Comparison of Celebrated Beauties

[Balame]

Vanilla cream, mimosa, and almond blossom.

 

Almond, almond, almond. It’s the cherry medicine kind I don’t like instead of the warm nutty kind. That’s all I smell for a long time, then it dies down into… a whisper of cherry almonds. I get none of the other notes, except maybe the tiniest hint of vanilla. Unfortunately I have a bad history with nearly all almond blends so I’m not too surprised it didn’t work out.

[barilace]

I love this one so much that I'm tempted to get a back up bottle.

 

When I first apply it I get all the almond and then it dries down and I get that vanilla note and (at least what I think is) TONS of the mimosa mixed with almond. It's delicious. Perfect for spring.

[astarinel]

This starts off a lovely, creamy floral marzipan which I really enjoy.

 

Unfortunately, as some others have noted, this is a cherry-skewing almond note on my skin. I generally don't have problems with almond, but as this one dries it becomes more cherry-syrup and just doesn't do it for me. The scent in the decant is lovely, but it just really doesn't work with my chemistry at all.

[Trebuchet]

I was slightly nervous about ordering this when I saw reviews mentioning cherry almond, as that hasn't worked out well for me before. Fortunately I get a nutty almond: all almond at first, then the vanilla appears, and finally a kick of fruitiness.

 

It puts me a little in mind of tarta de santiago, which I then made the day this arrived.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Sweet cherry and almond. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of cherry, but I think the vanilla is smoothing this out and sweetening it up enough that I want to keep sniffing it. It's like a surprisingly delicious cherry-almond ice cream.

 

Wet on skin: Heavier on the cherry on my skin. I liked it better in the imp, actually. We'll see how this develops.

 

Dried down: Hmmm, it's gone a little powdery on me, but it's... kind of a special powder. There's still a bit of that cherry fruitiness in it.

 

Throw: Very little throw on me. But that little bit I get is sweet and creamy. This is pretty.

 

Verdict: **** I really like this. More than I was expecting, actually. I may need to get a bottle of this.

Edited April 3, 2015 by Magycmyste

[lunaticana]

This is PURE vanilla cream and mimosa :love:

First I was super afraid that it wouldn't give me any mimosa at all

Edited April 4, 2015 by lunaticana

[astraelly]

Almond single note in the vial -- straight up sickly cherry almond. On the skin, it's marginally more complex, with the mimosa adding a strong powdery component to the fragrance, but not enough to rescue it. I was imagining something more creamy, given the notes, but the words that come to mind are 'shrill' and 'thin'. It's all sharp, spiky sweetness, like the toothache you get when you bite into a sugary dessert. Not much of a throw, thankfully.

[milo]

I love the lab's almond note. It reminds me of a good quality marzipan, which I love to eat, and is probably the only foody note I like to wear. This is definitely almond blossom, as in Asp Viper, and Dana O'Shea at first. After a bit, the almond retreats somewhat and a vague floral comes out. I'm guessing the mimosa. I really like this, but it is too similar to Dana and Asp to warrant any more. I would basically say it's Asp Viper without the Snake Oil.

[GoddesShel]

I waffled on this, and didn't get it because almond goes fake cherry on me. But the wonderful Dark Alice sent me an imp and insisted I needed to try it, because on her, it's "Coconut flakes and white cake.". She knows I'm a sucker for coconut...

 

Anyway - in the imp, I get pure butter. This has happened before on some foodie scents, so I didn't panic, and went ahead and swiped my wrist, at which point, I got spice and what my nose swore was very sweet Dr Pepper syrup. Riiiight, nose.

 

After about five minutes, though, I do end up with a very creamy, white cake-like scent, with maybe a hint of coconut. Not bad! Don't know if it's worth tracking down a bottle, but I'll definitely enjoy the imp! And no fake cherry anywhere.

