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ElviraS – :
Someone said it smelled of doughnuts in my Office this morning.. That would be ME!!!.lol..I love it!. Doughy, sweet powdery, yummy.. All mine!
ceb400speagoessenda – :
This is…incredible. Vanilla and powder tinged with a caramel and amber opening. Only Italian houses can make gourmands like this. I want.
koljan1122 – :
This is 100% cassie flower!!! If you love cassie/mimosa then you will love this perfume. I unfortunately hate cassie and this was an immediate scrubber. It’s not sugary sweet nor is it powdery, it’s almost resinous with overwhelming cassie.
privital – :
Blind bought this and I must say I am super disappointed I get a super sharp cherry smell upon initial spray. I assume that’s the almond? Not sure finally about 25 mins later it’s sweet vanilla marshmello smell, stays close to the skin, but I can’t get over the opening. It reminds me of children’s cough syrup for some reason maybe it’s my chemistry… anyways I have a 3.4 bottled sprayed 1x swapping!
dayroichori – :
Definition of play-doughy Vanilla, On the hunt for a new ‘thee Vanilla’ scent for me, got my sample today applied a dab on my arm, got an instant playdough vanilla smell.. immediate though borderline Kenzo Amour, only this is lighter more powdery and lovelier. Not opposed to that play dough smell so of the 7 vanilla samples I got to try this one was deff a like. Still have to do a further test with it I like it’s delicacy just hope that’s not speaking much for the longevity, not bad, will update!
Kellettersi – :
@forevermore – marshmallow extract comes from marshmallow root, not from the fluffy sweet candy! Originally marshmallows had marshmallow root in them, which is how they got the name.
nerkam – :
Cara! A great name for such a sweetheart aroma! I smell lots of marzipan and sugar too, but it’s still not unbearably sweet. I was afraid of caramel note which always smells too cheap on my skin. No caramel for me this time and no powdery notes either. Colin Maillard mentioned some saltiness and I detect it too, so I’m wondering if it’s amber in the base or ambergris? Whatever it is, it doesn’t let the sweetness to be dull. Cara smells quite exquisite (but in a very uncomplicated way), so my skin doesn’t agree with definitions like “plastic” and “play-doh”.
Note: fleeting like a butterfly. But if you spray it on your scarves, the scent will stay with you during the day.
inhishmaynC – :
A cross between a delicious white marzipan and thick L’Occitane Shea body butter.
Nutty, musky, cozy and comforting. Lots of vanilla sugar. By the way, on their site L’Occitane claims the mentioned body butter has… marshmallow extract 😀
I imagine it must be no easy job to squeeze anything out of poor little things 🙂
Anyway, back to Cara. It’s neither groundbreaking, nor moving, at least for me.
But I would definitely love to have a bottle when I run out of my Pure Eve by TDC.
xelay – :
I am so thankful for gett this from a wonderful fragrantica member! I absolutely love this. I don’t really find any of the notes overpowering and all are equally noticeable!
cloverfeld – :
Difficult to find and purchase, but on my ‘want’ list. The most adult, warm, gentle, wafting delicious sweet caramel and vanilla aroma. Absolutely delightful and a must-have for my collection.
denispetrov – :
Incredibly relaxing….. I see a full bottle in my future. Nothing is overdone here. It is soft, light, dry, not overly sweet and really a perfect blend of some of the most comforting notes. I have been enjoying powdery fragrances especially after the shower and before bed. This would get a lot of use (not strictly a winter scent either) and I’m only going off of a 1ml sample swiped on both wrists. Some fragrances come to mind: Prada Infusion d’ Homme, Le Labo Labdanum 18, Profumum Confetto, Diptyque Eau Duelle, even Le Labo Vanille 44.
tksvetlanka – :
Cara is wonderful, quite probably the best pure almond/vanilla scent out there (it’s admittedly a small niche!). The opening is all almonds, bittersweet and slightly “playdoughy” artificial in a pleasant way. Then the vanilla starts to come in and the scent morphs into this delicious, warm sweetness, lovely and enveloping but not too much at all – even smoother than it already was in the opening. It probably is like a cloud of marshmallows, as others have mentioned, but there’s none of the immaturity and synthetic, edible character that that comparison suggests. It’s just a really simple and surprisingly restrained, “naturally” sweet kind of scent – just lovely when you’re in the right mood, which I often am in fall and winter.
