Brand: Alkemia
Scent Description: An indecent proposal of succulently spiced pear, exotic lychees, decadent french pralines, bourbon vanilla, and crushed almond blossoms leads to a ménage à trois of gardenia, star jasmine, and magnolia illuminated by the afterglow of a sensuously musky amber.
The amber in this dominated and ruined this for me. Ambers have a notoriously bad track record on my skin. I think this perfume oil uses a white/light amber note. At 7 hours, this was still going strong. This is a definite body chemistry issue with the perfume oil notes. The amber is a strong, clean, ambiguously white floral on me that refuses to share the spotlight with any of the other notes. It leans slightly to the sweet but it’s in no way a gourmand on me. No sign of the spiced pear, lychee or the French pralines. I tried this specifically for those exact three note too! This kicked up my allergies (watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing jags) shortly after I applied. I doubt this will change but I’m going to rest this for several months and see if anything changes for the better.
This is the perfect perfume if you’re just starting off with indies. It captures the essence of mainstream, classic, almost oriental. It’s just beautifully done. Warm & comforting, reminds me of ‘obsession & opium’ really nicely blended.
Smells mainstream in a good way and it’s a compliment getter. One of my faves.
For the first 20 or 30 minutes all I smell is expensive, nose-tickling department store perfume. This reminds me of my grandma’s beloved Jessica McClintock, even though the notes don’t really look alike. Finally, it’s starting to calm down and I’m starting to get the spiced pear and amber and jasmine (love), but it still hasn’t lost that “department store perfume” kind of headiness (dislike– one of the main reasons I didn’t think I liked perfume before).
It does smell expensive, but quite perfumey.
On me this starts with a blast of white florals, but as it dries it starts to settle into something a bit sweeter with a fruity gourmand edge. Pleasant and nicely blended, I find this one’s reminiscent of an expensive mainstream perfume. I think that someone will really love this one, but ultimately it’s just not for me.
I really love this, it is a more fruity mainstream scent like a designer fragrance it also reminds me quite a bit of Beauty Like the Night which I also own. I guess that is the amber/pear. If you want a feminine fruity floral with a gourmand lean perfect for spring heading into summer, this is perfect. I sometimes miss my old mainstream alcohol based perfumes but you can never smell the complexities and subtle nuances of a fragrance through all that alcohol as you can with a well blended oil based scent.
Spicy, fruity, pears.. a very mature perfume. I gifted this to my mother who loves spicier scents.
I would have never picked this one out for myself but it is really, really good. To me it smells like caramelized spiced pears. The pear note is incredibly fresh and realistic. It’s a really sweet gourmand scent with florals to keep it from being too sweet. To me this smells very expensive. Great throw, average longevity.
This is an incredibly gorgeous perfume, a pefect dupe for Givenchy Very Irresistible without the burn of the alcohol. It’s warm and sultry, but not at all overpowering. I wish it worked for me!
Wet: Pears, turning sweeter. A shy hint of spices, as it grows. Fresh.
Dry: Warm spiced pears, a touch of vanilla and florals. Sweet and warm while still being fruity and fresh.
Looking for warm, spiced pears? If so, this is a good choice. Carmen 7 is, for me, spiced pears and blossoms.
Its not obvious gourmand and, as any Alkemia scent, all the notes are well intertwined. This makes Carmen 7 a safe bet for someone who likes gourmands or fruits but want or need something thats not obviously edible, which the floral notes help with.
It’s sweet and fruity without feeling cloying. I have no problems wearing it in an office environment, but I do find that it fades within about 6ish hours on me.
This smells so much like a mainstream perfume…a famous one…but I don’t know what it is. If there is one indie perfume I would suggest to be a transition from upscale mainstream fragrance, it might be this. It’s warm, but stays light and fruity and very feminine. It smells like a perfume counter in a really good way.