Be Careful What You Wish For

Be Careful What You Wish For was totally unexpected. As it's a parfum, I was so excited to try it - I've loved the parfums thus far. This one opens in a way not unlike many of Sarah's scents, with a sugary sweet fruit blast. Once this dies down, the woodsy aspects of it really begin to come out to play. The fruits in this seem to be what fragrantica has listed. Raspberry, which is undoubtedly one of the commonly used oils in Sarah's scents, strawberry, plum and black currant. Listed also is peach, but I really don't get much of that. The plum, to me, seems to be stewed rather than raw. Black currant I always struggle with, but thankfully it doesn't have the sulphur quality it can usually take on me. This and Si EDP have been the only ones I can wear super successfully. Oud has been a thing that I either detect or, admittedly, fail to pick up overly strongly. At the start, I may have expected more oud than I got. Or, perhaps, I'm more used to an in-your-face assault of synthetic oud like from the likes of Dior, YSL or Creed. In any case, it is there. Just in a very different way. So meticulously blended that I'm still not sure on whether or not I understand it. It's definitely something to be intrigued by, as it's not entirely a usual scent to come across. Even the note pyramid listed is a bit uncommon. Strawberry oud? Barely even heard of for many of us who come from lands where oud fragrances are shipped from companies in Paris or, less commonly, the Middle East. As for being a part of the Crimes series, I'm still to nut that out. I might not be buying a bottle just yet, but the sample will definitely be used by the end of next year. Sillage is moderate for me, which has been uncommon so far from 4160 scents but it does morph quite rapidly. Sometimes it's super fruity, sometimes quite woody.

I absolutely love this one, and not a hint of 'eau de TCP'. it's wonderful and has great lasting power. I'm 7 hours in and it's still going. I agree that it doesn't smell of a particular fruit, it's a glorious blend with the woody base. here's what Sarah says: "I'd decided not to make an oudh fragrance, mostly because they so often seem to be brought out merely to grab a cynical share of the lucrative Arabian perfume market. (Actually there is quite a lot of oudh in The Lion Cupboard, but I chose not to mention it because I didn't want to look like I was jumping on the bandwagon.) Recently I was in Dubai, and bought five different oudhs from the soukh at the creek and decided to change my mind. It's different from most though - a citrus fruit oudh with cedarwood and patchouli, plus a new wood oil which is being called white oudh by the manufacturer; it's from a tree that grows in Indonesian mangrove swamps. Beautiful stuff. Five oudhs give it a deep, animalic woody feel, but it's not got the overwhelming stable yard stink that some of them do. (Not quite my thing although I realise that it has its appeal.) There's not much point my making an oudh cent that smells like everyone else's though, is there? So a fresh oudh for summer time, that's what we have here. Surprise yourself." did I say there's not a hint of TCP? this makes me VERY happy indeed!

Sarah McCartney calls this one "a citrus fruit oudh with cedarwood and patchouli, plus a new wood oil which is being called 'white oudh' by the manufacturer; it's from a tree that grows in Indonesian mangrove swamps." I am actually surprised by how much I like this one! I am not a huge fan of fragrances where oud is dominant, although I don't mind it in the background. But even though this one has FIVE ouds, it is not a bitter fragrance, and they don't overwhelm the fruity vibe. In fact, they only add to the depth and longevity of the fruit. This one has great projection and is very long-lasting. It doesn't smell like one particular fruit--it seems like a berry sometimes, but then citrusy at others. However, I personally would not call this a citrus scent, and I would not call it light. I know she said it was a summer oud, but I could see myself wearing and enjoying this all year. It's definitely FBW!

This is one of my favourite autumn fragrances. Yes, it is fruity but it's perfectly balanced with the wood notes and oud so don't fear a sugared oud. I think I detect a little bit of a TCP note but only if I concentrate hard. I'm not usually one for fruity, let alone oud fragrances but this one is very accessible to men and women. There is something about it that makes me think of fine velvety rojas. Its a cosy yet sophisticated fragrance that just makes me happy. Perfect for times of mist and mellow fruitfulness. Moderate sillage but great longevity.

Watery Splenda sweet floral. This broke in my pocket and forced into reviewing it all day lol. It’s “nice” I don’t know who this is for, it’s a sample type perfume; not mass appealing or blind buy safe. 100% feminine.

Does anyone remember that candy that was two packets of flavoured sour sugar and there was a hard candy stick that was kinda tasteless but vaguely reminiscent of cardboard that you’d lick and dip to get the powder? This smells exactly like that stick, covered in sugar. That’s what you get when you mix sweet with oud I guess. Kind of dribbling sickly sweet.

Be careful what you wish for indeed, because if you don’t like this perfume it turns out to be virtually impossible to scrub off. I spent a day in a sickening cloud of rotting plum and oud as a result.

Ghastly! All I can smell is bandaids, sneakers, medicine and an attic chest. I will, more than likely, be scrubbing this off.

A strawberry oudh fragrance is something that just screams whimsy and Be Careful What You Wish For delivers it by the bucketful. I seem to remember this lasting a lot longer than it seems to nowadays, but it might actually be a benefit that it doesn't wear out its welcome - as beautiful and fun as it is, it's pretty linear. It starts out with a juicy fruit blast of plum, strawberry and maybe a bit of citrus juice and then dives into a sour cedar and dry oud territory surrounded by the aforementioned fruits which act as an accent rather than an all out primary facet. and this is essentially it for the entirety of the duration. Which isn't a bad thing, it can just get a bit tiresome if it goes on longer than say... 8 or 9 hours. Which is still pretty long lasting. For those really cozy evenings. May need to try this in Summer or Spring because it doesn't do too well in the cold.

Sweet berries, cedar, and lightly medicinal oudh, at first sniff this reminds me of Rihanna rebelle, but grown up and refined. As it settles in more it reminds me a bit of PDM Layton, but retaining enough sweet fruitiness to be feminine. I could see this being unisex

Blend of sugary berries with slight base of woods to add the dark factor. Isn't bad but too fruitti. If you like candy berries, and some plums with wood background then this is for you.