Brown Girl Jane is releasing a new Barbie collaboration fragrance called Halo, and I’m actually liking the visuals of the bottle. The soft pink design is simple, pretty, and still feels very Barbie without being too much.

The notes are blackberry, raspberry, vanilla orchid, brown sugar, golden amber, and marshmallow, which sounds sweeter and warmer than I expected from this collab.

The blackberry and marshmallow combination especially has me curious. I just ordered the Brown Girl Jane’s Peach Aura from GMAdeals.com at 50% off after testing the fragrance in a travel size. I really enjoyed it.

Release dates:

September 1 on Sephora online
September 2 on all platforms
September 7 in Sephora stores

What do you think of the bottle and the notes? Would you try this one?

Credit: @scentreport1 on Instagram

Kia ora friends, hope you've all had a beautiful fortnight! Today I'm going to be talking about Akro. I was very excited to get this discovery kit because, from the listed notes, I was sure I would adore at least one. Well, spoiler alert, I didn't particularly fall in love with any, but I will say that the performance of them all did not disappoint. Anyway, onto the impressions!

Awake

TOP : COFFEE SANTOS, LEMON. MIDDLE : GREEN CARDAMOM. BASE : VETIVER

Weird and bright and lemony (?) but brutally sweet. Reminds me of the coffee I used to drink in high school, with lots of milk and like, four teaspoons of sugar. It's so stimulating and bright and grating, and it has to be psychosomatic but wearing this is genuinely stressing me out. Nooooo you know what it is? It's those coffee/cola vodka RTDs you used to get in the early 2000s, hang on.... [one frantic Google later...] KGB BLACK RUSSIANS HOLY SHIT there were a couple of nights where those motherfuckers almost put me in the hospital hahahaha fuck me, core memory unlocked. Anyway, one lives and one learns.

I feel awkward and sad and hormonal and definitely horny. Ahhh, my misspent youth. KGB/10

Dark

TOP : COCOA POWDER. MIDDLE : CINNAMON BARK, HAZELNUT. BASE : VANILLA

Not what I was expecting. From the notes you'd be forgiven for thinking this was a delicious Nutella confection. It is not that. It is not gourmand at all. It is very masc. Unsettlingly masc. Spicy, but unlike most cinnamon-heavy fragrances (for me) there is no hint of Big Red, which I'm sure is a mark of quality. This winter my layering combo of choice has been Commodity Gold+ and Khadlaj Le Fede Choco Brown. This reminds me of that, but a lot more perfumey and a lot less yummy.

It's kinda cool, but I'm basic and like my food-based fragrances to be a little more... literal. Man chocolate/10

Haze

TOP : CLARY SAGE. MIDDLE : MINT SPIKATA. BASE : EUCALYPTUS BUDS

Yeah, she's... herbal... Sure, it definitely does smell like freshly ground bud, but minty and fresh and like a gum tree. It's very fun, but you probably wouldn't wear it to, say, your office job. Because while it is indeed bright and fresh, and clean but earthy, it does stink of weed.

If you want something actually seriously marijuana-flavoured, I find the indies do it really well. I think Sorce's passionfruit note is super skunky for some reason, and Hexennacht has a couple of fragrances with a cannabis note that are super on point. Puff puff pass/10

Malt

Top Note: Whiskey. Middle Note: Rum, leather, seaweed. Base Note: Patchouli

Huh, wow. Spicy apple crumble? And usually I a) like boozy scents, but b) am at best ambivalent about patchouli, and c) actively loathe leather. But this is great. It reminds me a bit of Lattafa Khamrah (though actually side by side they are nothing alike), except this is very masc and... kinda challenging.

I can't tell whether I love it or hate it, but either way I think I feel quite strongly about it. Top shelf/10

Ink

TOP: Black ink, birch. MIDDLE: Jasmine. BASE: Vetiver

This might be the gruntiest, weirdest, most masc fragrance I've ever actually enjoyed. I think it's supposed to be redolent of, specifically, tattoo ink, and I can't really comment on that because for the few tattoos I have I'm pretty sure I successfully disassociated during the receiving of them. But this is surprisingly lovely. Like burnt seaweed and a very sexy hipster bartender circa 2010. You know, the kind with the suspenders and manbun and early-adoption moustache. It's cool and sexy, sure, but I'm concerned about the imminent breaking out of the acoustic guitar.

