Darling

Q80 where are you? Would love to hear your take on this one :). I'm not sure I can work out what I'm smelling...maybe a sweet resinous, slightly sticky suede with orchid...Needs someone with a better nose to do it justice. I love this kitchen sink approach to notes / ingredients listed above...ie a bit of everything. It smells well blended to me...despite the oodles of notes listed.

The Cognac, Guaiac Wood, Cherry, Rum, and Oud smell amazing in this perfume, well-deserved award for sure. I found a perfume store called D'or Prestige, bought Perris Monte Carlo from them online, and sent me aa sample of De Gabor Darling. I loved it so much that I made a full bottle purchase, and my lady loves it also.

Creamy sandalwood and gourmand notes accompany my senses all through the whole opening layers, each richer than previous. There're also elegant spices, warm resins, suede, boozy rum, cognac and cherry liquor, oud, guaiac wood, tonca, fruits... Ambergris is also here, peaking out with it's softness.

Sweet and very lovely. But it smells exactly like Hot Couture by Givenchy. I own that and like it a lot so I won’t be getting Darling as well. But it’s a great fragrance!

Darling smells like all these fragrances below: When it's first applied, the clean green notes reminded me of Prada eau de parfum Intense, minus the menthol note. After that passes, the labdanum note here was strong. Mixing with the vanilla, it gave me Grand Soir vibes, smelled like it too. In middle of this fragrance, I got a patchouli-cedar-musk mix of notes, that definitely smelled like I put on Wardasina. To end this off, I smelled a caramel note, which reminded me of Ambre Narguile a little bit. Along with a mix of sandalwood-musk-cedar-patchouli, which to me smelled like Burberry Brit Gold mixed with Wardasina. I wanted this to really smell sweet from the start and be a SANDALWOOD sweet dessert frag. Instead, I got a mixed bag of wood fragrances and hardly any dessert, lol.

What is this????? All those very interesting notes listed just turns into a giant mess on my skin, i can't even describe it. Becomes kind of sour and musky with a hint of booziness. Also find it to be an immediate skinscent.

Darling may appeal to many, so please don't base your purchase on my review. Sadly, I can't get past the sharp, Ambroxan-like note, which makes it a scrubber for me. It sounded so promising, and for 250 Euros I would personally hope for more. However, if you love these types of fragrances, run straight away to it.

"Darling De Gabor is a sandalwood gourmand perfume that participated in the International Fragrance Competition organized by the World Congress of Perfumery in Miami in 2016 for professional perfumers and selected among the 10 best sandalwood creations in the world. Only 50 ml Extrait de Parfum version, luxurious hand-polished glass, black leather lid." [DE GABOR] The fragrance has a fresh airy, slightly citrusy fruity, spicy opening. It's like being in a rustic log cabin in some distant woods. And soon comes the vibe of a freshly opened dried fruit compote mixed with a liqueur cherry jam [the cherry here is not cloyingly dominant], a rum filled praline is added to this recipe, and with all these delights greased and luxuriously decorated in marzipan... already making it clear that it is a sophisticated gourmand creation of very high quality and very realistic. I also feel a soft aroma of coffee always hanging in the air, how tasty☕️😋. And it doesn't take long for a creamy and fragrant sandalwood, the main actor of this composition, arrives like a woody fragrant breeze entering the cabin through the curtains, and adding a woody warmth to this delicious ambient smell dominated by the treats. A bouquet of white florals light amber sweet delicately decorates this cozy place, bringing a refined and sophisticated air to this environment until then bucolic. The 'oud here is clean, typical of French perfumery, and used sparingly, adding only a resinous depth in combination with the dark labdanum. The perfume is delicious, complex and follows these mixtures in constant boiling and evolves into an ambery, super woody and musky base with a soft leathery facet permeating the fragrance throughout evolution... here we have a work of art from Contemporary French Perfumery with a light and modern creation of a gourmand perfume with a boozy, fruity, woody, ambery, musky and exceptionally balanced and surprisingly versatile touch, unisex and very sensual. Also counting on a very good performance. Delicious Perfume!

At first application, this explosion of deliciousness brings to mind a parfait of layered flavors, each richer than the previous: brandied stone fruits, almond, cream, liqueur, vanilla, praline, and fresh citrus. But wait! As the gourmand top notes blend and marry, a stunning creamy sandalwood emerges. It's the star here, and obviously of a quality rarely seen these days. The sandal is bolstered by tonka, a gentle musk/suede, elegant spices, and well-behaved resins. The cherry liqueur persists in a discreet way, easily wearable by either gender. Ambergris keeps the composition lilting and light; despite all the richness and the extrait concentration, Darling never feels heavy or overtly sweet. Truly beautiful, brilliantly creative, and unlike anything else. *I am affiliated with this brand as an official stockist.

A gorgeous creation made sweet with cherry, cognac - woodiness and spices like saffron accompanied by a citrus burst. When I spray out Darling I get the citrusy cherry infusion but almost immediately I can feel a resinous woodiness, a subtle facet that makes this creation not too overly sweet and gourmand, but it keeps it classy and irresistible. The cherry, the cognac how it mixes with a musky and elegant woodiness that consists of guiac, sandal and oud - it is creamy yet piercing at the same time. I really have grown to love this creation as well.

The notes are so muted in this! I was very excited to smell darling and it's just complete blahhh on my skin. I don't smell anything at all besides musk and maybe iso e super. All those fruity/ boozy notes listed I literally cannot smell any of them not even a hint it's just all base notes. So damn disappointed this stuff literally sucks I'd never pay $300 to smell like nothing. Unless D'or perfumes sold me some bunk samples this really blows

Huge blast of acidic red berries, overly sweet crimson-hued florals, patchouli, leather, cinnamon, rum, oud accord and vanilla. It's very much contemporary but also what I dislike with the feminine scents of today. Much of everything that seems to be designed to just overwhelm. There's no need for one person to be this loud.

Retested this after a year or so. Woods woods and more woods! Last time I had a bit of this it had much more cherry / cognac. Bit fruity, boozy still there, but feels different somehow...masculine, musky, piercing (agree with the iso feel). Always test several times!

Roja Dove just started carrying this line (not on his site yet) so to me that’s a good seal of approval. I need to sample these. That review about ambroxan overload on this one scares me though. I’ll be back with my thoughts...

Luxurious Beautiful Piece of art: Woody, Boozy, Sweet. The dry down of Nasomatto Pardon does remind of this fragrance. But this one is like no other. Sophisticated Luxury Perfume, appreciate the brands work ❤️

Wow. Smells like a very expensive cherry brandy! Would rather just buy a cherry brandy and just spill some of it on myself because at least then I could still drink the rest. This one is smell-only folks.

(10) ★★★☆☆ not for my darling nor for cold bodied self plain red jam, no more