Fairy Tale Fragrances

As a kid I had a lot of lovely illustrated books, including reissues of some of the (aptly named) Grimm’s fairy tales. If you’ve ever read them, or thought about any old folk tales really, they can be … dark. Not sure they’d pass muster for kid-friendly reading today!

Anyway, this sample set of fairy-tale-inspired fragrances from The Mischief Academy and purchased from LuckyScent looked like fun (here’s a photo of the front of it). There are seven scents total, which I’ve divided into two posts; today’s the more gourmand-sounding offerings based on the notes listed. Let’s get to it.

The Mad Hatter – cognac, rum, toffee, condensed milk, butter, leather, black tea, saffron. Hey, this is nice! If a more cold-weather scent. I get a seamless blend of most of those notes, with rum and leather dominating. It’s a little bitter at the top, which I don’t love (the saffron, maybe?), but that fades while keeping the fragrance from tipping over into sugar overload.

The Cursed Apple – red apple, poison (bitter accord), rose, violet, lipstick, wild berries. This is aptly named, with me cursing before saying “hard pass!” and Carolyn doing a certified Mr. Yuk face. It smells like you layered DKNY Be Delicious with Malle Lipstick Rose, and no, I don’t mean that as a compliment. Next!

Hansel & Gretel – gingerbread, hot cocoa, rum, cinnamon, clove, tonka, vanilla. Okay, this is another one that would be best in cold weather. Also, yummmmmm. I’m leery of chocolate in fragrance, but this is such a nice blend. The first hour or so is startlingly similar to what you’d smell if you had a cup of hot cocoa with your gingerbread snack, and then it settles into a spicy vanilla skin scent. Is it earth-shattering? No. Maybe you already have a gourmand like this. But it’s a delightfully cuddly thing. I’d wear it to bed.

Winnie the Pooh – honey, beeswax, bergamot, lemon, lavender, clary sage, vanilla, tonka. You will be amused/unsurprised to learn that I did some research on what constitutes a fairy tale, and Winnie the Pooh is technically a “domestic fantasy” (blending the fantastical and the everyday), not a fairy tale.  Now that I’ve shared that nugget of information that nobody asked for, this is easily the favorite of the bunch. The honey, which always leaves too soon, really sticks around, and the herbaceous elements keep it light rather than cloying.

The Discovery Set (which is seven 2ml samples, beautifully packaged) is $48 from Luckyscent. Individual bottles of fragrance are $120 for 50ml.  I’m on the fence about the bottles – in theory they look adorable, but the gold caps are a little too bright and shiny and consequently they have a bit of that 1970s twee “vintage” Avon look, but that’s my opinion and based on photos, so who knows.

Have you tried any of these? Do they pique your interest?

bottle photo via LuckyScent; other photos mine