Sybarite

This is for the glam-goths: the women who are put together and elegant but also scary in a heavy eyeliner kind of way. I’m imaging a woman listening to rock n roll and getting ready for a night out- there is a bit of powder in the air from the makeup, incense is burning in the other room, red wine in hand. Very sexy but it dries down to a vanilla sandalwood that isn’t anything to write home about.

A warm, heady, floral vanilla, although not any floral notes that I've smelled before. This is a beautiful sweet and juicy scent and I love it. This is coming from someone who doesn't gravitate towards citrus or sweet notes. The sandalwood and incensey notes ground it for me. This was a rare blind buy for me, and I'll go for the 30ml instead of 10ml next time!

Now this is the kind of perfume that makes me excited about perfume! Sybarite really knocked my socks off and I ordered a full EDP bottle the very next day. Champaca is a nostalgic and underrated flower in my opinion, and this champaca opening is so pure and realistic. It's like jasmine's less loud, darker sister and very sensual and soft. I was worried about this pulling incense-y in a witchy, headshop kind of way but this perfume is so smooth and silky. It slides effortlessly between the musky florals, creamy sandalwood, and sweet dark vanilla. This smells expensive, but not overly perfume-y or unnatural. On the drydown, the same juicy mandarin note in A Dog Named Pam makes itself known and blends with the red musk, adding a little more body to the scent once the florals take the back seat. This is signature-scent worthy to me. Very unique, soft, nostalgic, and sensual.

The red mandarin and vanilla are probably the most prominent aspects of this perfume, but it’s gorgeously rich and complex. I was standing near someone while wearing this the other day, and they told me I smelled like a “sexy creamsicle”. That’s honestly a decent encapsulation of the vibe this gives.

This scent is amazing. I currently only have a sample, but I’ll be purchasing a larger size as soon as funds allow.

Over the past year, I’ve been on a journey—coming out, learning to love myself, and blooming into the best version of who I am. And yet, even now, that journey is underscored by the memory of a Catholic school girl in her uniform, trying to be good, sit still, and fit in.

This experience is beautifully paralleled in this fragrance. The luxurious, sensual, unapologetically radiant champaca and vanilla are grounded by a ribbon of incense, one that immediately transports me back to the hard wooden pews of my youth.

For this gay ex-Catholic whose favorite thing about church was always the incense, Sybarite is a huge favorite.

I've had this sample for a few months, and I am glad I finally had the time to sit down and write a review!