Brown Girl Jane - Carnivale

Finally got around to opening the sample set. I was waiting for BGJ to update the perfumes in the set to their current website offerings (the set at Sephora is the older version, and contains several perfumes that are now discontinued).

I already have travel sizes of 2 of the 6, but they are so good that I've really wanted to try the others from the brand as well!

First up is Carnivale. This is a mango perfume, but it's interesting. Not a particularly juicy, sweet mango - it's a mango that has just turned from green to ripe. It's got a bit of that tannic green quality from the mango skin mixed with the aroma of the fruit. It also has a little bit of fresh spiciness from the ginger and nose-tickling spice from the pimento which I quite enjoy. Creamy, ambery, vanilla sweetness and gentle musks round everything out. This is not an overly sweet perfume - it has a "dry" quality rather than being syrupy. It also stays quite close to the skin, so I had to spray more than usual to get my preferred scent bubble.

The mango note mostly fades from skin around 3 hours in, but on clothes it lasts a good while longer. After that, I'm left with a slightly soapy vanilla and musk combo, with a hint of the remaining mango in the background. Not the most incredible drydown ever but it's clean and inoffensive.

I like the first few hours best when the mango is strongest. After that, it's just alright. It lasts a good amount of time on skin and clothes but isn't a particularly strong projector. I'll give it a 7/10 total score for now. I'll have to wear it a few more times to dial in how I feel about it.