Cocoa Pink Medieval Review

Brand: Cocoa Pink
Availability: General Catalog Fall/Winter (N/A Spring/Summer)
Notes: Raw sugar crystals, white rum, sweet fennel and orange blossom met with dark exotic myrrh.

First impression out of bottle: Rum, orange, and herbs.

Freshly applied: Powdery resiny myrrh and rum.

Drydown: Mmm the herby fennel really pops out here. I think the orange I smelled before was orange blossom mixed with fennel and making me think of an orange-fennel salad my friend once made. This is fresh, herbal, and sweet in a surprising, vegetal way. I like the combo of food-sweet from the sugar crystals and the earthy sweetness from the myrrh. Weirdly, and maybe again it's the scent association, but it almost smells savory like herbs in olive oil dressing.

Yummy fennel salad

After several hours: This loses some of its complexity and becomes more straight fresh/sweet.

Longevity: Medium
Sillage: Low Medium

Would an [X] lover love this? I think if you like licorice, anise, and fennel notes then this would be an unexpected twist. It smells like...salad...but also kind of sexy and earthy.

Would an [X] hater love this? I think if you hate herbs/fennel especially you will hate this. It's very unromantic, and honestly 

Where am I? Eating fennel orange salad at a summer party.

Where would I wear this? Daytime, summertime, springtime.

Cocoa Pink Signature White Review

Brand: Cocoa Pink
Availability: General Catalog

Notes: a blend of delicate shea blossoms, rice flowers, vanilla cream, sweet sugar and heliotrope with delicate undertones of amber and sandalwood.

First impression out of bottle: Clean sweetness.

Freshly applied: Sweet amber and floral pops out a little, reminds me a lot of Alkemia's Carmen VII at this point. 

Drydown: Lovely medley of flowers, smooth clean cream, powdered sugar, and a hint of fruity-floral that reminds me a bit of lilac mixed with cherry/almond (from the heliotrope I believe.) I like the blend of food and non-food sweetness here. Very fresh and clean but soft and sweet, not at all laundry-like or zesty. 

Like a white-themed tea party

After several hours: Same soft, smooth clean white smell. 

Longevity: High
Sillage: Low/Medium

Would an [X] lover love this? I think anybody who likes subtle scents will like this because it's so light but complex and fun. It's a wonderful and different "fruity-floral" that doesn't have too many obvious notes. Nothing competes, everything blends well.

Would an [X] hater love this? I think if you dislike fruity florals or florals in general, you might find this too princessy.

Where am I? A tea party with a white color scheme. 

Where would I wear this? Daytime, summer, spring.

Comparison Post: Golden Corn Cakes vs. Potluck vs. Iowa

In comparison posts, I compare indie scents with similar notes lists. This allows me to cull my collection so that I have no repeats, and it may also be helpful for other people to decide which sounds most appealing.

The Contestants: 

Possets Iowa (this one starts out with a crystallized vanilla...then there is a hint of turbinado sugar, and a large dose of an accord based on wheat...and a small amount of a whiskey-like addition) Permanent Collection

Haus of Gloi Golden Corn Cakes (Corn cake baked to a golden perfection, topped with butter and honey) Limited Edition Autumn

Cocoa Pink Potluck (True Southern-style cornbread set out next to our honeyed, buttered oatcakes and warm zucchini bread.) 

General Catalog (Autumn/Winter) (N/A during Spring/Summer)

Scent Characteristics: 

Iowa smells like an overcooked, crunchy cornbread cookie with a ton of butter. I'm surprised I enjoy the butter in here- it smelled rancid in Cream and Mrs. Rabbit's Carrot Cake, but it fits well in here. Like luxurious fresh salted butter, not the unpleasant microwave-popcorn note I got in the past. This smells like the brown underside of cornbread- not the yellow fluffy middle part, but the crispy edge.

