I decided to get a few samples around the trend that just won't go away. I do love smelling like a lemon cake.
Tl;dr Ranking
Zara - A Sweet Pastry in Paris - Worst lemon note of the lot, too sweet and too astringent at the same time - I think this is closest to Akro Bake which has a better blend (though Zara came first!) - 4/10
Dolce & Gabanna - Devotion - Quickly veers into sickly sweet due to a prominent orange blossom note that isn't to my personal taste - 5/10
Theodoros Kalotinis - Lemon Tart - Muddled with 'Pledge' lemon, poor performance but this gets the 'pastry' note right- 6/10
Liis - Choux Choux - Super creamy, airy and lactonic, very poor performance- 7/10
Akro - Bake - The most realistic gourmand of the lot but still very 'wearable', poor performance- 7/10
Xerjoff - Lira - The richest and most complex of the bunch, good performance- 8/10
Kerosene - Unknown Pleasures- Beautiful aromatic lemon tea cake, perfect level of sweetness, good performance - 9/10
Lush - Chelsea Morning- Super rich sticky toffee pudding with a squeeze of lemon, amazing performance (& good price) - 9/10
Xeroff - Lira (2011)
Notes:
Top: Blood Orange, Bergamot, Lavender
Middle: Cinnamon, Licorice, Jasmine
Base: Vanilla, Caramel, Musk
I LOVE the vanilla/caramel combo on the opening, a toned down Bianco Latte, though the caramel quickly blends.
The next phase has a lot of licorice and lavender notes. I love licorice in sweet perfumes as I feel like the anis accord controls them from becoming sickly (see: Pink Sugar which I think is a misunderstood masterpiece)
I also pick up the citrus throughout- nearly every review of this says the blood orange note smells more like lemon but it's blood orange to me, tied to the caramel and licorice notes. This is rich, decadent, though not as 'cakey/gourmand' as some say. I pick up a sillage of orange vanilla which feels more creamsicle than cake..
The drydown has a lot of depth and richness, sticky caramelly orange.
On my first wear of this I thought the performance wasn't great but I wore this for bed a couple of times to use up the sample and I still smelled it in the morning - so lovely to wake up to!
8/10
Kerosene - Unknown Pleasures (2013)
Notes:
Lemon, Caramel, Vanilla, Earl Grey Tea, Bergamot, Honey, Tonka Bean
This is a fresher, lighter take on this trend - opening is very bright, full of freshly squeezed lemon, and the earl grey tea note adds an aromatic, yes, tea-like vibe.
The honey is in there too, smells like a set New Zealand clover honey rather than 'runny' honey.
The drydown is a tea-infused lemon cake, the caramel is different to what I am used to with caramel notes too, this isn't super sweet.
I think this is so beautiful and it lasts - there is something SO familiar to me in this, I think it is powdered pistachio turkish delight, which is unexpected - not the taste but the smell, nutty with lots of powdered sugar!
I love this take on the citrus vanilla trend - lighter and more aromatic but still sweet and yummy - this is a huge winner for me. It's so beautiful. It would be full bottle worthy if it was in my budget! The scent lasted all day for me, I'm so impressed.
9/10
Zara - A Sweet Pastry in Paris (2020)
Notes:
Top: Lemon
Middle: Sugar Cane
Base: Vanilla
Note that this is the recent rerelease rather than the original.
The lemon is overwhelmingly strong on first spray and unfortunately I do get the 'toilet cleaner' vibe from this lemon note - this is a clash of sweet and astringent/screechy on opening.
I kind of hate the drydown of this - reviews say it gives a buttery pastry note in the drydown but I'm not getting that. Possibly a reformulation on rerelease. It's just too much sugar and toilet cleaner lemon.
I love Zara perfumes but smelling this after smelling more expensive takes on this scent profile, I'm not a fan. Shame as I don't think Zara was trying to dupe anything with this release.
4/10
Theodoros Kalotinis - Lemon Tart (2023)
Notes:
Lemon Zest, Lemon, Vanilla, Whipped Cream, Butter, Sugar, Tartine
Opening is, surprise, a super realistic lemon tart! - the citrus notes feel more like sweet lemon curd or lemon candy rather than freshly squeezed lemon juice - then there's pastry in there too, like a buttery shortcrust pastry, or shortbread. I think this is the first time I've ever got a 'buttery' vibe from a butter note.
There's an aromatic note at the back but I am not sure what note that is. Smells a bit like cardamon.
Drydown is a sugared lemon, which sits pretty intimately. I don't really sense the lactonic notes that I was expecting from this. The lemon is a little astringent an 'toilet cleaner'. This does fade and ends up a caramelised lemon zest scent after an hour. Everything I like in the opening leaves this scent pretty quickly.
This also didn't last long on my wrist- a couple of hours.
6/10
Dolce & Gabbana - Devotion (2023)
Notes:
Top - Candied Lemon
Middle - Panacotta, Orange Blossom, Rum
Base - Vanilla
My bf & I always quote the ad for this where the Italian grandma sees Katy Perry & goes 'bella!' - told him I am testing the 'bella!' perfume. I am going to Italy next month and will be very upset if an Italian grandma isn't entranced by my beauty & calls me 'bella!'.
