Cockaigne

[supremegoddessofall]

"The weather is always mild, the wine flows freely, sex is readily available, and all people enjoy eternal youth.” The Land of Plenty, also called Luilekkerland – the Lazy, Luscious Land: milk and honey, sweet cakes and wine.

Foody bliss, but it actually smells like gingerbread to me! More cake than anything else, and a bit spicy! Honey usually amps like there's no tomorrow on me, but it's not doing it here - it's staying subtle and in the background. Kind of reminds me of MB: Underbed. Interesting.

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: It has the same buttery note as Jack!

 

On Skin: Spicy cake! Oooh! Tasty!

 

On Drydown: Still spicy cake with a hint of sweetness. There is a sweet anise sort of smell to it. I also get a slightly boozy note which keeps this from dipping straight into generic spice cake.

 

Actually, the smell reminds me alot to a Peruvian dessert called "picarones" which are little fried doughnuts (although the dough is made with sweet potato, corn starch and anise... and I don't know what the other ingredients may be!) that are served with generous helpings of fruit syrup. (The syrup is generally made from fruit and fruit peels, water, sugar and just you boil it... and boil it... and boil it... until you have syrup!)

 

Verdict: This is a highly nostalgic smell to me. It is eating sweets in the park with my cousin. It's barbeques and laughter with family. This has definitely some anise in it. It's lovely and the more I wear it, the more I think I'll keep it. I was ambivalent at first because it is so foody but it is so evocative that I just can't bear part with it.

 

Thank you Lab for this! Although the effect was unintentional, it's made me think of home and the nostalgia and trips down memory lane are priceless.

[oh_the_horror]

In bottle: Oaty cinnamin cakes.

 

Wet and drying down: Raw wheat, honey, cinnamon. It smells terrible on me. It's very grainy in a very bad way.

 

Dry: Sweet and cinnaminy which is nice but the graininess is ick. Not a winner for me.

[Aevalin]

I came into posession of this blend via a kind Forumite (waves at Lorencita). I have a love hate relationship with foodie blends. Usually they either love me and become wonderful things or hate me - turning to a stomach turning ickiness. Cockaigne can't decide what it wants to be

 

In the beginning I think - ok - this is so so so not going to work. At all. But then as it mellows and gets a bit spicier and less milky I think I'll like it. I keep sniffing myself and am so torn.

 

When I sniff this in the bottle I get cakes and spice, and sweetness. On it mellows to something like creamy gingerbread. It reminds me a lot of Monster Bed: Underpants, which the verdict is still out of too.

[Voleuse]

Oooh. On first application this is rich vanilla cake, drizzled in honey. This is less spicy than the Monster Baits, but just as heady and delicious. As it dries, the vanilla fades and the cake mellows, but otherwise the blend stays true. This is warm and sweet and comforting. I don't smell the wine at all, but I definitely like what I get.

[charmingdetails]

This blend is utterly delicious. It smells like a honey bun! Along with the honey and cake notes, I'm getting light spiciness and a hint of fruit. To me, this is the perfect scent for a cozy evening. Very sweet and strong- almost overwhelming, but if you use a light touch, it's perfect. The staying power is amazing.

[Violaine]

I. Cannot. Get. Enough.

 

Cockaigne is this wonderful, heady, sickly sweet, dizzying scent that I want to drown in. It smells like someone dropped you from an airplane into a huge lake of mushy, buttery, creamy cake and wine. Butter, butter, milk, and more butter, with that sweet cakey icing, and an absolutely delirious smear of drunken red wine.

 

I can die happy now. *slathers*

[Meg]

In the bottle: Spicy butter. Very powerful, with a hint of walnut.

 

Wet: Wine, honey and cakes, and specially, lots of spices.

 

Drydown: A strong walnut and spice scent over honey. I also get the milk, more in the texture of the blend than in the scent, if that makes any sense at all. I can't tell which spices it is, but to me they're not the traditional clove/cinnamon. Maybe nutmeg and pepper, or something.

