Chaos Theory VII: Gourmand

[Hattress]

Sweet vanillas, thick chocolates, burnt caramels, and spun sugars.

Me reviewing a CT is a terrible idea. Especially for me to be the first one! But I'll give it a go!

First, I have to say that this bottle was full. Like, I opened the lid and almost poured some all over myself. Also, unlike other Chaos Theories, there's no number on my bottle

In the bottle, there's a spicy sort of smell to it that reminds me a little bit of how The Curator starts on me. I like it, but I'm not getting much of anything foody from it.

Wet: Whoa. Men's cologne. Or aftershave. It's strong and kind of abrasive, and it's making it very difficult for me to pick out any actual notes, especially since I'm still terrible at that, anyway. I don't know what I'm smelling, but it's...not a thing I want to smell like. I don't think. Despite that, I do keep sniffing my wrist.

Drydown: Still men's cologne/aftershave.

After 15 minutes: Hmm. It's nicer. The aftershave-ness of it has gone away for the most part, and now I'm getting...something that reminds me of Boo 2012, but without the mysterious lemony note. My best guess is falling in the realm of cream, and maybe a hint of something heavier. Maybe that burnt caramel that's mentioned as a possibility? I'm not sure; I'll have to test it a few more times probably before I get any better ideas of what other notes might be.

Once it's dry, it stays fairly close to the skin. That's probably a blessing for now, since I'm still trying to work out exactly what I smell like right now. Overall, I don't think I lost my gamble with this CT; I think I like it.

 

EDIT: Numbers have been sent out for the Chaos Theories! Courtesy of the Lab, this bottle is Gourmand #60.

Edited June 27, 2015 by Hattress

[Numanoid]

Got my bottle today, and yes...mine is also WAY full! Here goes...also see there are no numbers on these.

 

In the bottle: I really don't know what I am smelling...but it is like a floral (?) even though this is a gourmand bottle.

 

On skin: Ok....now this changes. Good thing, I was so not wanting a floral. Still hard to describe this. It is a bit sugary, bot not overly. It is like a cotton candy popcorn, but plain, no butter. That's the best way I can describe this.

 

Dry down: stays the same but now that odd floral thing is emerging. It isn't strong, and I really have to huff this in order to smell it....but I guess this is a gourmand scent. Very fun, but not sure if it is for me, but will wait and see!

 

Going to update this by saying the bottle number I got from the Lab is #9!

Edited June 25, 2015 by Numanoid

[VioletChaos]

As noted, no numbers. I got two bottles- here's the first one.

 

In The Bottle: Huh. I'm *also* getting sort of a men's cologne/aftershave vibe. There might be aquatic in here, which is a death note for me, so hopefully that settles down.

 

Wet On Skin: Okay. Weird. Now it's morphed slightly into shaving cream- like Barbasol old-school shaving cream- but mixed with...caramel? Tobacco? Both? I'm seriously confused by this scent.

 

Dry Down: Morphed again into...wait for it...Pinched With Four Aces. Caramel, tobacco, a hint of men's aftershave.

 

In All: I actually swapped away my bottle of Pinched many moons ago because I wasn't that into it. I'll sit on this for a bit but it might be better off in someone else's collection. Go figure.

[VioletChaos]

As noted, no numbers. I got two bottles- here's the second one.

 

In The Bottle: Candy-sweet honey dust and red licorice

 

Wet On Skin: More of the same.

 

Dry Down: Honey dust and Red Vines. I confirmed that description with DH, and he agrees!

[Jeni Mullen]

I got myself five bottles. Like the rest, none have a number. I have labeled them A-E for ease. Like the others said, they are full to the top. I've made some messes!

 

Gourmand A: sage and citrus. Might be lemon in this one? I can't tell at all. It smells very bitter to me and catches in my nose rather unpleasantly.

 

Gourmand B: cream and citrus. It's a somewhat unsettling smell, like it should cuddle the way milk and orange juice does. It gets steadily LESS unpleasant the longer it's on the skin and turns into orange creamcicles on me!

 

Gourmand C: vanilla and spice. Very sugary. This one smells like cake to me.

 

 

Gourmand D: my favorite! Vanilla and caramel and something smokey. It's just wonderful. Skin test lasts a very long time. It's a comforting sort of scent indeed and very foody.

 

Gourmand E: tea and... Some very stinky flowers. I did not put this on my skin. Flowers is an instant headache and I won't do that to myself. This seems more fougere than gourmand. I don't detect sugar or honey or vanilla or chocolate at all.

