Chia

Sadly, Chia has been discontinued but it will forever be one of my favourites. Chia is a fluffy cotton candy talc cloud, with soft almonds, really soft citruses and pink flowers, without going on the dry rose route. It's a sweet and playful fragrance, with a little edge given by sugared and toasted crunchy nuts. If you usually dislike iris and violet talc scents, since they're quite dry and soapy, this is on a different shelf, a lot more sweet and playful. We're talking baby powder sweet, not powdered talc for adults. The fragrance is inspired by a sardinian beach with pink sand, which indeed gives this warm, cloudy, powdery sensation, but I personally tend to associate this scent to a dreamland hevenly clean fair for kids, with the most delicious and high quality sweets, all surrounded by pink cotton candy. Compared to Pink Sugar by Aquolina, they are not dupes by any means: I went above and beyond to blind buy Pink Sugar, just for the sake of having a cheaper alternative to preserve the real deal, and that one smells like a torture of burnt sugar and licorice, totally sinthetic and very loud. If these were colours, Chia is baby pink and Pink Sugar is neon fuchsia. There's a faint resemblance in the drydown, when Pink Sugar is basically gone, but nothing to write home about.

Chia is a very soft, feminine scent, much more floral than one normally finds in gourmands. The rose and floral notes definitely stand out and I detect some muguet du bois in there somewhere. The noisette (hazelnut) is very noticeable to my nose and very lovely. There is prominent vanilla, of course, and a refreshing citrus, orange note that remains throughout the drydown and makes this another light refreshing SS Annunziata scent. I find this classically feminine and sweet. The only fault I find is that it reminds me a bit of baby powder and perfume for babies that is sold in Latin countries. While I think this is really pretty, I think it belongs on a baby, not on me. It needs more amber to make it a deeper more grown-up scent.

Acquistato alla cieca e... wow! Lo amo! Uno dei miei gourmand preferiti! Più che i frutti rossi, percepisco un dolce limone giallo, zucchero e vaniglia. Dolce, molto dolce ma piacevole, non stucchevole, confortante, non smetto di annusarmi! Se ti piace questo, ti piacerà anche Sweet Carousel

First on, it smells like the Maison vanillas, ESPECIALLY Fleurie de Tahiti - super foody candy sweet. In this case, however, I immediately smell rose, which gives it some personality other than thinking I spilled cooking vanilla on myself. Something about it reminds me of the Crabtree and Evelyn type blends, as well. My nose does not pick out any other notes distinctly. After the drydown, I get some nuttiness, can't name which one, but it's there. And some citrusy tang. But that's about it. Does not change much. A couple of hours in, it's less candy, with faint talcum powder, but I really don't get musk or amber, as listed in the description. Lasts well. I really do love vanilla and rose together, makes me feel relaxed. This is a fluffy frag, no depth, not a solid base to it, albeit the notes smell good, and not synthetic either which for me is the fragrance kiss of death - the minute I smell plastic, I'm out. It's a candy shop with two-day old cut roses on the counter. Bright, sweet, gourmand. If that's your thing, I'd recommend this over a mainstream vanilla any day.

Powdery floral. Combination almost makes me think of fruit right on the verge of rotting. Nuts a bit more minor to the sugar and musk. On the low end of like for me. Feel it could be way too cloying and powdery in larger doses.