Hey there A Bottled Rose, It’s Mood Scent 4 week. WOO HOO! With the first Monday of this month the crew are looking at gorgeous gourmand fragrances. As much as I Pooh-Poohed gourmands in my early perfume years they seem to have grown on me. There’s so much choice from bakery to berry, cheesecake and chocolate to fairy floss and rice pudding. All are edible, sweet, delectable and make up an enormous sector of the current scent selection available.
Obviously, these favourite choices are subject to change, daily.
Can’t wait to read about your gorgeous gourmand favourites in the comments too.
So excited to be blogging with these three superstars again: Esperanza L’Esperessence, Megan Megan In Sainte Maxime and Samantha I Scent You A Day. Check theirs out too.
Mood Scent 4: Gorgeous Gourmands
Ambre Céruléen by Huitième Art
Amber, that delicious Asiatic inspired mixture of resins like benzoin and labdanum with vanilla. Often animals as we’ll as sweet. Here Pierre Guillaume shows his deft touch with sweetness. Ambre Céruléen is sweet but never sickly or cloying, there always feels like there is space between the notes. A dry, non bakery sweetness that still remains deliciously gourmand.
Crème de Cuir by bdk Parfums
Crème de Cuir is a very interesting gourmand to me. The opening of sweet fruits hides a heart and dry down of lightly salted, creamy sandalwood and leather. Two entirely different perfumes in one and the journey from fruit to creamy leather is as interesting as it is unusual. Not a big statement perfume but something you might look out for, if only for novelty value.
Lolita Lempicka EdP
I was unsure whether to pick Liberté, Angel, Élégance Animale or Madness but I felt that Lolita Lempicka is the most wearable, and beautiful, of them all. Also, it’s still widely available and I think it’s mean offering you too many things that are DCd or impossible to find. Lavender cotton candy! Sounds freaking ridiculous but it isn’t. Somehow Lolita Lempicka EdP remains serene and elegant.
Morn to Dusk by Eau d’Italie
The thickest caramel vanilla in my collection. Like peanut brittle toffee without the peanuts. Morn to Dusk in outrageously over the top and thick. If you aren’t a fan of heavy, rich, sweet and nuanced tapestries then you should probably leave it on the shelf. BUT: if you think you can handle an uber vanilla rush then you might also fall for this beauty.
Oriental Brulant by Guerlain
Guerlain has long been at the forefront of the gourmand explosion. People point to Angel but I personally call Shalimar the original gourmand. Oriental Brulant is a perfectly poised rendition of a sweet bakery gourmand. Citrus, almonds, tonka bean and vanilla offset by styrax, the spicy/floral/animalic also known as benzoin. Now only available in Paris in the large red quadrille bottle.
Premier Figuier Extreme by L’Artisan Parfumeur
FIGS! While I don’t love then in real life I find the scent in perfume intoxicating. A 2004 remastering of the original. Here Olivia Giacobetti doubles down on the creaminess. Coconut milk, almond milk, sandalwood and the fig note itself making an almost fig thick shake or fig ice cream. Heavenly stuff.
So there are my Mood Scent 4: Gorgeous Gourmands
What are your most loved gorgeous gourmand fragrances?
Portia xx
A Bottled Rose 
I’m not a huge gourmand fan but I enjoy some of them.
Angel Taste of Fragrance… I bought it because I liked the original Angel (though stopped wearing it), so I thought I’d wear this one but somehow I don’t. I need to get it out and give it a swirl.
Jo Malone Sweet Milk is wonderful. My original 30 ml bottle is almost empty, but luckily I have a BU bottle. Somewhere.
I liked Serge Lutens Jeux de Peau enough to buy a decant… 9 year ago. I enjoy it every time when I wear it… every 6-10 months 🙂
So, all-in-all, I’m probably not the hugest gourmand fan.
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Hey Undina,
I bought the Alien Taste Of Fragrance. Similarly to you I adore it but it almost never gets a wear. It’s boxed in a box. I also need to ferret it out and give it some skin time.
Damn!
If I’d thought of it Alien Taste Of Fragrance would have been excellent for this piece. Except it’s virtually unobtainable anymore.
Portia xx
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Huge gourmand lover here. I have pretty much all the Guerlain gourmands, including Oriental Brûlant. Dior Fève Délicieuse, Xerjoff Lira, Indult Tihota, Kilian Love, Blend Oud Sana, Farmacia SS Annunziata Vaniglia di Madagascar, Profumum Vanitas & Dulcis in Fundo, 4160 Tuesdays Over the Chocolate Shop, I could go on and on.
