Mooncake

This is a sweet, gourmand-leaning scent that is cozy and very wearable, especially for autumn or winter. I can imagine wearing this for a coffee run with a nice chunky sweater on. In the initial spray, it was very honey-forward, which has settled a little but still remains sweet. There is a light, tangy mustiness from the bean paste and/or pastry notes that also serves as the backbone of this fragrance. I would argue that this could even translate as a little hay-like too. There is also a subtle salty, egg yolk quality, but it’s just enough to add some complexity. You really only notice it if you are looking for it. I think this prevents the fragrance from becoming sickeningly sweet and cloying. I really enjoy this. I’ve only had a couple mooncakes in my life, but it feels pretty realistic and I could see myself reaching for it often. Rewear notes: second time putting this on, I still enjoyed it. However, it definitely had a more musty/dusty/tangy quality reminiscent of the bean and pastry. I put this on and judged it as a random scent, forgetting for a moment it’s a scent of a specific food item. For people in western countries who haven’t had many mooncakes and aren’t familiar with some of the ingredients, they will probably not grasp the gourmand quality of this and will probably read it as old or dusty as I stated above. I still really enjoy this, but in a western setting, I could understand if people would be perplexed by it. I think as a result, it makes it slightly harder to reach for, but at the same time, I personally don’t care and enjoy it regardless. So yummy and comforting!

Beautiful. I wish it had been a bit more daring with the mung bean and the egg yolk coating to reflect the density and chewiness of mooncakes. It's a 'nondescript bakery' aroma straight from my teenage job working early mornings in a bagel shop. It captures that sweet, yeasty, honey way my skin would stay well into the evenings. A pleasant lingering bakery cloud. There's more than just the listed notes as something makes it pull nutty/cinnamon-y throughout the day, especially outside in the heat of the sun. One of the reviews below says it's the lotus that makes it come off nutty, is that true? Super cool if so, I had no idea lotus could be so grounding and earthy/rich. It's either that or the 'syrup' accord has cinnamon. Can't help but feel that ramping up the mung bean would have made this an absolute work of art, but it's perfectly inoffensive, kind, and dreamy as it is now. This is not a BBW sugarbomb cupcakey gourmand (and not knocking that, just, you know, a different vibe entirely) and despite being sweet from top to bottom, won't actively rot your teeth. Love that it has enough earthiness, I just wanted even more.

I lived in Japan for a few years and I still recall my first experience in a Japanese bakery. Inside the glass display case were any number of beautiful offerings and to my American mind, this was sure to be a cake lovers dream. However, once you bit into one of these confections you quickly understood that the Japanese version of "sweets" was quite different than ours. In fact, these much less sweeter treats, I soon came to learn, tasted much better based on the flavors of say cream or fruit rather than simply relying on sugar. And so it is with Mooncake. To read the ingredients....egg yolk, mung bean, lotus seed....is to question how this might possibly smell good. And yet - here I find a beautiful scent. Decadent and savory yet mellow, creamy and smooth. For me this is a honeyed golden cake filled with a delicate vanilla custard. The composition is gourmand without playing into gourmand tropes - not heavy, not overly sweet, not based on familiar foody notes. This perfume is delicious and totally unexpected.

I love a weird gourmand. This brand was on my radar, and this was the first I chose to blind buy a 9ml decant from ScentSplit. I can't resist honey, and I'm excited to smell notes I've never heard of! I also have no experience with a real mooncake. Sure, there are parts of this that are STRANGE. It's not eggy or salty- but it's doughy! Quick sour at first, within 30 seconds it mellows- without losing unique-ness. Now 8 hours later, I have a pleasant unique vanilla marzipan chalky sweet perfume smell (not food). AND... I used my ScentSplit decant discount code for a full bottle. It's really good, and I want to cover myself in it. It's not a honey scent to me. That might be the powdery-ness that reads almond powder/paste to me. I can't define it, I just know it's really really good. I tried to talk myself out of it. I have ENOUGH cakey perfumes... but in the end I don't have any like this!

I am primarily a foodie gourmond lover. But this one did not scream edible food to me, and yet has become one of the most beautiful perfumes I have ever smelled. It does not smell like a perfume, but like my skin in a clean naturally beautiful state. I never understood the hype around "skin scent" which often smelled gross or sour on me until I tried this, perhaps the most compatible perfume I have ever tried on my skin. Soft powdery honey that's not animalic, a whisper of custardy vanilla, and something green and natural, likely the mung bean and lotus seed that perfects the scent profile. Even though I listed the different facets, I feel like I still can't quite describe how ethereal this smells to me. PS I do not get anything super eggy, and no salt! I hate salt in perfume and was glad not to detect it in this one.