Not Vanilla

Woody and mossy vanilla with a spicy air of whimsy. It's giving blonde forest fairy with the power to make vegetation grow with a wave of her tiny hand. Flowering ivy and budding young branches follow her every movement. Her gilded fairy dust settles into the twig and dew-covered earth, iridescent before it fizzles into a distant memory. Such is the nature of this fragrance's performance on my skin: the oh-so-satisfying opening notes transport me to a magical forest before becoming a soft skin scent. I would put this in my regular rotation if that opening would just stick a little stronger on me. All in all, I do *love* it for an applause-worthy opening!

A fun and sweet perfume, sour and woody vanilla, sticky with a refreshing cream scent, a beautiful fragrance with a distinctive concept, I understand the name that it is not vanilla, but a beautiful and distinctive girl. The name is not meant to blame the fragrance by not having a vanilla component, but on the contrary, a velvety perfume made of very high-end and sweet vanilla.

Oh, hello :) Read reviews, thought something horrible was coming. I do like it quite a bit. I smelled Gentle Fluidity Gold in store, that one really reminded of Montale Intense Cafe (which I’m not a huge fan of), I can see the similarities here too, but it’s not as aggressive. I’ve been meaning to test Sunny Side Up for a long time, I have high hopes for it now. But $185, for something not too unique.. these companies are nuts these days.

Beautiful unisex vanilla bomb 💣 with a feminine lean. Nutmeg and camphor. Amberous musk. Just shy of cloying. Very sweet. This fragrance emanates just off the skin. Can have a moderate sillage in the right conditions, but is typically mild. Sexy if you can handle the sweetness. Borderline 😍. Something like a vanilla lotion but made of quality ingredients and intensified 10x. Does lose some umph after about half an hour.

I love the sweetness coming from this but it is not strong, therefore it is not worth the price. the dry down is very similar to Thomas Kosmala Candy just a bit more woody overall a very fun, head-turning perfume, for like 1-2 hours, after that it is hardly noticeable

I like this but on my skin it's gone much too quick. Creamy rose. Buttery vanilla. Backdrop of dry woods. pushes off my skin for about 15 mins then it's gone. Thought maybe I was going noseblind to it but I noticed if I spray on my clothes, I can detect it for about an hour. Very close in scent to Drunk Saffron minus the smoky leather vibe and Drunk Saffron lasts waaay longer on me.

It's nice. It's OK. Reads a little department store-y. It's warm and inviting, complex. However, not unique or exceptional enough to justify the price point in my opinion. Whether it reads vanilla or woody to you... I think there's so many alternatives that are more affordable and noteworthy.

The opening had a really beautiful, mild juniper scent that mingled nicely with the cedar and amber. Quickly settled into a nondescript woody scent. Unisex. Vanilla is such an afterthought here I don’t quite think the name fits.

At first it's sweet vanilla then it gets aromatic with juniper Woody and ambery The combination of sweet vanilla and soft musk + wood with refreshing juniper is interesting

It’s the next day and I’m still picking up the scent of Not Vanilla. So extra points for major stamina— and thanks to some heavy handed use of synthetics—but unfortunately my love ends there. An easily forgettable and overall “perfumey” smell that leans generic. I don’t know what this smells like but I know I’ve smelled it before. A better company name is BORNTOBLENDIN®

I was exited for this one, but it only reminds me of a cough syrup I got as a kid. The vanilla is not there for me.

Agree with the below review. Gross synthetic mess. Smells like a montale. Not a fan!

A few crumbs of pound cake fell into a huge bottle of vodka.

I feel like I'm missing something here. While testing blind two days in a row, all I really got was a soft mature woody-floral, relatively medium lasting skin scent. The fragrance itself is ok, somewhat aromatic with a pleasant generic feeling I feel like I've smelled several times before (even if I haven't). I get the Cetalox, Guaiac Wood and Musk the most, and it's basically a guessing game picking up on anything else. Have the listed notes I can't place. Like other fragrances from this house, I feel there's a big disconnect between the branding/packaging, and in some cases (like this one) the name. Even in testing blind, just expecting something far from not vanilla, and maybe a bit coy would be more fitting. This feels like a safe traditional woody-feminine fragrance you get because you're too afraid of something with more personality.

Definitely a disappointment. Smells so synthetic and cheap. Reminds me of all those crappy vanilla body mists

It’s giving unscented face cream. Edit: I just found out that Not Vanilla contain almost all (!!!) of the Gentle Fluidity Gold by Maison Francis Kurkdjian ingredients. The ONLY ONE exception is coriander. They turned out to be veeeery similar to each other. Idk, it doesn’t look like coincidence, it looks just bad. I didn’t expect BORNTOSTANDOUT which is a project made by group one of the most famous and appreciated perfumers to be making obvious dupes. I was very hyped up, now I am a bit disappointed

I think I may be one of the few people who finds this one a complete, synthetic mess. I can't catch anything else, and I'd swear I'm just wearing a cheap fragrance. Sorry, but this one is just not for me. What the heck? To add more, I'm thinking about this more, and I'm wondering if this scent is playing on the well-known Not A Perfume by JHAG. That one is mostly ambroxan, and seems to work well on me, despite being a full-on synthetic concoction.

Not Vanilla smells almost identical to JHAG Sunny Side Up to my nose. I compared it side by side and Not Vanilla is BARELY sweeter in the beginning and dries down to a very Iso E. Super heavy base at the end, whereas Sunny Side Up has the Iso E. Super up front and dries a bit sweeter. To my nose, almost the same scent with opposite dry downs, which I would have never thought looking at the notes as they’re so completely different.

Woody, Fresh, and Aromatic with a hint of sweetness from the Vanilla. It's very easy to wear. Crisp and Airy, a perfect layering option if you're not looking for an overpowering vanilla. I'm so glad I stocked up on this one since they discontinued it.

Why so weird and cheap? Seriously not expected this from this brand!!! Wasted so much of my precious money into this fragrance, it's actually fulfilling it's name, standing out as the worst fragrance ever!