e-Liquid Review: Light Side range from Complex Eliquid
I’m back, and while I’ve been a little slack getting back into the swing of things, I have a 3up review for you today. This range of eliquids comes from a company called Complex Eliquid. They hail from NSW and have a huge passion for all things vaping, so much so, that they’ve created their very own brands. “Kahuna” being one (I’ve reviewed these already), and their Light Side / Dark Side series.
Complex Eliquid was started by a group of experienced and passionate vapers with a penchant for quality vaping.
To them, flavour is paramount and the flavours that they have created, have been made with a ‘ground up’ flair.
They use Vape Distribution’s “White label service” in order to have their product produced, which guarantees you the customer, quality, but also ensures that the process is as seamless as possible, with customer orders shipping out on the same day, or the next at the latest from time of order.
Today, I’ll be reviewing the “Light Side” range from Complex Eliquid.
(This eliquid was supplied by the vendor for review.)
CREATION – ORANGE PINEAPPLE LEMONADE E-LIQUID
From the website:
The ancient Egyptian deity of the sun, Ra, identified primarily with the noon sun. To the Egyptians, the sun represented light, warmth and growth: Creation, with its delectable and cool mix of Orange pineapple lemonade will whisk you away to thoughts of an idyllic summertime jaunt on the sandiest most picturesque shores that your mind can imagine.
This flavour is reminiscent of sweet oranges and ripe pineapple washed down with a fizzy lemonade.
Initial Thoughts:
Straight away even on the finger test, I notice the very sweet blended orange and light pineapple, together forming quite a nice fruit medley, which is then washed over with a lightly carbonated lemonade.
It’s quite a candy like flavour, the orange reminds me a little of orange jelly candy, the type that is sticky with sugar all over it, and the pineapple, a sweet and juicy but dialed back, fresh pineapple. I notice no sharp tones or anything not supposed to be there, so far, nice and smooth.
Inhale & Exhale:
The inhale sees the lemonade up front. It’s a sweet lemon lemonade, slightly soda, slightly home made, increasing in intensity as you inhale. The pineapple and orange are here too, but very light at this stage, acting more as a fresh background blend.
Toward the top of the inhale, the light orange and pineapple gradually work their way in as the lemonade reaches its peak with a slight bitterness at the back of the tongue. The two fruits counter the sharpness of the lemonade with a burst of flavour, sweet and bright. The pineapple is noticeably stronger than the orange, taking on most of the main profile, while the orange works it’s way through as more of a slightly washed out sweet citrus note, adding some complexity and fullness.
As you exhale the bitter note leaves and the sweet lemonade with combined orange and pineapple flow through right until the end of the exhale.
Sweet and fruity.
Final Thoughts:
This is quite a nice little flavour. Not as strong as expected, and a little washed out but I like the lightness of this. Keeping that pineapple dialed back so that the orange could shine through is a huge win, because the orange brings with it a level of complexity, working really well in contrast to the pineapple. I found the lemonade a little lacking, reminisce of more of a syrup based lemonade than a sweet and flavour packed soda, I think this could have had a little more punch to it, something a little cleaner, to back up the fruits a little better.
All in all though, I’ve enjoyed this one, and have found myself re-filling with it over and over, instead of going to another flavour. Nice work guys.
Colour: Clear
Coil & Wick Damage: Light damage over time due to the use of sweeteners, but nothing too drastic. You should get good mileage from this one.
Steeping: No steep necessary.
Score: 7/10
HONOUR – GRAPE SODA E-LIQUID
From the website:
When he returned to Egypt to free his fellow people, Moses asked of the people to maintain their honour and be gentle. The sign of opulence a this pinnacle of religious movement was the consumption of Wine and in turn fresh Grapes.
Honour is a tribute to both forms of this fruit’s servitude to man. Honour is a rich and exciting grape with a subtle fizziness that will leave you praying for more.
Initial Thoughts:
The profile of this one is apparent straight away. On the finger this is a very sugary sweet flavour with a light candy grape and fizzy lemonade.
The grape is not a single profile, but a 50/50 split between a realistic grape and a candy based flavour, while the lemonade, a little syrupy, is sweet with an undertone of citrus, very much like a lemonade you might get from a syrup, rather than your typical soda.
The two flavours work quite well together, with a sweet and light finish, the grape adding tone, and the lemonade providing a sweet syrupy texture.
Inhale & Exhale:
On the inhale, the syrupy sweet Grape/ lemonade, is quite light and washed out with a very sugary focused feel.
The flavours blend together as you inhale with the lemonade coming through dominantly and the slightly candy/slightly fruity grape falling a little behind. It creates a bit of a vacuum, where the less dominant grape, has a little room to move against the lemonade, while the lemonade sets the tone for the whole profile.
As with most flavours, this one intensifies as you inhale, but there is no real flavour shift.
At the top of the inhale there’s a small window of tartness from the grape, a little tangy, containing more of a natural and fruity grape feel, I notice an almost skin like nuance here, but it disappears pretty quickly, as the sweetness of the grape and lemonade begin to strengthen again.
The lemonade also displays a little bit of a sharper, bitter note at the same time, giving the top of the inhale quite a chemical feel, but again, just like the grape, it doesn’t stick around very long as the sweetness rushes in to save the day.
