Pumpkin Strumpet Alkemia Perfumes

Desirability: Full bottle

If smelling like a sweet spiced pumpkin pie is your thing and Etat Libre d'Orange's Like This was not enough to satisfy your dessert cravings, look no further than Alkemia's Pumpkin Strumpet. If you didn't already know, Alkemia is one of the first indie perfume oil stores on Etsy and is definitely my go-to for desserts in a bottle. Besides gourmand scents, Alkemia Perfumes has a multitude of other fragrances to fulfil many desires and if you can't decide on just one, the Etsy store offers a 3 for 30 Set - Any Three 5 ml Alkemia Fragrances for 30 Dollars USD. Since the perfume oils are highly concentrated, a little goes a very long way. 

Alkemia describes Pumpkin Strumpet as such: 

A decadent blend of rich pumpkin, caramelized sugar, Madagascar vanilla, precisely balanced with a swirl of cinnamon, ginger, & clove and a tiny drop of amber musk. In a famous study by the Smell & Taste Treatment & Research Foundation, pumpkin pie was found to be the scent most arousing to men. We are not responsible for any indecencies caused by wearing this mouth-wateringly delicious temptation.

I don't totally agree on its seductive powers having tried and failed but then again the fault could lie with me but anyway, I fully agree that it is decadent and sets the salivary glands working and endorphins racing when sniffed. I don't smell the amber or musk per se but the scent gives off a warm and cuddly glow that is reminiscent of amber and musk fragrances. Pumpkin Strumpet is delicious if simple, very affordable and delivers on its promises. What are you waiting for? 

Source: www.theyummylife.com

Cologne of Love Le Couvent des Minimes

Desirability: Full bottle and back up

Source: www.fabfitfun.com

A cross between an orange popsicle and a cologne. 

On the sweeter side of life but not cloying and enjoyable even in humid tropical weather, Eau Aimable is a sunny scent brimming with honeyed orange blossoms and sweet oranges. Actually it smells like orange cordial with a floral touch and a refined manner. If orange cordial was made of natural stuff that is because Eau Aimable despite its saccharine content does smell natural. More feminine than unisex I see this appealing to those who love their gourmands and those who love their orange blossoms sweetened, like the liberally sugared orange blossom Love from By Kilian but Eau Aimable lacks the cotton candy effect of Love. 

Unlike some niche brands that consistently under perform, both Eau des Missions and Cologne of Love have excellent projection and longevity on me. At the prices that they are available at online, I firmly believe they are a great bargain and highly recommend them.  

Gourmand Coquin Guerlain

Desirability: Decant

Source: www.guerlain.com

Love the bottle and the marketing blurb behind the Elixir Charnel range from Guerlain. Taking this excerpt from the description for Gourmand Coquin on Guerlain's website:

 A delicious and sexy fragrance reflecting a mischievous, intrepid and charming woman. 

Who wouldn't want to be all that? I know I would. 

The thing that frustrates me about Gourmand Coquin and holds me back from getting a full bottle, is that the vanilla outweighs the chocolate on me. Yes the chocolate is there, a divine milky chocolate bar that's covered by...vanilla. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the vanilla, it's a gourmand dream of a yummy sweet vanilla but my vanilla corner is densely populated from gourmands to woody to vampy and currently on the pedestal is Vanitas who won't be happy with competition. 

Gourmand Coquin besides the chocolate and vanilla is lightly spiced and slightly boozy, giving one a festive air of partying and indulging without the hangover and self recriminations. Well done, smoothly blended. It's Guerlain. So back to the advertisement. Yes it's delicious if you are into gourmands, yes it's sexy if well you get turned on by dessert, mischievous and charming it is but intrepid...hmm. That's something I would reserve for Mona di Orio's Vanille instead.

Valentine's Day is around the corner so if you are feeling particularly generous and loving, I can let you know where to send a bottle :) Oh and if it's not too much trouble I'll take bottles of Oriental Brulant and Angélique Noire too :)

Dambrosia Profumum Roma

Source: Fragrantica

I love eating figs fresh or dried and have recently started looking to expand the fig section of my scent wardrobe, Diptyque's green and woody Philosykos having been the stand alone fig for the past three years. 

Caramelised Figs with Hazelnuts. Source: teaforsix.com

Profumum Roma offers both options when it comes to fig, Ichnusa a herbal non sweet green fig that I recall was interesting and quite special but not something I would wear often therefore a 100 ml would be wasted on me and then there is Dambrosia on the opposite end of the spectrum of fig, that's more like a fig dessert and is perfect company for the other gourmands in the Profumum Roma range. 

On paper it's sparkling and green but the freshness is more transient on skin and it's a lusciously sweet fig and pear fruit salad that develops on skin with a dollop of cream to make it just a bit sinful. My cravings go haywire as the day progresses with Dambrosia evolving from fig as a healthy fruit to fig in a fruit salad to a caramelised fig served with vanilla ice-cream, one of my favourite desserts, it's heaven crunching through the thinly glazed outer shell and biting into the succulent ripe belly of the fig. Also in the dry down I smell a sweet woody note that reminds me of Le Labo's Santal 33, an airy sweet sandalwood that's perfect for tropical weather and matches perfectly well with my fig dessert. 

Fig+Pear Tart w/Honeyed Goat Cheese & Balsamic Caramelized Onions.
Source: meritandfork.com

Dambrosia in mythology is nectar for the gods and compared with the other gourmands that I've tried from Profumum Roma such as Vanitas, Confetto, Dulcis in Fundo, Sorriso etc, Dambrosia is not as sweet as Vanitas and is more on par with Battito d'Ali's level of sweetness which is mildly sweet (apart from the candied orange blossom opening) and not tooth-decayingly so. Dambrosia may not be as unique as Ichnusa (based on my quick sampling of Ichnusa anyway) but I'm more of a Dambrosia girl and would prefer to smell Ichnusa on someone else. Projection and longevity are superb for Dambrosia.     

Roses Greedy Mancera

Desirability: Sample

Thanks to a generous fellow fragrance traveller, I am wearing a huge sample of this to bed tonight. Despite it's name, I am getting equal shares of jasmine and roses. It opens with a bright burst of citrus before the sweet rose and intoxicating jasmine appear. The vanilla and sugar are dominant players in this scent. 

For the longest time I've been trying to figure out why this smells so familiar and finally I realised it smells like bandung! Bandung is a popular drink in Singapore made of condensed milk and rose syrup which gives the drink it's rosy pink colour and a what is meant to be a rose flavour? Artificial and full of calories, it's still a tasty local treat. 

picture of Bandung drinks, taken from soshiok.com

Other desserts that Roses Greedy brings to mind are the delicately flavoured Laduree Petale de Rose macarons. 

Rose macarons, Laduree, taken from Paris Patisseries.

So overall Roses Greedy is a delicious gourmand scent on my skin. The rose does not smell like a natural rose on me so if that is what you are looking for, I would not suggest this. However if you enjoy sweet rose-water in drink and food, this might be right up your alley.