[MinxMarzipan]

The bottles I got are rather morphy.

 

Gourmand - # 3

This started off as salty butter rum and buttery popcorn in the bottle.

It's stayed that way on my skin until dry down. Them BAM! all pumpkin. Buttery sweet, not spicey pumpkin flesh.

Edited June 25, 2015 by MinxMarzipan

[Dedee]

OK, well.... I got 2 bottles myself. Quick reviews are:

The first one is not Gourmand to me at all!! First bottle I tried (#78) smelled like lightly lemon scented Orient.... like lemon and Sandlewood, maybe some Ylang ylang??? Dried down to just a light sandlewood on me. It's lovely, but not Gourmand in the way I was thinking the Gourmands would be.

The second one (#77), when I first opened it up I was so excited, because it almost smelled like Gingerbread!! But it went through soooooooooooo many metamorphosis's once on my skin! First Orange cake, then bubblegum cake, then caramel popcorn, then just sweet plastic poundcake, and lastly.... maple syrup!!! When I was going to bed last night my husband asked, 'Why do you smell like pancakes??" So maybe I have found a distant cousin of Pancake Breakfast???!!

Edited June 25, 2015 by Dedee

[IronMollyBlack]

My first impression of this one is it's the cake note from Huesos de Santo. But not quite as buttery. Or maybe it's vanilla caramel custard. It's fresh out of the mailbox, so it may need to settle a bit. Most definitely foody!

 

ETA: This is Gourmand #75

Edited June 25, 2015 by IronMollyBlack

[violetblue]

Bottle 1 - fruity, soft Midway or Mouse Circus. Lovely.

Bottle 2- 3rd retest - strong clean mint at first, linen maybe, tea, white flowers???

 

6/24/15- per an email from the lab, these are bottles 26 and 28, no idea which was which though.

Edited June 24, 2015 by violetblue

[batakbeatrix]

Bottle 1: At first it started of as a sugary/fruit and popcorn, but it morphed pretty quickly into an exact replica of Rosy Maple Moth, which smells like watermelon Jolly Ranchers on me. Meh.

 

Bottle 2: Straight up cherries and a hint of caramel out of the bottle, which prepared me for disaster, but after an hour it smells like a macaroon. I'm digging it.

[aiobhan]

Gourmand # 8 --
In bottle: Milk chocolate and something nutty that isn't almond or peanut. Not too sweet, a little dark, very warm.

Wet on skin: The milk chocolate note is taking a back seat to warm nuttiness. It smells like a snickers bar tastes. OH! It has a similar feel as Bah!, but without the darkness of coffee and with more of a nutty/macadamia scent.

Dry, after some time: The milk chocolate is more milk/cream than cocoa. The nuttiness is definitely from macadamia. It's lightly sweet without being sugary, creamy, and very warm.

Overall thoughts: I really do like this. I may keep it. Usually scents like this don't stay long on my skin, but this one seems to be holding out. It smells like a macadamia cookie and very creamy, melted-milk-chocolate hot cocoa.

Edited July 7, 2015 by Aiobhan

[Astarial]

I got decants of all of Yojenitan's bottles except for D - which I'm seriously regretting missing, seeing her review! They're pretty similar on my skin to how she described them:

 

A: Herbal in the decant, sort of floral/aquatic on my skin, and I'm getting a strong tobacco-ish note that starts to come out strong as it dries down. I don't smell any vanilla, chocolate, caramel, or sugar here at first, but I think there's a soft vanilla hanging out in the back.

 

B: Creamy and I think a little citrusy in there, like a mellow orange-creme chocolate truffle or something. Doesn't really do much on my skin, mostly just hangs out smelling the same.

 

C: I love this one! In the decant it's a rich brown sugar with a hint of cake. On my skin, it gets even sweeter for a bit (which I love), and then backs off and lets some spice and resiny and caramelly notes come out. It's great.

 

E: I agree that it's kinda stinky. It reminds me of something, but I can't quite remember what. It's kind of herbal and dark. On my skin that gets to be kind of a wet herbal darkness, and kind of goes into smelling like a swimming pool, or the locker rooms at one. Definitely my least favorite.

[Akurarei]

My bottle of Gourmand (ETA #82) smells like sugar, vanilla with perhaps just the teeniest bit of white chocolate.

It's feminine and lovely - so happy with it!

Edited June 25, 2015 by Akurarei

[WickedSage]

First bottle smells like mint chocolate its milk chocolate with spearmint and peppermint i really like it. Second bottle is confusing in the bottle i smell coffee like miskatonic university and rum but once on pulls floral which is odd for it being gourmand.