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Hey TaraC,
Fève Délicieuse was on the list but got edged out. It’s amazing and I love it but it felt a little bit close to Oriental Brulant and I was trying to give a cross section.
What a cool line up of lovelies you have. I already knew that though.
Portia xx
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Hi Portia, great line up, we both chose Lolita Lempicka! You are right it is elegant and serene. The bdk Creme de Cuir sounds intriguing, fruits and sweet leather, wow. XxxEsperanza
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Hey there esperanza!
We SNAPPED! So cool.
Creme de Cuir is lovely, muted but very interesting.
Portia xx
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Hey Portia,
I’ve turned into such a sugary perfume phobic I don’t own any gourmand fragrances. Shalimar would be my choice if you consider it the original.
I admire Oriental Brulant and Crème de Cuir does sound interesting.
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Hey Tara,
Thank you so much for hosting me here.
I didn’t know you were gourmand averse. That’s so interesting. How about amber? Do you have any of those?
Portia x
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Not really a gourmand fan. However, I do have and love and wear Angel Muse. And the same with Shalimar if that counts. Have never found a PG to like. As Tara said, the Creme de Cuir does sound interesting and like I might try it if I came cross it. xxx
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Angel Muse is so interesting Val. Like milky drinks on my skin, weird and enticing.
I think Creme de Cuir might be a win for you. none of the scratchy niche woods that you hate and the fruitiness is very mellow.
Portia xx
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Not a gourmand fan in parfum either… Do Iris Ganache (Guerlain) and La Femme Bleue (Armani) count ? Chocolate both 😉
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Lady Jane Grey,. they are the definition of Glorious Gourmands. you have exquisite taste. (you knew that already)
So nice to see you. Are you Vienna still? We’ll be there in November.
Portia xx
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EXCELLENT – SEE YOU IN NOVEMBER !!!😀😘
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YAY!
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I am not too much into gourmands. I would consider Fils de Dieu and Covet my only gourmand scents. At the moment i am more in love with Chypre.
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Tanja,
I love chypre too. Especially the early and mid 20th century ones.
Do you have a favourite?
Portia xx
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I love Niki, Empreinte and a new favorite is Pour La Belle, which is an exclusive of the Schlossparfumerie in Stuttgart
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OOOH! Colour me interested.
Portia xx
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Hi Portia! I love how your choices always have at least one I know and one I don’t. Lolita Lempicka is a classic. I never get tired of it. I also adore Premier Figuier in all its forms but I haven’t heard of any of the others. I like it that way. Just when I think I’ve heard of every perfume, I learn that all I know is that I know nothing. With fragrance, you’ll never get bored. Great selection and a pleasure to write with you.
Sam xxx
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Hey sam,
YAY that we both love Lolita and L’Artisan.
Isn’t it exciting getting new stuff on your radar? Sure, none of us need more perfume but sometimes the one you’ve been unwittingly looking for turns up in other peoples lists and BOOM!
Yeah, I love this Mood scent 4 project too.
Portia xx
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Hello Portia 💥 great choices and some I haven’t tried or heard of if I’m honest – the BDK one is new to me. Premier Figuier is ⚡️ and of course Lolita Lempicka too! Xx
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Hey there Megan,
OOOH! I’m surprised you haven’t seen the bdk Parfums. They’re quite popular in Oz and I liked the whole line when I gave them a cursory sniff. Creme de Cuir stole my heart so much I bought a bottle though so it’s the one I’m most familiar with.
Portia xx
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I love so many gourmand scents that my mind has predictably gone blank trying to think of them. Okay, PG Brulure de Rose is a fave, also Cristobal by Balenciaga which I think is discontinued and which had a figgy pudding vibe going on that your inclusion of Premier Figuier Extreme in the post made me think of. And Oriental Brulant has reminded me of Angelique Noire! I do also love Fils de Dieu that Tanja mentioned. And loads more that will possibly come to me later. But not Lolita Lempicka, as it is has lavender and is a bit weird to my nose.
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Hey Vanessa,
SO INTERESTING that Lolita Lempicka is weird to your nose. Are you generally lavender averse? Did you ever wear Covet by SJP or Caron Pour un Homme?
Portia xx
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