Kuidaore

Tantalizing Tea - Kuidaore by Fantôme - Reviewed 12/28/24 As I expand further expand my experience with fragrance that falls more outside of the realm of what could be considered standard, this particular house caught my attention for the whimsey that was seemingly held within it, collections offering a truly magical sounding experience. That it very much did, and I've only touched the tip of the iceberg that lies beneath. Of course I started with a scent that sounded pleasing to me as a lover of creamy, sweet scents. My daily cup of matcha providing me with a baseline as to what I might be smelling, though they end up being slightly different for obvious reasons. It starts out as a very pure sweet vanilla scent, powdery rather than the cream note I was expecting to get. To me it's very vanilla heavy, with a bitter undertone that is the expected earthy-tea scent of matcha powder. It dried down with that same opening sweetness, simply vanilla, doughy. This feels like a bad description to me, but I find it so hard to adequately describe in words less simple than just vanilla, fresh green matcha powder, sweetness. Like a cold matcha latte. This said, it doesn't seem to last long on my skin, which is a true shame to me personally. The people around me don't seem to notice it even when asked and have to get very close and personal in order to smell it, which isn't a bad thing, but I always hope things will have a generous reach. For the price of a sample, it seems worth it if you want to try out something more indie.

I love, love, LOVE this one. Does it get any more gourmand than this?! I also really love the meaning of the name, Kuidaore: "eat oneself into ruin"? Count me in! The notes are simple enough, but this combination is translating into toasted pistachio + waffle cone + heavy vanilla buttercream, which is better than I ever expected. And no, pistachio is not a note listed for this. I'm going to assume the cream and vanilla notes in conjunction with the matcha note are what's giving me this toasty pistachio glory. The sugary notes in this are so rich that it's also giving me some caramel action, whether it's listed or not. This is heaven, honestly. This sample is going to grow into a full bottle pretty soon. Quite frankly, this is what I was hoping Kayali's Yum Pistachio Gelato would be like, and that was a major fail. Kuidaore is going to beat out all other gourmands I've tried, so far. Genius blend. 10/10 realistic gourmand goodness, full-bottle worthy. Edit: full bottle acquired. This is in my rotation of bedtime scents because it's so comforting.

With my skin chemistry I found the matcha fairly prominent with a creamy note most noticeable as well. Gorgeous scent, I love it. It becomes more vanilla overtime. It’s basically a nice earthy pastry scent.

fluffy fried pastry!! i don't get any of the matcha at all but i prefer it that way. feels light and airy and distinctly of fried dough. reminds me of being at a state fair in the best way.

very sweet, vanilla-laced pastry with a dusting of matcha; I imagine a huge matcha cream puff stuffed to the brim with sweet cream, sprinkled with powdered sugar. it's sweet but not cloying, which I think the matcha helps with; it's powdery but not in a makeup way. the matcha here is not loud or bitter, rather an undertone that you have to close your eyes to pick up on. it keeps the fragrance from becoming too linear or one-note, which is important imo. lasted 6hrs on skin, and I kept getting whiffs of it throughout the day; wore down to become a sweet candle-like scent. not a summer gourmand, but I think it's light enough to withstand SOME heat. very pretty & unique, worth picking up!