I finally decided to sniff the rest of my Lou Lou's perfumes after taking a long break from them. I finally found a couple of scents that work out of the remaining batch, but they still morph like crazy on my skin and end up becoming very, very sweet. I wish I can find more to like since Evelyn's really nice and even messaged me to apologize about the scents not working out on me after reading my reviews.
Evelyn mentioned she's planning to branch out to floral scents, but I've seen a number of reviews where people do like the very sweet gourmand scents. I think carving out a niche as the creator of extremely sweet gourmands can work out for her.
Anyway, here are my reviews for 7 more scents:
Very sweet as usual, and in the beginning, there was an egg yolk smell that freaked me out. The egg yolk scent mellowed out to a sweet egg tart scent that's a bit cloying to me, mixed with something that smells like fruity candy. This dries down to a very sweet fruit candy smell, but there's still hints of that egg smell.
Post Description: Hmm...no idea which note morphed into an egg yolk scent. Maybe it's the buttercream frosting?
"Cassia (cassia cinnamon essential oil), strawberry, cake, chocolate, sandalwood, patchouli, jasmine, amber, vanilla, and cocoa bean"
Initially, this smells like a very sweet cough syrup (complete with the hint of bitterness buried under a lot of sugar), but a wet flour smells enter. The cough syrup & wet flour smell fortunately gets buried under all the sweetness after this dries down. It becomes a sweet berries smell, mixed with play-doh. The final smell reminds me a bit of a car perfume my parents once used, and I'm not too crazy over it.
Post Description: Is it the patchouli? I swear patchouli always smells medicinal on me. I wonder if it's the cake scents that turn play-doh-ish on me. I know HoG's cake scents smell like play-doh on me too.
Very, very sweet breakfast syrup, with what smells like baby cereal. I like the cereal smell, but there's a cloying milkiness that I associate with baby food. Mostly it's just extremely sweet syrup though. There's an oatmeal smell I like in this, but it's definitely buried in the extreme sweetness and cloying milkiness. My nose hurts from the sweetness, so if you're sensitive to sharp, sweet scents, watch out.
Post Description: Oh it does have oatmeal! There may be blueberries somewhere, but it's definitely drowned out by the sharp sweetness.
Finally found a scent I like! It starts of with a very sour chilli smell, which really worried me. Luckily, the sour chilli smell disappeared into a green fragrance that has the slight hint of white florals that vaguely smells like jasmines. I can't really smell chamomile in this. I may have caught a brief whiff of it, but it's so brief, I'm not sure if I was imagining it because I expect a chamomile scent. Like a lot of green scents, this smells slightly like a room scent, and it does smell a lot like a diffuser scent I once had. It smells pretty good on me, but I'll definitely prefer this smell on my pillow.
Post Description: I'm not sure how green amber is supposed to smell like, but this scent is definitely not warm and heavy like what I expect from amber smells. By the way, while trying to look up what "green amber" is supposed to be, I stumbled on this interesting article from a blog called Sorcery of Scent about what perfumers are talking about when they list "amber" as a note:
"This is a fruity, feminine blend of fresh raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, pomegranate, mandarin, grapefruit, lime, and fresh cut green grass with a touch of bamboo over a base of vanilla musk."
Extremely sweet as usual. I got a fleeting smell of something that I can only describe as play-doh-ish, but fortunately, it disappeared fast. There's definitely a vaguely berry & floral smell, but it's extremely sweet. The scent sort of reminds me of a febreze spray I once had. It's a pretty pleasant smell, but works better in my room than on my skin. Like all Lou Lou's scents, this is very strong, so if you sniff it too close, your nose gets overwhelmed and hurts the same way it does when you stand too close to someone spraying room spray.
Post Description: Oh wow, that's a lot of fruits. I honestly can't smell any pomegranate or the citruses. I wonder if the berries are just stronger. I can smell a bit of green scent that may be "bamboo", but it's the "bamboo" scent that I get from "bamboo"-scented bath products -a scent that I can only interprest as very green with a bit of yellow. Actual bamboo smells a bit like dirt & wet grass to me, and I definitely can't smell it in here either.
This one finally has a cake smell that doesn't turn play-doh-ish on me! I'm trying to sniff out a pear scent, but I just get a sweet room spray-ish scent that smells a tad more floral than fruity. Unfortunately, that sweet room spray-ish scent is giving me a bit of a headache, but the cake smell smells like a freshly baked cinnamon cupcake! For me, this scent is more of a freshly baked cinnamon cupcake in a newly cleaned kitchen after someone went berserk with the room spray.