Potluck starts out with a lot of zucchini/banana bread character. On the drydown, the prominent zucchini bread smell goes away and it's mostly oatcake and butter with a hint of cornbread. Sort of like a not-too-sweet spicy oatmeal cookie scent.

Golden Corn Cakes is a very well balanced, full-smelling honeyed butter and cake/bread smell. It smells of cornbread in the bottle, honey in the initial application and early dry stages, and the cornbread pops out again in the later drydown!

How similar are they?: These are very different in my opinion. I think that Iowa is the least cornbread-y of the three. It turns into that brownish burnt-edge smell that baked goods get. It's quite pleasant except that it turns "thin" near the end of its life. Potluck is a mishmash of different baked goods, and the spice turns it into a bit more of an oaty biscuit scent. They all have quite a bit of butter in them, which is successful in all three. Golden Corn Cakes is unique in that it's completely scrumptious. I can't stop sniffing it. It does have a common vibe with Potluck, but is more luscious.

Sillage: Golden Corn Cakes has the highest sillage, and the most robust/full scent that carries. Potluck has slightly less throw and is a bit "flatter." Iowa is harder to smell at a distance, and after it's sat on the skin for a while it really turns flat.

Longevity: Golden Corn Cakes has the best longevity and ages on the skin the best. It smells just as scrumptious throughout its entire life. It lasts the whole day. Iowa sticks around a long time, but not in a wearable form. After the golden-burnt opening it turns flat and blackened and even though I can smell it when sniffing my wrist, the actual scent isn't great for the rest of its life. Probably 5-6 hours of wear. Potluck has similar longevity to Iowa in that I can detect it for 6 hours, but it changes so much from the opening that I'm not really interested in what's left after a few hours. Mostly turns into a spiced oat smell after the first hour.

Destashing any?: I only have a sample of Iowa and Potluck but I'll probably destash them. I can't imagine ever craving a "cornbread" scent and reaching for either of these over the beautiful Golden Corn Cakes.

Common Brimstone Constance Review

Brand: Common Brimstone
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: a comforting bakery blend of cookie dough, fresh baked bread, rich butter cream, butter, and a cup of white tea with a sprinkling of sugar.

First impression out of bottle: Buttery, slightly salty cookie dough

Freshly applied: Cookie dough made with super salty butter

Drydown: Buttery cookies and baked bread. This isn't horrible but I've smelled a lot of gourmand/bakery blends and this is just not super special. If it were a little more "voluptuous" or strong, it might be a great perfume, but it's a tad thin-smelling.

After several hours: Butter cookies, but very faint.

Longevity: Medium
Sillage: Low

Would an [X] lover love this? If you're a gourmand lover with high standards, I don't think this will cut it. It doesn't smell sophisticated or particularly realistic. 

Would an [X] hater love this? I don't think gourmand haters will find anything new or exciting here.

Where am I? Sort of like sitting outside a kitchen where someone is baking a lot of different things. But not a very good depiction of it.

Where would I wear this? If it worked better on me, daytime, spring, fall

Sarawen Pixie Dust Review

Brand: Sarawen
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: sweet orange, vanilla cake, honey, sugar

First impression out of bottle: Cinnabon with cream cheese glaze.

Freshly applied: Cream cheese icing and a hint of Tang.

Horrifying.

Drydown: Sticky dark honey and Tang. This has an unsophisticated sticky feel. Like you spilled orange juice and syrup on a tablecloth and it just dried.

After several hours: A bit less gross than the initial drydown, but mainly like pre-packaged cake with a hint of orange icing.

Like something you'd pick up in a gas station

Longevity: Medium
Sillage: Low-medium

Would an [X] lover love this? I don't think this is a sophisticated/unusual gourmand. I think Sarawen's cake notes are weak and nothing compared to something like Arcana or Solstice Scents, who really develop a true voluptuous set of cakey/gourmand accords. 

Would an [X] hater love this? I don't think a gourmand hater would like this. It's everything that can go wrong with a foodie perfume.

