Beautiful and not what I was expecting

This opened with the boozy, sweet spicy vanilla I was expecting like a Christmas fairy sprinkling some sparkles on my skin. Yum.

But as it moved into the heart, it took a turn for me. The oak wood sat really strong and apparent on my skin. Overpowering all the other notes and leaning very masculine. But the scent aura radiating was still very enjoyable, just when I brought my nose to my skin I disliked it.

But now it is settling. And this is niiiiiiice! It is much more gentle than I expected it to be. There’s the apple note coming through, which gets mentioned in a lot of reviews, but I’m also picking up Jasmine and a fresh citrus, mintyness that must be coming from the hedione? I could just be I’m sensitive to this aroma chemical, but where I was expecting a boozy, woody, vanilla forward spice bomb.. I’m actually getting a fruity, floral, lightly spiced sweet gourmand with whispers of apple brandy in the background.

I would happily wear this year round and I’m immediately regretting my delay in finally getting this on my skin. I’m going to enjoy exploring this more as the day goes on.