Mirage Gourmand

I can’t get over this fragrance. I went to Scent Bar in downtown LA and I tried all of the niche gourmands. I’m talking about all of the main layering niche vanillas: Escapade Gourmand, Tihota, Bianco Latte, etc., among many others. And I kept returning back to this one. I put all of my samples away into my purse and just kept smelling them throughout the day to see how they wore. And this one maintained the most beautiful scent. I initially wrote the scent off. It was actually recommended by one of the workers there. Upon first spray, you get very little alcohol smell whatsoever and go directly into the gourmand. The opening is incredibly pistachio-heavy, smelling like a photorealistic pistachio with very well-blended powdery notes underneath. As this fragrance develops, it is incredibly smooth. It is extremely well blended. No screeching whatsoever. Just a perfect blend of almond pistachio powder on a delightful cake. I imagine a bunch of pretty girlfriends sitting at a table wearing beautiful dresses with big hats, eating some kind of freshly baked pistachio tea cake. And you can kind of still smell the freshness of some of them who have recently put on powder. The scent is inviting, comforting, and honestly what I wanted Bianco Latte to be. I honestly found Bianco Latte to be a little cloying. Escapade Gourmand, although probably more mass-appealing, has a Play-Doh note that is not likable to my nose. This also has a slight Play-Doh note, but I’m assuming it might be from the guaiac wood. A creamy, powdery vanilla (maybe slight Play-Doh in an enjoyable way) dry down that has maybe the slightest touch of the most creamy sandalwood woodiness. This is my number one layering gourmand fragrance right now. I’m so glad I found her. I love her. I’m not sure if a dupe house can really encompass the complexity of this. The smoothness and the high quality of the ingredients is evident. 10 out of 10, would recommend.

Les Nobles Essences Mirage Gourmand cloth test: top: hazelnuts middle: hazelnut, vanilla, coffee shop pastries? base: coffee shop skin test: top: almond extract from my kitchen cabinet middle: sweet almond, like almond paste base: vanilla, nuts, and chalk? my skin is eating it. The quote on Fragrantica from the manufacturer says "Take off on an enchanting journey that reminds you of the gourmand notes of your childhood..." That's a tall order for an almond fragrance. Until age 9 I lived in Ripon, California, "almond capital of the world." That's pronounced a- mond like in cat. Every year in spring there was a parade for the Almond Blossom Festival. Pink-white petals floated through the air and accumulated on the street like drifts of snow. The petals landed on the dark green uniforms of soldiers marching in the parade. They were wearing dark green tree branches on their helmets as "camouflage." I was, I think, 4? 5? I said if they want to blend in they should be wearing branches with flowers on them. Everybody laughed. But I still maintain that I was right. I walked in the orchards and I was afraid of the hives of the disoriented bees that got moved around to wherever the industrial agriculture system needed some trees pollinated. I was also afraid of falling into an open floodgate. I saw a UFO once. We all saw it. Mom was pedalling us both on her bicycle when we saw it. They did it. They actually did it. They made a fragrance that, just for an instant, as a middle note, smelled exactly like almond paste. Almond paste is not marzipan although they are both made of almonds and sugar. Every home in Ripon had a giant tub of almond paste on the kitchen counter. They actually made a perfume that reminded me of a childhood scent.

I was going to take today off from fragrance reviewing. I happened to grab this sample randomly from my new sample bag from Luckyscent, thinking this would be more of a throwaway, and boy oh boy am I pleasantly surprised! I unfortunately have PTSD from my last blind buy and have a bit of hesitation whenever I try a new gourmand fragrance. Actually, I wasn't even going to purchase the sample. I'm so glad I changed my mind because this is the absolute perfect gourmand in my opinion. It is the perfect pistachio almond cake. The kind of cake that has a marzipan center. At the same time, there is an intoxicatingly sexy undercurrent. Something that binds everything together to create a wearable, adult orientated fragrance at its core. If this fragrance keeps up, has decent longevity, and doesn't change from what I am smelling right now, this is my first gourmand full bottle purchase I have wanted in a very long time. I made the mistake of purchasing no limit blindly and I wholeheartedly regret it. I wish I could exchange for this! Ugh. Anyway I will make it short and sweet today. No pun intended. If you are into almond or pistachio fragrances, run as fast as you can to pick this up because I know this great fragrance is going to be sold out yesterday.

Y’all honestly! The decant I have of this weirdly does not do this bottle Justice. I love this purfume! Such a simple, yet easy purfume! On my skin it smells like sweet almond syrup with a hint of cake... like the cake is in the background.. the full bottle is thicker and richer than the decant I got.. it stays quite sweet and almondy... I think this could be a safe blind buy if you enjoy gourmands, almonds, sweet and syrup type of heaviness. To me this is not cloying, or headache inducing as it smells simply like candied almonds.. pairs well my vanilla musk.. Can be paired with Tihota but will produce a powdery scent. I think it’s really amazing! And does not smell cheap!! I’ve smelled many other almonds and this is a well blended, sweet and comforting!

I love the 3 reviews underneath mine, EPTrail's was especially so fun to read. Mirage Gourmand is such a delectable scent... reminds of my childhood, specifically my first perfume 'Bvlgari's Petit Et Mamans' with that sweet refreshing opening This quickly settles into a full-blown literal gourmand, and becomes an exceedingly luscious, moist almond / pistachio madeleine. Watch out because people will pounce on you! Mirage Gourmand is so well balanced, just the right amount of sweet, powdery nuttiness. Also great performance so you are getting bang for your buck. If you are a fan of Jany by Sora Dora or Red Keela Split by Fomowa Paris, highly highly recommend this too. Wonderful gourmand, I cannot rave about this enough!