[Eemia]

This smells a lot like Almond Blossom 2013 with some sweet vanilla and white floral added. I love, love, LOVE Almond Blossom and so this one was another instant love. Luckily the cream note didn't go plastic or sour on me as it can sometimes do. It's just a rich vanilla, minus the heaviness of the cream. Mostly though that gorgeous smooth almond liquor note is the strongest part, and it smells so decadent and sexy on my skin. I like the softness of the mimosa, which is heavy and feminine but not overpowering. It just adds a little interest in this so it's not so extremely sweet and dessert-like.

 

I'm not usually a gourmand fan but I have a handful of foodie type bpals that I adore and this is going to join them in their little club of specialness.

[Musamea]

In the decant: okay, this is the delicious thing my entire decant order envelope smelled like – bam, light almonds and a frothy, creamy vanilla (with eek! A slight plastic note in the background)

 

Wet: Nutty almonds, ever so slightly bitter, softened by a light, non-foody vanilla, soft and very well balanced – it's not too sweet or floral, which I like – the sweetness comes from more of a spicy nuttiness with hints of light vanilla cream

Dry: Oh gods above this blend is amazing. Nutty, rich, complex almond, with a wash of frothy vanilla cream – sexy sexy sexy; it actually reminds me a bit of the wet stage of Snake Oil, crossed with the drydown of Chimera, but with something extra thrown in. Insta-big bottle purchase!

[mymymai]

• ITI: I get vanilla cream, that smells almost like marzipan to me (a note I loathe) when paired with the almond blossom. The mimosa is there, but it isn't as strong or as vibrant as I'd like. It's like the impression of a mimosa smothered in creamy pastries.

Wet: I'm a bit disappointed, honestly. The scent is sickly sweet initially, almost like children's medicine. I think it might be the mimosa paired with the clear almond blossom and ooey, gooey vanilla. I hope it mellows out.

Dry: The vanilla goo note and almond marzipan-tinged note are still present over the faint mimosa some 6 hours later. Sadly, it's just too cloying for my taste.

[Ishtar]

The mimosa note is quite noticeable at first. It never fails to bring a smile to my face, as it instantly reminds me of the long departed Madrid that I used to wear a lot.

 

The almond in this is a bit muted and powdery, closer to the smell of almond oil than the usual bright and bold BPAL almond note. The cream accord threatens to go sour as it moves from the wet stage to drydown, but fortunately it gives way to a sweet, cuddly vanilla after a few minutes. After complete drydown, Comparison of Celebrated Beauties reminds me of a freshly baked almond biscotti: slightly gourmand but not overly sweet, almondy but subtly so, comforting in an unassuming sort of way. The mimosa gives it some depth, but I think I was hoping for something with slightly more intrigue, maybe. Nonetheless, Comparison is a very nice and highly wearable scent that I will definitely enjoy and use up.

[RasAlgethi]

Quite nice in the bottle. I'm getting jergans hand creme, which I always like (definitely the almonds). A creaminess.

 

Sadly, on the skin I am amp-ing something powdery. Still love the vanilla almond underneath but just a little too soft of a scent for me.

[Soupy Twist]

I finally, finally figured out why BPAL's almonds never work on me. My skin devours the almond note, and what remains is whatever else is in the scent. And the Lab really likes to pair almond with incenses and musks. In this particular oil, it happens to be combined with vanilla and mimosa. So when the beautiful marzipan vanishes, all I'm left with is fluffy, dusty mimosa blossom.

Now I know, and my heart won't be broken any more.

[aphrodite]

This is one of my favorite Lupers from last year. On me it's a creamy, effervescent, cherry-type of almond. My fiancé thinks it smells like pure gummy worms, which is unfortunate for him because he loves almond, and also because I'm going to keep on wearing it.

[skyablazing]

Comforting powdery floral vanilla. Wet, the cream aspect is blindingly strong for about five seconds before calming back down again. The almond hangs out in the background adding a note of slightly bitter marzipan and I'm not sure I'm entirely here for its contribution for the first five minutes or so. Happily the bitterness recedes and the almonds add a nice depth to the vanilla-cream-with-backing-florals warmth. If this scent was a person, it would give great hugs. Glad I got to try this.

[LadyLuckless]

Lovely soft cherry-almond sweetness. This one fast became one of my favs, it really is a beauty!