 

Overall: This really smells nutty to me, like walnut, with a huge amount of spices. It doesn't even really smell sweet, just very foody. I'm absolutely not a foodie, and this nearly smells savoury to me. Possibly, I make the sugar note smell like burnt sugar, which makes it smell bitter on me. At any rate, nothing I'd like to smell of.

[alliekat13]

Smells like those nuts they sell at the mall that are covered in sugar and spices. I don't really get any of the cake, wine, or milk. It smells good, but not a bottle purchase for me because I don't really want to end up smelling like a spicy walnut.

[kiio]

Brown sugar cake. I think it smells incredible, both in the imp and on me. My dh on the other hand walked in the room, wrinkled his nose and said, "what's burning?"

[KassiK]

This smells absolutely rancid on me. I'm doing this review blind, without knowing what notes are in the smell.

 

In the imp: Butterscotch and waffles. A very "sticky" and "gooey" and very sweet foody smell.

wet on skin: GOO! Butterscotch and waffles is still around, but there's also this odd bitter note that doesn't want to mix with the other two notes.

dry on the skin: there's some kind of alcohol in this, I'd guess probably vanilla and something cakey, but in the sweet sweet sweet way and I'm still smelling the butterscotch.

 

I'm off to take a much-needed shower and rid my nose of this weirdness.

 

In all, this scent is just awful for me. It will have to find a better home.

 

PS my favorite scents are aquatic and woodsy, so I'm much more biased towards them than the foody scents.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Snickerdoodle cake. Does that exist? It’s crazy buttery, very spicy and completely cakey.

 

Wearing: Superyummy. I really like this one.

[brit_brat100]

This sounded delightful from the start for me.

 

Imp: Spicy caramel...a strong buttery note, but sweet, and with a bakery spice. Yummy!

 

Wet: Pretty much the same, but less buttery. The wine is pretty strong in this stage, but not so much so that I regret putting it on (I don't like wine). I can be patient.

 

Dry: A sweet, slightly vanilla, but lovely spice cake. The wine hangs in the background, giving it just a litttle twang, but it's not overpowering and it's gorgeous.

 

Final Thoughts: YUM!!! This is great. I stays on for a long time, it's sweet, but not overly so. Gorgeous. Bigger bottle for me.

[Medici]

*sniff sniff sniff*

 

Sugar Skull?

 

*sniff sniff*

 

Sugar Cookie on crack?

 

*sniff*

 

Very foody. Very sweet and sugary, with a slightly syrupy quality. Not my bag, really, But my skin hasn't destroyed it or turned it to burnt plastic so I suppose that's definitely bonus. (Usually, anything involving cake goes batsh*t crazy with my chemistry.)

 

A little too gourmand for my tastes, though.

[theseagrows]

um i dont like foody scents, so i don't know why i wanted to try this, but i did anyhow! it's a spicy-foody scent, something along the lines of cassia or cinnamon with ginger, perhaps, with a slight creaminess from the milk. i don't get any wine though.

[lightgatherer]

This is what I wanted Beaver Moon to be - a delicious, buttery cake scent with a hint of spice lurking in there. I never really pick up on the milk, honey, or wine in this - it's all buttery yellow cake. And really, I'm okay with that. It doesn't ever go plastic on me, it's got a decent throw in the beginning, and it's very nice closer to the skin after that. Finally, a BPAL baked goods scent that works on me, yay!

[presotm]

This is a buttery-cinnamon, slightly creamy Sugar Skull. I was hoping for more milkiness.

 

I should really stop trying to force myself to become a foody-smell lover. I don't think it's going to happen.

[Brianne]

In the vial:

Hazelnut

 

On me:

I wish I knew why Beth's "cake" note always smells like hazelnut or just generally nutty on me. This is no different - I get a very strong nut smell - it's warm, sweet and nice but... you know, it's just about all I get and I don't really want to smell like hazelnut.

 

I get a little honey also and a slightly funky milk note. The same funky milk note I get in Milk Moon. Beth's milk note just doesn't work on me either.

 

Sadly, this is all I get. I'm keeping the imp to hope that maybe it will change later or something, but I think this is it - her cake and milk notes just aren't for me.

