Au Lait

I get salty, buttery, milk. Very creamy and lasts for hours on my skin. It doesn't smell like cheese as I've heard it compared, and it's absolutely beautiful. Salty, creamy heaven. I can't wait to buy a full size spray as right now I only have the sample. I also wouldn't compare it to popcorn... I love popcorn scents so I wouldn't have a problem if it did smell like it, but it doesn't. And also let me clarify... buttery-milk NOT "buttermilk". If it smelled like buttermilk then I would loathe it as buttermilk is an enemy of mine, the smell makes me nauseous. Just think salty and creamy and naturally sweet. Not "perfumey" in any sense of the word which I LOVE. Please give this a try! **UPDATE** I've worn this for the past few days since writing that review and I've now officially purchased the full-size spray. This has became an instant favorite and I'm literally overwhelmed by how good this is. Top 3 Alkemia scents for sure along with The Magpie's Rhyme & County Fair.

This perfume is polarizing! I personally love it, but it's definitely unusual and unsurprising that not everyone does. On me it's a slightly sweet but almost salty, buttery milk fragrance. Not a sugary milk like Ava Luxe's Milk - this one is richer, almost more of a body smell. I love that it doesn't smell like anything else, that it's somewhat enigmatic and could be one's natural scent. Once I wore it to my sister's house, and her persian cat went crazy, was rubbing her head on me and cuddling up to me like she was on catnip. This was atypical behavior and we think it probably had something to do with my perfume...

I can understand why this one is very polarizing. It smells like heavy cream, sweet butter, and condensed milk—which can smell sour or “off” depending on the person. As a gourmand lover who’s very into the sickly-sweet lactonic stuff, I personally love it. I mainly use it as a layering oil, but I’ll wear it on its own as well. I would recommend getting a sample to see if it’s your thing before blind buying.

So I absolutely adore this. I may be an outlier but it smells amazing on me. Caramel and honey mixed with warm milk. If you've ever had or made the greek custard called Galaktoboureko (translates to milk stuffed phyllo pastry) it smells just like it. Milk, pastry, caramelized sugar and honey.

Smells exactly like a buttery croissant. Smells like a photorealistic toasted butter. I love this.

Au Lait was such a waiting game. It took 2 years of letting this sample sit in a drawer for it to not be gag inducing. Finally, after a whole lot of patience and some parts forgetfulness, it’s actually quite beautiful. It’s sweetened into something slightly more wearable, but even calling it wearable is a stretch. Picturesque steamed milk, with all its salty, buttery, popcorn facets. Kind of hard to get around that, but I must emphasize that it has sweetened in a truly lovely way. I finally like it! used to hate it, but I do like it now. It’ll be a fantastic layering note until I run out of that precious, time-waster of a sample. And honestly, I’ll miss it when it’s gone, but I don’t think I’ll repurchase this time.

Years ago I worked at an espresso stand. When you’re steaming the milk after a while you can tell how hot it is by the sound of the steamer. This smells exactly like extra hot steamed milk. I always ordered my drink extra hot, because I felt like milk tastes naturally sweeter when it’s hot. This reminds me of that smell. It’s beautiful, cozy and warm. This also smells almost exactly like Matin Calin which is an absolute favorite of mine. This scent has an almost savory aspect to it which makes it smell that much more authentically like steamed milk. There is also a sweetness that reminds me of the top of a baby’s head. This is an absolute dream for lactonic lovers. Highly recommend!

i'm going to preface this by being soooo clear that this is NOT for everyone and it definitely depends on your skin and *you*. do not blind buy the full size, for the love of everything good left in this world. when i tried it on myself, it turned into this sweet, plush-y yoghurty drink (think beijing yoghurt or yakult perhaps?), which i'm super super nostalgic for, so *i personally* don't hate it as much as some people in the reviews did because it is a very familiar smell. it tempered and mellowed out after a bit into a sweet caramelised sugar, but it got a little cloying at that point, so i'm still kind of back and forth with regards to keeping it or giving it to friends.

To me this smells like a milk based dessert such as creme brulee or something of that sort. It's a scent that is very gourmand and sweet and depending on your skin chemistry, it may or may not work for you. I like this scent, but it's not one that I would wear often as I can find it to be a little cloying. I haven't worn it in awhile, and perfumes from Alkemia tend to do well after long periods of resting (months to even a year or so), so I'll have to see if I still like it.

Very much a more conceptual, less wearable scent. It smells like buttered croissants, salty and delicious but not a safe blind buy even if you're sold on that as I've had friends report it turns sour on their skin. Personally I don't wear it alone, just a dab on the pulse points and always paired with something more conventional, and my partner adores it (even though he hates the scent out of the bottle)

How very unusual. It does indeed have a strong "caramel made from the can of condensed milk" scent. During the drydown, I got a hint of burning rubber tire scent, but thankfully it faded. The milk accord truly intrigues me, as I haven't smelled anything like it in perfumery before. This perfume lasts a LONG time and is fairly strong.

Has anyone written that this a steamed milk bomb to the face? Like KAPOW! Hot, sweet, steamed milk right to your temple! BAM. If not, your welcome. If yes, then this review confirms what others have remarked about this sweet, crème brule perfume. It’s delicious—very delicious, a gourmand lover’s dream and then some.

This is a controversial one, but I love it!! I actually don’t like gourmands, but this one has me hooked. It’s so warm and comforting. It smells like warm melted butter on sweet toast. It makes me want to eat croissants. It smells great layered with tea perfume.

