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.

Lands somewhere between Lira and Unknown Pleasures. Very similar to Lira but lacks the lemon smack in the opening. Milder and less sweet like UP but without the tea and bergamot notes. If you're looking for straight up dessert--Akro Bake is what you want. It smells exactly like my kitchen when I make lemon meringue pie. It's easily my favourite scent right now and the most realistic dessert scent I've ever tried. If you want something smooth and sexy that is still very much a perfume rather than a dessert but without a whole lot of aggression, go for Love & Crime. This would be great for a night out. Lira is Bake's older sister. More obviously a perfume and not as photorealistic. Still lovely. Unknown Pleasures is a big yummy cup of tea with lemon, bergamot, and a heavy helping of honey. Choosing between the four is a bit like choosing which white wedding dress to wear. Yes, they are all white, but the vibe is still distinct. Were they wedding dresses, Lira would be Sophie Turner's dress. Unknown Pleasures would be Princess Eugenie's dress. Love & Crime would be Ariana Grande's dress. Akro Bake would be Audrey Hepburn's tea length dress from Funny Face, but paired with a brightly coloured cheerful bouquet of corals, yellow, blush, greens, and a smidge of blue sea holly.

I agree that this isn’t all that similar to Lira. The first 10 seconds they DO both have very similar bright citrus + sugar openings....but they both start to morph in different directions super fast. Maybe the comparisons come from the fact that both have luscious edible vanilla dry downs? They are definitely in the same family, but “just like” is a bridge way too far. Lira is exquisitely composed and throughout its wear different aspects wax and wane....but you always have citrus and vanilla and a familiar wear. Love & Crime not only changes throughout each wear but is different every time I put it on. Sometimes it opens with a vivid Terry’s chocolate orange, sometimes straight up Lira, others citrus and white cake! Similar experience with the middle...but there’s always chocolate and spice in there somewhere. Whatever the wear it always lands in an ever so slightly dirty musk (there’s no musk listed but I always get musk), spice and a luxurious candied vanilla. As a fellow Lira lover I’m sad the previous reviewer was so disappointed. I hope they give it another try sometime with new expectations. I nearly didn’t sample it because I thought “I already have Lira” — but the notes looked different enough to be worth it. I’m so glad I did!!!

Totally disregarded my sample size at first, thinking it would be a let down like so many other gourmands have for me. And then, I decided to try it. This is the most complex, yet simple gourmand I have ever smelt. I would gladly wear this to bed any time of the year or for an outing in the cold weather. Love and Crime opens with a lemon (not orange) note and it cuts through the vanilla and cacao. Neither lemon nor vanilla overpowers the other in the opening. Then, the lemon slowly dissipates and leaves a sugary vanilla trail. On my skin, the star anise comes out strong. There is a slight hint of bitterness from the star anise which goes nicely with the sweet vanilla and cacao notes. The scent never grows too sugary for my nose unlike Lira. Then the scent seems to grow some depth and have this boozy, incense like quality that makes me continue sniffing my arm relentlessly. This phase of the fragrance seems to last a while. After 8 hours, all that is left on my skin is a beautiful, soft vanilla with some lemony nuances. This blew me away. I am very tempted to get a full bottle even if there’s a high price tag.

Concur with the reviews that this smells similar to a lemon sponge cake, but the pink pepper (and perhaps star anise?) give it a kick to keep it smelling uniquely lively & warm! A fun, modern, and seductive flirt that stands out. I think this could be unisex, but definitely has a feminine lean. All weather friendly (except maybe summer)? Every time I sample, I love it more and more. FB worthy for sure! UPDATE: my full bottle arrived and I have been wearing this to work daily. It smells SOOOOO good! I keep getting whiffs of it throughout the day after only 3 sprays (one on each wrist and one at base of neck), and it is already my most complimented fragrance from other people. This actually may be my favorite ever and replace Electimuss Trajan as my signature scent. My only nitpick is that it is the most boring perfume bottle I own lol the front is literally just a sticker that is already peeling off. I'm sad that such marvelous juice doesn't get the best representation on my shelf, but I suppose it's worth the tradeoff ;-)