 

Final note:

Probably smells amazing on other people! But on me it's hazelnut and slightly funky milk.

[space girl lost]

oh sweet baby! this one wins! which is odd given the comment above about milk moon. i just got milk moon 2007 and definitely got the sour note. cockaigne is giving me NONE of that. THIS is the milk/honey scent i was after when i made my order (which consisted of dana o'shee, o, milk moon and cockaigne for he record and comparison).

 

this one has the milk and honey but it actually is SWEET. something is thickening this up a bit and making it smell really nicely wet and sweet. is that coming from the wine? i'm unsure b/c so far beth's wine notes have been overly sour on me and this is just rounding things off with a reddish, wet, sweet fruity smell. mostly it's a nice cakey smell though with that milk and honey under it all.

 

BOTTLE BOTTLE BOTTLE!!!

[neuilly]

Hello spice cake!! It does sort of remind me of Pumpkin Queen oddly enough...over time the honey and wine start to seep out. Mostly this is cake, spice cake, slightly dry but still yummy! I don't get a milky not which I adore but I'm still rather enamored of this. Keeping the imp and thinking about a bottle.

[asciident]

Wet: Vanilla honey cakes.

 

First on: Mmmm. Sweet vanilla cakes with a honey and cream topping.

 

Dry: Dries down to add something spicy to the mix, but wow. Light, perfect buttery-white cake with vanilla and cream topping. Gorgeous.

[Victory]

I was frimped this from the lab, and I was so excited because I have been looking forward to trying this but Cockaigne just hadn't made it into an order yet. In the imp, wet and dry, it smells almost identical to Gluttony. It's Gluttony without the nuts on me. I had to look at the label several times to convince myself that it wasn't, in fact, Gluttony. I enjoy Gluttony, but if I want the Gluttony base, I'd like the nuts, chocolate, etc of Gluttony. Cockaigne isn't unpleasant, but I am nevertheless disappointed.

[rien]

In imp: omg! I want to eat it! Yummy - EXACTLY what you'd expect.

 

Wet, on skin: can I lick the bowl? Jaysus. Er, all I smell is cake, though the other components are probably contributing to making the cake as heavenly as it is.

 

Drydown: I don't know what's coming out strongest, only that it's sinfully sweet. I'd wear this to a biker bar to feel enticingly out of place, or to a child's birthday party to feel like I belong. Could work for or against your projected purity - but mostly, I just want to lick myself.

 

Dry: not so much on the cake anymore, which is probably safest for everyone; want to say it's becoming more milk and honey? whatever it's doing, it's delicious.

[acaciasears]

Coffee cake, gingerbread, chai. This is my "it" scent. After something to the order of a dozen bottles, this is the one I've dreaming of - I've finally found it.

 

Wet: Spicy, sweet, cinnamon and cake and a drizzle of caramel on top.

Throw: Strong, but thankfully not overwhelming. I can apply this at work and not feel embarrassed.

Drydown: Everything is still there, just softer. The spiciness is usually the first thing to fade on me, but I'm pleasantly surprised that it didn't on this one.

 

Things other people smelled that I didn't: Wine. Not a bit of it, and I'm entirely thankful for it. Alcohol notes of any kind are terrible on me. Butter. Drink me is one of my standards, and THAT one is buttery. Hearth '05 even more so. This one? Not at all, and that's great with me since I already have a couple really buttery scents.

 

I have to go edit my "favorites" list and put this right at the top.

[jarvenpa]

edenssixthday very generously sent me an imp of Cockaigne (with many others, thank you dear).

 

Foody scents are probably the ones I least explore and the ones that don't quite feel like my sort of thing, but this one is really fun

 

Lots of buttery cake sitting around in a warm and comforting place with lots of cups of delicious spiced tea.

 

After a while I am aware of the honey lingering, and a certain..almost orange scent (perhaps that is the wine?). But mostly butteriness, and a certain nut quality.

 

I'll keep it on hand for times when I want to smell all edible, for some reason (or drive people nuts wondering where the cake went).

 

If foody is your thing, this is definitely one to try.