[Julia]

Grapefruit tarts. I think I like it.

[StevenBoatman]

This is...weird. It can't make up its mind what it wants to be!

 

I get..chocolate? Or maybe caramel? Then as it dries there's something like oranges and cherries, with a whiff of something almost grape-y. Finally it turns into a sort of spicy foodiness that's really yummy.

 

ETA: Per the Lab's email, this is Gourmand #100!

Edited June 27, 2015 by protoomega

[DiesMali]

In the bottle: MMmm...marshmallows???

 

Wet on my skin: It's warm and a little spicy, and I could swear I smell graham crackers.

 

Dry: This smells like toasted S'Mores made with cinnamon graham crackers, at least at first. As it wears, it gets less marshmallow-y and more cinnamon spice, and now it actually smells more like mulled cider than S'Mores. I LOVE THIS. LOVE. Chaos Theory bottle #1 is a winner!

[kajacana]

In the bottle: Nuts, and maybe the tiniest hint of chocolate.

On skin: Smells a lot like Wezwanie/Hold to me, which includes hazelnut, so maybe it's hazelnut? It smells toasty! There's something in there that's rounding out the blend really nicely, which I'm guessing is chocolate, because I think I'm getting a very faint whiff of cocoa. It's not sweet, though. I'm picturing dry roasted hazelnuts lightly dusted with cocoa powder.

I like it a lot!!

[jenrandom]

Bottle 1: Starts out as a really nice creamy orange, and slowly morphs into smelling like creamy orange candy heart. Neat!

 

Bottle 2: Starts out very undefinable to my nose, then as it dries goes towards.. spices? Not really my thing. 2nd day: Actually pretty cool. Smells like a combination of leather, spices, and outdoors with a little sweet in the background. That'll teach me to try bpal on without letting it sit.

Edited June 23, 2015 by jenrandom

[Teggy]

#84

 

Almond cake? It starts off with that kind of almond that could be mistaken for cherry. There's something cakey underneath. Makes me think of Eat Me's refined, older sister. Add it dries, the almond backs off, but it's still there.

 

It's pretty, but not quite "me."

[Antoinette]

Bottle #126

 

Vanilla cream and maybe something that reminds me of Ivory Vulva. I did a side by side and CT is a little warmer but just as delicious! Love it!

[Haltija]

#66

 

In the bottle- Ground up dark cocoa with something nutty and vaguely citrus-y.

 

Wet on the skin- Something foul like bitter sour nuts or fruit. The nut aspect may be brazil nuts and I swear I am picking up persimmon, I can't be too sure.

 

Dry- Even more foul! The rotting nut aspect is even stronger and with the cocoa note it's not a good combination at all.

Edited June 27, 2015 by Haltija

[claudia6913]

This is oil #132. The oil is slightly yellowish in color and filled just into the neck.

 

This smells like it has tonka and maybe some orange blossom. Maybe some coconut husk or meat to give it a creamy feel. There's also a wooden scent, maybe teak. Very nice, creamy, smooth and not overly foodie.

 

The more I sniff it the more it smells like a sweeter version of The Antikythera Mechanism. Which is totally awesome IMO!

Edited June 28, 2015 by claudia6913

[Numanoid]

Swapped a friend for her gourmand bottle....#77

 

In the bottle: Yep, I get orange gingerbread smell! Could smell it before even opening it to sniff! Smells great!

On skin: Yeah, it morphed on me as well.... I got spiced orange cake, a vanilla cake, then it toned down to a nice, soft spiced cookie!

 

Dry down: Softens and stays to that lovely lightly gingerbread spiced cookie to me. She got maple syrup, but I don't! I am glad, since I had tried Pancake Breakfast and it didn't work for me, but that one smelled more grainy. This one is just right. Low throw, but stays close. Very happy with this one.

[Viridian]

#188

In bottle: buttery caramel corn.

On skin: Caramel corn and... cinnamon? Probably not cinnamon since iirc these weren't supposed to contain common allergens. Clove? Maybe ginger? Some spice for sure...SPICY CARAMEL CORN!

After a few seconds of drying it becomes almost all spice with maybe something woody in the background. Sandalwood perhaps, as it's very smooth and subtle.

After 30 minutes or so it becomes a soft sandalwood-vanilla. This one's a crazy morpher with three stages that smell nothing like one another. I'll have to keep it around for a little while and see what it does as it ages.

Edited June 29, 2015 by Viridian