Måd

Really have a lot of time for this one, it is a VERY different kind of vanilla! I threw it on ftom my sample set in a hurry one morning as a 'safe' option (a couple in there are not!) and it was an utter delight as a comforting workwear scent - just lovely! Lasted the day too! Lots of love for this house! Super strong ethics, and OK, I'm not a fan of big bitter woodies or patchoulli, but that is only a couple of them ('bark' and 'patch', respectively), and 'cake' is terrifyingly sweet, but the rest of them are REALLY really good!! Big recommendation!! - the sample set is a brilliant way in too!

A must-try if you are a vanilla lover! A bit sweet for my taste, tho. it's a really pleasant mix of ylang and jasmine with sweet lime and black currant which dries down to a slightly more earthy vanilla.

Sort of a health-food vanilla and I mean that kindly - maybe even with admiration. My skin amps vanilla straight to LOUD and it's not in fact my favourite smell as I dislike it when things get too gourmand. Really synthetic or over-sugared vanilla is most definitely not my thing at all. But this is different: botanical, natural-seeming, smells like it was once part of a real plant, with hints of earthiness and spiciness enough to make it work and give it some moral fibre. If the publicity material is true then that's what it sets out to be - sustainably harvested, naturally distilled and so on - and it delivers the assignment handsomely. Lasts well - 6-8 hours on me, solid, unchanging presence throughout. And it never ever gets sickly as it's somehow damp and muted enough to meld in beautifully with its human host; it always stays comforting without cloying. If vanilla - real tropical-jungle-green and edgy - excites you, then this is truly a journey to the source. Smells like a long wooded tramp through to the vanilla patch in deep, humid forest. Therefore it might seem a bit too back-to-basics, handwoven, high-fibre - is it trying too hard, getting worthy or over earnest? - for the tastes of real high-fashion types, gooey cake fans, or those who feel vanilla is the essense of manufactured girliness. But it still convinces. A man who likes Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille might well wear this with pride, but its generally sweet/giving aura does come off slightly on the more feminine side of unisex. Only a like for me, because I need vanilla to be tempered with much more savoury/woody/resin/spice - to stop it bullying the other kids in the team - before I can get comfortable. But even a like from me means it's basically a vanilla victory. Do give it (and the rest of this line) your attention if the idea appeals - I think there are some gems in there for real fans of their central notes. It's vanilla not as a luxury velvet dress but a homespun, hand-knitted and much-loved garment - a smell that's homely rather than glamorous, and all the more lovable for it. Authenticity is their schtick and this really showcases what it can do even for apparently 'done six million ways already' ingredients.

This opens with an almost green, or more accurately yellow, brown, vanilla. It's not fresh and it's unsweetened. There's the vanilla along with a very natural ylang ylang, bitter cloves and something that smells like patchouli to me. It's the same patchouli as vintage Angel. The jasmine is detectable in the background but not overly prominent initially. As the fragrance settles, you then get something more like blackcurrant on top of all of this, something that smells like a liqueur or a close to a cough sweet, very rich and fruity and a little medicinal. The dry down starts as mainly a fruitier and sweeter blackcurrant. There's only very background ylang ylang and still that vetiver-clove combination that smells like patchouli, but much, much lighter. There's also a bit of musk, but it's clean and white. At points in the early dry down for me this also smelt unexplainably minty, but I don't understand why at all! Eventually the vetiver and cloves disappear completely and leaves just sweet creamy ylang ylang, fruity blackcurrant and vanilla musk. That is the best bit. Was this what I was expecting? No, not at all! It really transitions. Do I like it? Yes but I wouldn't want a bottle because I don't like cloves. Do I appreciate it? Yes, it's different to anything else I've tried and I've grown to like it more on me the more I've tried it, it's a definite like. The dry down is the nicest part, it's both fresh and rich at the same time.

Smells strongly of vanilla - very green, earthy vanilla, as others have mentioned - and patchouli. The latter is not in the ingredients, so I'm assuming it's the combination of vetiver and ylang ylang that gives me that impression. The nose calls it "not your usual vanilla" and I can see where that branding comes from. It's not a synthetic, extremely caramely gourmand that have saturated the marketplace. It's also reminiscent of Cake by the same perfumier, except that Mad has plays with greener/less powdery/less synthetic vanilla, with flowery undertones. I don't get blackcurrant. It's also a bit medicinal, but only slightly, which reminds me of their other perfume Frank. If Frank is 70% medicinal, this is about 10%. After an hour or so on the skin, white flower notes start to feature more prominently. Not the greatest longevity on the skin though. EDIT: I'm getting more ylang ylang in the drydown, and a family member commented on Mad's muskyness, so it's a like, but not a massive one from me. Definitely quite unique so I'd recommend it to other perfume afficionados.