I absolutely love Lira, so when I got a sample of Love & Crime and it turned out to smell a lot like Lira with a sweet cocoa note on the dry down, I bought a bottle. I would say that Lira smells like lemon cheesecake whereas Love & Crime smells more like mandarin cake with a little cocoa powder dusted on. And I can't get enough! I got my bottle Friday and had to force myself to wear something else yesterday because I wore Love & Crime three days in a row (which is unheard of for me since I wear a different perfume everyday)! It has me addicted! Love & Crime lasts all day and all night too! Although I do wish that Love & Crime came in a bigger bottle with more juice, the 30ml will last forever for me since a little goes a very long way (I only use two sprays and I am surrounded by a scent bubble of goodness all day) and I have so many other perfumes that I use also. HIGHLY recommend if you love gourmands!!

Woke up thinking this would be the perfume of the day. It literally made me giddy with joy! Love at second smell, I have it for about a year now. I sprayed Lucid Dream on my left wrist and Love and Crime on my right thinking ‘hmm..ok, quite nice that Love and Crime one’. But THEN, after a few minutes.. ‘hang on, what is that delicious smell..? Oh! That lemon cake smell.. the best. And the lemon cake smell stays on me. It does not transmute into something bland in the dry down. It reminds me of when it was my birthday turning 8-9 or 10 and we went to La Formosa cake bakery in Breda, the Netherlands, where they sold lemon whipped cream cake. I am truly in heaven when I think about wearing this perfume and then to put it on is so so nice. It is cold, sunny and crisp today in New Zealand. The perfect day for this delicious perfume. In my top five most loved perfumes.

I tried this without reading the reviews and was struck but how much it reminded me of Unknown Pleasures, which is already one of our favorites. Love & Crime is more cakey, orange instead of lemon, no coconut, and gives me a marshmallow accord. Mouthwatering! Definitely on the List of Perfumes That Make Me Want To Eat My Husband Whole But Then I'd Be Lonely. I thought he'd love it but right away he says he gets a "warm rubber tire" element. Then I remembered that the last time he said that was about Kyse's Delizia di Marshmallow a year ago!! Something about the sugar or vanilla in these perfumes affects his nose like that, no matter which one of us is wearing it. I can smell the "warm tire" if I try to, but it's not at the forefront for me. Ultimately he vastly prefers Unknown Pleasures and I think they're similar enough to not need both. Haven't tried Lira.

In my search for the perfect version of Lira, I have tried many interpretations of this fragrance profile, from the budget friendly Tendre Madeleine by Les Senteurs Gourmandes to hidden gems like Linari’s Angelo di Fiume. From the seemingly endless parade of fragrance ‘cousins’, the only ones which captured my heart were Kerosene’s Unknown Pleasures and Ex Idolo’s Love & Crime. To my nose, this is an elevated version of Lira, with much better sillage and longevity. The heavenly lemon cake drizzled in caramel is still there, sweet and intense, made even more delicious by a decadent cacao note. This is a rich, deep gourmand fragrance, suitable for colder days and guaranteed to make your presence known. It’s the best version of Lira I was able to find, and well worth the price. Unknown Pleasures is also lovely, but a bit more citrus and less sweet.

I adore this scent. This is my top citrus gourmand of all time (I own and love Bake, Siesta Drive, Unknown Pleasures, and Mrs. Gloss’ Lemon Sherbet). The citrus reads more lemon than orange to my nose; I get a fluffy lemon cake- definitely sweet, with more of an icing/powdered sugar topping rather than frosting. Somewhere between like a lemon angel food cake and a lemon bar. If I get the cacao, it more adds to the “powdered topping” aspect, rather than smells like identifiable chocolate. I really don’t get the anise vibe either. It is linear, but that’s honestly perfect for what I want it to be. I get an arms length sillage at least, and it lasts over 8 hours. For me, it’s light and fluffy enough to wear during the summer and works just as well in the winter. I’m halfway through my second bottle and will definitely be buying another backup!