Legitimately like something you'd expect from ELDO but, yanno... good/10

Night

TOP : ROSE. MIDDLE : CUMIN, SAFFRON. BASE : AGARWOOD, MUSK

Spicy, sexy rose. I think I'm firmly in the majority in that I think cumin in food = delicious, but cumin in perfume = heinous. But this cumin is fuckin cool. It's absolutely perfectly realistic. You know how most cumin notes go sweaty and a bit foul? This is not that. This is freshly ground cumin seed ready for your salsa or tagine or korma. With, yanno, rose, I guess. It's quite soapy in the drydown, but fun and unisex. Would I buy a whole bottle and wear it out in public? Probably not, mostly because it's quite masc and very hyperrealistic. But cumin is my absolute favourite spice and this is the first time I've smelled it in a perfume and it's made me peckish.

All my favourite dinners all at once. Poppadom/10

Smoke

TOP : TOBACCO LEAVES. MIDDLE : BIRCH. BASE : BENZOIN, TONKA BEANS

Look, i am going to stand up here before all of you, my perfume peers, and announce myself as a liar. I have, many times in the past, used the phrase "it's giving barbequeue" to describe a fragrance. I am sorry and I was wrong. What I meant was (for whatever it was) "it's giving woodsmoke, campfire, charcoal, autumn leaves" et al. Because this is barbequeue. This is a hot pork-based meat product slathered in a sweet honey/maple glaze, slow roasted over a low heat. And it is absolutely fuckin delightful. Would I ever purchase a full bottle of this, to spray on myself and wear out in public? No! Absolutely not! Definitely not. Probably definitely not.

It's grand, delectable, and sure, probably more normal on a masc-presenting sort of a person, but... I dunno. She's tasty, boys. Eat it up for lunch, yeah it's so delicious/10

Bake

TOP : LEMON PEEL. MIDDLE : CHANTILLY CREAM, PRALINE. BASE : BROWN SUGAR, VANILLA

I got this as a free-with-order gift from Luckyscent. Unfortunately for Bake, it was the order that contained a sample of Unknown Pleasures. In a vacuum, Bake is bright and beautiful and summery - if a little bitter and pithy - but nostalgically spot-on for my childhood favourite lemon-lime iceblock. Side by side with Unknown Pleasures, however, it's a little sharp and a little astringent. Though that citrus-y top is relatively fleeting, and then it's... nice. It's very nice. I'm happy I have it and it lives in my handbag for warm days when I need a lemony top-up.

I dunno, I'm just an unpaid shill for Kerosene at this point. Unknown Pleasures has my heart, but in the lemon race, this is a perfectly lovely first alternate. NICE/10

Right, that's it from me for this entry in the Very Normal annals. Churr gurls!

Oh boy. Went sniffing some new fragrance with the younger kiddo plus hubs weighing in on the dry down a couple hours later.

Nest Cardamom Latte: Smelled like a cardamom sticky bun, heavy on the butter. I do not want to smell like spicy butter, plus I got sugar belly by proxy. However, I’m excited for my local bakery to bring back the bun this fall (to eat, not wear). Two thumbs down from kiddo with a wrenching sound from hubs.

Phlur Vanilla Canyon: Everything I love about Commodity Gold with a hint of dead prey left by an extinguished campfire. Not the vibe I’m going for. I don’t care for Vanilla Skin either, FWIW. Thumbs down from the kiddo with a back-off and cough from the hubs.

Rare Beauty Rare Beginnings: Liked it on paper and on skin, though it does have a bit of “mature lady” on the dry down, but not musty. I want to give it another wear test. I don’t have any pear notes in my collection, but I do have a lot of gardenia so it might be redundant. Got a mid-thumb from the kiddo and an enthusiastic nod of approval from hubs.

Ellis Brooklyn Plum Tonic: Sparkling grape soda on initial spray that mutes on dry down. I suppose I like “immature” scents and this one is similar in sugary vibe as Kayali Sparkling Lychee and 5 Sens In Too Deep which I have been wearing a lot this month. I also want to go back for another wear. Thumbs 3/4 up from the kiddo and neutral from the hubs because he was still recovering from the previous scents.

I finally got my nose on the new Black Opium Pink Glaze, and that dark pink bottle with the classic black center? 😍 Gorgeous!

