Neapolitan Goth

[doomsday_disco]

When it’s too hot to wear all black, consider refreshing your aesthetic with this deliciously neutral palette! Chocolate, strawberry and vanilla, sticky with labdanum and duly chilled with a whisper of clove smoke.

Edited July 11 by doomsday_disco

[Failmingo]

Hoping to do a Summerween live-sniff soon, but in case that takes a minute, figured I'd sketch out some impressions of this scent, which I have been DYING to smell. 

 

In the bottle I'm getting full-bodied Neapolitan freeze-dried astronaut ice cream sandwich, including chocolate wafer. There is a scuzz of smoke floating around it which is easily overpowered by the sweetness, creaminess, and nostalgic familiarity of these classic flavors combined all in one scoop.

 

On the skin I immediately get a jolt of sticky tartness from the labdanum, and the clove grows fangs. It's both darker and warmer than I was hoping for in an ice cream scent, decidedly polluted, like that same sandwich found underneath a bar table at a goth club. Not bad, but more of a traffic jam of notes, right at the instant when I was expecting smoothness.

 

And yet, and yet! Within a few minutes, everything settles down and re-blends itself into a rich, creamy concoction that is recognizably Neapolitan, topped with a drizzle of angst. The clove steadily becomes more noticeable as "clove" than as "smoke" which helps impart some of the desired coolness, although the gummy labdanum still suggests a treat that is actively melting. I think the labdanum clings tightly to the strawberry component, and the clove to the chocolate, leaving the vanilla to fend for itself in a smaller supporting role. It seems like from a distance the clove might be the most distinctive and recognizable note, appealingly ensconced in a murky dessert-y sweetness, but up close I can still pick out the individual flavors.

 

All in all, this is totally great! I was promised a Neapolitan ice cream perfume with a funky attitude, and that's what I got. My childhood sweet tooth is happy, my teenage disaffection feels SEEN and VALIDATED. Two scoops way up!