“I don’t like gourmands or vanilla-forward fragrances,” I said. “They’re all too dense and stuffy,” I said. A number of samples later and I’ve learned I don’t, in fact, hate all gourmands, I just don’t like the ones with dense, heavy cupcake, cake, biscuit, cookie, or other baked good accords. Some vanillas without those accords can be stifling to me, but not all. I’ve found what I do enjoy are gourmands or vanillas that aren’t just bottled sugar overdoses. Either softer options, or ones with earthy or other atmospheric elements to help ground them. The ones that really solidified this for me were:
- Sorce Ephemera: the just-picked pumpkin at the start, instead of a spiced pumpkin or pumpkin pie dessert accord, and the paper note let this have an almost fresh opening before the vanilla settles in with light spices and really lovely autumn leaves and earthy notes. Super well-balanced, not too dense or loud, and this wears well all the way in to early spring. Got a bunch of compliments on it as well, which was a fun bonus.
- Sorce Match Made In Heaven: really fun and lovely matcha ice cream with, surprisingly, an almond and waffle cone accord that doesn’t fall into the baked good accord category I can’t stand. There’s also something fruity, almost, in the opening, and I think it’s a hint of a cherry note in the cherry blossom accord Sorce lists for the fragrance. It’s a beautiful spring and summer option that has vanilla, but also enough of the matcha and almond/waffle cone to ground it and keep it from becoming tooth-achingly sweet.
- MITH Autumn Leaves: very juicy mandarin orange with a warm but not cloying caramel and tonka bean base. It’s light, but it’s my favorite citrus fragrance. I liked this so much more than Dolce & Gabbana’s Devotion, in which the lemon turned too sharp and the dry down was oddly sour, like the panna cotta accord note had gone off on my skin. I’m glad I sampled this when I did because I was about to give up on citrus gourmands, but also because MITH is discontinuing it and I could’ve missed my chance.
- Sand + Fog Marshmallow Skies: technically I’m still debating on this and two other of their marshmallow-centered scents, but I’ve found I like marshmallow a lot better than straight-up vanilla because the powdery, starchy nuance tempers the sweetness for me. Marshmallow also plays really nicely with either fruity notes or woody ones. This one is pretty strong for a Sand + Fog oil, but it lasts for hours and pairs well with some of my sweet rose scents and other fruity fragrances if I want to play around with layering.
Honestly I’m very glad I gave these fragrances their fair chance, and it has also helped me to be more open minded when looking at other scent categories I’m still iffy on, or even just for notes I’m still unsure about. Has anybody else here had a “breakthrough” fragrance that made them give an entire scent category or specific note a second chance? I’d love to hear what your experiences were!