I don't know why I threw this into my latest sample mix from Lucky Scents but I'm glad I did. It initially reminded me of Lira (not surprising as it has a similar notes profile) but Love and Crime was far more intoxicating. While I enjoyed Lira very much, it only made me consider buying a full bottle. With Love and Crime, it's only the frightening postage fee that's stopping me from getting the full bottle right now! I may actually go ahead and get it if it continues to delight me this week. I don't know what the X factor is with Love and Crime. Perhaps the Cacao? It's beautifully balanced and while the mandarin/citrus does lead at first, everything blends well together overall. I don't think of it as citrus fragrance at all. It also performs well and I'm looking forward to enjoying the skin scent going to bed tonight.

This is one of my favorites in my collection for a reason. I am constantly on the hunt for the most perfect balance of lemon and vanilla, thanks to my enormous sweet tooth and predilection for Starbucks iced lemon loaf. I'm surprised not to see butter listed in the notes, because this evokes a buttery, moist yellow cake drizzled with lemon icing. Other reviewers have noted play doh, and they're not wrong - for me, it's like a sprinkle of kosher salt in the batter. This a delicious treat for true gourmand lovers. It does develop over time and after about half an hour, I can pick up some of the sharper, darker notes (bitter chocolate, pepper.) Don't get me wrong though, this stays delectable right up to the very end, which on me is around 6 hours. My only wish is that it had stronger projection for the price.

I love this. Even though it's not listed I smell lime? And not sweet lime but rather a dry lime. Maybe it's just my skin that pulls this lime kind of note but it reminds me of vanilla insensee. So strange. This is BEAUTIFUL and I has great longevity on my skin. Can't wait until my bottle arrives and I can use it with a sprayer! Bake: love and crime is similar to Bake if you removed the lemon and replaced it with orange (or for me, lime lol) Lira: very similar but Lira has the added lavender note but it's not very strong Devotion: love and crime once again doesn't have the Lemon note and doesnt have the dominant orange blossom devotion has Unknown pleasures: I just simply don't see a resemblance other than they are both gourmand

When I wear this, I feel like a towering wedding cake made of citrus sponge and vanilla buttercream, with an explosion of gumpaste flowers cascading all the way down from the seventh tier. Somebody spent two months' mortgage on this cake, and it's the best damn cake you've ever eaten in your life. Love & Crime is the gourmand-lover's gourmand. My children wanted to try it and I could smell them all day long with just a half-spritz, and I would get wafts of it from my own skin for hours and hours. Ex Idolo is pricey, but you truly get what you pay for: an excellent sugary perfume that never edges into nauseating or girlish like so many sweet fragrances, masterfully tempered by fresh citrus and a little spice. Absolutely divine.

Lovely, lovely scent. Very similar to Lira (which I own and prefer over this) but with less citrus and an added chocolate note (that you smell right away in the opening, even if it should be at the base). Lira's opening with blood orange, bergamot and lavender is truly unsurpassed; in the dry down the similarities between the two increase. There is no point in having both, I'll stick to Lira and when I feel more "chocolaty" I'll layer it with some drops of Choco Musk oil. Update 1y and a half later: after some time, and despite my declaration that you don’t need both, I got this because of the poor longevity of Lira on my skin. Love&Crime, on the contrary, is eternal and now I prefer it over Lira. “La donna è mobile” 😂

This is just SO delicious. Wow. Love & crime is a fragrance I loved at first sniff. It's completely edible, cozy, and feminine. I know I'll wear this one to bed so I can be wrap myself in the warmth of a citrusy sponge cake. This to me has the richness and gooey vanilla that's in Nishane Ani without the spice and ginger. It also has a bit of cocoa, which rounds it out nicely. This smells how a warm blanket makes you feel. Update (5/25): I absolutely adore this one, but it's settled into something that's syrupy and pungent now that my bottle is almost finished. To be such an expensive 1 oz bottle (US) I feel like it shouldn't do that. I ended up purchasing Lira, even though I think was WAY better, as a substitute.