The Little X-Mas Factory essence 2016

Last night after dinner, my boyfriend and I went shopping - doing the big weekly grocery shopping. Because it's so nice and quiet in the evening after 8 PM, so late.

For my boyfriend, shopping in the evening is more pleasant because we shop very differently:
I get distracted by every little thing, looking at children's toys - neither of us has a child - Advent calendars with tools inside, various types of vinegar - I am what one now calls a foodie - colorful synthetic socks that I would never buy, simply everything I would love to look at, examine, and ponder forever whether I need it, or just want to buy it for the sake of it.
That stresses him.

He already goes through the order of the items on the escalator, to then race through the aisles at breakneck speed, throwing everything into the cart and trying to set a new record in the discipline of 'quick shopping'.
That stresses me.

"I'm just quickly at the make-up section, looking for a new eyebrow pencil," I say to him while he grabs tissues and shower gel, and I head off - I already know that I will probably take a bit longer than for the actual search for an eyebrow pencil, as my 'regular product' has unfortunately been discontinued.
Upon arriving in the department, a limited edition catches my eye at a counter - in Christmas colors. And something that looks like a perfume! My curiosity is piqued once again.
In front of the perfume box yawns an unfortunately empty spot where the tester should be. Hm, should I stand around forever and think, or should I - we both agreed to make an effort while shopping to minimize stress - pull myself together and decide more quickly. So I quickly put the box in the cart, along with the things I really need.
When unpacking the goods, he holds the box in his hand, glances at it briefly, seems to wonder only for a moment, and places it on the conveyor belt at the checkout.

This morning it was finally time, my boyfriend is already out of the house, I have duty later and test the new scent.
As I learned at home, the scent is supposed to smell like cranberry. I love cranberries, I even like to cook cranberry sauce for savory dishes in winter. Right after spraying it on, it begins!
But _this_ berry was not mentioned?! More fitting for this specimen would be Cryberry, or in German, Brüllbeere.
It overpowers everything else for almost two hours:
The other listed notes in the top and heart notes, and even my beloved smoked Earl Grey tea (the one for drinking, not a perfume). With every movement, berry and I am already tempted to wash it off; it annoys me.
But I hold on. The berry does too.
It sings at full volume: "My sister's name is Polyester, she’s been sucking on the same yellow plastic candy for almost 9 years!".

After almost two hours, the berry seems tired, it fades, only humming softly to itself, snuggling into a soft blanket of vanilla and lots and lots of caramel, and finally falls asleep.
The tonka bean apparently couldn't take it and, before I could discover it, disappeared without a trace. But that's okay.

Well then. Pleasant. This is how we can tolerate each other.
At least at home. Sometimes. Okay, probably only very rarely. And only when it's just the two of us. Then maybe the Cryberry can come out of its plain little flacon again, because I unfortunately find it a bit too difficult to get through the previous phase.

In summary:

The scent delivers what it promises. It costs under 5 euros and the packaging states exactly what it offers, namely berry and vanilla. That's okay.

The box is in matte red. On it is a green leaf wreath, in its inner white center, the name of the perfume is in shiny gold lettering.
Around the entire area of the green wreath and the white circle, you can see small white snowflakes.
Pretty, I like the packaging.
On the back, in two Christmas ornaments, it says "get your special christmas feeling with me!" and "magical berry & vanilla notes".
I only read both after the test - to be precise, at the moment I turned the box around to describe it here.

The flacon is simple, with rounded corners, and the scent inside has a minimal pink tint.
The spray unit, however, is fine and does not look cheap.
Unfortunately, the flacon overall does not seem particularly high-quality, as the cap does not close properly and slips off very easily.

The longevity is quite okay for a scent in this price range.
Unfortunately, I cannot assess the sillage, as I perceived the cranberry as so strong that I cannot distinguish whether the intensity was due to my perception or focus on it, or if the sillage of the scent is indeed that expansive.

So where does 'The Balance in Person' in the title come from?
I don't mean the scent, but my boyfriend.
He already knows at the checkout in the supermarket that I won't really wear the scent, but will continue with my beloved Lehmann scents, Serge Lutens, and other tried and true ones; I just want to take it out of curiosity for everything that smells.
Nevertheless, he doesn't complain, but accepts me, my quirks, and allows me my joy in little things like this drugstore scent.