Where am I? Eating cake from a rest stop on a road trip with a stomachache. 

Where would I wear this? I wouldn't. If it worked on me, maybe daytime or work. 

Cocoa Pink Marshmallow Candy Cane Noel Review

Brand: Cocoa Pink
Availability: General Catalog Autumn/Winter (N/A in Spring/Summer)
Notes: made with marshmallow sugar and vanilla bean noel, it has real spearmint & peppermint oils

First impression out of bottle: Sweetened, warm peppermint (warm, like, not bracing and fresh like Buttermint)

Freshly applied: Peppermint with a hint of caramel

Drydown: Now this is what I wanted from Buttermint. Good thing I got both! The peppermint and spearmint are complemented by the beautiful smooth caramel-vanilla of Vanilla Bean Noel. This is a sugary peppermint smell. Sort of like peppermint Torani syrup that you'd put in a coffee.

Maybe you also put peppermint schnapps in your coffee, I don't know your life

After several hours: Still fluffy caramel-vanilla peppermint. Mmm I love this one. One of the best uses for the awesome Vanilla Bean Noel note. Super Christmassy and festive.

Longevity: High
Sillage: High

Would an [X] lover love this? Anybody who likes sweet mint scents will find this excellent, although it may be a bit plain if you are  used to the fanciful Arcana peppermint perfumes that combine different herbal and food smells with the herb. This is straightforward.

Would an [X] hater love this? I don't think a mint hater would love this...there's no plastic or weirdness in here, so maybe if they were just a mint lover in disguise and didn't realize it yet?

Where am I? Asking for a double shot of peppermint syrup in my coffee at Starbucks

Where would I wear this? Work, parties, to decorate the Christmas tree. Daytime or night. Definitely great for the holidays, but I could probably wear this in warmer weather if I ignored the candy-cane-ish-ness.

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 Blackberry Sugar Review

Brand: Cocoa Pink
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: Blackberry, Sugar Whipped Cotton Candy, and a splash of Candy floss.

First impression out of bottle: Tart blackberries

Freshly applied: Blackberry cotton candy

Drydown: Still blackberry cotton candy. This is fluffy and yummy like Long Winter Farm Unicorn Farts, but the character is distinctly blackberry, not strawberry. 

After several hours: As it wears, it becomes sweeter and less fruity I think. So after a few hours you end up with a very sugary, plush purple cotton candy with only a hint of realistic blackberry twist. There's a bit of sugaryness that could be frosting. Could be good and more complex layered with Cocoa Pink's Midnight Hag!

Longevity: High
Sillage: Medium

Would an [X] lover love this? I think anyone who enjoys cotton candy would like this- it's a little different from the usual strawberry cotton candy and really evokes a purpley berry candy. 

Would an [X] hater love this? Someone who dislikes cotton candy won't find this very nice. If there were earthier or spicier scents mixed in, then it might be a different case, but there's nothing tempering the chirpy sweet fruitiness here.

Where am I? At a berry harvest fair, eating some specialty blackberry cotton candy

Where would I wear this? Probably for daytime, weekend stuff mostly. I think I prefer my cotton candy scents with a little dark twist, whether that's cocoa (Sixteen92 Black Sugar), smoke (Cocoa Pink Pink Bonfire), or more variety in the sweetness (Aquolina Pink Sugar.)

Cocoa Pink Naughty Gingerbread Review

Brand: Cocoa Pink
Availability: General Catalog Autumn/Winter (N/A in Spring/Summer)
Notes: Naughty begins with two of our bestselling fragrance oils specially formulated just for CocoaPink: Spiritueuse Double Vanilla and our exclusive triple amber blend that we call “CP Black”.  Then we added a dash of gingerbread and a splash of sugar. 

First impression out of bottle: Dark gingerbread

Freshly applied: I managed to splash this all over my arm AND my face...it smells like really dark, not super sweet gingerbread. 

