I think the time has come to give this a proper review. After all, I do have a bottle now and I've been wearing it for some time. And it never ceases to amaze me.
I tend to skip it when I'm deciding what to wear in the morning, it's just that I always think of it as a warm, comforting scent that kind of makes you blend in. Like wearing something that makes you look like just one more face in the crowd.
Today I concluded that I'm both right and wrong. It does smell warm and comfortable but I don't see (smell) many people around me who actually smell this addictive. :) And that is what it smells like to me - addictive.
When I first spray it on, I get a large dose of wet and lush tropical-smelling vanilla. And I realized that I would definitely term this as a gourmand smell but without any foody connotations. It never reminds me of anything edible. Anyway, I was thinking how there must be a lush smelling (probably tropical) plant in this together with vanilla and while enjoying the ride, I started getting hints of warm spices. As I was considering the fact that I seem to smell clove everywhere these days and that I shouldn't jump to clove as soon as I smell spice, I went in search for notes.
I don't know how many of you were looking for Vanilia notes, but they tend to differ. :)
So first I got: ylang-ylang, vanilla bean, amber and sandalwood. Aha! There WAS some tropical lushness in this.
So I looked some more thinking how come there is no spice listed and I found another list: ylang-ylang, vanilla and vanilla flower, nutmeg, clove and sandalwood. No amber in this. And then one more list without ylang-ylang in it and listing only spices.
I'm not sure about the amber but everything else seems to be there. Of course, I don't really know what vanilla flower smells like but my guess is really harmoniously with ylang-ylang. After I read nutmeg, I got that as well.
I was reading some of my older notes on Vanilia and saw that I wrote about a salty undertone. I would have missed it this time, I was preoccupied with lush-tropical vanilla but it's there. It is the exact thing to make this adhere to non-foody road of development. Where does it come from - I'm not sure but my guess is that ylang-ylang brings it out from vanilla.
Now, that I've re-read my post I'm not sure you got the idea of what it smells like. :) I realize I sometime have a problem with expressing coherently my thoughts on things. ;)
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I feel like I can *taste* this from your description!! All those notes-- the amber, the ylang-ylang, the sandalwood-- all things I love. I'll have to try it... It IS funny how you can find all different kinds of scent notes for the same scent... Makes you wonder whom to believe...
ReplyDeleteIt sound like something I would wear in the summer. I love the way you write about perfume it makes me think of holday with a handsome stranger, you know all romantic and elegant.
ReplyDeleteWarm regards,
Simone
Hey Rita, thanks for saying so. I always feel I can't do real justice describing the things I smell.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what you will think of it once you try it. :)
Simone, what a nice thing to say to me (write)! :) Thank you!
ReplyDeleteIt never reminds me of anything edible either. I love Vanilia because nothing else smells like it. I really hope that the overwhelming love for Havana Vanille doesn't cause L'Artisan to cut back on its production like they did with Dzing!, which is another fav of mine.
ReplyDeleteDiana, I'm sorry to say but I heard they are actually taking it out of production?! I do hope that's not true.
ReplyDeleteBtw, the first two things I tried from your package were Dzing and Iris Pallida and although I appreaciate the oddness of Dzing, I think I'm falling in love with Iris P. :) And I wanted to smell them some more and write about them, but I have a cold again and can't sniff anything. :(