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.

For me its a No. This is just to gourmande to be wearing as a perfume. Its like entering a bakery with overly cooked almond cookies and no ventilation. Its just not much happening after that. It calmed down a bit in drydown but its still nothing I would wear.

I am a certified gourmand hater, so take my words with a grain of salt. I got this as a free sample from Luckyscent; I would never have picked this for myself. This stuff is NUCLEAR. Like someone in one corner of a room opens a dabber vial and someone on the other side of the room like 10 feet away can smell it. I have little experience with gourmands, especially sugar sweet baked goods ones like this, but I think it's probably well-formulated in the grand scheme of things. It's not just a sugar bomb for the sake of being sugary, it does have some structure and depth to it. It's nutty and warm, and while the scent is overall sweet, the tonka is a good choice because it's decidedly NOT sweet, so it doesn't turn the sugar up to 11. I was extremely sparing with this, just a dab on each wrist and a swipe of the dabber stick across my neck. That is literally all you need, so if you're getting headaches, try dialing it back. I still hate this. Not for me in the slightest, and wearing it was an unpleasant experience for me. It's probably a good gourmand, but I can't get past it triggering my gag reflex. So for someone looking for a gourmand, that's as ringing an endorsement for you as you'll ever get from me. If you love gourmands and want one that will be with you for 24+ hours on your skin alone, this one is for you. 1.5/10.

Nooooo thank you! I ordered about 15 samples recently from LuckyScent, opened the bag and immediately got a whiff of VERY strong, synthetic, maple syrup- type scent. I (wrongfully) immediately assumed it was something else I ordered (Kerosene's Promises, Promises - I've been wronged by their beasts of Gourmonds before) and put it in the bag because I didn't even want to open it. So I started my way smelling through others but COULD NOT get rid of the maple-scent! I smelled each bottle until I got to this one and it was absolutely the culprit. Wow. HARD pass. I'm sure this is for someone, but it is NOT for me. I can appreciate some uber sweet- gourmands but this smells like you blended plastic bottle maple syrup with canned icing and pure sure together. I can't speak to skin performance but just beware.

I am a lover of gourmand perfumes, but this one gave me a headache, it was so strong. “Nutty” is an understatement! Suggests you have an EpiPen at hand because the abundance of nuts in Mirage Gourmand may send you into anaphylactic shock! The nuts in the opening are very salty and don’t really fade over time. Luckily, I bought a decant and not a bottle of this fragrance. I re-tested this a year later and my reaction is the same as it was at first sniff.

Huge disappointment. All I get is powder and musk. Looking at the notes overall, I was hoping there would be more of the cake and Vanilla elements. Will not wear. Thank goodness, I ordered just a $5 sample and did not blind buy! Be warned, the list of notes is deceiving. Only nutty notes, powder, and musk. Not something I like to smell like.

In the dimly lit boudoir, a tantalising scent danced through the air like a whispered secret, weaving its intoxicating spell around her. Mirage Gourmand clung to her skin, an irresistible invitation to indulge in the most sensual of pleasures. He drew closer, his gaze locked on hers as he breathed in the luscious aroma of almonds and vanilla that seemed to shimmer around her like an ethereal aura. The fragrance was a seductive promise, hinting at the sweet delights that awaited them both. With every step, he unraveled the intricate layers of Mirage Gourmand, a heady blend of gourmand notes that teased and tempted him like the most skilled courtesan. The scent was a mirage of temptation, beckoning him to lose himself in the warm embrace of her skin. As they stood mere inches apart, he could feel the heat radiating from her body, mingling with the alluring fragrance that had ensnared him so completely. The sweet, powdery finish of Mirage Gourmand lingered in the air, a testament to the luxurious and singular nature of the scent. He reached out, his fingers brushing her bare shoulder as he leaned in, his lips brushing her ear as he whispered, "You smell divine." She shivered, her eyes closing as she surrendered to the spell of Mirage Gourmand, a fragrance that embodied the very essence of luxury and sensuality.

This was one of those frags that after I sprayed it on I immediately regretted it. I don’t care for foody gourmands when they are too literal. I hate smelling like food and this starts off smelling like an actual piece of cake to me which I find to be off putting and sickly. It’s not a linear scent, it transitions to become less foody but the dry down is unremarkable with dusty, nutty, somewhat chocolatey powder and musk. Easy pass for me but if you are a foody gourmand lover then check it out, it has good performance. No resemblance to black opium at all to my nose, not even close.

Yes, I follow the hype train. It doesn't always work out for me, and this is one of those cases. I have discovered that while I am a gourmand lover to my very core, this fragrance solidified for me that I do not in fact enjoy a scent that has any kind of baked good vibe. I was pretty sure going by the notes that this would be an instant win for me, just like I thought with Sooo Exquis, but both of them do not work for me at all. I am only glad that I did not blind buy a full bottle like I was originally planning and stuck with a decant. Maybe I am getting smarter after all.

It’s interesting how differently this scent wears on everyone—just goes to show how much skin chemistry and personal perception can shift a fragrance, especially one as polarizing as this. On my skin, it opens like a buttery biscuit or cookie dipped in Sprite—surprisingly fizzy and citrusy. As it settles, the fizzy element fades, and it turns into a smooth, buttery scent. It’s not bad at all, just not something I’d go out of my way to wear.

Vanilla, spicy, woody, sweet almond goodness throughout. Yes its powdery; which really love but its also got a creamy hazelnut. all blended to perfection and as it warms up on the skin, it projects and leaves a scent trail. Warm, sexy, delicious, sensual! I love to also layer this with Khamrah by Lattafa for a more boozy vanilla as well as Vanilla Romance by bbw. (lots of compliments with the combos)such a gem for a true gourmand lover.

I don’t get the resemblance to black opium at all. Opens up with a nice buttery golden cake. As it dries down you begin to get a little bit of the almond and pistachio. Then the fluffy powdery and vanilla notes begin to develop after a few minutes. It’s a very beautiful elegant gourmand. Has medium-strong projection and good longevity. Definitely worth a try.

Doesn't smell bad at all, but it's basically sol de janeiro 71 mixed with some type of bianco latte variation and maybe accident a la vanille. Not special at all, and it's definitely leaning into the cloying side since for me the sol de janeiro 71 is extremely cloying. I find it to be an extremely unnecessary perfume to own

Smells like a Christmas candle to me, wax and all. I think it’s too just almond and not enough marzipan. If you really want to smell like an almond croissant/cake/pastry, Madeleine from Odette is the way to go.

Oh, god that one was bad. I gave it away to get this awful smell out of my apartment. That smells like powder, playdough and something unpleasant. -100000/10

A delicious powdery almond cake and some hazelnut coffee creamer. It’s the most edible fragrance I’ve ever smelled and youll either love it or hate it.

This one is awful. Think of sora dora jany! This is in the same round ! Thank god I tested it first ! Absolutely awful smell

Where's the almond? The cake? This is straight up powder and play-doh, I regret blind buying this perfume

I get the nuts, powder, and cake, but it fades extremely fast on me. It has no sillage at all. Pass.

Smells just like Black Opium after it begins to dry down.

Deeeeelicious marzipan,sweet almond cake