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One of my favorite fragrances for a long time has been Sol de Janeiro's (SDJ) Cheirosa '71. It's so sweet and salty and caramel-y that I can't help but love it. However... the scent lasts about 20 minutes on me before it becomes a memory only.
I've looked for the longest for something that at least mimics the warm, yummy scent and nothing even came close. Until this almost-a-dupe fragrance mist from Bath and Body Works called"Christmas Cookies".
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| The bottles sometimes come in different colors (I'm told!) |
As I said this is just an almost (kinda-sorta) duplicate. Even if I had never smelled Cheirosa '71, I would have fallen in love with this one. Since I do know what the SDJ smells like, I couldn't help but compare the 2 different fragrances. Of course, I ran over to Frangrantica to check what they show for them both.
The accords for Cheirosa are sweet, caramel, vanilla, nutty, salty, and chocolate. To be honest, I never really caught the chocolate part. For the Christmas Cookies: sweet, caramel, almond, nutty, and fruity. For this one, I don't get any of the fruity parts of the scent. (BTW, I bolded the shared notes.)
The two scents are like twins - fraternal, not identical. Even though the BBW lacks three of the accords found in the SDJ, the only one really I notice missing is the salty one. That's really it for me. Apparently, other people are getting the same vibe. One Fragrantica review describes the SDJ as a "freshly baked macadamia nut cookie" and another review describes the BBW as "creamy butter caramel like popcorn". They both nailed it.
Although I like the Cheirosa more, I prefer Christmas Cookies because it lasts longer for me. And it's cheaper. It's only a little longer-lasting than Cheirosa on my skin (by itself) but it lingers longer on my hair and clothing. Also, there is a matching lotion for the Christmas Cookies scent. That makes a big difference.
Honestly, as popular as Cheirosa '71 is, I'm really surprised that SDJ made a perfume for the Cheirosa '62 instead. I don't see nearly as many people asking about dupes for the '62 as for the '71. I have the '62 perfume in a travel-sized roller and it's so "meh" for me that the little bottle is still nearly full after almost a year. And, again, the BBW is less pricey per ounce. I mean, for a visual, look at the 2 bottles and know that they each cost about $20.
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What surprises me is that I could not find the Christmas Cookies scent on their site currently. Maybe they only put it up on a seasonal basis? Thankfully, I found it on Amazon. If they run out, there's always eBay, I guess. One thing I would look out for though: because you can find the scent out of season, make sure you are getting it from a seller you trust. I've seen reviewers on Amazon complaining that the item was possibly fake or smelled nothing like they know it should. Some sellers can be so shady.
The thing is, you can always find a dupe for something - even if you have to layer 2 scents together to get the effect you want. In some cases, it's worth doing that. You know that if it hurts my budget to spend $20 on 3 ounces of a fragrance, I will not be wearing any authentic BR540!
One final thing. I recently heard that the reason you can find clones of scents is that a scent cannot be trademarked. The name can be trademarked but not the smell. Interesting, right? Maybe soon I will do a post listing all the clone houses and articles about dupes I can find online. Maybe I will even do a post of all the new places for shopping perfumes - whether I can afford them or not.
Peace
--Free
