Crater Lake Company - A Love Story

A couple of years ago I read about Crater Lake Company on Scrangies excellent nail polish blog. Crater Lake Company crafts artisanal bath and skincare products  in a variety of unique, hand-blended fragrances. I was immediately caught while reading their huge list of fragrance descriptions and decided to order a few of their bathing products to try out. Since then I've ordered several times and some of my all time favourite fragrances come from there.

The way their home page works, you first choose what type of product you'd like (shower creme, EdP, body butter, scrubs etc.), then you choose the fragrance. An extra feature is that you can choose what scent intensity you'd like to get; light, medium or strong. This is great as I think Americans tend to like products having a stronger scent intensity than we Europeans. Personally I hate smelling to much. For me, I prefer medium strength in soaps but "light" in everything else.

Luscious Lather

If I'd list 3 products I'd recommend, they would be:

• Luscious Lather. Soap, shampoo and bubble bath all in one.
• Zambian Coffee Scrub. Like scrubbing yourself with chocolate-Kaluha brownie crumbs. This one only comes in one divine fragrance.
• Triple Action Body Buffer

There is a collection of 6 signature fragrances that are always available. Other fragrances are rotated over the year to fit the seasons. A couple of times a year all fragrances are available. Now is such a time! Check them out here (this link might be time limited).

I think I might have tried about 20 fragrances or so. These are my 5 favourites, along with the Crater Lake Company descriptions:

Psycho Path, as close to a personal signature fragrance I've ever had.
Scent-nopsis - She hurried along the path, constantly looking over her shoulder. She thought she saw a silhoutte of a man and heard the sound of twigs snapping and leaves rustling. Too bad she was so scared she was practically sprinting now. She really wanted to enjoy the cold air laced with the fragrance of all that is dark and mysterious about a midnight walk. The Cast: Dark pomegranate, night-blooming lotus, dark amber, light frost and Middle Eastern spices.

Tea Ceremony II
The Japanese Tea Ceremony recognizes and acknowledges that each encounter can never be replicated again; that |this| singular moment, at this exact point in time, cannot and will not occur again. Thus, every aspect of this ritual is carefully rehearsed so that each participant in the ceremony savors each cadence, movement and rhythm. Like the ceremony, this fragrance is a study of a scent's movement as it flows into the next. Characterized by its fluidity, where one note stops, another follows. Steeped green tea greets your nose. Lime punctuates the air with muted exclamations. Sweet Japanese plums and warm ginger form the drydown.

Black Patcholy
Rich and deeply mesmerising, this blend takes patchouly, all earthy and loamy, and wraps it in a blanket of black orchids, white jasmines and blood red roses. In the background, you'll catch whiffs of burning incense, sandalwood mala beads and myrhh. While patchouly is definitely present in this blend, it never threatens to overpower the other notes. Rather it serves to enhance, deepen and anchor the heady florals. This blend wears differently on the skin - more floral on some, spicier on others - but the result is all the same. A deep appreciation for patchouly in all its dark and sensuous glory.

Mary Contrary, edgy and fresh
So how does your garden grow? Inspired by my friend Abby's garden, Mary Contrary is lush, green and fresh. For those who love the scent of tomato leaves, this one will have you swooning. A melange of fruits, herbs and young leaves blend together beautifully to create a unique garden scent. Notes: Basil, mixed citrus, green apple, bergamot, blackberries, green tomatoes and tomato leaf.

Dark Pink
The fun, sweet, playful and oh-so girly scent we all know and love grows up to be one heck of a stunner! Sultry and mysterious, with a little bit of a dark side, this is a sexy blend of Pink Sugar, Egyptian Musk and lightly grazed by Vetiver. Pink Sugar greets the nose in all its sweet glory. We then pulled the musk background of Pink Sugar with the addition of Egyptian Musk. As the fragrance wears and evolves, it matures to a deeper, more sensual sniff, with Egyptian Musk taking front and center to form the heart of the scent. This fragrance evolves from the sweet naivete of Pink Sugar to the sultry, "street cred" smart of musk and vetiver. Created for the woman in charge who's lethally aware of her feminine wiles!

And, while I'm looking through their list of fragrances, here are 3 that are on my wish list and will most likely be included in my next haul:

Fresh Cut Grass
True to its name and sure to delight purists of green, fresh fragrances. This is the scent of high spring where freshly mowed crisp and verdant grass permeates the air. Wears beautifully alone or mixed with floral or citrus notes. 

Interview with a Vamp 
 Scent-nopsis - Reporters from media outlets far and wide pushed and shoved their way closer to her. She thought it was because they were dying to know the answer to the one all-important question—how did she survive the vampire attack? Everyone had left her for dead. But no, they weren't fighting to get closer so they could get the best sound byte. They were intoxicated with her scent and wanted more. I guess it goes both ways, she thought ruefully. The scent of a newly minted vampire was as intoxicating to a human as the scent of warm blood was to her. The Cast: Cold, moist dirt. Night-blooming jasmine. Premorse rose buds. Dew-studded grass.

Shanghai Noon Tea
This blend is redolent of the click-click sound of mah-jongg tiles being shuffled, the dying embers of an incense stick on a redwood armoire and the aroma of black tea infused with floral blossoms. Rich and deep, yet still somewhat light, this fragrance captures the aromas of an afternoon in a Chinese courtyard where playing mah-jongg and drinking tea is the favourite pastime. Against a black tea canvas, fruit blossoms, sandalwood, Chinese star-anise, black vanilla and sugar cane unfurl to create this wonderful painting of life in a far-away land.

What more to say? Services are great. I've gotten a personal, hand written note from the founder every time I've ordered. She has also answered my mails right away when I've had enquires. Shipping is fast, even to Europe. There are always free extras! So, do yourself a favour and go order some stuff from Crater Lake Company right now!