Empress

Spraying EMPRESS on a card or tissue to sample does not do it justice because the patchouli sharply overpowers all other notes after several hours. However, spraying on the skin seems to allow the fragrance to settle as a balanced blend (from the perspective of smelling this on myself.) After a few hours it becomes a cozy and gourmand experience. The toffee-popcorn and floral notes favorably soften the patchouli while on the skin. I am not familiar with the original Miss Dior Cherie and cannot compare. However this does resemble Jimmy Choo EDP meets YSL Mon Paris. I much prefer EMPRESS over Mon Paris :) My impression is that Sophie developed a first fragrance that smells as she intended. EMPRESS is not for the faint of heart. It has body and it packs a punch during the first hour of wear. Compared to other fragrances on my counter, the “presence” of EMPRESS is similar to Lancome La Vie Est Belle and Miss Dior Absolutely Blooming. I am curious whether it will linger on my coats and clothing after several days, much like those two! Lastly, the bottle design definitely stands out among other perfumes in the counter. I like the shape and size, I’m not sure the ultraviolet purple captures the essence of the fragrance inside. Its appearance would be hip toward a younger audience... and if most of us are following SOKI’s perfume reviews on YouTube, that may not be far off the mark! Well done in my opinion... Update- A spray on the arm and my shirt lasted a good 8 hours while cleaning the home. It has been an enjoyable wear. I couldn’t resist sniffing my arm the whole day!

Before I start my review I hope that the people below leaving negative opinions have actually bought the perfume instead of hating for no reason. I think this is one of the unfortunate things when you have a following - you can get sock puppet accounts leaving negative reviews for no reason. Empress This is a stunning feminine fragrance, I get notes of wild strawberry, popcorn and after a few hours I get a creamy woodiness which I assume is from the popcorn. There are very few notes listed but I feel like there's so much more to this fragrance. I sense just a bit of rose water aswell. I have smelt a lot of fragrances but this does not smell generic at all, it would be a perfect gift in my opinion. I always purchase 100ml perfumes as I am an oversprayer, this is 50ml but this is without a doubt an INTENSE perfume, the sillage is amazing and leaves a trail, I get compliments when serving customers. A few weeks ago I sprayed this on my jacket, hung it in my room. The next day as I kept entering my room I wondered what that amazing smell was - and it was coming from my jacket! I've had this for about a month now and I wanted to let it macerate and see how it has changed, but it's still as intense and gorgeous as it was before :) I'm super happy to own this fragrance, for a first perfume i think this is really well done and i cannot wait for the new Aphrodite release i highly recommend this to anyone looking for a perfume that smells like femininity in a bottle. 10/10.

💫💜💫I had to test the sample I bought &let it set a few days after shipping like most samples or perfumes i order &testing a few days,at first I didn't like this because I'm not used to popcorn in a scent,then I realized what notes were I was smelling&made more sense 😅 to me,I got better results spraying on my neck popcorn 🍿 very sweet -white chocolate? Not in notes lol &toffee,clean patch is actually what I get ...a very loud white chocolate marshmallow with toffee and popcorn with no butter,is what I get,,strange indeed,since I get bored with other scents easy this out of the 3 samples is FB purchase worthy to me,honestly I have never came across a white chocolate toffee popcorn perfume before, at first made me have nausea,but after a few wears &stretching my sample I'm liking it&craving it 😄 haha,reason is this is sweetly different in a clean airy yet loud way? If that makes sense,lasts long on clothing&6-8 hrs on my skin,it reminds me of a sweet weird fairy 🧚CANDY land,I won't wear everyday,yet most likely 2x a week so I like it,definitely not mainstream or typical •☆•♡•☆• not for people who faint easy haha!!! At least it's unique &lasts idk why but it's loud toffee & airy creamy white chocolate to me with popcorn 🍿 ▪︎☆▪︎ hint of clean patch if any ~chemistry matters ~ l love trying new things definitely sample 1st ✌️ good luck with your scent adventures everyone 😁 and skin reaction~chemistry ~☆~Thank you for making this Soki&Ruth •♡•

