Love & Crime

"Afternoon Tea (Earl Grey) with Scones and Lemon Curd" I blind bought this one. I have not smelled Lira. This is All Love and Zero Crime. I am almost always into citrusy-vanilla scents. I loved Kerosene's Unknown Pleasures and thought it wasn't long lasting. I read all the reviews I could find on Love and Crime and Lira and decided to go for the smaller niche brand with Ex Idolo. This reminds me a lot of Arielle Shoshana's Sunday. I get a big hit of citrus and matcha green tea at the start (tea is not in the notes pyramid but it's totally what I smell). As it dries down the citrus wears off a little and it becomes a tea-like vanilla; imagine afternoon tea with scones and lemon curd. I actually don't find this to be gourmand at all. On me it's more like an edge of gourmand type of scent. It's super pleasant and I will easily blow through this tiny 30 mL bottle. It's also not especially loud on me, I'd describe it as a long lasting skin scent. That's the downside, I was hoping for better projection, since it's so pleasant this couldn't possibly bother anyone if they smell it. It starts off strong, but dries down to a whimper after 90 minutes and becomes (very realistic) play doh. On skin it dries down to play doh, but on fabric/clothing it dries down to chocolate. This is a love, 8/10. The first hour is the best feature. I'll definitely use this bottle for sure and we'll see about it's future in terms of back-ups and/or repurchase. Update August 2021: Reading some reviews before and after mine is causing me to realize this either drastically changes by the batch or by how you’re sampling or perceiving it. I’m almost finished with my bottle from 2020. This has zero florals on me and isn’t cakey or gourmand at all. It stays very citrus throughout and only softens to a lemon-vanilla-chocolate after a few hours. I still love it but am finding it interesting how differently it smells on others. I have since bought Lira which is much more delicate, sweet and soft (vanishing after an hour) but they do start off incredibly similar.

A citrus gourmand made from the heavens! Wow! I am sooo happy that I did my research on fragarantica and chose to purchase this over Lira by Xerjoff. I am getting more into the house of Xerjoff and loved the Casamorati line's packaging. I'm a presentation girl. It's just so pretty! I got a sample of Lira when I purchased Erba Pura. I instantly fell in love with the sharpness of the lemon fused with the buttery sweetness of the vanilla. Upon going on fragrantica and seeing the numerous comments on Lira pointing people to L&C, I eagerly clicked and the notes and reviews made me decide to purchase this over Lira. About a month later, I am proud to say I own a gorgeous 30ml bottle. Although I've only worn this fragrance once, I absolutely adore it! It's getting warm here in dc and I wore it in a temperature-controlled environment indoors. This fragrance is so creamy and buttery. a true-gourmand with a light spice and sensual quality that adds lasting power and really lends itself to the comforting feeling of this fragrance. The lasting power on me was well over 7 hours. I can't speak to sillage or projection as my office is socially distanced and a bit standoffish but I could smell myself all day–– fighting the temptation to eat myself for an after-lunch lemon cookie snack! This can be a nighttime fragrance to me if you add something with some more spice. I will try adding Kayali Sweet Diamond Pink Pepper to it. I think that will give me the perfect spicy-sweet-edible appeal I go for for a nighttime, sexy but still innocent gourmand.

Creamy, Buttery, Lemony, Vanilla Star Anise with Sugar Cubes. Absolutely intoxicating scent and possibly my favorite gourmand. The floral components are very subtle supporting notes that float in the back round but bring a sort of elegant smoothness to the composition. The pink pepper and star anise combination is what makes this fragrance so alluring. I do not detect any orange, only lemon. In the late dry down a white chocolate note seems to slowly reveal itself buried within the vanilla cream. It's a truly fun experience because different variables such as time of day, temperature, humidity, mood, etc...seem to bring out different facets every time I wear it. My skin devours scents yet this fragrance has outstanding performance and actually seems to amplify itself the longer it's on my skin. It seems to amplify until the projection hits it peak a few hours after the first application and then settles into a soft vanilla, with anise, and white chocolate leading the way. I'm probably one of the few males that considers this unisex, my skin seems to really accentuate the anise and pepper notes which gives a nice counter balance to the sweet floral notes. I get similar vibes to Nishane Ani, but still go their own direction. Ani being ginger forward and Love & Crime anise forward. If you appreciate Ani I can't imagine you would dislike this unless of course you dislike the note of star anise.

OMG I was completely caught off guard by how gorgeous this is, especially since I am not usually a huge fan of dessert-sweet fragrances. I received a sample of this along with about 20 others from luckyscent, as I have been interested in trying some niche scents that are hard to find in stores. This one came in a curated sample pack of feminine scents, otherwise I don't believe I would've looked twice at it. Much to my surprise it is very my favorite of the whole order, and have used it on multiple occasions. On me it opens as a warm, sweet citrus scent, rather like a meyer lemon. The citrus fades slightly after a few minutes but does not go away completely and is never sharp or annoying like many citrus scents are to me. Settles into the cake-y scent everyone has already noted, but not straight sugar birthday cake. To me it makes me think of those trendy artisan bakeries that sell desserts that are just a bit different... not quite as sweet as expected and some extra secret ingredients to catch you off guard. I never pick up any chocolate notes on me. This works equally well as an everyday spring/summer scent as it would for an intimate date night (men seem to love this type of scent)... and you don't even have to let yourself air out for an hour before standing next to someone else, so that's a bonus! Definitely full bottle worthy for me!

Update: 1 month into wearing this, I'm addicted to this juice. Absolutely enamoured. I believed it would be sweet, warm, and smell of anise. And it has exceeded expectations. I have not had a blind buy work this well for me, ever. I am gobsmacked at how delicious the opening smells, how absolutely delectable this is. A warm orange, but not quite, so mandarin-cakelike scent captures me, on a warm bed of spice(s). The drydown is wonderful too, I adore being able to pick up the anise in the .. what I perceive to be as woody? spice-y blend of notes on my skin, with a nice hint of the sweetness from the mandarin, and sugariness that I expect to be in every warm autumnal drink. This is a dream. It has pirouetted to very top of my perfume favorites. Perfect birthday blind buy from me to myself! I found out a hack to test longevity, sillage etc. with this perfume: get a willing acquaintance / family member whoever, and spray a perfume once; then walk away from the room they're in, do your thing; with Love & Crime, I sprayed it on my mother and the scent trail upon first spraying literally filled the bedroom. and even an hour later I could smell it in the living room where she walked into; so 1 spray is enough; maybe can top up after 6-7 hours has passed just because the drydown smells different from the opening, but this is strong.