Cocoa Pink Snowflakes Review

Brand: Cocoa Pink
Availability: General Catalog Autumn/Winter (N/A in Spring/Summer)
Notes: Sparkling mounds of fluffy almond icing snow dusted with soft white sugars.

First impression out of bottle: Gourmand plastic

Freshly applied: Almond extract and sunscreen

Drydown: This is quite a good sweet pure almond. It's not pastry-like at all. It reminds me a lot of almond granita, which you can get in Italy. Sweet, not creamy, but not too icy. There's still the eensiest bit of plastic/sunscreen which is in some Cocoa Pink gourmands, but nothing overwhelming.

Almond Italian ice

After several hours: The plastickyness is gone now, whew! Sweet pure almond. A little more sugary now, like maybe there's almond royal icing on top of the granita.

Longevity: High
Sillage: Medium

Would an [X] lover love this? I think an almond lover would appreciate this for being both a true almond scent and NOT a super-sharp almond. 

Would an [X] hater love this? Meh, almond haters might enjoy it but then again the initial plasticky note could be a big turnoff. One selling point for haters is that it quickly loses that almond extract note that can be so offensive.

Where am I? Scraping up almond Italian ice with a little spoon, savoring the treat at the end of a long meal.

Where would I wear this? This is definitely a daytime perfume for me. It feels equally appropriate for cold or warm weather, because almond is a year round scent for me! I would wear this to work, but I also think strong almonds have quite a sexy feel, so I would wear it out at night too!

Cocoa Pink Coconut Rum Cake Review

Brand: Cocoa Pink
Availability: General Catalog Autumn/Winter (N/A in Spring/Summer)
Notes: A scrumptious bakery arrangement beginning with almond extract, chopped almonds, and dark rum followed by sugar cane, coconut milk, vanilla extract, and heavy cream topped off with flaked coconut.

First impression out of bottle: Sharp rum and coconut

Freshly applied: Straight coconut Malibu rum

Smells like...lemon cake??

Drydown: Something kind of lemony. Almost smells like OHWTO The Cake Is a Lie. Weird! Now I get a lovely crumbly cake scent, kind of like cake covered in brown sugar. There is still a steeped-in-rum feeling and a nice tropical feel like flaked toasty coconut. I'm so confused why this smells like lemon cake though. I guess my nose could be interpreting sharpness from the rum as citrus, but it's  bit unnerving!

After several hours: The coconut becomes beautiful and silky, almost like you made an icing from coconut milk and powdered sugar. Very tropical smelling. Still smells like lemon cake!

Longevity: High
Sillage: High

Would an [X] lover love this? This is definitely a successful gourmand scent. I am bewildered by the lemon but I still enjoy this.

Would an [X] hater love this? Cake haters need not apply. This is a very sweet gourmand with prominent cake notes.

Where am I? Drinking a rum cocktail and eating lemon-coconut cake at someone's destination wedding.

Where would I wear this? Summer, daytime. Especially considering I get such a fierce lemon cake smell, this reads warm weather to me. Not like a heavy dark Christmas rum cake. Oh well!

Possets Eine Kleine Nachtmusik Review

Brand: Possets
Availability: Limited Edition (comes back with RETOUR)
Notes: Melon, mint, a schmere of marzipan, smoke, resin

First impression out of bottle: Sugary melon, more round and fluffy smelling than the melon in Possets' Triangulation

Freshly applied: Honeydew with a sort of squeaky-creamy almond marzipan. Oooh I get the barest whiff of beautiful green peppermint if I huff.

Marzipan infused with honeydew and a touch of peppermint

Drydown: Minty marzipan and melon. It smells kind of like…if you made a melon mojito and served it alongside marzipan candies. And that would be the weirdest cocktail party EVER. I had no idea how these notes would meld together, but it works. I don’t get smoke. The mint is now way more apparent, and the marzipan less so. After the initial realistic scent, it gets that pasty/creamy mouthfeel smell of marzipan, without the actual almond note. The mint is lazy, hazy, not super sharp or twinkly like the peppermint in Arcana Astrid’s Diadem. It’s more reminiscent of the patchouli in Wicked but obviously NOT dirty like patchouli. It’s a pure peppermint, but not wet or juicy. It smells like a freshly picked peppermint leaf, but not like a crushed leaf. The melon is hanging in there, yay! It’s a sweet, ripe honeydew note and it blends well with the creaminess and the mint. This reads seriously summer/spring to me, I don’t get any winter feels, but I love it nonetheless. Will get a lot of wear come springtime.

Picture this, plus a bit of creaminess

After several hours: Smooth sugar paste with mint, a hint of honeydew, and the smoke note peeks out. I love how Possets' smoke notes don't come out until later...it reminds me of a dinner party with the candles getting blown out at the end of the night! So cool.

Add a blown-out candle to the sweet mix

Longevity: Medium. For such a fluffy scent, this sticks around admirably. I like that the mint is grounded, so it isn't too fleeting!
Sillage: Medium. 

Would an [X] lover love this? I don't know who to recommend this to! A marzipan lover might be disappointed- the marzipan isn't prominent after the initial application. A mint lover would be a fan, as it's got a delicate peppermint note that I haven't found as long-lasting in other blends! People who love unusual gourmands and fruity scents should give this a whirl.

Would an [X] hater love this? I feel like this is a gourmand scent that isn't TRULY foodie. So gourmand haters might want to test this.

Where am I? At a bizarre dinner party where the host doesn't realize how mismatched their theme is, but somehow everything is delicious.

Where would I wear this? Daytime, work, summer, spring, maybe winter. It's fresh in a bit of a cool way, so I can see this working in winter, but definitely not for autumn, when I'm craving warm and spicy scents.