two of Sucreabeille's Falloween scents Free Candy and Seems Legit represent the dual aspects of the end-October holidays: the former is more lighthearted and candy-centric, while the latter embodies the darker side of things that go bump in the night.
i had originally written a review of both scents late last year on another platform, and decided to revisit it to see how the scents have changed over the course of the year.
==
Free Candy (a pillowcase full of candy from the rich neighborhood in town (you know the one, hands out full-size and king-size candy bars like they're Jay-Z and money ain't a thing) clutched in the happy fists of laughing children dressed as ghosts and vampires) seemed from its name and official notes like it was going to be a gourmand fiesta, a sugarplosion. i had been imagining this to be something like a non-watermelon version of their Glittertrash sans cake - hard candy, soft gummies, cotton candy, bubblegum, sugar, artificial fruitiness... you know, so yummy-smelling you want to eat it, the sort of stuff which simultaneously brings back nostalgic memories of trick-or-treating while being nightmare fuel for every parent of a hyperactive young child.
a year ago, when i first tried this, the result was unfortunately so far off from my expectations and i was really disappointed. it was a strange scent on application, and without sugar-coating it, Free Candy was essentially just a very artificial plasticky smell, like an unwashed plastic orange pumpkin bucket straight from the factory, with a forgotten piece of stale hard candy stuck to the bottom. being almost 99% plastic, the scent ended up being candy-free rather than Free Candy, and i had to relegate it back to quarantine and rest for being unwearable. it also gained the dubious honour of being my first 'scrubber' from this house - a scent that one can grit one's teeth and try to bear with, but eventually end up scrubbing off with soap, water and disinfecting alcohol.
a year on, the scent has improved a tiny bit. in the bottle, this is still the same 99% plastic 1% stale candy; on my skin, an up-close-and-personal sniff yields a little more of the candy though unfortunately that's still being overwhelmed more often than not by the plastic. there was one saving grace though - the occasional wafts of this i managed to pick up from an arm's length (two feet) away surprisingly turned out to feel like standing in a candy store and savouring the aromas of all the various sweets scattered around, sugar sugar sugar.
i suspect that the scent itself definitely has its qualities, but these unfortunately aren't coming through consistently for me, whether it's something with this particular batch or just the notes amplifying my sensitivity to some other note or the base perfumer's alcohol (i have this in the eau de parfum version). Free Candy did have (and did show) some of its potential from time to time, although ultimately it just couldn't sustain that level of performance to make this something i would be able to wear regularly.
if only the candy experience was more consistent and less plasticky, this would have easily scored a 7/10 for me. i would have rated this 0/10 a year ago, though this is mercifully increased to 1/10 by being able to get some occasional candy smells a year later. still, it seems that this perfume won't be able to escape being one of the few regrets i've had with my purchases from Sucreabeille.
==
on the other hand, Seems Legit... is really legit stuff. the official notes reflect the darker side of All Hallows' Eve: rotten river mud, a few drops of blood, a swirl of tobacco smoke, sweet pumpkin pie, candy corn, tears.
this is a dark atmospheric which is still wearable, and turned out to be such powerfully good stuff that i loved it from beginning to end. the scent has a low throw but lasts a good long time; i was able to get about 5 hours' wear on my skin and 9 hours in my hair.
in the bottle, i get a familiar tobacco and pumpkin combination which reminds me of the notes i like in their other Falloween scents Pumpkin Spice Pandemic and Cauldron; though on application, Seems Legit begins to distinguish itself from its more pumpkin-forward cousins. there's an undercurrent of something definitely a bit more sinister, beginning to stir and consume the sweetness in here.
within a minute, the pumpkin fades to a mere lingering wisp and the true character of the scent emerges. it's quite a niche scent - there's a bit of an iron tang which i interpreted to be the blood, and a damp earthiness all around. as it morphs, Seems Legit reminds me of that twinge of fear you feel when you have to walk past an open door leading to a dark room, or when you're home alone and hear an unexplainable 'creak' in the house. the lurking darkness is very well composed here. it's not a scent that strikes fear in me when i wear it though, but more like adorning myself in the spooky shadows of the night to await my prey, and laughing with joy as they flee from me in terror.
as a League of Legends player, one of my favourite skins Pumpkinhead Fiddlesticks sums up the character of the scent perfectly. for those who aren't familiar with the game, he's a scarecrow with an evil grin carved permanently across his pumpkin face, who may seem harmless (and even cute with the stick limbs and bright orange head) but beware - this is a champion that makes one's enemies scared of the fog of war. could he be in this bush? that bush? where is he? and as the game goes on, they dread that moment when Fiddlesticks is going to appear out of nowhere, crow familiars going 'caw caw caw' to drain their life away while they can only run helplessly in fear.
needless to say, a year on, Seems Legit has seen considerably more use than its counterpart, having enjoyed a spot in the general rotation of my favourite scents all this while. it fills the niche for a perfume on days when i want to feel darkly confident and fit as a fiddle(sticks), and is now my go-to scent every single time that i lock in my pumpkin-headed crow summoner in-game. 8.5/10.
==
this review is of products that i had purchased with my own money. i wasn’t asked to review these scents as a condition of receipt and didn’t receive any incentives for writing this. i’m not affiliated with Sucreabeille and as always, all opinions remain my own.
it seems that Free Candy and Seems Legit are only available for now as gifts with purchase during Sucreabeille's ongoing sale ('til 27 september), and cannot be bought as standalone items. there may be a possibility that they could be brought back under their own listings in the future though!
all information correct at time of publishing.
Comments
Post a Comment