I want candy... [reviewing Vanilla Candy Rock Sugar | 42 edp, by Kayali]

  Sugary. Delightful. Tempting.

 Live your sweetest fantasy with Vanilla Candy Rock Sugar | 42 Eau de Parfum! Sugary, delightful, and tempting, this fragrance is a lighter, youthful take on the brand’s cult-fave, Vanilla | 28.

Inspired by Mona’s love for candy and mouthwatering notes, Vanilla Candying so one of the most desired notes in fragrance with its delicious blend of sweet ingredients

I'm a sucker for vanilla & sugary fragrances, so I wanted to buy Vanilla Candy as soon as I heard the name and hearing that it'll be the first time in the announcement video. Plus this is the first release that the brand has used their own signature scent accord for [a blend of tonka, praline & musk], which was created using some of their favourite most‐used individual scent notes. Needless for me to have to say, but as soon as it was launched I was placing my order without bothering to test it beforehand.

I've only ever bought a couple of the tiny 10ml bottles of Kayali's original Vanilla perfume rather than splurging on a full sized one, because it doesn't wear very well on me without being layered with something richer 

Vanilla and sugary notes are major weaknesses for me, so I was very confident that I would enjoy Vanilla Candy from the get-go. It opens with a delicious vanilla cream & marshmallow blend. I'm also a huge fan of violet and pear, so the fact that the vanilla cream & marshmallow is entwined with those notes is a winning combination with me - it keeps the gourmand blend soft and lightly sugared, but not anything that I'd consider overwhelming.

I don't detect anything that makes me think of bubblegum [I'm quite pleased about that tbh], though perhaps there is something similar to a Jellybean; I'd describe the accords as a gentle fruity mix which I can't quite identify, but reminds me of strawberry laces and those boiled rhubarb & custard sweets. It complements the light veil of jasmine and ylang-ylang nicely - any other florals that might be present are too subtle for me to be able to detect.

The remaining sugared vanilla and fruity/floral mix is gradually wrapped up with a blend of tonka, caramel, vetiver & musky sandalwood. Labdanum is sweet and musky, so maybe there is some there strengthening the base blend, but I couldn't swear to anything either way. I also can't often clearly detect the rum or the patchouli and when I do, it is mainy during cooler days. 

Official listed scent notes; Vanilla, Pear, Marshmallow, Rum, Violet Leaves, Ylang-Ylang, Bubble Gum, Jellybean, Caramel, Jasmine, Labdanum, Sugar, Patchouli, Tonka, Cashmere Wood, Vetiver and Sandalwood.

And now comes the distressing part... I can't give an average weartime or a reliable projection range for Vanilla Candy, because I only register the fragrance in brief waves - I've received compliments on it around 6 hours after application and get the odd wave after a day of wear [9+ hours], but I don't like giving a concrete weartime. 

Its such a shame that the rum and patchouli notes aren't stronger as I really believe that they would boost the other scent notes - in fact I now only wear Vanilla Candy when I'm layering it with richer fragrances, Vanilla Royale being my favourite. 

Finding a vanilla-based fragrance is more miss than hit with me - I may love them, but they just don't last well & become skin scents very quickly on me. Such a shame, as this is amazing when I can smell it 😞

Vanilla Candy  comes in 10ml [£25], 50ml [£79] & 100ml bottles [£107].

In the UK you can buy Kayali fragrances from Selfridges, Boots, Cult Beauty, and Sephora.