28 Le Cherche Midi 2013

First of all, many thanks to Franfan for giving us the opportunity to test some Le Cherche Midis.
Unfortunately, the package arrived just in time for me, so I didn't have as much time to test as I initially thought, and I had to quickly decide which one I would test more thoroughly to write a comment.

Since this one has my birthday number, and it didn't have any comments yet, I decided on #28.

Again, the pyramid makes little sense to me.

Milk is very recognizable, especially at the top, where you can smell a kind of sweet milk, a sort of bear milk or that sweet English thick milk if that means anything to anyone?
You can also buy it in German supermarkets (or at least in Indian shops), "pure" it is certainly eaten by fewer people, but it is used in England for some desserts. However, I don't know much about that, as I almost never eat sweets, and even less the kind made with this special type of thick sweet milk.
Milk pudding smells different, so don't confuse it.
But milky, thick, and sweet is the top note.

It lasts relatively long, only to make way for a more aquatic note, which is not my thing at all. Whether it should be Fleur de Sel - salt flower??? unfortunately, I can hardly speak any French, although Parfumo has some information - I can't say either.
And how gunpowder is supposed to smell, I can say even less!

The whole thing has a really synthetic undertone, but I have to see this gunpowder as a marketing trick, as No.28 really only smells of sweet, thick milk at first, then after about 2 hours it changes to a synthetic, slightly aquatic tone.
And it stays that way.

No leather, no iris for me.
And even less pear.

If anything, then more honey to the milk, which is most likely coming from the incense given in the pyramid, a little bit of something burnt - but I can't really recognize incense as such...
I only suspected it and thought there might be some incense. Unfortunately, not a nice one.
Within the first 2 hours, there was also a bit of something sharp, which I could again attribute to a little pinch of pepper. But gunpowder? In any case, it doesn't smell like Chinese firecrackers, New Year's rockets, or star rain sticks, which I could then consider as gunpowder.

Quite strange overall.
The top note is indeed peculiar; with more time, one could get used to it and perhaps even find it pleasant in a special way, it is certainly extraordinary.
But for me, it's far too sweet at first, and later on, far too synthetic and unpleasant.
The longevity is also impressive - with water and soap, you can't get rid of it that easily, but this synthetic base still smells on the skin the next day, luckily the sillage is no longer there.
You can only spray something strong and spicy over it to cover the scent, so I advise against testing this "fragrance" on the neck unless you find it great from the start to the base.

Due to the top note, I can still give 30%, but for my birthday, I will definitely prefer other scents - I won't wish for burnt bear milk with pepper as a birthday dessert, I'd rather have classic rice pudding if there's no strawberry cake!

Le Cherche Midi really doesn't seem to be my brand, as I have smelled much better and more interesting "unbearable" scents, for example from Comme des Garçons.
Cheers! ;)