Black Baccara: Summer Review

Black Baccara is an indie house created by Kalliope Amorphous, and very much like most indie houses, is produced and run entirely by her. The house predominately offers perfume oils (including limited seasonal blends and botanical belnds) and eau de parfums (alcohol based), and also has a range of ritual oils, and art, jewellery, postcards and antique/vintage books as well. 

I was actually quite excited to try the brand because I've heard some great things about them, but gourmands are definitely not their main selling point, and due to their limited seasonal releases, I couldn't find a great time to make an order to try a good amount of scents I liked to justify the shipping. I made my order during their sale of limited edition summer blends, and paid $19.74 USD for USPS shipping. The TAT was within the stated time (15 business days), and it arrived to me without issue, packaged beautifully with stickers and matching black tissue paper. The scents all came in different sizes as the variety of sizes between scents are vast (I have a 10ml, 5ml and a dram), so each of them were packaged differently as well. Some came simply wrapped in black tissue paper, but others were packed in a small black box. Nothing leaked or broke. The drams came with simple caps, the 5mls came with plastic stoppers, and the 10mls were rollerballs. 

After testing these scents for a few months, I did really appreciate the aesthetic (the labels are always gorgeous!) and presentation of the house, but overall, my hit rate with this house was a little hit or miss in terms of things I'd repurchase or upsize. The wear on these scents are very limited, my skin ate these up in about an hour, and only lingered very faintly on the skin even after applying more, and the throw on these are very light. 

Boardwalk 1990 -  Ocean breeze, salt water taffy, bubble gum, iced coffee, and a vague whiff of coconut suntan lotion.

I wasn't a huge fan of this scent before aging, as it was very heavy on the coconut and suntan lotion, however, after letting it sit for a while has definitely given it some lovely nuances. The opening is a punch of strawberry and tropical bubble gum, before drying down to an atmospheric kick of ocean breeze and the touch of salt, on a bed of coconut. Strangely, I found this slightly more savoury on me, while on my friend, this was all coconut and bubblegum, with the coconut suntan lotion as the strongest base scent. However, this blend faded very quickly, in about half an hour it was very faded and hard to pick up on after an hour. 

Strawberry Gossamer -  Strawberry preserves, french vanilla, strawberry syrup, pink lemonade, and buttercream frosting.

This is a cute blend, although it reminds me a lot of Fairy Dust (Luvmilk) - although I do think there's slightly more depth and variation to this blend. I like the burst of sweet pink lemonade again here (very Unicorn Grove), and it's just a little sweet and a little creamy. It's definitely more like a sweet strawberry candy solinote with a pinch of fizz, and reminds me more of a layering note rather than a complex blend. That said, I do like it. 

Summertide -  Matcha, Bartlett pear, basil, lime, coconut, and patchouli.

Although I've long given up on finding the perfect matcha note, I was taken in by the promise of matcha and pear - two noted I love! This blend ended up being more of a meditative, herbal scent - combined with the punch of lime and the herbal bite of the basil and patchouli, this is a distinctly sweet green scent, not so much green in the grassy way, and has a slight edge of musty, musky nuances. It gets a little sweeter during the wear and then turns mildly soapy, but the notes are very well blended, to the point where it's quite hard to pick out individual notes. I think this is a lovely blend but I don't think I would wear this at all. This was the longest lasting scent, with a 4-5 hour wear and strong throw and projection. 

Alice's Tea Party - Iced green tea, macintosh apple, fresh squeezed orange, bing cherries, toasted marshmallow, cinnamon swirls, and vanilla bean.

Despite the long list of notes here, this is very much just an apple forward blend, especially on opening. This is definitely a sort of green, granny smith kind of apple, but I love the fresh, almost vegetable sweetness that this blend gives - I often find apple notes very tricky but this one is a nice fresh and summery. After dry down, this gives me a little more of the sweeter marshmallow notes, but this didn't hang around for too long. 

Unicorn Grove - Lemon, lime, warm spun sugar, thick caramel swirls, strawberries, and pink lemonade.

I find this a really fun blend - the opening is all fizzy sweet soda surprises! This actually reminds me a lot of Lovesick Lake (Stereoplasm) with lots of lemon and fizzy pink lemonade, with a touch less strawberry. It's a really bright and sugary scent in the best way possible, and the punch of fizz and the citrusy twist is absolutely the type of scent I need during summer (especially with the humid and hot weather right now!). I find this a really fun blend and it's probably my favorite of the group - it's easy and wearable. 

Chocolate Twist - White chocolate, Black Forest honey, maple waffle cone, hot fudge, and a drizzle of coffee syrup

I really wanted to love this one, especially because I was totally ready to be blown away by another chocolate foodie blend, but this was strangely atmospheric for me. This reminds me of a richer version of Chocolate Ganache (Ganache Parfums), but the combination of the honey, coffee and the maple waffle cone aren't the best combination for me. The opening is a mix of dark dusty chocolate with musty honey and a dash of coffee, and feels like a bit of a haunted coffee shop, with a dash of wood in there too, and the dry down gave me a lot of salt and savoury nuances. My friend's skin also amped the coffee/wood note a little more, turning it slightly savoury. I would probably describe this scent as a unisex, woody atmospheric with chocolate nuances - like an old coffeeshop, chocolate stains, spilled coffee grounds and a circle of salt. 

Lavender Pastille - Fresh lavender, lavandin, and sugared vanilla.

This was a free sample GWP. The opening of this scent is a lovely bright, herbaceous bite of lavender essential oil, which is absolutely divine and remind me a lot of the Furano lavender fields with fresh lavenders. This quickly fades away to a dusty marshmallow vanilla note, which on my skin, gives me a slightly stale edge. On my friend's skin, the lavender lasts much longer on his skin, but the combination of the marshmallow and the lavender is a less than optimal combination in my opinion. 

Disclaimer: I was not sponsored for this review or an affiliate with the brand, and all opinions are my own, and do not reflect any brand's opinions or interests. All products mentioned in this post were purchased, and not sent for purposes of review.