Tendre Madeleine
Laurence Dumont / Les Senteurs Gourmandes (2010)

Do you ever wish to smell as a freshly baked lemony pastry? If you do, well, look no further. (And you can also check out Xerjoff Lira, Zara's A Sweet Pastry in Paris, Frank Bocklet's Vanille and Lolita Lempicka's L - however, Zara and L are discontinued and hard to find and Lira is very expensive...)

Tendre Madeleine is a perfect and quite literal foody gourmand that will appeal first and foremost to gourmand lovers who also happen to love their citruses, too - so, basically, me. It will not make you fall head over heels for it if you want your perfume smell like a perfume and not like a literal lemony pastry fresh out of the oven. Also it's not for those who moan over a pinch of sugar in their scent - this is seriously, mouthwateringly sweet. However, the sweetness is balanced beautifully by the tartness of lemon and bergamot - neither the bakery vanilla, caramelly pastriness nor the juicy, thick lemon are subtle. Be prepared for an explosion of taste.

The lemon, of course, is the strongest at the opening, but a slight tartness of it can be felt well into the drydown, too. The more the scents dries down, the more it feels like a pastry. (I happen to adore madeleines, and while I haven't tried lemony ones, the scent definitely evokes their deliciousness.) At first the scent feels very strong, then it tames a bit and eventually turns into a skin scent, but I can still feel that skin scent on my arms well past the 10 hour mark.

Read below if you're interested in how it compares to similar scents, if not, feel free to scroll further:

However, it's not as strong as Lira or A Sweet Pastry in Paris. If you want to know how Tendre Madeleine compares to its cousins in a Lemony Pastry Land, I can tell you that Zara's A Sweet Pastry In Paris is the most literal pastry gourmand, and it's also among the strongest (together with Lira), and it happens to be my actual favourite because of its hyperrealism and very strong lemony opening. Lira - my 2nd favourite in the genre - is the strongest, it's also very smooth and resinous. It's an elevated pastry gourmand with delicious opening and deeper, darker, more complex drydown. It not only is, but also smells the most expensive of the bunch. Boclet's Vanille is a bit more far removed from the genre - while it contains a tart, beautiful lemon and a tasty vanilla, it's not as confectionery smelling and is more about lemon and vanilla and the transition between both. (For other great citrusy vanillas that aren't pastry-like check Sylvaine Delacourte's Virgile and Valkyrie, they are amazing!)
There's also long discontinued Lolita Lempicka's L which does feel very pastry like, but it does this without much citrus as it's more about the cinnamon buns and it's also dustier and not as literal gourmand, more like a proper perfume.

Knowing what I know and seeing what I can get and for how much, I definitely concluded that a bottle (or two) of Tendre Madeleine is what I need for my lemony pastry cravings. It's delicious - and so far very affordable (unless it gets discontinued, too, of course). Definitely a thumbs up.

A lovely, simple gourmand. Cookie or biscuit vibe. I got a lemony note briefly at first. Then, it's all sweet almond and cake batter vanilla. Vanilla becomes stronger in time. Musk hides in the background. I think TM has become hard to find. So, unless you are hell-bent on trying every vanilla-centric scent ever made, hurry up and find some. Otherwise, skip this one. There isn't anything overly special here. It is what it is - mostly vanilla.

I very seldom wear gourmands. Although many of my favorite perfumes are vanilla based. It seemed fun to me to smell like a cookie for Christmas. It is a lovely little fragrance. Good cinnamon and vanilla. It smells a little lemony at the top, even though the notes say bergamot. I now smell good enough for Marcel Proust to dip in tea!