Not light fluffy gingerbread, but dark and spicy!

Drydown: Still retaining that not-so-sweet spicy gingerbread smell. The spices in this are nearly savory, almost like there's cardamom and anise mixed in with a touch of caraway and ginger. A fairly exotic spice blend, not yo typical Christmas Candle(TM) spice. The vanilla peeks out more on the drydown, which brings a touch of lightness and creaminess, if not sweetness, to the blend. 

After several hours: Same beautifully spiced cake smell. Definitely a great solid gingerbread scent. This doesn't smell like grandma's cookies, nor is it a really sexy or unusual perfume. It's a standard gourmand, but with less sugar than you'd usually find, and it uses spices in an interesting but wearable way.

Longevity: High
Sillage: Medium high

Would an [X] lover love this? Spice and gourmand lovers will definitely enjoy this, although if I had my way it would be more sugary!

Would an [X] hater love this? If you hate spice I don't think this will be your cup of tea (bread? Your cup of bread?) But if you find yourself recoiling from typical clove/cinnamon scents, then this could be a nice alternative.

Where am I? Eating spiced gingerbread from a secret old family recipe (not my family, we don't make gingerbread, but somebody's family.)

Where would I wear this? Daytime, autumn, winter. Not sexy/sweet enough for nighttime. I could see this getting a nice kick from some of my sweeter Solstice Scents perfumes (Maplewood Inn or Buttered Rum Mallow?) so I will give that a shot. 

Cocoa Pink Pink Bonfire Review

Brand: Cocoa Pink
Availability: General Catalog Autumn/Winter (N/A in Spring/Summer)
Notes: The delicious aroma of Pink Sugar mingling with the sweet presence of bonfire smoke and burning leaves.

First impression out of bottle: Sweet woodsmoke

Freshly applied: Realistic woodsmoke and pine resin

Drydown: Fluffy sweet Pink Sugar emerges (hello darling) and mingles perfectly with the sweet and sour smell of burning leaves and wood. This is such a weirdly perfect mix of sweet with earthy. I was expecting this to be heavy on the Pink Sugar, but I'd say it's 35% Pink Sugar with the rest being that awesome bonfire scent. The bonfire is very similar to Long Winter Farm Campfire, a little fresh and damp, a little hot and smoky. 

After several hours: Sweet smokiness, more woodsy and less damp/earthy/leafy than before. 

Longevity: High
Sillage: High

Would an [X] lover love this? Anyone who enjoys cotton candy, Pink Sugar or its dupes, Black Sugar from Sixteen92, or bonfire scents should try this. It's a very interesting take on a theme and I love it.

Would an [X] hater love this? People who hate sweet or smoky scents might find this blah. I think the smoke and earthiness is tempered by the sweet sugar, so if you found some common campfire/smoke scents went weird on you, this could be your solution.

Where am I? Wearing Pink Sugar perfume, on a date to sit by a bonfire. Smells like holding hands as a teenager after a night spent outdoors.

Where would I wear this? On a date or on the weekend. Even for daytime, probably, as I wear things like Solstice Scents Smoky Mountain Mallow wherever, whenever (we're meant to be together...)

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 Iowa Review

Brand: Possets
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: this one starts out with a crystallized vanilla...then there is a hint of turbinado sugar, and a large dose of an accord based on wheat...and a small amount of a whiskey-like addition

First impression out of bottle: Brown sugar and salt.

Freshly applied: Salty, savory cornmeal crust with oozing melted yellow butter. 

Melted butter on cornbread

Drydown: Very much the same, with less assertive saltiness. This smells like an overcooked, crunchy cornbread cookie with a ton of butter. I'm surprised I enjoy the butter in here- it smelled rancid in Cream and Mrs. Rabbit's Carrot Cake, but it fits well in here. Like luxurious fresh salted butter, not the unpleasant microwave-popcorn note I got in the past. I love that this smells like the brown underside of cornbread- not the yellow fluffy middle part, but the crispy edge!

