06. Sesame Shower

REALITY : Opens like you just opened a jar of tahini—nutty, intense, almost unsettling at first. Then, within 40–60 minutes, it melts into a clean, musky, expensive skin scent (think spa-ish) and quietly erases most if all memory of sesame. THIS IS NOT SWEET, not a gourmand in the traditional sense don't let the cookie note fool you—but still technically edible-adjacent. Also... I smell no cookie. REVIEW 🦪: I am convinced this is an IT GIRL scent that may never reach the masses. This gave me the exact same emotional reaction as when I first smelled Glossier You in October 2017—the original batch. It was sharp, not crowd-pleasing, unique, and slightly masculine—like pencil shavings and powder. It was confusing. It was bold. It felt wrong in a world where most university students smelled like Flowerbomb, Prada Candy, or some fruity VS body mist. And yet, it worked. This isn’t how it is today, where You is synonymous with a soft skin scent—believe it or not, it was a bold wear in the early days. It carried that “boy beat” energy: fresh, clean, unisex, promising to smell like your boyfriend’s sweater. The first day it came in the mail I wore it to my part-time job and was told I smelled like a “handsome man.” I’ve called it my Handsome Man fragrance ever since—and I’ve sprayed my actually handsome brother with it just as much. This is that same energy. Sesame Shower opens like a red flag. You spray it and think: tahini? Why is this rated so high? But then it does something very sneaky. It settles into this intimate, clean, nutty-ish musky skin scent. Like fresh skin, expensive soap, and warmth. The sesame doesn’t disappear—it transforms. It becomes this creamy, almost-textural softness that makes the whole thing feel human. The best way I can describe it: it’s your first boyfriend’s sweater...if he spilled tahini on it, panicked, handed it to you, and you somehow cleaned it perfectly—but the memory of it stayed behind in the most comforting way possible. It’s weird. It’s unnerving at first and again It works. Give it a MINIMUM of 40 minutes before you make any judgments on this fragrance. If you judge it too early, you’ll miss the entire point. Longevity is about 7 hours on skin for me but I did spray my sample on the back of my hand up close and it was dripping down my arm.... I bought a full bottle a day after sampling. And I see longevity is hit or miss. My sample is STRONG For context: I am not a nutty fragrance person. Honestly, I was afraid of the notes. I gravitate toward soft, powdery musks, tea notes, citruses and verdant, slightly sweet green fragrances—anything niche that tells a story really. This feels like a hidden secret of a fragrance. I’m genuinely floored that Sesame Shower is getting attention—but not nearly as much as I would expect for something this unique. Grab a sample of this fragrance if you're bored and love refined beautiful unique fragrances.

Sesame shower says it all. I was expecting to like this one the least out of the trio sampler I tried but ended up falling in love. It’s GORGEOUS. This isn’t like smelling fresh or toasted sesame seeds, this is a bit more of a gourmand sesame undertone, think sesame cake or sesame latte! So refreshing, so mouthwatering but not sweet and cloying. The “shower” isn’t traditional sudsy, soapy shower either. It’s so light, and a wonderful your-skin-but-better scent with an extra oomph from the sesame cookie top notes. Absolutely lovely.

This is a clean amber base with a hint of gourmand. Sesame shower opens with a sweet nice scent of toasted sesame and vanilla just like a fresh bake cookie. After ~5 mins dryed down to an clean amber scent. I can still find a hint of sweetness if sniff close to the skin. I wish the sesame scent could linger longer. The floral amber base is clean and easy to wear. The price is a great value.

This is such a cozy and beautiful gentle gourmand. You really get the nuttyness of the sesame. I dont pick up the florals but the cookie note gives it a cocoa powder vibe. It's slightly powdery and resinous and fades into a delicious musk that sits close to the skin. It's inoffensive. I a way this reminds me of Iris Cartagena from Bon Parfumeur but without being nuclear like that.