To my nose it smells like the oldes candies sweet candied almond eggs, that loose powder between the eggs. Something light and fluffy with an almond feel. It's not overly loud, nor sweet, it's quite pleasant and light. Plus, it still has the characteristic of smelling like perfume. I received a sample and I'm debating whether to buy a full bottle or not. My hesitation in buying a bottle is based on the more than $200 that this perfume costs, perhaps if it were half the price, I would buy it, although the final decision has not been made yet.

I was looking for a perfume to smell like those little pink Ikea Princess Cakes they unfortunately stopped making, and this is the closest I've come so far. Well, this and Odette's Petit Gateau, which I bought around the same time. This is the perfect amount of nuttiness, vanilla cake and marzipan paste to me. I don't get the bad reviews! This perfume IS very strong though. You only need one or two sprays, but it lasts over 12+ hours for me. I cannot stop smelling my arms when I wear this and the bottle is beautiful in person too.

this is legitimately the most realistic cake scent i have ever smelt, and les nobles does it beautifully! not sickeningly sweet to the point where its cloying, you just smell like you just baked a bunch of almond-based cakes and the batter is all over you. STRONG ASF THOUGH!! as much as i think it's delicious, this is not a perfume you wanna drench yourself in. please try this is you love gourmands, it's brilliant

Mirage Gourmand is a soft, nutty vanilla that leans more cozy than loud. The almond and pistachio come through first, giving it a slightly powdery, cake-like feel before it settles into a warm vanilla and tonka base. It’s smooth and easy to wear, but not as strong or projecting as some of my other gourmands. It feels comforting and lightly sweet, like a subtle dessert rather than something super rich or intense.

I am so in love with this fragrance. It’s everything I wanted L’eau Papier to be! Sweet nutty opening and a nice woody tonka dry down. It’s very comforting to me, like hugging someone in a time of need. I will definitely be getting a full bottle and I’m so happy to find this.

Woah. Three spritz to the wrists and my A1C just jumped to 9%. They must have emptied an entire Mediterranean bazaar into the vat by the time Mirage Gourmand was finished, there were so many almonds, pistachios, and hazelnuts floating around that the perfumer had to file taxes as a nut distributor. And that red velvet cake note makes it smell like that infamous Steel Magnolias armadillo grooms' cake if it got left out on the highway overnight in the dead of August. It's half Tahquitz Canyon Way roadkill, half Cathedral City gas station bake sale, and somehow still frosted with enough sugar daddies named Mark, Rick, and Steve on Arenas to give you diabetes just by sniffing it. And somehow I’m over here like, “mmm, yeah, I could wear this.” Five stars, would wear hungover to brunch at Sashay & Soufflé where the mimosas sparkle, the wigs are taller than the pancakes, and every Denver omelet comes with a side of shade. "Miss Vanjie... Miss Vanjie... Miss Vanjie..." Ouch. My tooth hurts.

Cake, nutty in a general way but not so much almond, powder, and musk. Mild, sweet, and not synthetic. Reminds me a lot of the CdG series that included Cake from years ago. Also, I absolutely CANNOT with some of the below reviews--sample a fragrance literally named Gourmand, then complain it's... too gourmand?!?!

This is a unisex, very well balanced gourmand. The almond is the most prodominant note for me, followed by the cake, pistachio, and vanilla. It does have a wisp of hazelnut, but not much. Then the tonka and almond dominate the heart followed my the guaiac wood and musk. Overall a pleasant smooth gourmand.

Smells like taro milk tea with a drizzle of caramel on top. Nutty, sweet vanilla and slightly buttery. I do like this, but it smells sort of... inexpensive? I don’t mean that it’s a bad scent. Just a very straightforward gourmand and not particularly complex.

This is definitely a unisex scent. It’s nice, very heavy on the nuts. Nothing special

Firstly I will say that this does smell really good. If I smelled this at a bakery I would be eating it immediately. But that is actually the problem for me. It smells a little too..... edible. It smells EXACTLY like an almond cake. Very sweet. Almost a nutmeg smell. It is truly lovely, but too food-y for me to want to wear. I do see why it is so liked though!

I strongly advocate for sampling all fragrances before blind buying, because as wonderful as the notes look, you never truly know if the fragrance’s DNA will mesh well with your personal body chemistry. This scent is proof of that on my skin. There’s a perfumey note here that is both cloying and headache inducing that I didn’t get until after a full wear. The top notes also produce a synthetic buttery accord that isn’t vibing with me.

I am so glad I didn’t blind buy this. At first, all I got was sweet powder and musk (after a VERY nutty opening). The longer my decant sat, the worse it got. The opening remained the same, but then I got a very undesirable roasted peanut smell on my skin. I honestly preferred the opening to the dry down. The performance was also lacking, as well. I found it to be pretty faint and not wear more than 3 hours.

Opens with what I thought would be another basic generic vanilla, but the immediate dry down transforms in to a cookie. A literal cookie. The salt, the sweet, the crumb, the nuttiness. A very literal gourmand. As it continues to dry down, I pick up something floral (the musk?) and very powdery. It's giving me a headache, so a no-go.

Initially, it smells like a fall themed candle. Once it develops it starts to resemble Prada Candy, just lighter on the powder and with wood added in. It’s not terrible, I’m just not a fan of too much musk in sweet scents. I prefer Prada Candy. This also has ambroxan, which will smell like windex if you have an ambroxan sensitivity.