As Dark Things Are Meant to be Loved Alkemia 2015

This is a unique, complex fragrance that’s hard to pin down. Honestly, I don’t know what a lot of the notes in this are meant to smell like, so I’m just enjoying the enigmatic end result: slightly boozy, a little fruity, sweet, decidedly dark, gourmand but more than JUST gourmand. When I smelled this for the first time, I couldn’t pinpoint what I was smelling at all, and it’s only with repeated wearings and comparing to the notes lists that I’ve been able to figure out what I THINK is going on here.

I believe I smell coconut, a dark rich spiced fruitcake, a hint of coffee, and a pretty strong incense note. The type of incense used here gives it a faintly soapy quality, but it’s not the overbearing, harsh laundry detergent soapiness that many Alkemia scents have - it’s more floral-smoky, and I really love it. In the drydown this scent takes on a bit of the dusty vanillic quality of old books.

For such a dense scent profile, it’s surprisingly light and easy to wear, while having some of the better performance of the Alkemia scents I’ve tried. I also think it can be unisex, although it’s probably more traditionally feminine in a dark, sexy, femme fatale way. I’d recommend it for the cooler months of the year.

As Dark Things Are Meant to be Loved is a somewhat frustrating scent, mainly because of the difference between how you expect it to smell - based on the evocative description - and how it actually smells. Instead of a rich, smoky brew of tea, leather, and incense, for instance, there is the brusque astringency of coffee, tobacco, and coconut husk.

I wish I knew what caramelized opium was supposed to smell like so that I could comment on authenticity. Either way, nothing spicy or dangerous seems to show up. It smells of dusty brown disappointment. As Dark Things Are Meant to be Loved is a somber, slim-hipped whippet of a scent that lends itself well to moody introspection and lonely walks in the rain, therefore meeting one hundred percent of the goal expressed in the name of the perfume but zero percent of the expectations raised by its list of notes.

I am really warming up to the category of dark gourmands. This is beautiful. How the hell did Alkemia make an incense smell edible? None of the notes specifically stand out but rather they have blended into this smoky, delicious, resinous, velvety scent. It's really not as overwhelming as notes would imply. It's easy to wear and pleasant. I think it's the coconut that adds the creaminess without actually smelling coconut-y.

I smell the coconut, but for once doesn't make me think nor of summer nor of sea and neither of desserts. I don't have any idea of HOW, but it blends in beautifully with frankincense and opium. Same goes with coffee. It comes out as very mysterious, intriguing, there is a good oud that lingers in the background. To my nostrils, this perfume doesn't make sense. To my brain, it's so evocative it's kinda scary. I love it.

Sometimes in life, expectations and actual reality can be very far apart.

I don't want to say anything, but let your gaze linger for a moment on the fragrance notes....take in the words: Lapsang Souchong tea, Russian leather, oud, black amber, patchouli, Breuzinho, bakhoor, labdanum, TEMPLE INCENSE deeply into your consciousness!

What do you think the fragrance will offer you?

Right, the incense will make you tear up,
"Vi Et Armis East India" is a joke in comparison, for a cozy "cuddle evening" with your girlfriend.
You wear "Cardinal" for "making love".

Well........*NOPE*
If the fragrance had been called "Dip chocolate cookies in warm tea with honey and orange and lemon in the sauna area," then......*sigh* well.... then I would have known what I was getting.

But the saying: "What you see is what you get" has never strayed so far for me with any perfume as it has with this one!

So what do you get?
A "chocolate black tea Jaffa cake" gourmand bomb of the highest quality with "orange speckles," somewhere there’s also a slight smoky note "hiding" (but not a normal smoky note, it’s somehow like the scent in a sauna landscape in the relaxation area)......where that comes from is a mystery to me *wink*

The longevity is extremely good (10 hours +)
The sillage, on the other hand, is "pleasant" at half a meter without filling rooms.