About 10 min in, the room spray scent finally disappeared, but so did the delicious cake scent. It now just smells like very sweet Fall spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves). When most of the notes has gone, this scent leaves a lingering metallic smell that I get from HoG products. I wonder if they use the same cake scents.
Post Description: I wish the cinnamon cupcake scent stayed a bit longer! The sweet spices scent is nice enough, but it's very ordinary.
This initially smells of a very, very sweet liquorice. The sweetness disappears to become a very bitter, Chinese traditional medicine mixed with dry instant noodles smell on me. This, unfortunately, is a very strong scent, and you can smell it from a formal job interview distance.
Post Description: What turned into the dry instant noodles smell? I'm guessing all the black notes is what makes this so bitter.
First of all, I have to say, the free sample size is extremely generous. Here it is with a HoG mini & a tub of eyeshadow for scale:
These melt easily on your skin, but is oily as it melts. One thing I like about the solid perfumes is that it takes of the sharp, straight to your head feeling you get when you sniff the perfume oils. It definitely has less throw (you need to smell close to your skin), but it's worth it for me. The sugary scent is also less sharp and intense, but it still smells too much like a room spray to me. I guess this isn't for me.
Evelyn mentioned she's planning to branch out to floral scents, but I've seen a number of reviews where people do like the very sweet gourmand scents. I think carving out a niche as the creator of extremely sweet gourmands can work out for her.
Anyway, here are my reviews for 7 more scents:
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| Sweet Darkness is left out since it kept toppling the pyramid. |
Bunny
"Carrot cake, bakery spices, vanilla bean, buttercream frosting, marshmallow fluff, strawberries, cocoa, amber, and green grass"Very sweet as usual, and in the beginning, there was an egg yolk smell that freaked me out. The egg yolk scent mellowed out to a sweet egg tart scent that's a bit cloying to me, mixed with something that smells like fruity candy. This dries down to a very sweet fruit candy smell, but there's still hints of that egg smell.
Post Description: Hmm...no idea which note morphed into an egg yolk scent. Maybe it's the buttercream frosting?
Cake & Cassia
"Cassia (cassia cinnamon essential oil), strawberry, cake, chocolate, sandalwood, patchouli, jasmine, amber, vanilla, and cocoa bean"
Initially, this smells like a very sweet cough syrup (complete with the hint of bitterness buried under a lot of sugar), but a wet flour smells enter. The cough syrup & wet flour smell fortunately gets buried under all the sweetness after this dries down. It becomes a sweet berries smell, mixed with play-doh. The final smell reminds me a bit of a car perfume my parents once used, and I'm not too crazy over it.
Post Description: Is it the patchouli? I swear patchouli always smells medicinal on me. I wonder if it's the cake scents that turn play-doh-ish on me. I know HoG's cake scents smell like play-doh on me too.
Good Morning
"Sugar crusted blueberry muffins with butter, a bowl of maple syrup drizzled oatmeal, sugar cookies, and a warm mug of vanilla bean infused milk"Very, very sweet breakfast syrup, with what smells like baby cereal. I like the cereal smell, but there's a cloying milkiness that I associate with baby food. Mostly it's just extremely sweet syrup though. There's an oatmeal smell I like in this, but it's definitely buried in the extreme sweetness and cloying milkiness. My nose hurts from the sweetness, so if you're sensitive to sharp, sweet scents, watch out.
Post Description: Oh it does have oatmeal! There may be blueberries somewhere, but it's definitely drowned out by the sharp sweetness.
Green Chamomile
"Chamomile tea infused coconut oil (carrier oil), chamomile tea, Roman chamomile essential oil, green grass, and green amber"Finally found a scent I like! It starts of with a very sour chilli smell, which really worried me. Luckily, the sour chilli smell disappeared into a green fragrance that has the slight hint of white florals that vaguely smells like jasmines. I can't really smell chamomile in this. I may have caught a brief whiff of it, but it's so brief, I'm not sure if I was imagining it because I expect a chamomile scent. Like a lot of green scents, this smells slightly like a room scent, and it does smell a lot like a diffuser scent I once had. It smells pretty good on me, but I'll definitely prefer this smell on my pillow.
