Vespree

“I began to feel the quality of the evening—how it was spring coming; a silver light; mixing with the early lamps; the cabs all rushing through the streets; I had a tremendous sense of life beginning; and all the doors opening; and this is I believe the moth shaking its wings in me; ideas rush in me.” -Virginia Woolf, in a letter to Vita Sackville-West Bienaimé never miss! This is such a comforting scent. Initially I get a dose of bergamot paired with a note of cardamom along with carrot seed, which gives a slightly earthy sensibility. There’s also a pinch of sweetness through the vanilla, which doesn’t dull the earthiness of the rest of the concoction. I would say this is unisex but more feminine leaning. I can see it working for all seasons and times of the day. It still has that vintage feeling like the rest of Bienaimé’s other offerings. I’m very impressed by their new creations that are not relaunches of their original 1930s perfumes, “Monsieur” also harkens back to the 1920s/30s despite being a modern invention. I will 100% be picking up a full bottle of this. As stated by Itcannotalwaysbenight’s comment below the notes on here are wrong, they have them correct.

Vespree is one of my latest (and favorite) acquisitions. It’s a warm, sensual interpretation of iris, centered around both the true iris note and a beautifully earthy carrot seed accord. The opening is make-up-powder-dry, almost bitter at first, but it slowly softens as the caramelized sweetness of tonka and vanilla begin to bloom. That gentle sweetness rounds out the composition and creates seductive glowy amber trail. Vespree is marketed as a men's fragrance which was a surprise to me as this is totally unisex. Correct notes are: Top Notes: Cardamom, Bergamot, Lavender, Carrot seed, Celery seed. Middle Notes: Peruvian balsam, Rose, Geranium, Iris. Base Notes: Vetiver, Benzoin, Vanilla, Cedar, Labdanum, Tonka bean, Sandalwood.

Interesting, designer fragrance. Smells a little bit like.. funerals. Reminds me of Tiger’s Nest by Memo a little bit. And perhaps Layton to a certain extent.

What a beauty Vesprée is! Classy, mellow, with a discrete vintagey feel reminiscent of old Guerlains. I find benzoin to be the star of the show here, set against the background of a very soft fougere accord that doesn't push it too far into the masculine territory. Imagine Bois d'Armenie, but a tad more abstract, with more tension between the notes, mainly the earthy-coniferous greens and the creamy vanillic benzoin. Simple, but so touchingly romantic it just makes my heart melt. Oh, and it lasts!