The scent of browned baked goods

After several hours: Still crispy browned cornbread edges. I'm so shocked that this has basically no sweetness! The turbinado sugar is there as a crunchy/brown feel but NOT as a sweet element. It kind of reminds me of whole wheat toast. Like a hybrid of salty corn muffins and buttered brown toast.

Longevity: Medium. This doesn't disappear, but it doesn't stay full-strength for long and fades after about 5 hours. It also becomes a leetle bit flat. But I like the toasted darkness.
Sillage: Low-Medium. I was expecting such a bold gourmand to have more throw, but this one settles down and stays pretty close to my skin.

Would an [X] lover love this? Gourmand/savory lovers would probably enjoy the beautiful toasted savory note in this, but it might not hit the sweet notes that you foodie lovers are used to.

Would an [X] hater love this? I think a lot of people will find this weird. It's very edible, savory, and straightforward, which are all attributes that can turn people off.

Where am I? Eating leftover cornbread and rolls from Thanksgiving.

Where would I wear this? Daytime, dinner, home, colder months

Solstice Scents Foxcroft Fairgrounds Review

Brand: Solstice Scents
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: Cotton Candy, Cream Soda, Vanilla Taffy, Gridling's Funnel Cakes, Powdered Sugar, Crisp Fall Air, Woodsmoke & a Tendril of Incense

First impression out of bottle: Cotton candy and cream soda. 

Freshly applied:First, cotton candy, but not like Solstice Scent’s discontinued Pink Sugar. It’s a little deeper, not so fluffy. I think that’s the cream soda making it deep/creamy golden. There’s a hint of earthiness/airiness from the smoke and fall air but not so much to make this a dark scent. 

Luxurious sweet cotton candy

Drydown: I smell the powdered sugar now, and it’s amazing that it’s not a generic sweet smell. It’s the actual scent of powdered sugar when you get it wet. Smells like making royal icing! The whole thing is less overwhelmingly sugary than other cotton candy fragrances, there’s a coolness that comes from the crisp air (really does smell like November air) and the smoke/incense. I’d say it’s at least 70% air/earth with only 30% foodie notes, definitely not a straight-up gourmand. 

A perfect, powdered sugar-laden funnel cake joins the cotton candy

After several hours: A little incense peeks out on the later drydown and mingles nicely with the funnel cake/powdered sugar but it’s not a heavy spiced scent. I thought I would be meh on this but it’s actually lovely.

The foodie scents are combined with the best autumnal air scent ever

Longevity: High. This lasts the whole day
Sillage: High. It goes down to medium-high later in the day but is still very noticeable

Would an [X] lover love this? I think a gourmand lover would like this a lot. I usually like traditional gourmands, but this has a different, earthy twist that works so well.

Would an [X] hater love this? I think gourmand haters need to try it, because it's very unexpected and not sweet in a cloying way.

Where am I? This isn't a busy/clamoring scent like being RIGHT in the middle of a fair. It's like you're standing on a hill just above the fairgrounds, smelling the edible treats wafting through the air, a touch of woodsmoke on the October/November breeze, and a hint of incense from a fortuneteller's caravan. It's right when the sun is setting and the air is cooling off.

Where would I wear this? Work, weekend, even maybe a night out. It's not a light scent but it's also not heavily dark or spiced, so I think it's very versatile. It's one of my absolute favorites.

Cocoa Pink Blueberry Skies Review

Brand: Cocoa Pink
Availability: General Catalog Summer/Spring (N/A during Autumn/Winter)
Notes: Warm blueberry muffins atop luscious billows of vanilla custard cream clouds topped with crunchy, raw sugar crystals

First impression out of bottle: Syrupy blueberries at first, like homemade blueberry compote.

Blueberry syrup

Freshly applied: Still syrupy blueberries, then a sticky molasses scent.