I subscribe to Sophie’s YouTube channel so I was so excited to try out her new perfume. I think it’s such an amazing accomplishment that she’s able to follow her passion and finally create her first fragrance. I believe we have similar tastes and Miss Dior Cherie was also one of my faves! So now on to my thoughts...I shouldn’t have read some of the reviews before I received it. I have to admit, some of the negative ones had me nervous. I paid for the full size bottle as well so I knew if I didn’t like it I was stuck with it anyway. So I finally gave it a try and upon first spray I get this buttery blast of popcorn with a slight sweetness. It’s so delicious! I smell the strawberry and almost a greenness come through immediately after. Within minutes the buttery popcorn is gone and what’s left is a creamy, slightly sweet woody patchouli note. i don’t get all of the reviews that say how strong it is. I don’t think it’s overpowering at all. It’s a lovely fragrance I think you could wear any time of the year. I wouldn’t wear it to the office or an outdoor event but I’d absolutely wear it out to dinner, party, or just being out and about. Lasting power is pretty good, I’d say maybe 5-6 hours. Overall, it’s not my favorite but still a very beautiful, unique fragrance.

I LOVE it! I just received this and wore to work yesterday and it's the first time anyone has ever stopped me and asked what perfume I was wearing in the kitchen! The fragrance opens with this explosion of fresh, green, juicy pear and a big dose of wild strawberry. Quite quickly I get this EDIBLE and creamy, toffee/popcorn note which complements the peony and floral heart notes. I love how long this fragrance lasts. 8 hours later it's still jumping off my arm. The drydown for me is a lovely mix of fresh flowers and sweet, fruity notes mixed with a patchouli. The patchouli feels lush and warm and like a big hug. It may not be for everyone because it's so strong and with the popcorn note it's a bit out there. But I like that itss different to any other fragrances I've tried, and lasts so long I feel like it's such good value for money. I feel like people are either hating on this brand because it's an influencer and their expectations were so high. I just discovered it recently and was blown away. I can't understand some of the negative reviews, but hey sn't that the beauty of fragrance we all see things differently!

As a KickStarter supporter of Soki I was expecting so much more. Not realizing she loves patchouli and rose heavy fragrances. It is not one I would have willingly purchased or blind bought (KickStarter supporter of about $80 USD) at such a price. But it is growing on me now and I'm beginning to crave its scent. When Empress arrived at my door I had to try it out. I was surprised at how strange it smelled. Like a cheap air freshener and a bit of YSL Mon Paris background. Then the popcorn note hit about 20 minutes later. As the hours went by it got better. The 2nd & 3rd time tested it, I had the same reaction. At this point I may have used 4-5 sprays. But the scent was gradually getting more likeable with each spray. I think chibiamelie's review below could be onto something. I am wondering if the perfume in the tube did something strange and after clearing it out thr scent is better. Anyway, this is a very longasting scent of toffee popcorn scented jammy rose. I've gone from Yuck to not-so-bad to I quite like it to now. Now I LOVE IT. Give it some time and clear out the sprayer. You might be pleasantly surprised.

An update. I bought this perfume pre-release so I have had it for a few months now and it has definitely been one of my most worn fragrances this winter and also a compliment getter. The caramel/buttery popcorn note is super strong in the opening and smells gorgeous - unlike anything else on the market I have tried (including the original Miss Dior Cherie which was not quite as strong). The dry down is closer to both MDC and the 2012 version of Miss Dior. A sweet, jammy rose with more patchouli than the Diors. I am not usually a huge patchouli fan (though do have a few patchouli dominant fragrances I like in my collection including Nicole Richie which is a very well done perfume), but in this, it does work very well with the other notes. I do like the bottle also and have it near the front of my shelf, though would prefer if there was writing on the actual bottle itself. I would love to see more fragrances from Soki in the future, and can see she has already released some candles, which is great.

