Sesame Chan

Ooooh this is so tantalising to my nose! All the boring beige notes make it seem like it’s going to be bland and nutty, but it’s so perky! I get lemongrass in the opening, which is how the freshly cut ginger comes across. The vetiver peps it up even more so, whilst deez nutz are only a quiet murmur in the background. How does it end up smelling like Jo Loves ‘Mango Thai Lime’ on me? Please last you zany zingy weirdo, as I think I might just love you.

A bit of ginger with creamy nuttiness, vetiver emerges in a few minutes

Nutty, creamy opening for a few seconds, then comes the sweet sesame (pretty accurate but somehow distant), and finally the vetiver. And the vetiver is what stays. To be honest, I have a very specific attitude towards vetiver-heavy fragrances, as it tends to overcome all other notes. Which means that all such fragrances sooner or later turn vetiver-only on my skin... Not sure this makes any sense, but this is just another nice scent turned meh by the vetiver.

My mouth watered at the thought of a savoury sesame-inflected woody scent, so I leapt at a mini-bottle. But it was all just fantasy: in real life, one spray revealed that my nose revolted at the vetiver-in-syrup effect of Sesame Chan. Sadly it's just way, way too candy-sweet throughout, and the vetiver is cheap/woody/dirty* enough (*delete as you find appropriate) to NOT mesh at all well with the overall nutty-gourmand approach. Far too green and herbal to make a palatable accord with the sweet, mellow, rather cutesy aura of the other stuff. On me the mix ended up cloying horribly; if the vetiver had been cleaner and lemony, or better yet left out altogether, this might have been an oddball delight in the biscuity, bakery mould of something like Lutens Bois Farine, L'Artisan's Mechant Loup or PG Praline de Santal. But ugh, here it's just a really rough-and-basic, mass-market vetiver which does nothing to play off the charm of the other ingredients. This is one recipe which really NEEDS a reformulation. However, if you specifically want a really weird, VERY sweet treatment of vetiver - but why would you ever? Why?? - then this may meet your needs.

I had high hopes for this one. Was expecting a more nutty fragrance. This isn't really nutty to me. It's chemical it's synthetic, it's soapy and a little tart. That's the vetiver but it resembles lemon or lime peel. Ginger is a soft candy ginger and adds to the tartness. It's a messy combination to me somehow the nutty and tart aspects just create chemical mess on my skin. I'll test it again another day and revert. (Definitely not "warm spicy" nor "powdery" category, more of a tart gourmand) **Second testing - I've rearranged the notes and now that I know what to expect (heavy vetiver and candied ginger, with some background nuttiness) it's better. Might be an option for someone who likes a tart candied ginger. Low on sillage and lasts an hour or so.

Tingly sharp sweet ginger There is something sweet sharp in here that gives the vibes of the original 92 "Angel" by Mugler! plus a resinous tingly balsamic fir that is mixed up with mildly sweet cashews and bitter hazelnut on a bed of sesame. I've always thought there were a grand mango note in the original "Angel" & i am detecting it here too somehow. It's a beauty actually although i thought it will be more animalic than resinous, but it never failed me as having high hopes then turned to meet quite a pleasant expectation. Beauty.