Molasses with cooked blueberries

Drydown: The molasses fades slightly into a more manageable brown sugar scent. I can smell something that I recognize as a “muffin scent” but it’s not 100% realistic, a bit synthetic. I wasn’t expecting this but it REALLY settles into something gorgeous after a few minutes on the skin. It’s gentle blueberry syrup, light brown sugar, and a soft sweet muffin cake. Not yellow cake like Arcana or Solstice Scent’s cake notes, this is totally that dense ultra-soft Costco muffin blueberry cake thing. This went from meh to AMAZING in 2 minutes. Also the blueberry in this is not too sharp, like dried blueberries (the way OHWTO Victuals was on me) it’s like actual blueberries steeped with sugar and water, realistic and ultra sweet.

You know what's up

After several hours: The ultimate drydown is a fluffy vanilla blueberry muffin cake. It can get a teensy bit sharp/cloying depending on my skin chemistry that day, and I find layering it with a smooth vanilla solves that problem.

Longevity: Excellent (in the alcohol-based format.) This lasts all day.
Sillage: Very high, even after I wash hands, or after 8 hours have passed.

Would an [X] lover love this? Gourmand lovers need to try, especially blueberry fans. This is a very realistic syrupy blueberry, which is hard to find.

Would an [X] hater love this? It's VERY sweet, so someone who hates gourmands will most likely feel this is too sugary.

Where am I? Biting into a warmed-up Costco muffin with a glass of milk.

Where would I wear this? Daytime, weekend, even nighttime as it's quite strong and assertive. Even though this is part of their Spring/Summer catalog, I find it's more suitable to cooler weather.

Deep Midnight King Cake Review

Brand: Deep Midnight
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: Yeasty bread dough, cinnamon sugar, vanilla, a touch of cream cheese frosting and a dab of strawberry filling

First impression out of bottle: Perfect yeasted doughnut, a kiss of cream cheese, and some jammy strawberry.

Freshly applied: The cinnamon sugar (which really comes across here as cinnamon-sugar NOT cinnamon + sugar) and strawberry jam are a perfect complement to the doughnut smell. This doughnut is not unpleasantly oily, yeasty, or salty like the note I got from Cocoa Pink's Jelly Doughnut. It's perfectly golden and a tiny bit savory. The cream cheese really helps lighten it up. Usually I dislike cream cheese as a note, but this doesn't go sour or too strong. It's a sweet cream cheese scent.

Perfect cinnamon sugar cake donut

Drydown: Soft, slightly tart creamy cake. A hybrid doughnut-cake hybrid with a very light strawberry cream cheese note. Definitely distinct from Arcana Yellow Cake, as it's more pillowy and airy.

Add some strawberry cream cheese to your cinnamon sugar donut

After several hours: The same as the drydown, but much fainter.

Longevity: Not fantastic. I can still smell it faintly after a long time, but whisper-throw doesn't count for me. I wish it lasted longer at a more potent level, because it's so gorgeous.
Sillage: Low-medium. I have to slather to get good throw out of this, and even then it's a medium-strength one.

Would an [X] lover love this? Yes, gourmand/cake lovers NEED this. It's delicate, interesting, and something different compared to the standard yellow cake scents. I will say I am picky about throw (I like intense, strong scents) so even though this one disappoints in that sense, I still needed it.

Would an [X] hater love this? Perhaps. I don't really think this has a lot to offer to a gourmand hater though. It's a true, pure food smell, very well-executed and NOT too sugary. If your issue with gourmands is sensitivity to sweetness, then give this a shot. If you just don't like smelling like dessert, this won't change your mind.

Where am I? An upscale doughnut shop, sampling a variety of flavors and enjoying the smells drifting from the ovens.

Where would I wear this? I would wear this to work, at home (although it might prompt me to snack), and on the weekend. It's a daytime scent, a little young, definitely feminine. Not quite bold enough for a night out. It's not a power scent, it's a gentle and enjoyable one.