The above notes are missing praline and that's important as it's one of the main notes for me. I get the strawberry from mon paris, the sparkling rose from givenchy irresistible and yes some patchouli, but not as much as either Mon Paris or Jimmy choo. I think a lot of people may have judged it right after travelling without letting it sit... it's quite oil-heavy so will need to sit to get the best from it. I get a lot of praline...moreso than say la.vie est belle and I only get toffee (and maybe a little popcorn) after that starts to fade. It's when the opening strawberry starts to fade and the praline that this starts to feel like it's in the miss dior or miss dior Cherie family for me (or slightly Coco mademoiselle -ish). For me this does exactly what it says on the tin and I think this is an excellent designeresque perfume for the price point. This would be great for someone who is bored of la vie est belle or mon paris as this has more going on and is just more interesting. Well done!

As someone who is sensitive to patchouli, I was very afraid of how this would smell to me, but actually it smells great. The patchouli isn't too strong, and I get a bit of sweetness and popcorn - and the florals brightening everything up. I don't know, perhaps my sample had more time to sit, but to me this smells like a pretty, designer style fragrance with the added unique touch of popcorn. I hope I'll be able to detect the wild strawberry at some point. For the lasting power the price is pretty good, I do recommend sampling first though. Edit: I get the strawberry a bit sometimes - definitely a more wild strawberry, not artificial or sugared. And the perfume has grown on me more and more. Gonna wait until the next black friday or end of year sale to pick it up. Unique but wearable, right on the line between designer and niche. Soki did a great job with this, I get that every nose is different, but I'm surprised Empress would be so polarizing given the reviews.

This perfume smells like salty buttery popcorn. I rarely find a perfume mouthwateringly delicious, but Empress is one of them. I crave salty snacks when I smell it. To my nose the prominent note is popcorn and a bit of patchouli in the opening. If I try hard, I can also detect a hint of caramel and soft floral notes in the background, but mostly it resembles the smell of salty buttery popcorn when I put my nose to it. I don't get any strawberry at all. Sillage is not good. Longevity is okay, about 3 hours and then it gets very weak, but even after 7 hours, I can still smell it up close. I think it is office-friendly. Now I have to say, the first time I sprayed this perfume, it was a bit harsh and too much for me, but I didn't have this feeling the next times I sprayed it. So, please give it a second chance, if you didn't like it at first.

I bought a 50 ml bottle in December and I do not regret it. It`s a fierce perfume, with its own personality and I clearly need more time to figure it out. I normally spend a lot of time smelling the next fragrance I want to buy, but this was bought only based on YouTube comments and reviews. It starts with a fresh berry note as promised in the description which I truly enjoy and the popcorn base is quite unusual for me, a floral, amber, gourmand, woody addict. I get a dark, sensual vibe out of this and it`s one of my fragrances that makes me feel confident and different. This is a vegan, cruelty-free fragrance, I wish more perfume houses pay attention to this. Important for those of you living in Switzerland: I had to pay a transporter tax which makes the end price higher than I was expecting.

Bought it as a MDC dupe - as MDC is one of those fragrances that I cannot get over as it was so unique and really represented a moment in time in the mid-2000s. I would call it a successful try, once you know how to work with it. Upon first spray, the vibe of MDC was already there - but beware! Don't stick your nose in your wrist as all you'll get will be a chemically confusing cacophony of notes. It smells awful on skin in the first minutes! Luckily it settles down and really show its true colors with time, I would even say it becomes sweeter with time. My suggestion is to spray it on your clothes - it will then take you back to the era of MDC and Coco Mademoiselle immediatelly. Fruity chypre that we all knew and loved. I use it daily now and it brings me a lot of joy.

THIS is why I also got other travels from Soki too. I am loving this. At first I liked it but then as it warmed up recently I fell in love. My new current favorite AND it was a blind buy. It just happened to have all the notes as if I handpicked them myself and I'm not disappointed in this one. The popcorn and strawberry jump right in and stick around as the rest of the rose/peony/candied pears flutter around then settle into the patchouli greens. This perfume is simple and yet has alot going on so I'd recommend sampling it. I personally am infatuated. Might have to take out a loan for a lifetime supply ---or will I be my other sided fickle self and fall out of love? Hmm..we'll see. but at first meeting , I'm leaning towards a serious addiction.

