Telekinec

I was one of the lucky ones who received a sample of this fragrance with a purchase from Sephora Canada when it was available. I waited until it was announced and entered in the Parfumo database before trying it.

Touted as the little sister to "Vanilla | 28 | Kayali", she's more like the middle child between the aforementioned fragrance and "The Wedding Silk Santal | 36 | Kayali" (without the praline note). Those who missed the latter will probably find solace in this one (although rumors of Silk Santal coming back have been circulating). The beginning is sweet and delightfully creamy, at times a bit overwhelming. It is light and airy, but at the same time quite sugary sweet. It reminded me a bit of an undescript B&B sweet fragrance. The middle notes gives off a sweetness that reminded me of crystaliized honey which is probably coming from the white caramel. Underneath the mound of sugary sweetness lies ylang ylang which has a slightly fruity and tropical facet while jasmine has a fruity and powdery aspect. If the top and middle notes remind me of Silk Santal | 36, the drydown does gives deeper and more complex notes reminiscent of Vanilla | 28. Cashmere wood adds this comforting velvety feeling while patchouli is dark and earthy, tempering down the sweetness that was quite apparent at the beginning. Vetiver adds warmth while tonka beans and sandalwood further reinforces this impression. There's no woody notes coming in from the sandalwood. Rock sugar adds a gourmand finishing touch.

There's quite a stark difference bewteen 2/3rd of the perfume and its drydown. The first part is young, sweet and delightful like candy while the drydown is deeper with complexity and a more mature take on sweetness. When the most volatile notes have left my skin, cashmere wood and tonka bean remain the strongest giving a velvety and powdery sugared skin scent.

The drydown is probably the reason why I gave this fragrance a score of 8/10. I still don't know if I'll get a full bottle or not (I do admit the bottle is gorgeous with its pink iridiscent finish). The top and middle notes remind me way too much of Silk Santal and I don't feel like Vanilla Candy Rock Sugar | 42 (VCRS) really stands out as a different or unique offering from Kayali. Like I've mentioned before, VCRS stands in the middle bewteen Vanilla | 28 and Silk Santal | 36. I will say that it's lighter than Vanilla | 28, offering a good alternative for warmer temperatures if you wish to smell sweet. It's also a bit less perfumey and powdery than Silk Santal | 36. If you own one or both of these fragrances, I'm not sure you really need this one (apart from supporting Kayali or owning the beautiful bottle).

A hint of toasty cinnamon with some tang from ginger. A zest of mandarin with the sweetness of rosewater. Flowers are more subdued, subtle, elegant with the rose being the most prominent. She has a facet of fruitiness that pairs well with the powderiness of the heliotrope. There's a deep woody and green note that rises up which is probably the cypriol. Becomes at time a bit medicinal, almost reminiscient of sanitizer. Strong and at times a bit overpowering, it tempers down the spicy floral accord found at the beginning of the scent. Vanilla, cocoa and rum never got through the cypriol barrier. The drydown becomes this green, herbaceous, almost minty scent that crushed everything else.

At the beginning, it's a gentle, delicate perfume that leans quite feminine to my nose, but the cypriol turned into a villain here. Maybe it's my skin chemistry that brought it to the forefront of this fragrance, but I felt like it was off-balance and way too overpowering. I have the feeling I could probably find something better at a better price (especially for the beautiful top notes) which is the second reason why it won't be added to my collection.

I thought I would love this fragrance based on the notes alone, but thankfully I got a sample from Etiket and never blind-bought it because unfortunately... I did not love it.

As it starts to develop on my skin, there's this warm, Barbie-esque plasticky note that stands out above the rest and is just nasty. Underneath, there's a hint of sugary caramel that tries to peak out. I never caught the honey note. The coumarin is probably the culprit for the weird milky, creamy and lactonic scent that comes up. This lactonic scent was never able to overpower the plasticky accord at the beginning. After about an hour, I'm left with a strong musky vanilla scent that reminded me of "Nemat's Vanilla Musk | Nemat International".

Clearly not what I was expecting from a fragrance that everybody is raving about. I'll unfortunately be passing it up.

Wish I could love this fragrance as much as other people seem to enjoy it, but it wasn't the case. First time I tried it on, it smelled like subdued citrus fruits. There was a weird warm rubbery accord at the edge of the fragrance that I couldn't pass over. It smelled like room-temperature lemon iced tea with a hint of rubbery warmth. There was a faint sting of green somewhere in the beginning, but nothing major.

Second time I tried it on, the room-temperature iced tea scent was still there. It fluctuated and sometimes went towards the functional aspect of lemon cleaner which repelled me and convinced me that this fragrance wouldn't be for me. I have better citrusy fragrances in my collection that don't remind me of house products, so this one won't be making it. The longevity of this perfume is also subpar. After about 2 hours, it was all gone.

I can't recommend this fragrance while there are better smelling and longer lasting citrusy fragrance out there. Unfortunate.

I'm always on the lookout for citrusy fragrances, especially with the warmer weather to come. I was excitedly waiting for it to arrive at Sephora so I could test it out. I'm trying to have different fragrances in my collection, each featuring a citrus fruit and I think I've found the one for yuzu.

When I sprayed it at the store, I could feel something special which is why I immediately purchased it online and got it with a discount. Now that I've had the time to test it out at home and on me, I'm even more certain of my purchase. Yuzu Zest starts out with a zesty, almost bitter, citrusy note. It's refreshing but also light at the same time. Clary sage takes a little longer to appear, but when it does, it lends a tranquil aromatic and herb-like vibe underneath the citrusy vibrance of the fragrance. It's soothing and calming. After awhile, cedarwood comes up, but this time, it's more mild and tempered. There's also an almost creamy warmth and a resinous sweetness I can only assume comes from the fir balsam.

Does Jo Malone reinvent the wheel with this one? Certainly not. But it does provide a comforting and soothing interpretation of yuzu that's sufficiently unisex. Can be worn during warm weather or anytime when you need a little pick-me up. It also has surprisingly better longevity than most of the Jo Malone I've tested which gives it a few more points in my book.