I don’t think it’s particularly light, as other reviewers have said – it’s true that it’s in no way overbearing, thankfully, and it does benefit from using a spray or two more of it than of most winter scents, but it is very much distinct and “solid”. In fact, I think it smells like the kind of fragrance that would have a lot heavier sillage than it actually does, but even if it stays close to the skin it does stick around for a long time. This potential new winter favourite is going straight to my want list!
xsenus – :
One of the most intriguing fragrances I’ve ever sampled. On opening, a sweet powdered almond bomb that envelopes. No bitterness whatsoever. I DO get the plastic-y “dollhead” reference (vanilla coming on), but only briefly and do not think it at all harms the fragrance or imputes a cheap smell. Not at all. This transitions to a soft vanilla marshmallow, very lovely. Delicious, in fact.
But, after an hour or two, this is where it gets interesting. I at first noticed a bit of clove peeking through and followed it. Just a hint of spicy warmth to begin with. This led me to what I recognized as carnation! Although not in the notes, it is there, and uplifts this fragrance to new heights of delight. This stage lasts for another hour or so. A new performer to entertain you!
The dry-down is soft, amber, caramel, almond, with just a hint of soft musk. Beautiful.
All in all, a fascinating fragrance. A real player. You will not be bored!
ChanelBleu – :
The top notes of vanilla and sugar combine with the almond and caramel heart right off the bat. I can smell warm, powdery, buttery almonds. The almond almost gets a bit plasticky, I can understand the play doh comparisons somewhat, but it doesn’t cross over too far into the territory to disgust me or anything.
The dry down is certainly the part worth waiting for as others have mentioned. The powder note that comes out nice and clear turns the whole fragrance to a cooler & crisper almond candy kind of scent. I thought of white jordan almonds, lovely!
ikabober – :
this is a lovely not too gourmand gourmand with predominant almond. Starts out a bit harshly, as noted by many, but dries down to a delicious warm rice pudding type of smell…only using almond milk instead of the real thing =)
Irrinyuncerne – :
I really had to wait on the drydown with this one, it was hard to tell what it was going to become. First on, I actually got a hint of anise and almond, After a good hour, though, it smelled to me like almond pastels, the kind you can get at Easter – almonds in the middle, with a crunchy pastel colored shell covering. Jordan almonds, I think. Yummy. A bit artificial smelling, but I like it. It ends up smelling a lot like Yves Rocher’s Vanille to me, not a rich, warm vanilla, but yes, candy, confectioner’s sugar with almond extract. More gourmand to me than oriental vanilla. Would be fun to wear on Easter Sunday. If that’s your thing, I can recommend this frag – but you might find similar with a lower pricetag. It lasted a looong time on me, well into the next day, which I have found to be the case with the other frags I’ve tried from this perfume house, so that’s definitely a plus.
Maxbaltexp – :
Started out exactly like play-doh. It was really uncanny. However, it soon dried down to raw, vanilla cookie dough. Meh.
PM if you want my sample.
gvenevera – :
Cara is pretty scent with a very nice drydown. The fragrance opens with an almond heavy topnote, a bit like almond nougat. This is soon complemented by caramel, vanilla and especially the amber in the basenotes. I smell a bit of heliotrope in there as well. Cara remains as a skin scent for hours.
The amber grounds the scent and keeps it from being all powder, but it does remind me a lot of the powdery sweet scent of confectioners sugar and warm marshmallows as Dittnergirl so aptly stated. It’s almond nougat and vanilla custard with confectioners sugar sprinkled on top. Bon appetit!
VoenNik – :
Play-dough. Exactly like play-dough. It made me smile and reminded me of the “Fun Factory” I had as a child where you could put the yellow playdough into the machine that would crank it out into little strings to make pretend spaghetti.
Very nostalgic, but I wouldn’t want to smell like it all day. And well, it doesn’t last beyond a half hour, so I guess I wouldn’t have to worry about that.
LUCIFER9990 – :
A more delicious perfume I have never smelled before! It’s a surprisingly light gourmand with a prominent almond note, sweet but eerie, not heavy or suropy like Louve.
