Loukhoum

The most comforting scent I have ever experienced. Can't be without it. Ps. The old bottle was much nicer in my opinion. Don't understand the need to change it. I just found my review for Loukhoum that I posted on another site a few years ago... When I was clearly far more chatty. Seeing the review reminded me of how I came about Loukhoum in the first place... A process of elimination. Comparing likes, loves & dislikes with other reviwers. I had noticed that quite a few perfumes that I liked where often described as 'ashtray' by the dislikers. (Ashtray? That's crazy talk! Lol) To me KML sounded like heaven.. So i decided that if 'they' hate it & say it smells of ashtray.. Obviously I'm going to like it and set out to make it my 2008 Christmas gift to myself!.. here's my old review. "I ordered this perfume based on the reviews that I have found on here and elsewhere.... It is not easily available in the UK, so no opportunity to test beforehand. So I ordered it and then spent 9 days waiting for it to arrive (Christmas post!) panicking more and more that I had probably just made an expensive mistake. On the 9th day I arrived home to find it packaged on my doorstep. I unwrapped it and spritzed it on and - uh oh! Hmm, not too sure about this one. I had powdery - good, but maybe too powdery. No real sweet scents, it was actually quite spicey... not really my cuppa tea! I asked my husband if he liked it and he said not really..... not good, not good!! I didn't give me a headache though.... which was great as I knew I could give it a fair trial over a few days. So I tried it again the next day.... Mmm actually, this is quite nice. It seemed sweeter and warmer. I could smell the warm sweetness of the almond. The spicey notes that I hadn't liked from the day before were now a warm vanilla. There was also a delicate rose scent and less powder. Phew, this seems better. Maybe the fact that the perfume had been in transit and the contents were really cold had effected the way that they smelled on the first day? Anyway, by day three I was in love with this perfume. It smells exactly how I imagine I should smell! My husband snuggled up to me that night and commented on how nice my skin smelled..... and he has commented every snuggle since! I'm so happy I found this site.... without it I would never have found this perfume..... My HG - Keiko Mecheri, Loukhoum. I LOVE IT!".

I have little samples of both Loukhoum and Loukhoum Eau Poudrée, and I've dedicated this weekend to a little comparative study between the two (while going about the rest of my life, obviously; I'm not THAT obsessed yet!). Friday evening I wore Loukhoum Eau Poudrée, Saturday evening I wore Loukhoum, and today Sunday I'm wearing them both side by side. I'd already worn both of them a couple of times before, so I already knew I love both of them, but I wanted to pinpoint my opinion and especially the differences between the two of them. I don't know if I succeeded: I'm not entirely sure I would be able to tell the difference in a blind test, and I'm not sure at all which one I should save up for a full bottle of...So this review will be about the both of them. These are both very sweet scents, and they both smell like real Turkish Delight turned into perfume: not too realistic in a sticky or overpowering way, like you’ve rubbed candy all over yourself, but not synthetic at all, either. The scents are quite heavy and strong, very long-lived. You can wrap yourself in them like in a blanket if you want - like all the best winter gourmands they can really be used for comfort. The question is whether you’d want to stroll around in public wrapped in a candy-scented blanket, being an adult and all, but I think it’s just sophisticated enough to work as long as you don’t overspray. The differences between the two are quite subtle as far as I can see. Wearing them on consecutive days I could hardly tell them apart, but now that I’m wearing them side by side I do see some differences. The original Loukhoum is a bit more syrupy, a bit sweeter. It’s also very well blended: I can’t pick out any individual notes, it just smells like a more sophisticated perfume version of Turkish Delight. The Eau Poudrée is what the name implies: a bit dryer and more powdery, which makes it just that bit calmer and less sweet. I can also pick out the various notes better in this one: I smell sugar, almonds, rose and vanilla working together beautifully but not quite forming one homogenous smell. I also think the Eau Poudrée could work in the warmer seasons as well as the colder ones, because it’s just that little bit less powerful.