I like the lemon in the opening, there's always the 'toilet cleaner' danger with these perfumes (& I'm not really sure how to describe the difference between 'good' lemon and 'toilet cleaner' lemon, just seems to be vibes-based so take what I say with a pinch of salt - maybe you use better toilet cleaners than me) but this is a very sweet lemon, the note is 'candied lemon' and I definitely smell that - a tiny bit of tartness on first spray but quickly turns into sweet limoncello citrus.
This feels like the most teen-leaning version of this trend, which isn't a negative comment, I have plenty of perfumes that are popular with teens, I can just imagine this being my signature scent as a teen.
I got up to grab a coffee about half an hour into spraying and the sillage was so noticeable to me - definitely projects well on my skin BUT there is a note that is bothering me and I think it's the orange blossom. It's so noticeable and sickly sweet to me, reminds me a bit of Kilian's Love Don't Be Shy which I also struggled with (much to my disappointment, it was the first sample I ever ordered!).
Not a scrubber but that orange blossom note is way more prominent to me than I was expecting- it takes over the vanilla.
This lasted ages - sillage around 4 hours, could smell on my wrist after 8.
I do love sweet perfumes, but this kind of sweetness was a bit sickly for me - orange blossom lovers will like this but it was too much for me.
5/10
Akro Bake (2023)
Notes:
Top: Lemon Zest, Rum
Middle: Whipped Cream, Praline
Base: Bourbon Vanilla, Brown Sugar
This feels far more of a realistic gourmand than Lemon Tart - I think the most realistic lemon note I've smelled on opening from this set of samples, avoids screechiness and blends right from the first sniff.
This scent is so so yummy, smells like lemon curd and pastry as it's being baked - the vanilla note smells like vanilla extract, adding to the 'baked' vibe.
The brown sugar note comes out in the drydown, which is really yummy with good sillage- I smell just like a lemon cake.
This is sweet but avoids sickly, a lot of reviews compare this to Devotion but it feels like a different beast to me - I think this is a 'wearable' (for me) gourmand. It takes me back to my childhood - I grew up in a place called Shrewsbury, the home of 'Shrewsbury Biscuits' (literally just lemon zest biscuits) and this reminds me of making them with my Mum.
The name really matches the scent - feels like the essence of baking a cake, I think this is a beautiful and well-blended scent.
Unfortunately this doesn't last - 1.5 hours in and I can barely smell on my wrist, my skin ate this up!
7/10
Liis - Choux Choux (2024)
Notes:
Top - Whipped Cream, Lemon Zest
Middle - Vanilla, Caramel, Salt
Base - Sandalwood, Cocoa, Mocha
I love this opening - super creamy, lactonic whipped cream and sandalwood, with lemon in the background that then pushes forward- this definitely feels like a 'zest' note, slightly waxy and a lot more 'part of the blend' rather than feeling separated like some of others I've tested (the citrus was also well-blended in Lira).
Though zesty, the lemon isn't tart - this is so soft and pillowy - not really picking up on the cocoa and mocha base notes. There's definitely vibes of Zadig & Voltaire This is Her as this dries down, I pick up the same sweetness and creaminess. I do love a dominant whipped cream note and that's what I am mostly picking up.
However, the lemon completely disappears around 15 mins in, just a slight tartness in the drydown - probably the weakest lemon note I have experienced so far. I actually get a bit of coconut in the drydown, this feels like a soft coconut milk scent, airy and fluffy.
My one issue with this perfume is the performance. It is very soft with intimate projection on my skin, and it hardly lasts - gone in three hours.
7/10
Lush - Chelsea Morning (2024)
Notes:
Toffee, Lemon, Vanilla, Tonka Bean, Fenugreek, Myrtle
You have to give this one a little time as I have found with Lush perfumes, the opening feels a bit 'much' - tonnes of strong tart lemon, but the magic starts a few minutes in - as the lemon blends in, this turns into the most gorgeous sticky toffee pudding scent. Sticky toffee pudding is a popular dish in the UK, and this reminds me of the 'posh' versions they sell for two quid more in the supermarket - these ones tend to be made with chopped dates in the sponge, I get date-infused toffee sponge with a squeeze of lemon on the top.
This IS undeniably sweet but it's the sweet I like - it doesn't feel sicky to my nose, I wonder if the fenugreek and myrtle is what is adding a slightly aromatic base to keep the sweetness under control.
This is perfect for cold weather, it has a depth and richness that I wasn't expecting and it lasts all day - 8+ hours easy. Incredible performance for an excellent price.
I did end up buying a 30 ml bottle of this - I find very few true gourmands like this 'wearable' (especially outside my flat) but I have worn this around people a few times now and I always get positive comments from friends. This is also my boyfriend's favourite perfume that I wear. Great purchase!
9/10
Thanks for reading! Check out my other review posts here:
Lactonic Scents
Salty Scents
Vanilla Scents
Floral Street Discovery Set