In December I attended the Northwest Indie Perfumers Circuit held at Blackbird. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out my post here. In December, House of Matriarch by Christi Meshell showcased.

A little about the line: House of Matriarch is a line of ultra-natural luxurious perfumes by perfumer Christi Meshell of the Seattle area. The line uses both modern and vintage essences from plants and animals from earth to sea resulting in distinctive high-quality, intoxicating perfumes. The perfume are alcohol based using organic, undenatured grape alcohol distilled here in Washington state.

Mix-media or Natural?: The line is 100% au naturale.

My impressions of the line: The line has something for everyone. There are masculine woodsy scents and feminine florals. There isn’t a dud in the group. It amazes me what Christi can do with a naturals. She has a large vocabulary of raw materials and uses “off the beaten path” obscure aromatics that you will never find in mainstream perfume. Forbidden has a rattlesnake skin tincture! Many of House of Matriarch perfumes have an old-school animalic quality (from materials such as vintage civet and musk). Because of this I feel that the House of Matriarch florals are stunning. We have these high-quality floral essences paired with these animalic notes and the results will have you swooning. This line comes with expensive price tags. Unlike some niche perfumes that slap a high price on them to justify the authenticity of their nicheness and exclusiveness, House of Matriarch perfumes smell expensive and luxurious. The ingredients used in these are of the best quality and this means they’re expensive!

The bottles: House of Matriarch perfumes currently come in 2 sizes. A small clear bottle and a larger bottle that comes in all of the colors of the rainbow. The bottles are really pretty.

My favorite: I like quite a few but my favorite is the luscious white floral Destiny. It puts a smile on my face. Plus, the aqua bottle with gold shimmers makes me swoon. It’s also the house’s #1 seller and I can see why. If you don’t know where to start with this line, start with Destiny.

Launched Blackbird – What is it like? : Amazing. I would say that this one could easily become my favorite from House of Matriarch. It’s dark, complex, woodsy and mysterious. It has become my husband’s signature scent since it does wonderful things on his his skin. It’s this smoky, sexy oud, sandalwood with evergreens, salty seaweed, animalic amber complex as hell perfume that you have to wear to fully experience. My words do it no justice. If you like perfumes like Bvlgari Black or CdG Garage, you’ll want to wear this. UPDATE – This is the #1 seller at Blackbird. It’s outselling all of the established niche brands such as CdG, Montale, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, etc. Indies are taking over!

I was very happy with the turn out to the event. It’s great to know that people in the area are interested in perfume! The drink sponsor was Glass Distillery vodka, a Seattle-based distillery founded in 2011. The drinks were perfumed with aromas/flavors such as mimosa, tuberose, jasmine! Yep, cocktail cologne.

You can order samples and view products at House of Matriarch. You can also find House of Matriarch on Facebook.

To purchase bottles or samples of House of Matriarch Blackbird visit Blackbird in Ballard or virtually visit on-line.

You can find my review of Carmine here. 

*Pics are mine except product pic is from Blackbird.