The Great London Spaghetti Hunt

[Convallaria]

After a long day at the museum, Lilith was hungry and begging for pasta with butter. As her loving father, I searched and searched until I found a place that would stay open a wee bit longer so we could get some. This is the photo of her thanking me. I believe it is the best photo of us, and it makes me so happy.

Tiramisu and black coffee.

Pretty much what it says in the description, very close to the real deal; a bittersweet combination, leaning toward "bitter" but not unpleasantly so. Not sure if tiramisu is the cake note or cream note - I don't have much experience with the latter, and it lacks the bite of the first, though it could be covered-up by coffee. There is no amaretto, but I think that some other kind of alcohol was involved, as well as some bitter cocoa. Dry, it goes a little bit sweeter, but all ingredients are still present. Stick close to the skin but is intense and rather long-lasting.

[Numanoid]

Maybe it is me, but it is always hard to get a good whiff from a decant. But sniffing, there is a sweet, slightly boozy coffee in there.

 

On skin: The same... there is a light boozy coffee. I love Tiramisu and I detect the rum...and yes, the slight bitter coffee as well.

 

Dry down: Agree with Convallaria.... it stays close to the skin. But is there. Just have to stick my nose a little closer to sniff. But this is a yummy coffee/rum blend. It is a good one for those who like the coffee notes, but maybe wants something not too BAM in your face coffee that can be worn without offending someone next to you.

[Soupy Twist]

Coffee and wet cake in the bottle (which is absolutely tiramisu). Goes on as coffee. But the strong coffee almost immediately starts to recede into something sweet, maybe floral? with a little cinnamon. Definitely becoming more floral as it dries. Where did my coffee note go? The more it dries, the more it's turning into a soapy, powdery floral. What, are these the flowers on the restaurant table? ooh, gross, rose. WTF? Okay, I'm done. crap, I really had high hopes for this.

[sprout]

Tiramisu and a pinch of coffee in the bottle and wet. The cream note is prominent, butter like.

This goes sharp and bitter but the cake and coffee are still recognizable. I can make out the cake part, the cream, and hint of almond and even the powdered cinnamon of the topping.

 

Early dry phase, say 20 minutes after application, it gets weird. I think this is supposed to be amaretto, but it smells chemical and almost floral. Something between the hairspray note of Stardust and the odd floral in Shill v1. The coffee disappears rather quickly. I am left with cake and odd synthetic notes.

 

Still drying, about an hour or longer, it smells like baby powder. Late drydown it becomes a slightly sweet and powdery vanilla. I quite like the drydown.

 

I am not sure about this one. It initially nails the concept accurately but the odd morph it does in the early drying phase is not something I want as personal fragrance. I have had this type of issue work itself out with a bit of aging so I plan to retest in a month or so. Maybe this is one for a scent locket because it's gorgeous in the bottle/wet phase. Then again, maybe someone else's skin would do it more justice? This experience prompts the search for a skin locket or bracelet with lava beads...

 

This was a close to the wrist sniff for me, not much throw but it's relatively young and this also improves with age in my experience. It's lasting 4 to 5 hours for me, a light vanilla powder.

Edited October 10, 2016 by sprout

[patina]

Delicious in an El Dia Los Reyes sort of way. It does have a vanilla powder element and sometimes is not as deep or rich as I'd like but overall a really good coffee scent. Maybe there's cinnamon sprinkled on top of the tiramisu? Because I get just a tiny bit of that.

Edited October 15, 2016 by patina

[mollison]

Wet, this is cheap black coffee (not in a bad way). It reminds me of hotels and airplanes and travelling.

 

As this dries down, I smell the tiramisu, but it is more like a generic pastry scent on me. This is really evocative for me. I think fondly of suitcases and hotel lobbies and waiting in airports (I know this is not the waiting in the airport scent, but that is what I think of).

[Little Bird]

I was hoping for something like Miskatonic University, cocoa powder and moist, sweet cake. This blend isn't sweet or creamy to me, though. The coffee is dry and a little on the burnt smelling side of things, and there's a dry pastry and dusty, powdery quality here. As it dries down, I'm getting the dry, sharp cinnamon that others have mentioned.
Not sweet enough for me, and I wanted more creamy coffee and cake.

[Balame]

Starts out with a big blast of chocolate and coffee, then simmers waaay down.

I find this better than Miskatonic U because it's not as cloying on me, and the notes seem truer.

 

The tiramisu is really nice, light but wafting a sweetened coffee note, while the "true" coffee is more of an afterthought (which stops it from being too bitter).

There's a bit of a sharpness like others have mentioned, which verges on being boozy, but almost reads as a soft clove to me?

Definitely a sense of spiciness in the background, but it doesn't overwhelm the sweetness.

 

I really like this and have been wanting a wearable coffee blend, but it has almost zero sillage.

Maybe I'll get more for cuddly days at home when it's less awkward to inhale my wrists constantly?

 

[zankoku_zen]

This starts off as tiramisu and sweet coffee. Ends up in a dusty sweet vanilla coffee with hints of plastic.

 

SKIN CHEMISTRY FAIL. Oh, super great throw and wear length. Of course.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: The coffee note is great, but I can already tell the bakery notes in this are going to do that weird stale cereal thing on me. So stale cereal and coffee. Breakfast of champions!

 

 

Dry: This actually kind of recovers a bit, but it's still a bit off on my skin. Thankfully, I have other coffee blends that I adore, without the bakery note that doesn't agree with my skin chemistry.

[whisperstilled]

In Bottle: Mmm, coffee and booze.There is a little bit of a cakey, ladyfingers thing happening here for the tiramisu, and something creamy.

 

Wet: Wow. This really does smell shockingly like Tiramisu when wet. Coffee, cream, cake, and rum. Awesome. Way better than I would have expected in the bottle - I'm not much of a foodie scent person these days, but tiramisu is my favorite, and this is it.

 

Drying: A considerably softer scent than I would have expected as it dries. I really thought this one would be more in-your-face, but it's hanging back a little, which is good, considering the last time I wore a coffee scent someone asked me what smelled like maple syrup. The booze is drying off, and it's becoming more of a ladylike cakes and coffee scent.

 

Dry: Uh oh. Something bad happens to this dry - something chemically and not so great. It's almost got a weird fruity quality now. It smells like dry coffee grounds and something sharp and almost cherry-like. All the cake and cream are gone. What a shame! Into the swaps.

[CitrusFiend]

In the bottle, this smells heavenly. Incredibly realistic coffee and tiramisu. As soon as it hits the skin it gets warm and spicy. Bitter coffee comes through in the the drydown, plus a strong floral, and it stays that way from then on. I mainly get cold, bitter florals. A few hours later, a slightly creamy vanilla-like note comes out to play. The tiramisu is back! For a little while. Then the whole scent turns into plastic before fading away.

 

This scent is like a rollercoaster. It's three completely different perfumes in one! I love the foodie wet stage, but bitter florals and plastic aren't for me. It stays very close to the skin and doesn't last very long.

[fairybites]

This is a lovely cocoa cake with a splash of black coffee. I don't see much of a resemblance to Miskatonic University that some reviewers are mentioning, but maybe that's because I have only tried aged imps of that. 

 

The coffee actually isn't that strong on me, which is fine with me since I'm drowning in coffee scents over here. It's very subtle and I'm getting more of the cake and vanilla.