Dark Chocolate Fudge Taffy Pull - Violette Market

First sniff: 
Just lots of chocolate.

First applied: 
Chocolate and something a bit watery, sort of reminds me of Tom Ford's Black Orchid. There's a definite floral note but I can't place it - something delicate. This is quite faint too - I slathered a bit but the sillage is not at all high.

After 30 mins: 
A watery floral with a bit of a chocolate base note, pretty but not at all what I would expect by the name.

After 3 hours: 
The base has deepened a little and it's slightly more chocolatey than it was at the 30 minute mark; the aquatic floral is still there and seems to be the main focus. The perfume overall is quite faint now - this one doesn't hang around too long.

Longevity: 
Two to three hours. 

Actual notes/description: 
Dark chocolate fudge with hints of Bourbon vanilla, vanilla cream, pink sugar cane, lemon blossom, orange cream, raspberry truffle, blueberry and caramel. 

Availability: 
Violette Market
Limited Edition - State Fair 2012 
No longer readily available. You might pick it up in private sales.

Beguiled - Haus of Gloi

Details:
Beguiled
Summer Collection 
Haus of Gloi

Notes: 
Lemon cake made with the tang of fresh buttermilk and raspberry coulis - an otherwise innocent cake corrupted by cardamom and deceptive pink peppercorns.

Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaake! (That's an in joke for Jacquie.)
This perfume is not so much cake to me, more like a sweet lemon custard. It's quite strong at first but does mellow. Very, very lemony for quite a while - thankfully not the toilet cleaner kind of lemon! The lemon fades a little in the dry down and blends more in with the other notes. This is when it becomes more cakey in my mind. I didn't get the spices at all - I found it very smooth all the way through. I did say earlier in the year I was a bit over cake/dessert scents, but I would almost be tempted to buy a full size of this one. It's very well done and super pretty. If you like gourmand scents, this is definitely one worth checking out. Beguiled lasted about 7 hours on me before I felt I needed to reapply.

Rating: 
4/5

Day 198!

Edit: Liber Vix made a cake from this scent's notes and it looks and sounds amazing. Definitely going to try this! 

Pig & Pepper - Twyla Perfumes

Details:
Pig & Pepper
Twyla Perfumes & Apothecary

Notes: 
Cyclamen, raspberry, rose, milk accord, amber, mimosa, honey and pink pepper. 

Sometimes I have a week where everything seems like a dud, and sometimes I have a week where I like pretty much everything I test. I wonder if that's just chance or if there is a body chemistry thing going on. For example, I wonder if I'm having 'lady's days', my skin chemistry changes to make everything smell either really crap or really good. Interesting. Or maybe just creepy.

Anyway, this has been a pretty decent week and this is the third one in a row that I've tested and really enjoyed. In the vial I can smell rose, mimosa and honey, it's bright and sweet and a tiny bit fruity. Once applied the pepper gives it a bit of a spicy kick, and the raspberry adds a nice tart element to balance the sweetness. The amber is there in the dry down but doesn't amp on me for once - it just makes everything else smell a bit deeper. There's a creaminess that I attribute to the milk accord, and overall this is a lovely bright perfume that I'd probably wear more in the spring and early summer.

Sillage was medium, as was lasting power. I reapplied after about 6 hours.

Rating: 
4/5

Day 158!

Razzouli - Alchemic Muse

Details: 
Razzouli
Valentine's Day (?)
Alchemic Muse

Notes: 
An enticing mix of sweet raspberry puree, ruby red grapefruit and creamy vanilla combined with deep earthy base of dark patchouli.

In the vial, this is a tart fruity berry scent, but once applied there's a lovely creaminess there that makes this less about fruit and more about dessert. I really liked the way the tartness of the berries and the sweetness of the vanilla blended together. I had no idea there was even patchouli in it until I looked at the notes later on - it certainly never came out on me (thankfully).

There's nothing amazing going on here, but it's a cute, fun foodie perfume that I enjoyed wearing for a day. Sillage and longevity are medium - I reapplied after about 5 hours.

Rating: 
3/5

Day 151! 

Puce! - Possets Perfume

Details: 
Puce! 
Possets Perfume

Notes: 
THE popular color in the 18th century. No self respecting dandy would dream of having a waistcoat of another color, no lady would think of ordering a moire silk dress in any other hue. Reviled and lauded, snickered at and loved, puce is the color of controversy. A moderate value bluish red at a low intensity. Slight spice and a hint of raspberry cozy up to a distant and ditsy pressed floral whiff. Captivating and romantic as only puce could possibly be. Live the legend of PUCE! Sweet, foody, gourmand, fruity.

In the vial this is spicy and fizzy, and reminds me of sherbet. Once applied it’s very sweet and lollyish, with a bit of light bright fruitiness (the kind I hate). The dry down smells exactly like Fruit Tingles. I haven’t eaten those for years, but after smelling this perfume I wanted to go out and buy some. Overall though, this was definitely not me. Maybe I would have liked it if I were 12 years old – I feel like even Noodles is too old for it. Sillage was fairly low, but lasting power was good (or bad, depending on how you look at it) – it stuck around for about 5 hours or so. 

Rating: 
2/5 Not quite a scrubber, but a little on the sickly side.

Day 64!

Love Bite - Alchemic Muse

Details:
Love Bite
Valentine's Day
Alchemic Muse

Notes: 
Sugary ripe raspberries over a blanket of pink and white rose petals with hints of warm musk, sweet and creamy vanilla, and just a delicate breath of white lilies and fresh peonies.

In the vial and when first applied this is all rose - hugely so. It's quite strong and a bit on the creamy side. I love rose, but sometimes it goes crazy on me, and this seems to be one of those times. For a good 20 minutes or so that's all I could smell. When it started to dry down the rose finally subsided a fair bit and I could smell the raspberry and a sweet, slightly sugary vanilla musk. The rose is still there all the way through but not nearly as powerful as in the beginning. Once it dries down, this perfume sits quite close to the skin, but it lasted a really long time on me. I put it on about dinner time and could still smell it on my wrist the next morning. I don't know where the lilies and peonies were - I never picked those up at all.

Rating: 
3/5 Super pretty, but I'm not sure I'd get use of a full bottle. I have too many other rose scents.

Day 34!