Warm, bready, toasted sesame. Slight floral powdery sweetness in the background. Gentle and pleasing. There's something synthetic/industrial in this but not in a bad way. A "clean" gourmand is the best way I can describe this.

leaving a smoking room with a sesame cookie in your mouth & flowers in your hand

The sentimental name (and even more so the brand's sentimental description) completely sold me on this one. I bought it without hesitation. The opening is genuinely beautiful. The black sesame comes through clearly: nutty, slightly toasty, and softly comforting. It’s not overly sweet, which I appreciated. It leans more “atmospheric sesame” than true gourmand dessert. Unfortunately, that standout sesame note fades much too quickly. What follows is pleasant but less distinctive—a gentle, slightly woody floral-amber base, with a hint of olibanum and a barely there soft vanilla warmth. It’s nice, but it doesn’t quite live up to the promise of the opening or the concept. I do like it, but I wanted to love it. The main drawback for me is the longevity and the fleeting nature of that beautiful sesame accord. It feels like the most interesting part of the fragrance disappears before it fully develops. Overall: charming idea, lovely opening, but a bit too ephemeral to truly satisfy.

Really beautiful scent that smells like chocolate and kurogoma without being sweet and baked-good-y. It smells more like cacao than cookie on me, which I like. Very warm and nutty. I don't get the florals at all, just a nice, food-like beginning that dries down into a really gentle vanilla. Sadly, it doesn't perform very well on me at all. Both Dyed and A Thousand Miles have better longevity and projection, which sucks. The performance is so poor that I really don't think I'll buy a full bottle despite loving the scent quite a bit.

I’ll have to put my sample away for maybe fall/winter. This is a fresh baked savory sesame bread perfume. It’s complex to where you can pick apart the juniper from the black sesame seeds. It’s airy, warm, savory baked bread. Learns a bit masculine to me. Edit: After 30 minutes on the skin this dries down into a blonde wood, vetiver, savory.. with a touch of realistic vanilla. I actually quite enjoy it.

Starts off with a blast of nutty, almost burnt, sesame. Toasty, warm and bitter. The cookie comes through and adds a lovely sweetness. It settles into a powdery floral with a hint of that nuttiness in the background. I love opening and middle notes of this one! But as it dried down, it turned overly spicy, borderline masculine on me :(

This is such an interesting dichotomy between a super nutty (almost peanut buttery??) sesame note and a fresh body wash/aquatic/rain note. Definitely not like anything I've ever smelled before- the sesame is much stronger than Diptyque L'eau Papier. I started to enjoy it after a bit- it's strange but comforting at the same time.

It smells like the notes read... a nutty cookie. It's quite delightful, but very feminine. The ingredients are high quality and the blend is fantastic. It turns into a typical musky feminine fragrance about 90 minutes in. 8

This smells like the notes suggest, sweet powder amber musk. Reminds me of Replica Jazz Club but softer and adds florals and musk. A very nice skin scent that leans feminine.

Was surprised at how much this leans floral. Definitely has that “Korean perfume” sentiment. Was a blind buy after a recommendation looking for something light and nutty, not too gourmand - was sold on name alone. While it definitely is a “light gourmand”, think petal soft, pushing almost genetic feminine perfume notes. I hate florals, but this I keep trying? Do I keep hoping the sesame and cookie come out more the next attempt? Yeah. Do they? Not really. Still just a soft, slightly warmer, flowery fragrance. A pretty one at that, but not what I came here for.

Okay, this is odd and may not help others in their decision, but the first spray of this smelled exactly like my granny did when I was a child. It has a vintage perfume smell to me. I don’t smell the nuttiness or warmth or gourmand. It’s likely just me, but it smelled just like Revlon Charlie on my granny. Update: I always feel it’s relevant to say my 18yr old daughter and her best friend both love it and use it now. So it’s likely my unique association that causes me to dislike it (my granny was kind of mean and didn’t like children much).

