Waterlily

I do not think this is a bad fragrance, but my goodness, it does need to be handled like it's a biohazard. What a complete spicebomb. One spray is more than enough. It could go up to 6.5 or 7 if it weren't for the fact I cower in fear of accidentally spraying too much every time I'm holding the sample.

I do lean towards slightly lighter fragrances so I'm sure some would say this is not that bad.

Otherwise, well, it's just a nice, not particularly remarkable spicy fragrance. I find it's completely overshadowed by Chypre Sublime, which I adore.

Look. Is this for everyone? No. But this will be absolutely amazing to a specific subset of people.

It's caramel. It's pure caramel. You know when you see a bottle that says "Eau de Jasmine" and you think oh great, I love jasmine, I could use a fragrance that smells like jasmine, and you spray it on and it actually smells like pear and pink pepper and osmanthus and amber and incense with a hint of jasmine? Caramel Skin would never mess you around like that. It delivers. Caramel Skin will make Cheirosa 68 seem like child's play.

I'm impressed by how specifically caramel-y it smells. It's not a generic sweet vanilla or sweet gourmand. It specifically smells like sugar that you've just caramelised yourself at home, or the little caramel crust on creme brulee. A tiny bit burnt.

How often would I wear this if I owned it? No idea. Maybe I'd get tired of it.

The first time I smelled this, I was in a store with lots of testers. I was actually testing L'eau Papier but accidentally got some of this on my hand, I imagine just by touching the tester. And... I actually loved this unintentional layering combo. The caramel added just a touch of sweetness and made the whole fragrance seem more lively. And... that's how I find myself doing something I never do: suggesting my first layering combo.

I fell in love with this perfume on a paper strip. I loved the smell of the lemon which faded into a nice, dry herbal note.

Unfortunately, now I've tried it on my skin several times and generally been able to spend more time with it... I don't like it. Relative to my initial impression, the perfume feels much more sweet and sticky. It really is reminiscent of a Ricola candy or a breath mint.

I just wanna smell like lemon and rosemary, not sticky candied lemon and mint. :(

This is rum alright! The opening is especially reminiscent of that sweet alcoholic stickiness, like someone's breath sweet with alcohol or like when you step on a patch sticky with who-knows-what at the bar.

IMO it then dries down to something less sweet and more like... smoked plum. I can also pick out something milky and just a hint of patchouli.

It's not bad. I can imagine enjoying it even more with a couple more casual wears, when I'm not actively trying to smell it all the time.

The only thing that ruins it slightly for me is it gives me an oddly specific association. The combination of the rum's sweetness and the leather undertone makes me think of an ostentatious layers' office. I think of an expensive liquor collection and hair gel.

Loved it on a paper strip, it smelled sweet and watery but with just the right amount of character imparted by the lotus.

Unfortunately, it was pretty overwhelming on my skin. It turned into this really overpowering sweet and waxy smell. Like someone extracted all the most synthetic components of Nivea cream and put them in a bottle. Felt a bit like being smothered in baby wipes.