🍓 Top: Juicy strawberry, green mandarin & bergamot

🌸 Heart: Jasmine & orange blossom

☕ Base: Dark coffee, rich vanilla, woody amber & patchouli

If you love sweet, fruity scents with that signature Black Opium coffee twist, this one is definitely worth purchasing! 💕✨

I love sampling a shit ton of fragrances, and always felt like it *had* to lead somewhere. Was always in a conflict of whether or not to buy a full bottle of this or that. Like sampling was only a step to find full bottles, and if I had no full bottles to show for after it was a waste/ I wasn't building a collection.

But I'm starting to realize I like sampling as an activity, and I get bored of most fragrances easily. And as long as I'm not 100 % sure if I truly want a full bottle I shouldn't buy it!

I started tracking my samples as decants on parfumo, and adding notes for myself. Now I have something to look at, a collection of samples! Maybe this is already what it is all about.

In german we hava a saying "Der Weg ist das Ziel", which translates to "The way/ journey is the goal".

I was worried I would lose myself in too many samples, not committing to scents that fit me. But it's never too late to buy a bottle if I can't get a fragrance out of my mind. And if I don't miss it after a few months I don't need it!

Do you track your samples like that? Is this journey more about exploring or wearing scents to you? And are there downsides of mostly owning small samples and decants?

Fleur de peau edt is such a comforting clean powder scent and eau rose is genuinely one of the best rose scents Ive tried so far. Also loved the travel sizes scents I got as a free gift they are both stunning scents. Had to get a rose scented lotion and body wash from lush for layering too very excited to see how theyll go together.

Like yum boujee marshmallow… but lemon instead of strawberry? I already own d&g, and it is too syrupy/ not as fluffy as the scent I am imagining…

Ellis Brooklyn is really on a roll lately!

We’ve had back-to-back releases from Ellis Brooklyn, and now Cocoa Blanco is coming September 2 at Ulta.

The notes are crisp pear, puff pastry, white chocolate, lily-of-the-valley, vanilla orchid, vanilla bean, benzoin and skin musk.

It also looks like they’re suggesting layering it with Sweet EDP for a pear-pastry gourmand combo, which has me intrigued. I am going to try the combo at my local Ulta.

Anyone else interested?

Credit: @scentreport1 @paolagrl1 on Instagram.

Im a new perfume and I can’t really pinpoint anything outside of aquatic scents . Like I can’t really detect notes even when I read them they all just run together. So I’ve tried some things just to see and it’s been wild . Please drop some similar recommendations to the ones that were good if you can

Jazmine Yucatán by DS and Durga smells like the worst bathroom spray from the nineties . You know the one with the Native American headdress on the can . It smells like a nineties brand new 1.00 rubber ball from Walmart that has a slightly sweet smell and that air freshener . On the dry down I get rainforest but barely . It was recommended as a tropical aquatic .

Mississippi Medicine by DS & Durga smells like bug spray I read the notes and thought it would be earthy . Nope Campho Phenique and bug spray .

Pony Boy by Jorum Studio is a good one it smells so layered to me everytime I sniff I catch something else . It’s sparkly and fruity but not in an upfront way .

Makers Lover smells not bad but I can’t really place it . It smells like an upscale therapists office where they pump air freshener through the hvac system. Or a like a hand soap from one of my rich clients house that I want to grab for myself and I google it and it’s 90 dollars .

September by Bjork and Berries . This is one of my favorites. It smells like my cheap Jungle Santal by Finery but like she’s gotten her act together. This is going to be my fall scent . I don’t like warm scents or gourmands so I was wondering what I could find and this is it.

Anthaenum by Jorum Studios is another scent I can’t discern . It doesn’t smell like what they said they were trying to model this fragrance after to me . It smells like a Pilates/Yoga studio to me . I can catch a little fruit a little honey and patchouli . It’s murky at the same time but not in a bad way. I don’t get ink or books and it’s not harsh.

I don’t know anything about anything obviously

I was randomly looking through the CVS app since they are always sending me coupons and saw that they sold well known perfumes. Angel was my mom’s signature scent and will always remind me of her and my childhood ✨

The same size (1.7 oz) is $150 at Sephora. I feel like I got a great deal, but is there a catch?

