Cara

I have to admit~I have an almond fetish. It's w/out a doubt one of my favorite notes. Cara is on my short list in this catagory. It's literally taken me years to realize her unique, quirky beauty. First off~a sample doesn't do her justice and that's what I'd been dabbling with for years. A dab here, a dab there, I liked it but I also liked many others and she just didn't stand out. Finally I traded for a decant and everything changed. She needs to be sprayed~it's just that simple.Be careful how much you do spray though~it doesn't take much. She starts out w/an almost painful almond bite. She smells a bit like it feels when you have an itch and scratch it to the point of bleeding. It feels so good and yet it still hurts a little bit. That's how the initial burst of Cara feels to my nose. Part of the reason for this is the interplay between the almond and amber. They come out in tandem like a jagged point. It doesn't take long for Cara to soften out all of her sharp sugary edges though and become a beautiful cloud of soft almond meringue. She feels very light and full of fluffy sweetened air. Irresistably delicious and she crosses from season to season like a champ. She's a perfect frothy treat for a summer night or the promise of a cuddle by the campfire.

Cara is wonderful, quite probably the best pure almond/vanilla scent out there (it's admittedly a small niche!). The opening is all almonds, bittersweet and slightly "playdoughy" artificial in a pleasant way. Then the vanilla starts to come in and the scent morphs into this delicious, warm sweetness, lovely and enveloping but not too much at all - even smoother than it already was in the opening. It probably is like a cloud of marshmallows, as others have mentioned, but there's none of the immaturity and synthetic, edible character that that comparison suggests. It's just a really simple and surprisingly restrained, "naturally" sweet kind of scent - just lovely when you're in the right mood, which I often am in fall and winter. I don't think it's particularly light, as other reviewers have said - it's true that it's in no way overbearing, thankfully, and it does benefit from using a spray or two more of it than of most winter scents, but it is very much distinct and "solid". In fact, I think it smells like the kind of fragrance that would have a lot heavier sillage than it actually does, but even if it stays close to the skin it does stick around for a long time. This potential new winter favourite is going straight to my want list!

I've tried nearly every "almond" fragrance there is, and I may have finally found THE ONE. I've yet to try Alessandro, it's been out of stock at Luckyscent for some time, but so far Cara is fulfilling it's promise. It's beautiful! A wonderfully sweet heliotrope almond. It's linear and exactly what I wanted. I smell sweet almond, vanilla, heliotrope and a pinch of powder. I've had it on for about six hours and it's still going strong but stays close to the skin. I've been getting pillowy wafts all night. It's definitely gourmand and I want to eat my wrist! It's Etro Heliotrope with more oomph, and I love the Etro. This is the kind of almond I like. Better than Confetto or Conafetto IMO. Highly recommend if you like sweet heliotrope in the vein of Luctor et Emergo and What We Do In Paris Is Secret. Top five for me.

Almond and powder are my all time favorite notes so, naturally, this is my personal fragrance holy grail. It’s not a complex or layered scent, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s like sinking into a soft and cozy marzipan-cherry-sweet-powdery cloud. The almond in this isn’t a wicked & sharp cyanide- it’s very innocent. And the caramel is not syrupy nor sticky, it’s somehow dry and fluffy but still sweet. Longevity isn’t the greatest and it’s a shame they don’t make a body lotion in this scent because I literally cannot get enough of this. I think in my head, “Cara mia!“ every time I get a whiff <3

A more delicious perfume I have never smelled before! It's a surprisingly light gourmand with a prominent almond note, sweet but eerie, not heavy or suropy like Louve. Unfortunately, this eerie quality is the reason why this may not be FB worthy: Fades way too soon and is only detectable when I put my wrist under my nose. If this was a splash/body water, I'd buy it in a second, because it's a scent to envelop one's shelf in; as it is, I love it but I don't think I'm willing to pay the heavy price required for a FB. Still, it's so yummy, I might change my mind. Decisions, decisions....