Strangers Parfumerie Caffeine Honey Eau de Parfum feels like ordering a coffee and adding lots of syrups and flavorings to it; the opening more like a blast of roasted coffee dripped into a cup, followed by a drizzle of light, golden honey and a pump of vanilla and a pump of almond syrups. The whole thing ended up as a caramel coffee with nuttiness, popcorn, and then like one put a splash of cognac in at the last minute.
After two to three hours, it morphed into something much less gourmand as gradually lost its coffee note as woody, golden amber came revving through and eventually becoming muskier at the end. The notes are listed as: roasted coffee, honey, tobacco, hay, cade, vanilla, ambroxan, patchouli, popcorn, musk, labdanum, cognac, amberwood, and almond.
The opening was rich with roasted coffee, quickly drizzled with golden honey and a pump of vanilla syrup. Minutes later, a quick dash of almond syrup was added to that cup of coffee, and then there was absolutely an aroma of popcorn off to the side–almost like buttery, caramel-coated popcorn to me. It was a sweet, caramel coffee with nuttiness and lots of depth from the thick honey and cognac notes.
It took about 10 minutes for the ultra-sweet, heavily sugared coffee to settle in and smooth out, which allowed the roasted coffee to come through with more earthiness, while still being sweetened with vanilla and honey, but they felt stretched and thinned out, now fully stirred and melted into the coffee. The booziness had largely receded, and the nuttiness was subtler.
Warm, woody caramel-amber (though a little sharp to my nose) enveloped the honeyed coffee and pulled the vanilla to the bottom, which reduced its more heavily gourmand early stages. The scent became muskier over time, which eroded most of the remaining coffee note, leaving Caffeine Honey a mix of soft woods, honey, and musk. It became more amorphous and less clearly defined as the hours went on without shifting, but it lingered noticeably on my skin for a long time before weakening.
Application
For testing, I used 1/3 of a 1ml sample vial dabbed to the underside and topside of my wrist area on my left arm. I used an unscented moisturizer prior to applying the scent as this is also my swatching arm (aka, incredibly parched at any given moment) as I found scent did not hold well here otherwise.
Longevity
It had strong stillage, which was noticeable for the first four hours of wear. The projection was similarly strong and didn’t hover above my skin until the fifth hour. It remained hovering over my skin and then as a skin-scent well into the 12th hour. It would have definitely lasted longer than that but I did end up scrubbing it after that point.
Personal Thoughts
I went looking for coffee scents blended with other notes I know I enjoy (like amber, patchouli, vanilla), and initially, I kind of dug the caramel-coffee combination, despite it being pretty sugary-sweet. It was how it smelled after two to three hours and through the remainder that remained on the more abrasive side to the inside of my nose, which wasn’t so pleasant.
Available Sizes
- 30ml for $80
- 0.7ml sample for $5