Unfortunately, this eerie quality is the reason why this may not be FB worthy: Fades way too soon and is only detectable when I put my wrist under my nose. If this was a splash/body water, I’d buy it in a second, because it’s a scent to envelop one’s shelf in; as it is, I love it but I don’t think I’m willing to pay the heavy price required for a FB. Still, it’s so yummy, I might change my mind. Decisions, decisions….
21975 – :
This scent is absolutely delectable. First blast is raw, powdery almond. Then, the dry down…perfectly toasted marshmallows. Think s’mores – hot marshmallows, milk chocolate and warm graham crackers. Sugared almonds. No spices. No smokiness or incense. Just pure, warm sugary sweetness done masterfully. It was still detectable 8 hours later – and not just a boring left-over vanilla, but a sweet lingering caramel. If you’re looking for something soft, creamy and sweet, this is it. Positively delicious.
kipper777 – :
This is so delectably sweet right at the start. And yes – smells like I’m holding a giant fresh soft dusty marshmallow in my hands. Wow, very foody! Then not minutes later it’s a candy almond – no it’s crushed candy almond powder settled at the bottom of the box. At this point it is staying very close to the skin. It manages to be very delicate for such sweetness, not sticky or nagging, but perhaps too light. It finally ends on a soft light golden caramel note. It is just a simple sweetness, and to me the almond smells nutty and authentic. I’m not getting any plastic at all. The sillage is very shy. The lasting power is also not the best. I’d love some more power here.
aslan911 – :
I detected a plastic-like note immediately. It’s the same note in Serge Lutens Rahat Loukoum (more complex) and Keiko Mecheri Loukhoum (more tolerable) that is supposed to resemble an almond cookie vanilla scent but always expresses itself as plastic on me. Extremely light but immediately unpleasant. Overall the fragrance has a strange and unnatural vibe. It reminds me of baking a store-bought item in the oven and upon detecting a strange odor emanating from the kitchen you realize that you had forgotten to remove a wrapper from the package before insertion.
Gloommega – :
I have to admit~I have an almond fetish. It’s w/out a doubt one of my favorite notes. Cara is on my short list in this catagory.
It’s literally taken me years to realize her unique, quirky beauty. First off~a sample doesn’t do her justice and that’s what I’d been dabbling with for years. A dab here, a dab there, I liked it but I also liked many others and she just didn’t stand out. Finally I traded for a decant and everything changed. She needs to be sprayed~it’s just that simple.Be careful how much you do spray though~it doesn’t take much.
She starts out w/an almost painful almond bite. She smells a bit like it feels when you have an itch and scratch it to the point of bleeding. It feels so good and yet it still hurts a little bit. That’s how the initial burst of Cara feels to my nose. Part of the reason for this is the interplay between the almond and amber. They come out in tandem like a jagged point.
It doesn’t take long for Cara to soften out all of her sharp sugary edges though and become a beautiful cloud of soft almond meringue. She feels very light and full of fluffy sweetened air. Irresistably delicious and she crosses from season to season like a champ. She’s a perfect frothy treat for a summer night or the promise of a cuddle by the campfire.
Rainskygazer – :
I perceive this fragrance as being quite synthetic, white vanilla, plastic, and an odd unpleasant note I have a hard time describing, like an overripe pineapple. Interesting. Nice silage, reasonable longevity.
vladislav90 – :
it’s so sweeeet naturaly,without any syntetic note,it’s so nice ,tendre,delicious as dream.And so strong ,some few drops are enough for a lot of hours,incredible.I like very much this italian house of perfumes natural.
DEN1001 – :
The initial scent is a little playdoughy, but almond sometimes smells like that to me. After that its an airy marshmallow scent that is liked by most everyone. If you want something sweet, light and airy, this is a good one to sample! I also own serendipitous and do not think they smell even remotely similar- it may be chemistry but serendipitous is pure tootsie roll! I do agree that its a fluffy marshmallow though. 🙂
qqqwwweeerrr – :
Fluffy, marshmallow, vanilla treat. This is not heavy but you will catch whiffs of it as you move about your day. If you are familiar with SERENDIPITOUS – it is quite like that in the marshmallow, vanilla cloud-like sweetness. SERENDIPITOUS has the chocolate/orange note where CARA would be the marshmallow puff, vanilla cloud. I have a place for both scents in my wardrobe. The sweet sugar part in both scents is more like that powdered sugar puff that you experience when first opening a bag of marshmallows!