First spray is extremely nutty, like a mix between hazelnut and peanut brittle. Then it turns into this feminine, juniper mix. Not too floral-y, not too gourmand, just right. Lastly, it settles into this slightly nutty, vanilla bliss. The dry down is not unique enough for me personally to justify a full bottle but it smells nice nonetheless.

Where is the gourmand in this perfume? There's maybe a hint in the first 5 minutes, maybe. Otherwise, this is a pretty basic powdery floral.

sesame seeds and then men's shower gel.... why.......

EDIT - After sitting for a couple of weeks this has improved immensely. It now lasts 5-6 hours with a soft projection and the sesame note lingers in the background theoughout the wear. LOVE IT! I was soooooooooooooo excited for this after watching a bunch of reviews and reading the reviews on here. Keep in mind that this is just my first impression. This arrived on a Monday and I let it sit untouched for a day before trying it. It travelled through some stormy cold weather to get to me. Tried it today after letting it sit for a day. I can barely smell it with 6 sprays and I am not an oversprayer at all! Smelled the dark, toasty sesame seed for a few minutes and then it faded to a pretty floral. Super light and I had to sniff super hard to smell anything. Will let it sit and I am hoping it will get stronger. Will update. BTW - this was $151.00 CAD on Lucky Scent with shipping and prepaid duties on top of a 10% off code. Pretty pricy for 30ml.

This is so good! I would classify it as a neo-gourmand, somewhere in between the savory nuttiness of One Day's Taipei / the very sesame forward Galone by Gabar and the clean muskiness of Diptyque's L'Eau Papier. Comparisons aside, I can confidently say I haven't tried anything exactly like this before. There is a pretty floral blend that presents itself after a markedly savory meets sweet combo opening. The dry down is a palatable and more straightforward mix of sheer musks and woods. I appreciate how Sesame Shower develops over time - it has a very distinct quality to transform in a way that other gourmand leaning scents do not possess or execute as creatively.

A beautiful, cozy, fall scent. I went in thinking it would be a gourmand based off the cookie note, but it boarders the gourmand category and dips more into a warm musk. It’s a bit nutty and toasty, earthy and warm from the amber, with a slight sweet musk. The amber and florals really come out at the base, but the cookie still left its mark, it’s just not so noticeable. This is one of those scents that would suit a breezy fall day perfectly. Getting a whiff of this from the wind would make you appreciate the comfort of fall.

Earlier this summer I went through a black sesame phase so I was super excited to try this fragrance. Like the reviewer below, I can barely smell this. It starts out as a nutty, slightly spicy, airy gourmand. Then I get hit by what I think is abroxan? I know it's not listed so maybe it is the olibanum, but it's a fuzzy, synthetic, swimming pool vibe that I don't like. Other fragrances I've come across with this same feeling: Valaya and Levant. Both of those are no's for me and sadly so is this one.

Wow, this one took me on such a rollercoaster, really surprised me. It opens with that toasty black sesame and a hint of cookie, warm and nutty, almost edible but not quite-then shifts into this resinous, slightly fresh and woody floral moment before finally softening into vanilla, amber, and musk. I've been wearing it a lot this summer and Fall, will be great for winter too to layer with some stronger gourmand or ambery profiles. Feels both earthy and sweet, definitely a comfort fragrance.

black sesame cookies with a fresh shower steam and all nearby fluffed up by dewy and softly sweet florals. The definition of a clean gourmand. Has a subtle sweetness, a warm breadiness, and toasty sesame throughout but blends with the “shower” aspect here with steam esque musks and clean, dewy florals. Dry down is less sesame heavy and instead a subtly nutty and musky clean floral. Really well done concept

This is giving me La Fin Du Monde + L’eau Papier. It’s nice but just feels so similar to a lot of the other buzzy rice/paper/skin-inspired fem-targeted musks over-saturating the market and social media.