As you exhale, the lemonade strengthens again with it’s sugary sweet, syrupy feel, dominating the grape, and driving the profile home.
There is a little fizz in this, but it’s fleeting and isn’t always noticeable.
Final Thoughts:
Quite a nice flavour, it sort of shifts between realistic grapes, to candy grapes and back at times.
One thing that I would have liked, was for the grape to be a little stronger against the lemonade. In it’s lower percentage the syrupy lemonade really stands out, with an almost burnt note to it, if the grape were a little stronger, I think it would hide that a little better and give the whole mix a little more fullness and flavour.
A job well done however, as while this is light on the grape, it’s definitely a flavour that you can vape all day without getting tired of it!
Colour: Clear
Coil & Wick Damage: Minimal damage, wicks and coils will gunk and darken, but this doesn’t happen immediately, and you will get a good few days vaping without seeing any degradation.
Steeping: No steeping required.
Score: 7/10
PURITY – MANGO-APRICOT CREAM E-LIQUID
From the website:
The God of Desire, Love, Affection and Attraction has struck his own heart with his iconic arrow and has formed a pure love for this Mango Apricot cream.
Purity is, delectable hints of fresh Apricot combined with ripe mango on a bed of subtly sweet cream. This flavour will have you reminiscing of warm summer family gatherings.
Initial Thoughts:
On the finger this is a sweet and rich Mango/Apricot, syrupy with a thick creaminess to it, quite robust with a dessert feel.
Both flavours come through fairly evenly here creating a rich syrupy combination.
The Mango is smooth, and very much a Mango flesh, refreshing yet full flavoured, while the Apricot introduces a juicier and more dynamic note to the Mango deepening it and making everything pop.
Throw in some light touches of cream that seem to create more of a thick and smooth texture than add to the overall flavour, and you have a fruity cream that will make you want to vape it all day
Inhale & Exhale:
On the inhale it’s a 50/50 split, the Mango and apricot are both there in even amounts, quiet to begin with but increasing in intensity as you inhale.
I’m finding that the Mango acts as a smooth even base here while the Apricot richens toward the end of the inhale, creating a nice syrupy feel right at the top. There is a touch of cream here that keeps things on an even keel, but it’s not a dominant note.
As you exhale, the Mango comes back into play, smoothing out the apricot some more with the help from the lovely thick and creamy yet light sweet cream.
It’s a lovely, rich and sweet fruity blend smoothed out with some cream, and continues like this right through to the end of the vape.
Final Thoughts:
A lovely smooth and creamy fruit mix. I’m happy that this didn’t take on a tropical feel, and it is the richer juicier blend that it is, because this works really well. The apricot brings a much needed, deeper feel to the mango, with the light cream, making sure neither out flavour the other and they compliment one another instead.
A very nice mix and one of my top picks so far!
Colour: Clear
Coil & Wick Damage: Minimal damage to wicks and coils
Steeping: This might benefit from a short steep due to the cream.
Score: 8/10
Final thoughts
This series has been very consistent, each flavour has a similar intensity and profile, and is a quality vape. You can tell that a lot of work has gone into getting the mixes just right, and using complimentary flavours to dynamic effect.
From the professional packaging on the outside, to the quality blended e-liquids on the inside, this range oozes class, and makes for a fantastic range, with something for every fruit lover.
I particularly enjoyed the Mango and Apricot in the “Purity” flavour, with the Apricot creating quite a rich and dynamic tone, as well as the brightness of “Creation” with it’s sweet Pineapple and refreshing Orange notes.
This will be a fantastic range to vape over the summer period, light and fruity, clean and fresh.
Great work guys!
Keep your eyes peeled for the next part of this review, where I’ll be taking a look at this range’s counterpart, the “Dark Side” series!
Where to Buy:
You can pick up this range directly from the Complex Eliquid online store or through one of their many stockists!
Presentation:
Excellent presentation here. Each 60ml bottle comes in it’s accompanying box with similar design and artwork.
I received clear 60ml Chubby Gorilla Styled bottles, with transparent child-proof and tamper-proof caps. Each bottle has a needle tip dispenser that you can easily remove in order to add your nicotine.
Unfortunately the removable tip and resulting hole is quite small, so only a blunt tip syringe dispenser will work, for risking juice spilling, but it is there none-the-less. Removing the entire cap is quite difficult, so be prepared for a battle! I ended up removing the dispenser tip and shoving needle nosed pliers into the gap in order to lever the cap off.
The labels are fancy, there’s been a little bit of money thrown at these. They’re matt white labels with black/grey text, gold foiled accents and UV clear overprint.
All of the information you’ll need is on there (quite difficult to read) from the Series Name front and centre, as well as flavour name, zero nicotine, bottle size, PG/VG ratio, flavour profile, flavour description, warning icons, and the Complex Eliquid logo.
Test rigs:
Original Haku Cruiser running a single 0.17 framed staple coil on a mech mod.
Augvape Intake RTA with a 0.2ohm Stainless coil running @ approx 50-80 watts.
Bonza RDA with x2 Framed Stapled coils (0.2 ohm-ish)
Rating overview
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