From cola to lemon floor cleaner
Started out SO good and then it flopped, like most scents I've recently been testing in stores.
Smells like cola gummies, fresh, fizzy and sugary at first. After awhile, a strong, fresh, artificial lemony scent comes in that is way too cleaner adjacent. It becomes artificial lemons until the musky starts settling in and then it's those two until the end. Simple, linear and could've been great if the lemon hadn't been cleaner vibes.
Almost went for a bottle until the artifical aspect came in and ruined what could've been good.
Between a chaï latte and a cup of coconut milk
Among the loud offerings of sweet, gourmand, sugary fragrances, we have this one which is a little more subdued, but might just appeal to those who are tired of smelling like realistic dessert and want to feel more toned down.
It's a gourmand, but it's calmer, almost serene-like. It smells like creamy cardamom at first, very chaï latte adjacent, but after a while the coconut aspect comes up and then it starts smelling like a cup of coconut milk. It's creamy, delicious, sweet and vanilla with a tad of synthetic undertone but not too bad. It's a good fit for fall and winter, which is why I question it's release during summer.
Not the best chaï latte flavored fragrance I've smelled since I'm not a fan of coconut, but nonetheless a good alternative to pricier fragrances in this family.
The caramel that went way overboard
I've always been on Kayali's side when it comes to fragrances, but it's been since 2023 that I haven't found a good fragrance from them and I think somewhere over in that year (and going forward) they started to lose their spark and molded themselves to the influencer fragrance hype of things. This is one of the result.
Sprayed it in Sephora and it was all downhill from there. The uber gourmand, sugary, sticky, almost realistic dessert fragrance trend has to end. There's a certain je-ne-sais-quoi to wearing a perfume where suggestion and toned down values are great and this one is all but that. It's loud, overbearing, screeching about how sugar is good and the rest is nothing. Caramel isn't usually a note that my skin chemistry favors and although this one seemed to walk the line of a synthetic caramel flavored candle, I could smell the caramel popcorn coming through. It's creamy, thick, synthetic and gooey. It has notes of salted caramel, vanilla and cream coming through. The drydown is warm, sticky and distinctive: it has that Kayali DNA, but amped up to a thousand.
I'm just disappointed. I kept smelling it in the car and it had that choking aspect to it. After a while, it became too much. I'll have to give in this time to Kayali's detractors: this one is just a fail in every aspect of it.
A floral / patchouli partnership from the drugstore
I received this perfume as a gift from one of my mother's friend who came down from France to Canada and brought along a few gifts for me including fragrances (she heard I loved perfumes). Unfortunately, the first one was a flop as I immediately got drugstore vibes from it. I was, thus, wary when trying out this one and... although it won't remain in my collection, it was a more enjoyable moment.
It still does have that drugstore vibe, but a little less cheap on the nose. Very strong floral notes with a small tinge of freshness. It has that weird synthetic powderiness that was ok, but brought down my experience of it. It has a warmth to it that goes surprisingly well with the floral notes. Unfortunately, there's a moment where the fragrance turns itself over to patchouli and the scent almost overwhelmingly becomes patchouli. It ends up easing up a little, but the patchouli has the biggest spot with the floral notes and the freesia acting as support. Weirdly, the deep drydown is that of vanilla (which is not listed in the notes), a sweet, feminine, almost-powdery vanilla with a tinge of patchouli musks.
It's a sweet gesture from the friend's mother but unfortunately, it wasn't my kind of fragrance. Will not be keeping it into my collection.
Fruity / sweet synthetic bomb from the drugstore
I received this perfume as a gift from one of my mother's friend who came down from France to Canada and brought along a few gifts for me including fragrances (she heard I loved perfumes). Unfortunately, I think she bought the perfume straight from a France drugstore 'cause these are the vibes this one is giving me.
Screechy, synthetic, overwhelming, not well-dosed. I like to think of myself as having missed the snob train for fragrances, but it's undeniable that my nose has grown throughout my journey and this one screams cheap drugstore dupe. Nothing bad per se, but definitely not my kind of fragrance and I'm just not there anymore. It smells of undescript tropical fruits and vacation with a healthy topping of florals that give off a fresh, sweet scent with some powderiness. The problem lies in the base notes where it's all things artifical, screechy, synthetic and just frankly overwhelming. I get a cold freshness that's very synthetic, with a cheap drugstore-like vanilla, some synthetic muskiness and a powdery, wooden sandalwood. The base notes end up completely overwhelming the rest of the fragrance after about 10-15 minutes on my skin.
It was a lovely gesture and I appreciated smelling something that's not readily accessible for me, but this will not be making it into my collection and I will be decluttering it.