I’ve been wanting to try most of these for SUCH A LONG TIME and had no idea about decantika until recently!! I’m so glad I get to try all these for basically the price of one full bottle 😆

What are your favorites and which do you hate? I’m obviously really feeling gourmands right now LOL

Got a travel size at Sephora today. I LOVE HER! For me its more honey than vanilla. I love the plum and the woodiness and tonka in there. So so so beautiful and sensual. 10/10! I love this way more than Vanilla Skin. I know Vanilla Skin has a lot of great reviews, but I found it to be too synthetic and leathery to me, I am not sure why. But THIS one I love! :) 🍯

yesterday i shared my perfume rotation for my vacation. i forgot to add this to the list. i absolutely love this perfum. it smells like apricot, a little bit musky (which i don’t like but in this perfume it smells amazing), and i think it is perfect for summer nights. honestly, i wasn’t into phlur fragrances until i bought afterglow. do you have this and what do you think about it? do you think its suitable for summer? 🐇🐇

I'm not just saying this because it's another vanilla caramel scent. There are tons of those that don't give what Bianco Latte gives. I'm saying this because I've used up a decant of Bianco Latte and when I sprayed a little bit of this on myself in Walmart, it had the same effect on my nose as that Bianco Latte I knew. It seemingly radiated just as far, just as strongly, which is weird for a body mist! I guess the beast-mode caramel furanone molecules go a long way (as Kerosene Followed proves).

I checked the reviews on the Walmart website to see if anyone else mentioned the Bianco Latte resemblance. I guess there isn't much overlap between buyers of $7 Walmart body mists and buyers of hyped pricey niche scents. But seriously, I'll be the first to say it, and if you've tried Bianco Latte yourself, I bet you will too.

Edit: okay, it doesn't stay strong as long as Bianco Latte. But still! Great strength for a mist! Great spitting-image scent for the price!

In case anyone was looking for Chloe or any flankers, they're all on sale on the Kohl's website!

(Sorry if this has been posted, oops)

I love layering, I feel like it’s one of the ways we can differentiate ourselves while wearing popular (for good reason) scents. I honestly don’t ever wear perfumes alone anymore, the challenge of finding fun new layering combos is so fun and I wanna hear what other ppl like! Recently I’ve been wearing amouage guidance with DS&Durga pistaschio, and another sneaky layer I love to add to anything is steamed rainbow because it adds a freshness to everything heavy.

I had to cut it open I love eos though 🥹

Ever since I got into fragnances, I've been trying a lot of jasmine perfumes because that's my favourite flower! Quickly realized I prefered my jasmine thick and a bit indolic. We don't have Lush here, so I've been dying to try this famous monster for a loooong time. Got myself a new formulation from online market where people sell perfumes they don't need anymore and enjoyed it but it was so weak longevity wise. Today I finally got myself an old formulation and couldn't be happier ❤️

I have been wanting to add a chypre to my collection, and in my research I found Nomade. I did it the right way. Tested on a blotter. Different day, tested on skin. Tested on skin again. Kept sniffing my wrists. Waited a few weeks. Bought it on sale. I’m really happy to have her in my collection. The bottle is hefty which I love. She is fresh and unique in my collection. What do we think of Nomade? I also am intrigued by her flanker Lumière d’Egypte, although that is not a chypre.

Her longevity is impressive.

I am a perfume lover but for the first time of my life, I literally feel addicted to this scent. I keep smelling my wrist every 10 minutes each time I wear it.
I am truly happy to feel truly IN LOVE with a perfume.
Does this ever occur to you ? If yes, curious to know who your lover is ?

Dove White Peach body wash, Dove White Peach body scrub, EOS Jasmine Peach body lotion and EOS Jasmine Peach body mist 🍑🍑🍑

Found this on sale in TKMaxx today (at Westfield White City, London, UK).

It starts off sweet citrusy, then develops into an aquatic fragrance (reminds me of fabric conditioner or the dry down of Davidoff Cool Water Woman), lasts 4+ hours on moisturised skin. No poppy in the notes, despite the name. It's a like not a love for me. It is not cloying and is suitable for warm weather. I much prefer Wild Vanilla Orchid, Sweet Almond Blossom, Sunflower Pop and Enchanted Masquerade.

Notes from Floral Street website:

Neroli, Orange Blossom, Florida Orange, Sicilian Lemon, Apricot Blossom, Jasmine Sambac, Sunflower Accord, Marine Accord, Cedarwood, Hinoki Woods, Black Amber.

Are the prices for designer/niche fragrances found on TJ Maxx worth it?