u/Aenwyn

Hi all:

Wanted to get some new decants as I am continuing my hunt for a good lemon/vanilla cake like gourmand as well as photorealistic chocolate gourmands. I will include some mini reviews of fragrances I have tried.

Lemon/vanilla: looking for something like lemon cake, but nothing TOO plastic-y or synthetic.

What I've tried/have bottles or samples of:

• Al-Rehab Soft: Had this for a year, it look several months to stop smelling like lemon cleaner. It is much more gourmand now, lasts and projects. A good cheapie but it's still about 10% lemon cleaner and there is some aromachemical I can't smell but my nose doesn't like. I still like it though. I usually wash this off after 15-30 minutes.
• Kayali Capri in a Bottle Lemon Sugar: A little too candy-sweet and I really hate the musk drydown in this frag as well as YBM. I am bummed about this.
• Akro Bake: I like this one a lot, it smells like a better quality version of the Kayali frag above. Smells like lemon candies, not bad projection initially. Unfortunately I go nose blind to this within 15 minutes or so (and I took two week break from fragrances due to a recent medical procedure, so this is truly unfortunate). Might try this one again on clothing, but last wear test didn't make much of a difference.
• Lira: I actually love this but I have the same issue as above with Akro Bake, beautiful opening but I smell literally nothing after 15 minutes. I also get a mild cat pee smell when applied on skin (I think from the blood orange). This would be my top pick, I love the blood orange and the spices. Might try this one again on clothing.
• Devotion/Victoria: I have Victoria and it grew on me a lot after the first year, but it's not exactly lemon cake to my nose. Maybe holiday fruit cake? Looking for more cake and less spice. This one performs well and is overall a great buy if you like the scent profile.

What I ordered but have not yet tried: decants of Empire Victor as well as a new Lira dupe (Casamorando Royale). Not optimistic about the Lira dupe but the sample size I ordered is small.

Eyeing: Ex Idolo Love & Crime, Dulcis in Fundo

Chocolate: I would like something that is straight chocolate cake, dark chocolate or Hershey's syrup, again not too plastic-y or chemical-y. Espresso notes OK but not preferred, same with fruit notes. A good example might be the Posh Chocolate body wash/lotion from Lush.

What I've tried/own:

• Lattafa Choco Overdose: I've had a bottle of this since release. It is very close to what I am looking for, but still has a mild balsamic note that is more noticeable in the drydown. Letting it sit for the time being. In the beginning it smelled like BBW Chocolate Amber but it is much more similar to chocolate brownie now.
• Choco Musk: I have had my bottle and roller oil for a year and oh my goddd they have improved so much! Beautiful cocoa powder + marshmallow. Such a good cheapie. Looking for something closer to dark chocolate, chocolate cake/brownie or Hershey's syrup, but I do love LOVE this one now.
• Wicked Good Cocoa Butter: photorealistic Palmer's cocoa butter, it's not bad but not as chocolate-y as I would like.
• Palmer's body oil: Same as above.
• Dulce Fundamentum: Bianco Latte but with chocolate. It's really good, projects well and lasts. Highly recommend this one. Content to stick to this one if I can't find something similar to what I'm looking for.
• Random chocolate fragrance oil from Amazon: actually not terrible, I should try turning it into a fragrance sometime but would like to see if I can find something better.

Eyeing: Velvet Chocolate, Over the Chocolate Shop.

Also considering the following, but mildly ruled out due to not being a perfect fit (open to reconsider though!): Akro Dark, Chocolate Greedy, Chocolate Queen, Choco Loco, Bisquit, Lait et Chocolat, Sorriso, Chocolate Citronique, Le Gourmand. Le Gourmand sounds really good, as does Chocolate Greedy, but online reviews said both can smell a little synthetic? Can anyone confirm/deny?

Also open to a chocolate/strawberry or chocolate cherry fragrance, but read mixed reviews on the fragrances I did find (Lattafa Mayar Cherry Intense, Afnan Modest Deux). I did recently get a travel size of LVEB L'Elixir and enjoy that one quite a bit (cocoa/raspberry), not sure how I feel about the hairspray note though--hope it fades to the background a bit over time.

Sorry this is a lot, but definitely would like to hear about other people's experiences! Hope my mini review helps someone too :)