Bittersweet

Since recently joining this site, I have a renewed enthusiasm for perfumes. Although the caveat for me is that I tend to get headaches easily from them and so I must be slow and careful with a fragrance. I cannot wear too much, too often or I may end up sickening myself and retaliate by stashing the bottle in the back of the closet and forgetting about it for ages... like a relationship, it is best to take things slow. I bought Tokyo Milk Bittersweet about 5 years ago. Initially I fell in love with the medicinal/ potion looking bottle, and the delicious and decadent chocolatiness of the juice. I greedily used way too much of it within the first week of purchase it became decidedly sickly sweet to me so I stashed it away, only to rediscover it thanks to you lovely reviewers. For me, Bittersweet starts off like a pure rich chocolate liquor that I want to lick off my arm, and slowly melts away into more of a powdery chocolate flower, I wish that more of the chocolate notes would remain, and in the end its mainly powder to me. I believe this scent wears close to the skin, which I personally prefer. I would rather not leave a recognizable trail of scent everywhere I go, but rather a cloud hugged in close to me that gives those lucky enough to be so close a sense of a secret familiarity. That they will be enticed by the memory of the secret scent they alone received. Bittersweet smells of a gift of jewels and flowers and fine chocolates slowly decaying in the tomb of a beloveds from the pages of a forgotten Edgar Allen Poe novel. Or the smell one might imagine would waft from vapid vampires languishing in a mansion, waiting to seduce and devour the next human to cross their path. As other reviewers have said, there is something decidedly dark, mysterious and gothic about Bittersweet, both in the heavy scented liquid and the black insect embossed bottle that contains it. Which is just fine with me, for to quote Lydia Deetz “I myself am strange and unusual”.

I got this in the 2010's from Sephora for like $25-40 (I'm a little foggy on the price) and used it all up about a year ago, I loved it so much, it really smelled like sweetened cocoa powder, like you were making a chocolate cake, it was addicting! It wasn't cloying either, and I remember it lasting really well on skin and clothes, because it has powder notes from the cocoa it blends into your skin but holds it's scent for a good amount of hours, it's really high quality and over time it concentrates into a gorgeous deep scent, it holds itself very well. Also the bottle is really pretty and will stand out in your collection, but the paint does start to chip off of the bottle over time. ❗keep your bottles away from sunlight❗wish someone told me this, had to learn the hard way, the sun is natural bleach lol! Sadly they discontinued this scent and for some reason people sell other scents from this collection for a reasonable price ($20-$40) but this one is impossible to find and when you do it's like $250, ridiculous, and I'm confused why the others from the collection are listed so much less, maybe this one was discontinued earlier than the rest? Hm I'm not sure, but this perfume is not worth more than $50 in my opinion. If you love it for the bottle buy one of the others from this collection. I really do love this scent and bottle, but this one is way too simple of a scent to be over $200, while the others are listed for more than half that price. I wish this house would bring it back!!! In the meantime I'm going to try Demeter's Devil's Food, because that is almost exactly what Bittersweet smelled like.

Perfection. Sophisticated, cocoa-powdered perfection. I could take a bite out of myself! I just got off work, sprayed a sample of this on, and here I sit at the mall on my break wearing Bittersweet, catching a waft of musky cocoa with every subtle move I make. It's so decadent. It's just too good. You hear that, Margot Elena? TOO GOOD. I now have the power to draw my husband (the not-so-cuddly chocolate fiend) a little closer to me... can you hear my evil, mischievous laughter? I swore up and down that I would never wear a chocolate themed fragrance because Aquolina Chocolovers killed it for me. From then on, I was keen on avoiding anything with cocoa or chocolate. Now I never want to try another cocoa fragrance because in comparison to Bittersweet, anything else might disappoint me. Imagine those packets of cocoa powder for instant hot chocolate. It does not smell like the drink itself, but just that swirling, delicate cocoa powder ready to be made into a comforting, hot drink. It's not too sweet, but sweet enough to linger. I can catch a hint of musk infused into the osmanthus. I do not get the cake batter accord that others are getting, so for me it is not too foody. That's what makes Bittersweet so wearable! It has lasted a few hours now, still going strong. This is the perfect, dark chocolate fragrance to send you into a midnight food craving, and quite likely have others crave you!

