Solstice Scents Cocoa Absolute Review

Brand: SOlstice Scents
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: Natural Single Note Chocolate in Organic Cane Sugar Alcohol

First impression out of bottle: Chocolatey coffee

Freshly applied: Mmm bittersweet dark chocolate. Yes this is just cacao absolute in alcohol, but I'd buy anything Angela produces. I could make this myself but it wouldn't be the same. Watch out this stains the skin light brown. (I have medium/light skin on my arms.)

Drydown: Soft dark chocolate scent, like you made truffles with a bit of cream and sugar, but still mostly dark cocoa. 

After several hours: Softer dark chocolate scent.

Longevity: Medium. It's all-natural which means it generally is less powerful/shorter-lived than synthetic/natural blends. 
Sillage: Low medium. 

Would an [X] lover love this? Yes a chocolate lover would go apeshit for this scent. If you love the smell of real cocoa absolute, you need to try it. 

Would an [X] hater love this? Meh, depends. If you like real chocolate but hate the smell of perfumey chocolate, you should sample this. If you hate the smell of realistic chocolate, this will be bad news for you.

Where am I? In that shop in Chocolat, sampling fine French chocolates.

Where would I wear this? Nighttime, daytime, layered with other perfumes.

Cocoa Pink Linda’s Molten Fudge Cake

Brand: Cocoa Pink
Availability: General Catalog Autumn/Winter (N/A in Spring/Summer)
Notes: Rich gourmet dark chocolate fudge cake made for the true chocoholic

First impression out of bottle: Fruity, synthetic chocolate

Freshly applied: Pure dark chocolate cake

Drydown: Getting a little fruity again, almost like maraschino cherries. Noooo, I didn't want another cherry chocolate scent. I already have and love SS Black Forest. I wanted a TRUE dark chocolate cake with nothing else added!

Goddammit.

After several hours: Still with that weird spicy red fruit smell. This is officially a chocolate fruit cake smell, not a chocolate cake smell. 

Longevity: High
Sillage: Medium high

Would an [X] lover love this? Meh I don't think this will fly with true chocolate lovers. It's a nice scent for a beginner, but it doesn't smell like real true dark chocolate.

Would an [X] hater love this? Chocolate haters need not apply. It's not a good approximation of luxurious chocolate, so it will smell cheap to you.

Where am I? Eating airport cake that I paid too much for.

Where would I wear this? Daytime, weekend, maybe nighttime because the cherry/red fruit thing is kinda sexy, though it's not to my taste.

Cocoa Pink Country Kitchen Review

Brand: Cocoa Pink
Availability: General Catalog Autumn/Winter (N/A in Spring/Summer)
Notes: With a slight chill in the air the delicious fragrances of cocoa and vanilla infused rum raisin cookies dipped in powdered sugar combined with just a touch of freshly baked bread warms you from the inside out.

First impression out of bottle: Sweet buttery bakery scent

Freshly applied: Buttery baked goods scent at first, a lot like Potluck. The wheaty bread note starts to come out, and it really reminds me of whole grain levain. 

Lovely crisp and chewy brown bread

Drydown: Still mostly brown bread with a hint of something sweet. I was expecting a more sweet rich cookie scent than the predominantly-bread one I'm getting. I don't smell any raisin really. I get a hint of powdered sugar mixed with cocoa powder and just an eensy pinch of spice.

After several hours: Soft baked bread with a bit of cocoa sweetness. I think I prefer this to Potluck. There isn't a strong butter presence, so it's mainly soft brown bread and some small hints of dessertyness. Yummy! Almost makes me think of Le Pain Quotidien's amazing cocoa spread that you can put on their delicious bread. (Chocolate makes me rhyme, apparently?)

Longevity: High
Sillage: Medium

Would an [X] lover love this? This is a weird one. I'm a gourmand lover and ended up enjoying this A LOT. But I was iffy at first. I like how the bread note mingles with the cocoa note in the drydown. At first it was all bread on me, and I wasn't sure about it.

Would an [X] hater love this? It's kind of a subtle, strange gourmand that grows on you. If you find most gourmands are too sweet, this one might be interesting to you. Even the drydown with the chocolatey bits isn't overly dessert-like.

Where am I? Sitting in Le Pain Quotidien, ordering bread with a side of more bread.

Where would I wear this? This is a really comforting scent, but it's also wearable for work or out on the weekends. Not a sexy nighttime perfume, but otherwise I think this is pretty versatile. 

13 Gypsies Xocolatl Review

Brand: 13 Gypsies
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: cocoa absolute, patchouli, coffee

First impression out of bottle: Bitter roasted coffee with a hint of dark chocolate.

Freshly applied: DARK chocolate with earthy espresso and a twisted patchouli base.

Drydown: Dark chocolate coffee with more prominent chocolatey patchouli. This is an exquisite chocolate/coffee scent. It's not quite gourmand and not quite earthy. It smells like a very expensive 90% dark chocolate bar from Europe. 

Bittersweet, earthy dark chocolate and coffee

After several hours: Still the same expensive bitter cacao scent, much less coffee than when it was first applied. The coffee manifests as a bitter, roasted gritty dark smell, so it's almost indiscernible from the chocolate/patchouli. It's all just well blended together.

Dark, expensive chocolate with earthy herby patchouli

Longevity: Middling. lasts for 4ish hours before it turns soft.
Sillage: Medium until the 4 hour mark, then quite low. Never disappears completely though, which is nice.

Would an [X] lover love this? I think any patchouli lover will cackle like a happy witch over this blend. It highlights the awesomeness of patchouli without falling into the trap of mustiness/rubbery scents.

Would an [X] hater love this? I don't think of myself as a lover of patchouli, but this made me fall in love with it (along with Sixteen92's Wicked.) The patchouli makes this a true, earthy chocolate scent, where so many indie chocolate scents turn into Cocoa Puff/dusty Hershey bar nonsense.

Where am I? This smells EXACTLY like an expensive gift shop around Halloween time. The scent of some dark witchy candles and decorative herbs, mixed with expensive boxes of chocolates and the smell of freshly-ground coffee beans drifting over from the attached gift shop.

Smells like a Halloween emporium

Where would I wear this? It's work-appropriate as it's not too strong, but it's also wicked and twisted enough for a night out. I love this for cooler weather, but since it's got a nice earthiness, it doesn't smell weird in hot weather either.