This smells very like a synthetic browned honey butter scent. It's almost like the popcorn flavour jellybeans. Actually works well with floral scents to make a round homey smell. Also works with citrus scents to make a kind of bakery smell.

Wonderful. Candle-esque in waves, but overwhelmingly realistic. Salty butter. Creamy. I enjoy it a lot as a smell, less so as a perfume. 7/10

Starts off smelling like heated, slightly off milk with honey/brown sugar in it, then develops into a buttery croissant scent on my skin but I found it started to smell sour on me again. It lasts extremely long and consequently is difficult to wash off which is hard considering how sick this scent makes me feel... No hate to Alkemia, I actually loved another commenter saying this is an artistic scent, which I agree, I perfectly captures what it is trying to do! I can see this working well layered with other scents :)) I think the fact it’s so controversial and other people seem to love it is really interesting and cool so yes

I hate leaving bad reviews, and I promise this isn’t meant to be scathing, but it isn’t exactly positive, either. Au Lait smells like buttery popcorn plus the poop of an exclusively breastfed baby. Slightly sweet, mostly sour and buttery milk. Which isn’t a bad smell at all, actually... just not something I’d like my person to smell like. The popcorn smell becomes more dominant as it dries, so if you like this scent I’m certainly not saying you smell like baby poop. Probably only nursing mothers would have that scent association.

This scent is a wild ride. I can smell sour condensed milk, salty feta covered in honey, and buttery milk (maybe even buttered popcorn?) all at once. It is strong, especially for an oil. It's an olfactory experience, but I don't want to smell like this. I tried layering The Only One EDP on top to help cut the sourness/saltiness of Au Lait and cut the sweetness of The Only One (which is way too sweet IMO, but I digress). It helped somewhat, but suffice it to say, I'm glad I only have a sample and will not be buying a FB.

Chemistry plays a huge role in this one! On my sister this is smooth, rich buttery/vanilla milk with honey. Quite lovely. On me this smells like popcorn. Just buttery popcorn that lasts 9 hours on the skin. This was my very first bottle and blind buy from Alkemia. Not my cup of tea. Needless to say I learned to buy samples first! Love Alkemia! <3

This is simply a dupe for Comptoir Sud Pacifique Lait Sucre. Although the original CSP fragrance has been discontinued, you can get this fragrance oil dupe from a number of distributors. Nothing has been added to it. It has that "buttered popcorn/baby's milk" note that can be so polarizing: Butyric acid I don't mind it.

I agree with other reviewers. Hot milk/bad milk Cheese, Sweet butter, I'm not sure its wearable on its own, but I think it may be a verry interesting layering component that would add some salty elements It's very unusual.

smells sort of sour to me? i was expecting more of a subtle, sweet skin fragrance but to be honest it smells like sweet popcorn. some people might like that it’s just not for me.

Very lukewarm, sickeningly sweet spoiled scent. I totally agree it smells like milk left in a hot car. Nearly buttery. Lasts FOREVER though! Very strong sillage as well.

Smells like salty feta cheese. LOL. I don't wanna smell like cheese. I'm going to see if it smells this way only on my skin or others too. It's actually pretty bad. I'm getting memories of that jelly bean game where some of them taste awful. It reminds me of one of thoes. No hate though, it's probably my skin chemistry. :( 0/10 Update: Smells milky on others. 5/10 for that.

Oh, gawd... this was an immediate scrubber for me! Sick to my stomach, I rushed desperately to the bathroom to soap it off. It smells like sweet condensed milk months after it expired. I've tried and liked many offerings from this house, but this was literally the worst. Burn it. Burn it all.

Normally I like overly sweet lactonic scents but this one smelled like a Starbucks drink that was left inside a hot car for far too long. Really didn’t work for me. Sorry but I showed this to my friends and we all gagged ):

Smelled like butter to me I couldn’t shake it

I get the reference to Popcorn. But I also BUY Popcorn fragrance Oil to put on my skin before some fragrances. Remember Miss D Cherie was famous b/c of that note, as was PR Pure XS before they reformulated it & took OUT the popcorn note. I like this. I have 6 samples & this & the Chocolatta ones are the only ones I like. These is an EASY layering oil for something that comes off as sharp. I don't always mix, But I do 75% of the time, & I Love creating my own thing! That's how Jo Malone tries to get you to buy 2 & 3 bottles at a time. LOL...WAYYY ahead of them!

Rancid beer. Yeasty, sour, pungent. A little dab on skin overwhelms all the other samples I’d been testing, it is that strong. It’s every failed attempt at bread making, with a high ABV beer left out on a hot summer day. You’re stuck in a tiny room with these abominations and you can’t get out. “Help!” you scream. Alkemia’s site mentions this doesn’t work with all skin chemistries, but it smells the same to me in the dabber bottle. Partner concurs on all accounts.

i am so disappointed. this doesn’t smell like the notes at all. it just smells like bread. not even the sweet bread, the salty kind of bread. i don’t want to smell like bread, i wanted to smell like the notes. did they put the wrong notes on accident or? because it’s not giving at all.

The milk and brown sugar notes are more prominent for me than anything else. This started out much more potent and sweet, and I was concerned it might be too loud, but it quickly settled into a skin scent. Very cozy, warm gourmand that doesn’t just smell like a cookie.

smells like cheese, sour milk and pastries. sooo photorealistic. i can’t even describe how artistic this one is. would never wear this but man, it smells like an actual bready pastry! 10/10 for realism

This smells like the popcorn "butter" from a movie theater. This will make you want to eat salty snacks with grease!