[LizziesLuck]

I adore vanilla cream, and have really been "craving" it lately, but the other notes in this are iffy on me, so this could go either way.

 

 

Wet: Wow, it does this almost effervescent sort of thing - reminds me of cream soda, in a really great way! It's one of those ones that really needs your skin to warm it and make it magical, I think - in the imp it smells like sour milk, but not a hint of that on my skin.

 

Dry: This gets really beautiful for a while - lovely rich vanilla cream which I adore, sweet almond blossom - so pretty! But then it goes kind of dusty, or powdery, on me, the way some of the milk chocolate scents do. Makes me really sad. Glad I got to try this as a decant though, I almost blind-bottled it. I may give it another test another day, just to see if my skin chemistry was off today.

 

 

ETA: Second test, April 10 - Man this is so beautiful when wet - sweet, creamy, rich. Love. It remains beautiful vanilla cream (which is maybe my all-time favourite note, with hints of sweet almond blossom. I need to do a full day test another day, and if it stays like this again, I need to find a bottle...

Edited April 10, 2016 by LizziesLuck

[unxolve]

Wet: Hella almond, which means hella cherry.

 

It's...a NICE cherry. As far as cherry blends go. Like a cherry on top of a scoop of vanilla ice cream with toasted coconut. The vanilla cream note sure is a sweet talker. Buuuuuut cherry though -puts this tentatively in the nope pile-

Dry: =_________= This is the EXACT same yummy vanilla cream note from Volcano in Springtime. I'm going to stick with Volcano, but if you want that with a light almond/cherry twist, then this is your blend.

Edited June 8, 2016 by unxolve

[SmilesSunshine]

vanilla cream, mimosa, and almond blossom....

on cold... ehhhhh...

yet, the scent blooms immediately upon application... the creamy vanilla & almond... sweet and fragrant without the density of a gourmand... the mimosa is very very slight, smooths out the almond after drydown.

this settles in pretty fast. wears close & relatively short to medium duration.

whimsical. elegant. i adore.

[joopjoop]

Well this smells freakin' delicious.

 

At first it is all glorious marzipan with a cake background - it smells what I imagine this to smell like (minus the lemon, hmm... maybe layer with a lemon scent?). It dries down to a mostly vanilla cream scent with the mimosa balancing it out and keeping things light and non-plasticky. And the almond is still there wafting about - every now and then I catch a bit of it from my arm - lovely!

 

I'm not a huge one for foodie scents, so I don't feel like I need to hunt down a bottle, but I'm so glad that I took a chance on the decant. It'll be great for those times when I'm in an almond state of mind!

Edited September 16, 2016 by joopjoop

[VetchVesper]

Wore this to bed last night in honor of Luper Stalking 2017. WhewHoo!

 

Anywho, it's still going strong this morning, so it gets a review.

 

Definitely almondy, definitely vanilla creamy. I can see what others mean when they mention "powdery," but that's not how I would describe it. It's not baby powdery, violet powdery, amber powdery, or any other such typical "powdery." The mimosa just creeps in and softens the syrupy sharpness of the almond and cream, making it very sweet, but not quite foodie. It's very pretty, and I would say, if you like almond, this might be worth getting your hands on.

[Glambie]

This is breathtaking!! So happy I risked an unsniffed bottle purchase. There was a drink at a coffee shop that I frequented in graduate school, and it was carbonated water with almond syrup and perhaps another type of fruit syrup. This is so beautifully reminiscent of that soda and brings back wonderful memories of preparing for exams on a warm spring day, outside on the cafe patio in the sunshine. I will treasure my bottle.

[Lucchesa]

VetchVesper thought I would like Comparison of Celebrated Beauties, and she was right. Almond blossom is quickly becoming one of my favorite florals, and it seems to last better than just the almond note on me. Wet, I get lovely vanilla-almond-cream florals. I'm not that familiar with the mimosa note -- it seems light and pretty. Comparison doesn't morph a lot on me, and it sticks around a really decent amount of time -- still present, might start think about reapplying soon, at about 4 hours, when most shungas are happy memories on me. And it held up beautifully through yoga class. Love!