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....

I love Cara and extend its life by spraying on clothes or a scarf, and under my long hair at the back. In this way I get a lovely almond sillage which does last for hours. The initial blast is to be ignored, this soon vanishes, to leave a high quality gourmand scent not too heavy on the vanilla, more fondant, done in the skilled way one would expect from this House. It must be kept cool - a friend had a bottle of Cara which had gone-over in the baking heat of a shop. But we all know by now, how to keep scent. A must-try for gourmand fans x

Fluffy, marshmallow, vanilla treat. This is not heavy but you will catch whiffs of it as you move about your day. If you are familiar with SERENDIPITOUS - it is quite like that in the marshmallow, vanilla cloud-like sweetness. SERENDIPITOUS has the chocolate/orange note where CARA would be the marshmallow puff, vanilla cloud. I have a place for both scents in my wardrobe. The sweet sugar part in both scents is more like that powdered sugar puff that you experience when first opening a bag of marshmallows!

This scent is absolutely delectable. First blast is raw, powdery almond. Then, the dry down...perfectly toasted marshmallows. Think s'mores - hot marshmallows, milk chocolate and warm graham crackers. Sugared almonds. No spices. No smokiness or incense. Just pure, warm sugary sweetness done masterfully. It was still detectable 8 hours later - and not just a boring left-over vanilla, but a sweet lingering caramel. If you're looking for something soft, creamy and sweet, this is it. Positively delicious.

A cross between a delicious white marzipan and thick L'Occitane Shea body butter. Nutty, musky, cozy and comforting. Lots of vanilla sugar. By the way, on their site L'Occitane claims the mentioned body butter has... marshmallow extract :D I imagine it must be no easy job to squeeze anything out of poor little things :) Anyway, back to Cara. It's neither groundbreaking, nor moving, at least for me. But I would definitely love to have a bottle when I run out of my Pure Eve by TDC.

In case you love Cara as much as I do, find it now while you still can. It's another true love that's been discontinued. I recently bought two backups from a seller on eBay and they smell legit to me. The bottles are older, like the one pictured here on Fragrantica, not the newer opaque, black bottles. First Luctor Et Emergo became impossible to find or import to the US, maybe DC'd, and now Cara has bitten the dust as well. I'm starting to feel personally attacked LOL!

The initial scent is a little playdoughy, but almond sometimes smells like that to me. After that its an airy marshmallow scent that is liked by most everyone. If you want something sweet, light and airy, this is a good one to sample! I also own serendipitous and do not think they smell even remotely similar- it may be chemistry but serendipitous is pure tootsie roll! I do agree that its a fluffy marshmallow though. :)

Open a giant bag of huge fluffy white marshmallows, sink your nose in and smell....this is Cara's dry down and I love it! Starts off very powdery, almost face powder, then like a sweet sugared almond powder...then it becomes this divine marshmallow sweetness. gaaaah! Sweet creamy vanilla almond with powdery fluffiness. Only gets more delicious as it becomes one with your skin. I can stop smelling myself!!

This is absolutely gorgeous. To me, it starts with a strong powder scent, almost medicinally neutral. Quickly though, as it dries down, the vanilla/sugar/caramel comes through. After an hour, it is just soft and sweet almond-vanilla. Though it is a gentle scent, the longevity is excellent. Easily lasts most of the day on my skin. Also, magnetic cap!

this is a lovely not too gourmand gourmand with predominant almond. Starts out a bit harshly, as noted by many, but dries down to a delicious warm rice pudding type of smell...only using almond milk instead of the real thing =)

My sister is a cake designer in NYC. When she smelled this perfume, she said it smells exactly like fondant. EXACTLY! So if you like the smell or really the taste of cake fondant, This is the perfume for you. I love it.

Difficult to find and purchase, but on my 'want' list. The most adult, warm, gentle, wafting delicious sweet caramel and vanilla aroma. Absolutely delightful and a must-have for my collection.

This would be so pretty if it weren't for the salt scent. I have that problem with lavandes trinon by lancome. Those two stand together. lol.... otherwise its pretty and dries ok.. very salty

I am so thankful for gett this from a wonderful fragrantica member! I absolutely love this. I don't really find any of the notes overpowering and all are equally noticeable!

This perfume is EVERYTHING! It's so sweet and warm, like a hug in a bottle. The vanilla and caramel are divine, and it lasts forever on my skin.

Smells like almond extract for baking except not as strong. More light and a little fluffy. Beautiful. If you enjoy almond, you’ll love this.