As much as I adore Loukhoum by Keiko Mecheri, it is not a photorealistic Turkish delight scent. Loukhoum Eau Poudrée is closer to the actual candy with its definite airy powdered sugar and luscious rosewater notes. So why review the original? Loukhoum is the scent evocative of vintage cosmetics. She is your devastatingly gorgeous 1940s Hollywood starlet. She is backstage with a classical coquettish ballerina, complete with silks, powder puffs, and giggles behind fans and flowers. And the hint of hawthorn adds an ethereal faerie quality to the delicate powdered sugar rose. She is, to put this in a very contemporary cultural reference, how I imagine Dorothy Chambers of Black Mirror's Hotel Reverie fame, perhaps with a little addition of Oriza L. Le Grand's Fleur d'Oranger or Jardins d'Armide, or even a bit of Bodacious by Boudicca. Ah, but perhaps I am too romantic. However, I giggle every time someone with no sense of sophistication suggests that something smells like "baby powder." Baby powder is made of talc or cornstarch which both, essentially, have no smell. The various perfumes added to the powders to make them more pleasant are typically based on actual existing flowers. It is a very unfortunate consequence that what we have used to make experiences with self-care items— toiletries, cleaning products, medicines— more palatable have now become symbolic of corporatocracy. I refuse, for instance, to think of cherry and bubblegum as medicinal flavors. Drink some original green NyQuil or take some plain amoxicillin pills and tell me how much they taste like candy. Or use some regular old bleach and tell me how much it smells of lemon or pine. There is a wood polish, interestingly enough, that smells almost exactly like marzipan, so beautiful and mouthwatering compared to the older scents! Though now, I suppose, it will become associated with janitors' closets and old folk's homes. For shame.

I've wanted to try this for ages, it's received such incredible reviews and sounds so luscious. First, I get a strong impression of Petite Robe Noir: cherry. I do love cherry, and almond often smells like cherry. I was completely unprepared for the fragrance to smell exactly like Lorenzo Villoresi Teint de Neige. With a hint of cherry. Well you could have knocked me over with a feather. I never expected this. There are some differences, such as the occasional whiff of cherry; it seems to come and go in waves, which is very interesting and something I've rarely encountered before. Since I spilled some of my decant I ended up applying a lot more than I wanted, probably 1 ml. I have fragrance consuming skin and so far I can still can sniff lovely rich satisfying wafts largely undiminished in strength. Usually the first half hour indicates whether the fragrance has any legs. Next the honey comes to the fore, which is the first real difference from Teint de Neige. I still get that strong makeup powder scent I love so much and which I never expected I'd like at all. I'll amend my review later if Loukhoum lasts more than the obligatory 2 hours on me. If you love the powdery aspect of Loukhoum best, I'd advise you try Teint de Neige. Joseph Jivago's Sweet Dreams is very, very close to Teint de Neige if the price of TdN is too steep. As with most expensive scents such as those made by Lorenzo Villoresi, your money buys you more longevity and subtlety. Note: The Loukhoum has very good longevity, I was quite pleased. I find the cherry note to be richer and more luscious than Petite Robe Noire. Definitely bottle worthy; the hype is well deserved. Be aware that JJ Sweet Dreams has doubled and tripled in price.

She is sensual and sweet and really quite glamorous! Definitely the scent of a vintage starlet, and reminiscent of turkish delights. I get a lot of sweet powder with occasional wafts of jammy rose, very sweet but not cloying at all because the powder keeps it more "dry" (may be why some get a tobacco scent from it), and this comes from someone who is easily cloyed by those sugary sweet scents. It dries down into a somewhat powdery and creamy vanilla that is so addicting. Such a beautiful scent. I actually got du soir first and its first spray smelled exactly like the original, but over time my du soir sample has gone darker and gotten more spicy and oud-ier. The very first spray of this was disappointing for me because it was too rosey and sweet but I gave it a day and now its soooo gorgeous, just like du soir was at first (but slightly less powdery and slightly more rosey still). I sprayed this on a tissue for my little brother to smell and he wanted to keep it because he liked it so much. He said he preferred poudree because it "wasnt as sweet," which is probably because its more rosey than the original. Personally I prefer the original out of all three loukhoums. One of my favorite fragrances ever! Pricey so for now I'll buy a decanter, but its on my list of full bottles to buy when I have the reason. edit: I got a 5ml decant and it was already somewhat aged when it arrived. It lost a lot of the baby powder notes and I think I'm getting more honey and woodsy notes alongside the still slightly powdery vanilla. Its nice but it just isn't the same, I miss my 1ml sample. I will use this one up and eventually buy a FB or maybe another 1ml just to test.