Post Description: I'm not sure how green amber is supposed to smell like, but this scent is definitely not warm and heavy like what I expect from amber smells. By the way, while trying to look up what "green amber" is supposed to be, I stumbled on this interesting article from a blog called Sorcery of Scent about what perfumers are talking about when they list "amber" as a note:
Contrary to popular belief, however, amber - when used in perfumery - is not of this vegetal variety. It is considered almost impossible to extract a scented oil from this ancient resource, and attempts at doing so are highly destructive and yield minimal results. It would be much like trying to extract the odour of a stone. So, why do so many perfume houses reference amber as a key component of a new scent? Well, basically, the term 'amber' is loosely used to describe a quality in perfume that is warm, rich and honeylike, and also somewhat powdery, oriental and earthy. In perfume, synthetic ambers are often created and patented by the large manufacturing houses to emulate the opulent golden warmth of the fossil. Otherwise, oils taken from modern resins and tree gums such as benzoin and labdanum are obtained for their warm spicy qualities, and are often cut with other oils such as vanilla, clove or patchouli to further enhance their aroma. Fragrance companies that claim they have created a "true amber" perfume are simply writing a poem to lull and entice the consumer.
Princesses and Playtime
"This is a fruity, feminine blend of fresh raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, pomegranate, mandarin, grapefruit, lime, and fresh cut green grass with a touch of bamboo over a base of vanilla musk."
Extremely sweet as usual. I got a fleeting smell of something that I can only describe as play-doh-ish, but fortunately, it disappeared fast. There's definitely a vaguely berry & floral smell, but it's extremely sweet. The scent sort of reminds me of a febreze spray I once had. It's a pretty pleasant smell, but works better in my room than on my skin. Like all Lou Lou's scents, this is very strong, so if you sniff it too close, your nose gets overwhelmed and hurts the same way it does when you stand too close to someone spraying room spray.
Post Description: Oh wow, that's a lot of fruits. I honestly can't smell any pomegranate or the citruses. I wonder if the berries are just stronger. I can smell a bit of green scent that may be "bamboo", but it's the "bamboo" scent that I get from "bamboo"-scented bath products -a scent that I can only interprest as very green with a bit of yellow. Actual bamboo smells a bit like dirt & wet grass to me, and I definitely can't smell it in here either.
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Spiced Pear Cake
"Anjou pear, warm vanilla bean, nutmeg, clove, apple, amber, and musk"This one finally has a cake smell that doesn't turn play-doh-ish on me! I'm trying to sniff out a pear scent, but I just get a sweet room spray-ish scent that smells a tad more floral than fruity. Unfortunately, that sweet room spray-ish scent is giving me a bit of a headache, but the cake smell smells like a freshly baked cinnamon cupcake! For me, this scent is more of a freshly baked cinnamon cupcake in a newly cleaned kitchen after someone went berserk with the room spray.
About 10 min in, the room spray scent finally disappeared, but so did the delicious cake scent. It now just smells like very sweet Fall spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves). When most of the notes has gone, this scent leaves a lingering metallic smell that I get from HoG products. I wonder if they use the same cake scents.
Post Description: I wish the cinnamon cupcake scent stayed a bit longer! The sweet spices scent is nice enough, but it's very ordinary.
Sweet Darkness
"Black leather, dark mahogany, black licorice, burnt caramel, black coconut, black musk, blackberries, black currants, black raspberry"This initially smells of a very, very sweet liquorice. The sweetness disappears to become a very bitter, Chinese traditional medicine mixed with dry instant noodles smell on me. This, unfortunately, is a very strong scent, and you can smell it from a formal job interview distance.
Post Description: What turned into the dry instant noodles smell? I'm guessing all the black notes is what makes this so bitter.
Princess & Playtime Solid Perfume Review
First of all, I have to say, the free sample size is extremely generous. Here it is with a HoG mini & a tub of eyeshadow for scale:
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| The eyeshadow's a Dawn Eyes' customized colour! Will post swatches soon, but definitely check out the amazing thing Dawn is doing for her sister here. |
These melt easily on your skin, but is oily as it melts. One thing I like about the solid perfumes is that it takes of the sharp, straight to your head feeling you get when you sniff the perfume oils. It definitely has less throw (you need to smell close to your skin), but it's worth it for me. The sugary scent is also less sharp and intense, but it still smells too much like a room spray to me. I guess this isn't for me.
