a village of La Mancha, the name of which I have no desire to call to mind, there lived not long since one of those gentlemen that keep a lance in the lance-rack, an old buckler, a lean hack, and a greyhound for coursing. An olla of rather more beef than mutton, a salad on most nights, scraps on Saturdays, lentils on Fridays, and a pigeon or so extra on Sundays, made away with three-quarters of his income. The rest of it went in a doublet of fine cloth and velvet breeches and shoes to match for holidays, while on week-days he made a brave figure in his best homespun. He had in his house a housekeeper past forty, a niece under twenty, and a lad for the field and market-place, who used to saddle the hack as well as handle the bill-hook. The age of this gentleman of ours was bordering on fifty; he was of a hardy habit, spare, gaunt-featured, a very early riser and a great sportsman. They will have it his surname was Quixada or Quesada (for here there is some difference of opinion among the authors who write on the subject), although from reasonable conjectures it seems plain that he was called Quexana. This, however, is of but little importance to our tale; it will be enough not to stray a hair's breadth from the truth in the telling of it.

A Quote for Thought

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."
-- Marilyn Monroe