I deleted my previous review because I have completely changed my mind on this fragrance. I initially stated that although I loved the first spray of Bittersweet, the chocolate note disappeared into a drydown that I didn't care for or that just wasn't for me. Now I love this fragrance! Fresh sprays give me a very edible chocolatey scent, but the drydown is a fabulous, creamy vanilla with a hint of muskiness. On clothes, the chocolate morphs into a rich soft cashmere quality, all clean and warm and fresh. I've had people look around a (small) room and ask, "What smells so good?" and "I smell something very fresh and clean. Is that YOU?". Then I get sniffed (always interesting if you don't know someone very well), and they exclaim in delight that it IS me and that I smell so good. Longevity isn't great on skin, although it lasts forever on clothes. I kind of like that I have to respray Bittersweet though for that extra chocolate kick before the softness. Definitely a go-to for me for the fall and winter, and at less than 40 dollars a bottle (plus I got it with a coupon at Sephora for a grand total of 32 dollars), it's a bargain. I can see where the chocolate is not for everyone, but give it a whirl. You'll be surprised at how nice this is for a gentle and inviting scent.

I am not surprised that Bittersweet ended up being my favourite offering from the Tokyo Milk Dark line. This is a wonderful balance of dark and soft notes. This fragrance opens with a dark, intensive and luscious chocolate liqueur scent. It develops into the scent of a boozy, rich dark-chocolate cake. Bittersweet is a unique fragrance in the way that it conveys the decadence of dark chocolate without getting that sweet. The intense chocolate scent progressively mellows as this wears on my skin, becoming smooth and soft as it blends with the musk and osmanthus. In the drydown, the creamy, beautiful, apricot-like scent of osmanthus dominates, with just a whiff of cacao lingering in the background. I will look forward to adding this to my collection..the affordability and gorgeous bottles in this line certainly add to the appeal!

This is a gorgeous combination of notes. The chocolate to me is more semi-sweet than bittersweet, however. Maybe the "cake flour" is sweetening it up so that I don't smell the bitter. The osmanthus peeks through after a minute or so and swirls with the lingering cocoa, creating a symphony for the nose! The musk is not prominent but gives an overall "golden" effect.My only complaint is that it could have more sillage and last a bit longer....I've found that the original Tokyo Milk line tends to have better staying power than the Dark line.I bought this as a gift for a loved one but I would love to have in my own collection!

There is no doubt that the top notes consist of a rich and moist bittersweet chocolate cake, the kind that will ruin your diet. It starts out totally gourmand, but as it dries down the osmanthus comes out more, making it a luscious fragrance, but not quite so edible. For a chocolate perfume, I'm impressed. I prefer Bittersweet over Mugler's Taste of Angel. Due to the lack of nauseating sweetness, this perfume is easily unisex.

As Dolby said, this scent is true to its name. It's bitter without smelling burnt, and sweet but not the slightest bit cloying. The osmanthus + musk dries down to almost a rose-like scent on me. I promise that I will be wearing this beauty when I go out to dinner on Valentine's Day. I cannot think of anything more appropriate!

This is a fantastic chocolate scent. It starts out as chocolate frosting, then dries down into powdered hot cocoa mix. It's a very true chocolate, not for those who want their cacao note subtle. It takes "smelling good enough to eat" to a whole new level.

A burst of freshly made toostie rolls! And the middle to drydown notes are cake flour. I can see me really wearing this all thru christmas!

The best chocolate yet, really chocolatey without relying on orange for the counterpoint note ,like Aquolina Chocolovers, Montale's Chocolate Greedy and many others. Somehow, that chocolate/orange thing got very cloying and unpleasant after a while. Despite the almost edible fudge brownieness of Bittersweet, the osmanthus and musk allow Bittersweet to retain a small sense of being an authentic perfume, unlike Delicious Chocolat, which lacks the cloying citrus but ends up so very chemical soupy that its unwearable to me. The musk rolled into gourmand notes has definitely been done before, and masterfully, in Ava Luxe's "Love's True Bluish Light", so the concept is not original. Its is, however, nicely executed here, not too animalic, not too white musk laundry-like. Whatever aromachemical "Bronze Musk" is works nicely, and this from someone who is decidedly not fond of musk. I confess that I am still not 100 percent convinced that Bittersweet is wearable as a perfume. It somehow misses the "perfume" boat and stays at the dock stirring the brownie mix. Perhaps a little floweriness, a little incense, something to magically make the musk brownie a potion for sirens to wear, as opposed to a confection for sirens to devour? In the end, I may be looking for a close follow up to my all time favorite chocolate perfume - Maya by Scents of Time - instead of appreciating Bittersweet for being a creation of the "Parfumerie Curiosite"(sic), an odd little ultra gourmand curiosity. Tokyo Milk can doubtlessly do exceptional work with gourmands, note their amazing and addictive "Honey and the Moon". Bittersweet has got decent sillage and 6-8 hour lasting power, and at the price, its a real steal for chocoholics, not to mention that fabulous matte black bottle with the elegant white lettering/imagery. Bittersweet is soft and warm and pretty in a musk brownie sort of way, 6/10 for the juice, 8/10 for the sillage and lasting power, 10/10 for the fabulous packaging.

