Reviews of Loukhoum (2002)
by Keiko Mecheri

Starts off with a weird singed note like burnt sugar + pipe tobacco, strongly felt under a light haze of powder. In retrospect, this was my favorite part of the ride. The powdery cloud unfurls, and for that strange dark bottom anchors it while some pretty rosy and nutty notes appear in glimpses through the fog. At this point, I still like it, with reservations, but the powder keeps unfurling, getting pinker and pinker. In the morning, I still smelled powder and pinkness on the back of my hand where I had sampled. Not nice.

Serge Luten’s Rahät Loukoum doesn’t last long enough, Montale’s Oriental Dream is absolutely perfect but, alas, Keiko Mecheri’s effort is simply too powdery for my tastes.

[Original submission date: 06 August 2008]

Lalique Le Parfum, Hermes Ambre Narguile and KM Loukhoum smell very alike to me. Cake icing sweet, powdery and with a waft of vanilla pipe tobacco. I have ended up with all three, but really they are so alike I guess I should not have bothered. Still, I would not want to choose just one, as they each have their own take on the theme. They are lovely but you really have to like smelling sweet!

Hmmm...this is a dry one. It smells like a baby wearing a diaper with a load of Johnson's baby power in it who just shoved slobbery cherry smarties down that same diaper. Cherry baby powder for me. Now don't get me wrong, cherry is nice and so is baby powder. But here in the grown up world I like to smell like a big girl, not a toddler. Save this one for little ladies who like to smell "sweet and innocent". I like to smell like a smoldering temptress myself :)

Starts as a spicy, dry almond; woody and floral. There is a touch of powder. After a while the heliotrope (cherry vanilla) emerges more strongly and spicy/sweet. This is similar to the cherry cough syrup note in Louve, but it interestingly appears in the drydown rather than at the beginning like Louve. I prefer this to Louve.

Loukhoum = Johnson's Baby Oil + vanilla pipe tobacco + honey.

Really bizarre, interesting, overpowering; I can see how this could be a total love affair for some, but I couldn't wear it; it's too sickly for me.

This is awful on me. I smell the yummy things everybody else has mentioned, but they're all under a thick cloud of something that reeks like Avon Skin So Soft, and it just intensifies on my skin. Doesn't work for me at all. One of the few fragrances I've had to go scrub off because it made me feel slightly nauseated. I'm in the minority here on this one though, looks like.

What a treat!

I would put this into the same general bracket as Kenzo Amour in terms of audience and appropriateness. I would say it was suitable for all ages, including young girls, and it's perfectly acceptable for work or any kind of setting where you want to keep your perfume inoffensive, such as the theatre, dinner and work, especially in caring professions.

My first impression was of sweetness, exactly like sugar hitting your tongue. Because I'm used to rose-flavoured Turkish Delight, I expected a distinct rose, but this has none. The initial sweetness wasn't cloying and soon calmed down into a soft, sweet, almondy, slightly woody gentleness. It lasted all day long and was very pleasing even after more than a dozen hours. Indeed, it was still subtly lingering the following morning.

As a child, I had an incredible sweet-tooth and it would appear now as an adult, very little has changed. But there are only a handful of sugary treats that I am seldom able to stomach. One is liquorice, and the other; Turkish delight.
From its beginnings in Persia as ahbisa, and then Turkey as rahat loukhoum, this jelly-like confection scented with rosewater and dusted in sugar has survived the centuries. But I was never a big fan of its sticky texture and inordinate sweetness.

This is not to say, however, that I'm not visually and olfactorily excited by these powdered pink morsels that have been romanticised and popularised throughout the ages. Whenever I'm offered a piece of this candied jelly, I will usually politely decline, but stop to take a moment to inhale its wonderful aroma. To me, the scent of turkish delight is far more arresting than the taste.

So it was with some trepidation that I recently sampled Keiko Mecheri's Loukhoum... I was fearful that perhaps I would be exposed to the olfactory equivalent of the saccharine taste of loukhoum, as opposed to its exquisite perfume. But my concerns were unfounded. What I experienced when applying this to my skin was a beautifully radiant rose (which I had expected), but also the wonderful snowy powder of dry dusting sugar. A puff of silken florals emerged over a swirl of soft vanilla and fragrant candied almonds. After some time, I detected a comforting 'milkiness' which was both 'opaque' and 'white' in nature. Loukhoum has been well devised so that it imbues the air around you with an aromatic aura. It is not outlandishly cloying, but it does have incredible sillage and persistence.

I am pleased to have tried this eau de parfum, because it given me a new appreciation of the confectionary. And though I doubt any time soon I will be scoffing boxes of turkish delight like young Edward in Narnia, I do like the idea that I can enjoy the best part of what this sweet has to offer - without the cavities, of course.

