Sweet Lure

This is a very special fragrance. Beautifully blended and perfectly addicting. The sweetness is present in the opening and is delicate rather than cloying. I get a light dusting of nutmeg rather than cinnamon, but I think that may be the lily of the valley note that's softening out the spice from the cinnamon. The dry down becomes a gorgeous skin scent, but silage is actually fairly decent as I do receive compliments after a few hours when people are at an arms distance. The base of amber, patchouli, sandalwood and moss are grounding while not overpoweringly earthly. The tonka and vanilla remain throughout like a comforting blanket. Simply perfect.

Adore it. Before I started my perfume adventure i didn't think I liked "sweet" perfumes, that they were cloying and sickly. Turns out sometimes what I want is a sweet, cosy scent. Anything Tonka seems to seduce me. What I definitely favour though are scents like this where the sweetness is tempered with something else, a hint of poison, a flavour of danger. My nose isn't educated enough to put a finger on what it is that lurks beneath the creamy vanilla carpet but never has a fragrance been so aptly named.

Not certain what possessed me to purchase a 100ml bottle of Sweet Lure. I think I was chatting with someone online about my quest for an affordable, sweet, vanilla-forward, warm, comforting, bed-time, cozy fragrance. This individual suggested I peek at "Sweet Lure," so I did. And I "think" I got a pretty good deal on a 100ml bottle. So, I foolishly thought, "Why not?" Sweet Lure opens with a burst of adelhydic, bergamot and neroli. I immediately detect some faint florals in the opening notes but nothing easily detectable, or distinguishable to my nose. This fragrance develops on my skin as a very weak, faint, ethereal, almost aquatic, floral-powdery, mish-mash of florals, woods and amber. WISH there was MORE vanilla, WISH there was MORE tonka, WISH there was MORE spun sugar. Ends as a disappointing, barely-there, shrill and thin mixture of woody, floral notes. The base emerges with some sort of greenery, or green note, which I imagine is the oak moss trying to pop-through. I have to "preface" this review (so this should be at the TOP of my review-smile) by saying this type of "APOTHECARY" type perfume is among the genre, or type I REALLY REALLY dislike. The fragrance is non-descriptive with impossible to identify and inoffensive notes. There is zero risk taking here: Sweet Lure is a waif-like, weak, aquatic, veil-thin, shrill, pale, chypre fragrance touting "natural" ingredients. And despite having patchouli as a base ingredient, this fragrance is pale, thin and barely detectable on my skin. And this is after about 20 sprays. Uggghhhh! Why? Was hoping I might like this and it would be a great "blind-buy." I'll use-up my 100ml bottle, I suppose. Would never have purchased this had I sampled it first. Just not my jam.

Oh boy. What a beautifully composed fragrance. It has the sweetness, distinct gourmand nuance, and soft floral character that I would genuinely enjoy wearing. Unfortunately, as tonileefiore noted, the projection is extremely quiet. I wish it had more presence; as it stands, it is barely perceptible and fades quickly from both skin and fabric. Disappointing performance for such a lovely scent.