A Fragrant Prescription from Suzy and Nicola

As a graphic designer, I'm not particularly afraid of being replaced by AI just yet.
I asked Adobe Firefly to create a forest made of vanilla beans. This was the result. 
I'm not sure what the ratty old twine is supposed to represent.
Also, one doesn't encounter many wooden table tops in the forest.

I found the most fabulous perfume-related podcast a few months ago: On the Scent. Hosts Nicola Bonn and Suzy Nightingale not only discuss perfume and perfumers, but they also offer "prescriptions" for listeners' fragrant questions. I've sampled several scents based on their recommendations; not all of them are for me. One in particular--which they talked up quite a bit--was so awful on my skin, I questioned if I received the correct sample from Luckyscent.* When I tried it on my hubby, however, he liked it. The scent is a bit expensive for me to invest in if I don't want to smell it, so I decided to write to Suzy and Nicola and ask for suggestions that might work better for both hubby and myself.

Hello, lovelies! I am totally enamored of your podcast, and your lovely voices, and your thoughts on fragrance. I have been an avid fan of scent for the last 25 years or so, and it's wonderful to have found a non-judgmental source to learn about new releases and others that I might have missed along the way. You accompany me on my daily walks through the neighborhood, and also make my work day so much more pleasant. 

I need a prescription for my husband, please. I put a dab of Matiere Premiere Vanilla Powder on my husband to see if it smelled vaguely similar on him to the way it smells on me. (While I have met him and agree that Aurelien Guichard is quite a tasty morsel, I am not a fan of this particular creation of his. On my skin, it's a very sharp vetiver-type green note, no coconut, no powder, no obvious vanilla; I am not a fan of stabby vetiver at all. I have to wonder if the sample I have is of a different scent completely.) Hubby sniffed his arm and immediately said, "ooh, I like that!" Hubby rarely loves something at first sniff. Unfortunately, while it's not quite as unpleasant on his skin as on mine, I cannot abide the way it smells. I am wondering if there is something else you can recommend that is a dry woody fragrance (which is the part he liked) perhaps with an amber or vanilla backdrop. He normally wears Obsession for Men (which is divine on him) and he has confiscated both of my bottles of Essential Parfums Orange X Santal and Bois Imperiale and wears them in the summer. He isn't a fan of overt pachouli, nor cedar (though I enjoy both), but he rather enjoys amber scents. What are your recommendations, O fragrant goddesses? Thank you so much!

Suzy recommended three scents: Tom Ford Tobacco Vanilla, Maya Njie Vanilj, and 1907 Perfumes Vanilla Dry. Immediately I ordered a Maya Nije discovery set, which includes Vanilj. I tried TF Tobacco Vanilla at Sephora. But the Vanilla Dry I skipped. Suzy admits that she hadn't smelled it, but as the notes include ylang-ylang, jasmine, monoi, and lily of the valley, I can't imagine it's not quite floral and girly. In any case, I couldn't find a place in the US where I could buy a reasonably priced sample.

Vanilj

Vanilla, Cardamom, Patchouli, Musk, Cedarwood, Amber

Vanilj is a big winner. It's both woodsy and fairly dry, but it's also infused with a warm and almost milky vanilla backed with musk and amber. Delicious, completely unisex, and definitely full-bottle worthy. 

Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille

Tobacco Leaf, Spicy Notes, Vanilla, Cacao, Tonka Bean, Tobacco Blossom, Dried Fruits, Woody Notes

Tobacco Vanille starts out a big slug of root beer, coming from what I assume are the "spicy notes." I had heard that the tobacco is reminiscent of cigars, but that's not the case for us. The tobacco is fairly sweet, more like a flavored pipe tobacco. The scent is overall quite cozy and warm, not at all dry, and something I'd wear in the chill of winter. While we both like this scent, it's prohibitively expensive, and we are not likely to invest unless I can find a real deal.

(I'd love a fragrance that smelled like the inside of a wooden cigar box, specifically the kind lined with a thin sheet of cedar. My Mom and I collected empty cigar boxes that we sometimes used in art projects, but mostly just opened and huffed the delicious lingering aroma.) 

I got my TF sample at Nordstrom after relating my Matiere Premiere story to the SA. Her suggestion was to try both versions of Tom Ford Grey Vetiver, the original EDP and the new Parfum. While Fragrantica lists far more notes for the EDP than the Parfum, I'm not sure they're different enough to pay the extra $40 - $60 bucks. Neither of us have issues with fragrance not lasting on our skin, so the extra concentration of perfume oils would be a waste. In any case, Tom Ford Grey Vetiver is a quite pleasant earthy aromatic scent with lots of grapefruit and woods, and the vetiver note is not in any way stabby. So score one for Suzi and one for the TF SA at Nordie's--we'll be purchasing both Vanilj and Grey Vetiver.

* I tried Vanilla Powder twice on a recent trip to NYC. Once at ScentBar, on paper, where it smelled significantly different from the sample I received from their parent company, LuckyScent. The second time was at Saks, where I tested the scent on my skin. There, it smelled rather unpleasant, like my LS sample. However, the long drydown was a lovely powdery vanilla. At this point, I can't say that I am 100% sure that I know what this scent smells like.

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Posted by theminx on Minxstinks