I love this fragrance and I am so happy I got my hands on this with out paying the astronomical shipping charge from the UK. Anyway once sprayed on my skin I get sweet strawberries. I thought I didn’t like strawberries but apparently I do. Once it drys down on me I get rose patch and popcorn, I am so happy the popcorn shows up on my skin because I heard people say they don’t get the popcorn at all. This is a great evening scent and it’s a mature fruity scent. Do I think it smells like Cherie, hmmm I do but it has its own element to it but it is very close. I will be wearing this throughout the fall and winter Very pretty Sophie, I love it. I will be buying the other fragrances you have in your collection ❤️ Highly recommended 10/10

I think Soki did a really good job with empress. The opening is interesting because you kinda get everything at once... the rose, popcorn, patchouli...all the notes are battling in the opening. I do wish I got more of the green from the wild strawberry note. And I do wish that the popcorn note was a bit more prominent.( If I layer it with bum bum cream, that amps it up a bit. As it dries, it becomes a fresh but jammy, earthy rose. The strawberry/pear gives it a juicy and fresh sweetness but the patch keeps it from smelling juvenile. It certainly stands out from other mainstream scents and I’m glad to have it in my collection. Congrats Soki!!!!

I LOVE the dry-down so much, omg. Reminds me a little bit of la petite robe noire intense, a perfume I absolutely love but that was sadly discontinued. I dislike the opening as the patchouli hits way too harshly for me in the beginning, it takes about an hour to settle into the scent I like. But as this perfume lasts really well I get way more time with the scent I enjoy than with the one I don't. Also being peta-vertified animal test free and vegan gives this such a plus over other perfumes, as barely any mainstream perfumes seem to have that. Really looking forward to what else Soki will release in the future.

I just got this yesterday! While I was apprehensive about the patchouli note, it's not screechy, nor overpowering to me. 3 hours into the wear and the popcorn-toffee note is super strong! Not sure if I would call it gourmand, but it's interesting. I haven't smelled the Miss Dior Cherie, but I love what she did with this! There is a perceptible rose-peony combo, but it doesn't go sweaty like a lot of rose perfumes. Definitely something for colder weather, I think this could be a killer in high heat. If you can get this, I think it's worthy to be in any collection, it easily trumps a lot of current releases.

It isn’t an exact dupe for Miss Dior Cherie, but I for one are glad because I already have a few similar frags in my collection. This does however have a lot of similarities and is definitely in the same scent family of juicy, warm patchouli-borderline gourmand perfect for winter. The popcorn in this seems to change moment to moment. First it smells very sweet, then buttery and after a few mins turns into a warm bread note, which I actually like. The patchouli blends well with the strawberry, creating that MDC vibe. After about 15 mins it actually does come close to resembling MDC, albeit more patch heavy.

I got this in the mail yesterday and tried immediately. First spray I got a the caramel popcorn, then some strawberry, then the patchouli shows up. While I agree that it's patchouli heavy, I like that the toffee note sticks around and blends with the patchouli making it warm and sweet as it develops. If you aren't a fan of Mon Paris, Empress has such a similar patchouli note, this may noy be for you. I love this for fall, winter and early spring, maybe summer nights. Lasts for 8 hours on me. Congrats to Sophie on her first fragrance! I'm enjoying it so far.

So this is my 2nd review of Empress. I recently got the Dossier version of Miss Dior 2017 called Floral Pink Pepper. I've never smelled the OG Miss Dior 2017, but reading the Dossier reviews...the Dossier dupe is exactly the same. Dossier Floral Pink Pepper is very similar but Soki's Empess has more buttered toffee all the way from beginning to dry down. I've got one on each wrist and back of my hand to compare. I just can't understand why there are so many haters on Empress but so many lovers on Miss Dior 2017. They are so similar...it's crazy.