Kiss Me Tender
Nicolaï (2010)

This smells like candy.

Sweet, sugary, factory produced candy with mountains of artificial flavourings. It reminds me of banana candy. Those small yellow banana's with that weird foamy, chewy texture, somewhere between hard and soft, the residu of which sticks to your teeth like it's nobody's business. I never liked banana flavoured things anyway. I don't want to eat this, I don't want to smell this, and I certainly don't want to smell like this.

The dry down gets a little better: a sweet vanilla and white flowers combo that reminds me of the dry down of Tom Ford Orchid Soleil. It doesn't save this fragrance though.

Scents like this annoy me.

I bought this blind when it first came out - I found the idea of a recreated Victorian fragrance SO intriguing. I was imagining a big, powerful, indolic white floral (the only kind of floral I like - SL A La Nuit is my favorite) and instead I got . . . Juicy Fruit gum. From beginning to end, Juicy Fruit gum. No drydown, no development, nothing. I keep giving it another shot, and assiduously sniffing for the notes mentioned by other reviewers, but it just really wants to smell like gum on me.

Candy. Specifically Willy Wonka Banana Runts. Total scrubber.

Kiss Me Tender by Nicolai Parfumeur Createur is a bit of a mystery to me. This ‘floral-oriental' is very quiet with a musky quality–a timid, yet slightly salty musk. A year ago I realized that I have trouble smelling some musk molecules and I believe that the musk molecules in KMT are just barely flickering in and out of my perception. It is fascinating how the entire perfume seems to fade in and out; I can smell it and then I think maybe I can't–oh, there it is again! When I do smell it, however, I get gorgeous orange blossom floating over a dense layer of spiced almond cookie dough. One of the note lists included fresh hay–and isn't it funny how we can suddenly pick up notes when they are listed–but, yes this pretty, delicate fragrance not only smells of hay, it makes me wish that Chergui smelled like this instead of drying down to diaper bag. As time passes, KMT develops into a ‘my skin but better' situation. Rrrrrrrrrr.

4/5

I am subjective when it comes to vanilla yilang woody trio combinatios:-) , that reminds me of Vanilia, by Lartisan

Sweet vanilla is almondy, and layered on a musky woody base, all smells simple and modern, ye half natural...the opening is amazing, spiced up by that high c note of orange flower....very appealing, it does get simpler but that almond taste makes it interesting weekend, leasure time scent

Currently my favorite scent, and out of the samples I've tried through "The Perfumed Court" the best heliotrope on my skin. I can wear this perfume throughout the month and not get a headache. Perfect.