It does smell very much like marzipan. Marzipan bar with smooth dust sugar icing. Very foody fragrance, very edible. Almost 100% gourmand.

Subtle, only a tad smoky cherry pipe tobacco accord is wonderful, but although I agree with some reviewers in this not being too sweet, I find it just a little bit too powdery and feminine for myself. And though it doesn`t bother me personally, I should mention that this can sometimes change into very rubbery smelling fragrance due the combo of sweets and slightly smoky powder.

Definitely a must try if you`re a fan of heliotrope, almonds and marzipan, or gourmands in general.

KM's Loukhoum smells like almonds dipped in rosewater then rolled in confectioners sugar! There is a powdery sweetness that rests better on the skin than Montale's Sweet Oriental Dream - which like Trebor says, is toooooooo sweet! Mecheri's Loukhoum is more like Annick Goutal's Vanille Exquise to the 10th power, or at least to my nose! I love that this parfum possesses the warmth and closeness of a vanilla based fragrance without coming across as a traditional vanilla. Upon repeated sniffing & snorfling of my wrist, there is also an association in my memory of the original formulation of Heaven Sent. I think it's the powderiness and touch of rose. This is undoubtedly a winner, and one of the very best blind buys I've ever made!

Sweet woody floral and vanilla. Very pretty and almost edible. Like the scent of roasted nuts. Not too sweet and lingers nearer to the wearer. The best of the KM line.

I AGREE 100% WITH TREBOR (REVIEW BELOW). THIS IS A GREAT SCENT...A NEW FAVORITE! FIVE STARS!

It was love at first spray for me. I completely saturated a test strip and shoved it into my bag sheepishly so that I could run home and shut it tightly in a drawer to sniff at my leisure. At $80 a bottle, I can only afford a sample right now. Anyway, after reading the notes, I find it even more funny that it first reminded me of french toast.

This is a soft, comforting, in-grandma's-embrace type of scent. Very soft, very close to the skin, not too sweet yet absolutely lovely. Though very quiet, it is nonetheless unique....

Loukhoum is strangely two-faced, managing to be both excentric and familiar at the same time. It has unmistakable presence, surrounding you with sweet, rich and foody fumes of almond, vanilla and cherry; as if you had stepped into a cigar shop, but minus the tobacco. But before giving you a headache, it´s caracter is softened by a shy rose and the hint of clean, un-animalic musk in the background. It has great staying power which is a good thing considering the price of a bottle. The powdery and comforting side of Loukhoum makes it a lovely and addictive companion when you are home doing nothing, or in bed reading a book, with the compulsary wrist-sniff-movement on repeat. On the other hand, the bolder side of it puts you in a great mood stepping out the door. It blends delisciously with the chilly air, especially when the leaves have started to fall. First time I wore this outdoors on a day like that, is one of the few times I actually remember thinking “I really don´t care what people think of my perfume”

I adore the scent of almonds so this is nectar to my nose! Very sexy, warm and comforting. I detect honey,dates,rose, vanilla and a woodiness there too. What an amazing combination!! This could be the one I've been waiting for....

This is sweet and foody yet definitely perfumey and sensual. I adore its unique-ness. Some foody scents smell too much like a bakery...this one has its own personality. I just love it and I get oodles of compliments on it, all the time. One of my cats is particularly fond of it, so much so that he nuzzles the bottle on my dresser. This is a perfect nighttime fragrance for cuddling up or being downright seductive.

I love Loukhoum. When I first smelled it, it was unlike anything I had come across. It’s a very sweet fragrance, but not overly thick. Most of these heliotrope/cherry fragrances are a little too thick and sweet (e.g. Loukoum by SL, Heliotrope by Etro, POTL). Loukhoum is slightly powdery, which is another facet that makes it rather unique. It also has a very nice rose note. A great fragrance to quell a sweet tooth.

I have never been able to warm up to this scent - it has a very cold, "off" core that has always bothered me. The opening is nice enough, almondy and sweet almost like sugar syrup, but then it progresses into something that's both powdery in a cheap way and musky in an oily way. Neither powder nor musk notes usually bother me but the way they come through here is vaguely awful to my nose. There is a striking similarity to Helmut Lang EDP, which I find even more unbearable than this. I think there are plenty of other loukhoum-ish fragrances out there better than this and recommend you try those first before committing to this one.

Enchanting! Notes: arabic gum, rose petal jam, and white almonds, Buglarian Rose absolute, noor dates, Hawthorne blossoms, precious woods, Comores flowers and vanilla, musk. Loukhoum is a rich, warm, honey-melting scent that is sexy, cozy, and comforting. It evokes the excited smell of childhood holidays and vacations; sweetness and bright happiness. This is one of those scents that makes me maniacally sniff myself to refresh the lovely mood it inspires!