Bittersweet. The name reflects quite much what comes from within. Without parroting what the other reviewers found about this, I agree this being -powdery -cocoa-driven -musky. I must add there is a tiny bitter note in it (as the name suggests), very reminiscent to me to a cognac note. (as I come from Europe I could not tell if this was from any specie within the osmanthus family). Many of the reviewers before me compared this to other chocolate/cocoa dominated fragrances (also agree there is no sugar/vanilla overload here). However, Bittersweet reminds me another perfume, other olfactory group but similar genre imho, the genre I call 'black magic woman'. The sister would be Jesus del Pozo's In Black in a way, without the cherries (Bittersweet comes as if there was liquorice but the notes don't suggest that). All in all, if you like dark and more a lover of subtle gourmand fragrances, this is for you!

This smells just like bittersweet chocolate cake mix (hence the name, I'm guessing.) Before purchasing this fragrance, you should probably ask yourself - "Do I want to smell like ACTUAL baked goods?" ---> If yes - This scent is delicious, and affordable. It sweet, but not sweet enough to give you a headache. There is no burnt, metallic, or other unpleasant note that generally comes along with less expensive gourmand scents - so that's a plus! The dry-down is something that I personally have not experienced before. It's a curious "powdery rice" note - and after showering with this fragrance on, that same "powdery rice" note is INTENSIFIED, and I wish I could find a fragrance of JUST that quality. These bottles are also very unique, and I love having them in my collection. ---> If no - Then turn and walk in the other direction!

This was one of my go to cold weather fragrances for years and a little goes a LONG way. The projection on this is enormous and the longevity is insane. When this has gotten on my clothes I can still smell it days later and on my skin this easily lasts 24hrs. It is very sweet on the nose, like bringing a bite of very dark chocolate cake to your mouth. The dry down, however, is much deeper and fades to a powdery very dark cocoa scent with some echoes of vanilla. The notes for this are Cake Flour, Dark Cocoa, Bronze Musk, and Osmanthus. This is very true to the notes on my skin. I appreciate a good gourmand scent but what I love about this particular scent is that the intense sweetness is juxtaposed very nicely with the darkness and bitterness of the strong dark cocoa. Sadly this scent is discontinued.

Barely sweetened cocoa and cake batter to open. I don't find it sweet really and I don't like overly sweet fragrances. It fades fairly quickly and dries down to a mild cocoa butter lotion scent. I don't get much in the way of obvious osmanthus but may just add depth to the chocolate. I find it to be rich and sensual, cozy, uncomplicated. It layers nicely and adds depth to musk, spices, ambers, roses, earthy notes. And $35 is practically free these days! This is my favorite of the Tokyo Milk Dark series. The downside of this fragrance is that it only lasts about 45 minutes on my skin and a little longer on hair.

This is a very realistic chocolate fragrance. It reminds me more of cake batter. It does have some floral notes to it and it makes it a little odd. It smells more like a perfume because of the floral and tones it down so you don't smell like you dumped the cocoa powder box on yourself. It lasts nicely over 7 hours now. So how did I actually like it? Surprisingly, even though I am a self-proclaimed chocoholic, I am actually rather neutral on this! I put it in my likes because I don't dislike it. :)Thank you so much for satisfying my curiosity and sending me a decant Dame Piglet :)

Lovely, intoxicating scent, especially for lovers of cacao in fragrance. When I first sampled this I wasn't so sure about half a year ago- but now, after taking a break from it, somehow it has quite photorealistic cacao. So my advice is give it some time if you don't know what to think of it. To me personally, this scent is not linear. The opening has the most cacao and cupcake, and the drydown reveals more osmanthus and apricot. This doesn't have a photorealistic osmanthus but I still appreciate the inclusion of an apricot like note because it completes the fragrance.

For me, maybe the best chocolate scent ever. It is chocolate-y, but not sickening gourmand. I don't know how they achieved this combination, but whenever I wear Bittersweet I do not feel as if I poured hot chocolate over me, I smell chocolatey and clean at the same time! It sounds crazy, I know:) Bitterseet went straight to my want list, only to find a place that sells Tokyo Milk in the UK! Many thanks to the lovely Fragrantican for my generous sample; this site has given me some great perfume friends that never stop amazing me with their generosity and kindness:)

I have half a bottle from years ago, sprayed some on today while I'm doing craft projects, smells strong since it has gotten concentrated. It was never my favorite but it is different. The cacao stands out, it has powder and musk but also the Osmanthus that has an apricot-like scent and is prevalent in the juice. Not my favorite from Tokyo Milk, but I like sweet scents, which is why I was attracted to it. Would I buy it again? Probably not.

Great for layering, or on it's on. This scent is very powdery- flour is bang on- and has a subtle cacao scent to it. Tokyo milk always nails their niche scents and this one does not dissappoint. Just a heads up that some people do not like the musk smell. My mother think this perfume smells like mold, but I don't get that sense at all.