Voodoo Love

I just got back from New Orleans -- my favorite American city! -- and both Bourbon French Parfums and Hove Parfumeur were on my list of places to visit. Hove was closed on the day we were there, however -- so I'll just have to go back! -- but Bourbon French Parfums was open. I picked up both their "Bourbon French Collection," that includes several of their historic perfumes, and "Fragrant Florals of the South," that includes the quintessentially Southern flowers, Magnolia and Gardenia, of course! Voodoo Love is the best known creation of this house and is absolutely beautiful, a MUST TRY for vintage perfume lovers. It has that particular quality shared by both Guerlain L'Heure Bleue and L.T. Piver Heliotrope Blanc -- both perfumes I adore -- of being at once soft and rich and very much a journey. The first thing I noticed was an almost sweet though not sugary cinnamon. As the drydown progressed, the soft powderiness of heliotrope emerged and began to combine with a very subtle rose. Further on, I detected sandalwood and some super light patchouli (I think...?) that might be giving it an incense-y, "earthy" note underneath. Overall, it's smooth and beautifully blended. Voodoo Love is a soft, gently radiating scent without much projection; someone sitting within 3 feet of you would probably enjoy your scent, but it would not be overwhelming. It shares a powdery heliotrope with both L'Heure Bleue and Heliotrope Blanc (but L'Heure Bleue is sharper and announces itself more than either of the other two) but Voodoo Love dries down warmer due to the cinnamon and sandalwood, I think. Just like these other two vintage beauties, on my skin, at least, Voodoo Love does not boast amazing longevity; it lasts well for about 3 hours, becoming a skin scent by the 4th (I'm not sure what the concentration is in this sampler set, but when I get a full bottle, I'm going with the strongest concentration they have). But OH! Such a beautiful, elegant, warm scent! So happy I found it! :)))

Perhaps more than most cities in the US, New Orleans has a notable scent. I’d go as far as to say each neighborhood of New Orleans has a distinct smell—where I grew up Uptown/Carrollton, it smells mud and decaying magnolias, horse shit and jasmine, sale beer and a beautiful dark roux or something stewing for hours on a stove. The humidity only amplifies these smells, like a heavy blanket trapping scent, pressing it into your skin. And if you went into a rich lady’s Uptown house—a divorced or widowed woman living in center hall cottage, something old with holes in the wooden floor and paintings on the wall—it would smell like powder and potpourri and jasmine and a slightly musty Persian rug and silver polish and butterscotch candies in a glass jar. This perfume smells like that, except younger and softer. It’s incredibly nostalgic and very New Orleans. The first time I smelled Voodoo Love, it reminded me of the violet candies from Choward’s that my French teacher would give us as children—Voodoo Love is chalky but floral, with a gentle spice and subtle sweetness. Though I should note, it doesn’t smell like violet! It’s hard for me to isolate notes in this one. It’s all soft edges and mystery, spices that are mellowed by the powder scent. To me, this scent is more feminine than unisex. It’s got a glamor to it. Yes, an oldness—though anything powdery smells old to me—but the spice makes it wearable at any age. Perfect for a humid summer, day or night. The woman who wears this prefers bowls of potpourri to candles and writes postcards to friends when she’s on vacation. She likes going to the Botanical Garden and orders a Cafe Brulot after dinner. She wears vintage and second hand clothes and likes a lot of loose, light layers. Minimalism is not in her vocabulary. She prefers the streetcar and Amtrak and her bicycle to cars and planes. She reads The Oxford American on her balcony with a whiskey. She lives in a city, and would never dream of being anywhere else.

A gorgeous, soft, spicy, feminine, sophisticated, alluring, respectable fragrance. All the things. It's all the things. But it is NOT modern, and if you don't have an old soul, a commanding presence, or a nostalgia for true vintage, you might not like this one. It gives the impression of a freshly bathed and powdered woman looking over the balcony on a balmy summer night in the recesses of modern history. Nocturnal creatures cooing in the distance as the intoxicating scent of spicy flowers floats in the still, dark air. And she is beginning to "glow" slightly in the heat, her own natural perfume mingling with all the others. Poetry aside, this really will help you attract your lover, if only for the romance it stirs within you as the wearer, causing you to emit come-hither pheromones and frequencies.

I must love Voodoo Love, as I actually committed to purchasing the whole fragrance wardrobe. It's so pretty! It's a light oriental scent, meaning it's not a big blaster like Opium or Youth Dew (not that there's anything wrong that). It's hard for me to pick out a specific note, like, oh, here is the jasmine. Voodoo has a great harmony. It's earthy, oily, and powdery. I think it would be suitable for girls or women of any age, it's called unisex but it veers quite feminine and dare I say, ladylike. Good projection and long-lasting on me, even in summer. I'm also happy to do business with a small house like this. Will be excited to see how the other iterations of the scent will be like (lotion, powder, perfume, edt,etc).

The perfect unisex scent both my partner and I love it. The name is fitting with a mysterious earthy, powdery dry down. Some spice to it throughout the day it changes and it's very wearable day and night. Less sweetness to this one than the other perfumes from this house.

My favorite of the Bourbon French fragrances! Less powdery than Kus Kus and a perfect combination of sweet and spicy. If I had to own only one Oriental, it would be this one. Great here in New England in any season.

Soft and calming fragrance. Clean patchouli and cinnamon blend beautifully, and I thought I could smell heliotrope notes here, but they are not listed in the fragrance notes section here.

Well, I've not fallen completely under the spell of Voodoo Love...yet. I may not, but I am tempted. It's the only fragrance with a name to have given me pause. I admit it, I'm a chicken. Not the chicken of stereotyped voodoo practice, mind you, just your garden variety scaredy-cat o.O Not one to dabble. The opening notes immediately alleviated some of my (uhh) reservation. They're soft, blurred, unimposing and as a result, a complete surprise to me. Voodoo Love is, after all, the fragrance recreation of the potion given to clients by famed Voodoo Priestess, Marie Laveau, to "gain the object of their affection". Essentially to enslave them with their desire, with the longings of their hearts. Given its heritage, Voodoo Love should smell somewhat dated. It doesn't. I was expecting to smell sweat, man, something insistent in feel, notes thick and heavy in the air, a LOVE potion. Instead, there's a soft cinnamon, what smells like ambrette to my nose, wood (maybe guaiac) a very faint and non-descript and lonely floral note and a newly earthed and rather tender amber. Amber typically appeals to me the most when accompanied by sweeter floral notes or musk. While the amber does not the surprise here, its appeal definitely does. Voodoo love is warm, a little 'oily' in smell, swamped and unmistakably balsamic. The longevity is average on my skin. The projection, very close. That's probably a good thing, I wouldn't want some unsuspecting stranger caught unawares; olfactory heart left to my mercy by Voodoo Love.

I purchased Voodoo Love as a blind buy. I was looking for some smells that I experienced while in NOLA. NOT Bourbon Street at night though...that was alcohol, vomit and urine. Nasty street and the main reason I don't want to ever return to New Orleans. But, when I applied Voodoo Love it started off very strong and what I consider masculine. I know that it's a unisex parfum and waited to see what would happen on my skin. After several hours it now smells powdery. I've not ever picked up a cinnamon smell in it. My husband says it smells like cotton candy and he likes it. Interesting that it goes from a strong masculine smell to a female powdery smell. However, I probably won't purchase another bottle of it once I use this bottle. I'm very interested in trying other scents from Bourbon French Parfums. Mon Idee is next.

An amber web of seduction. BFF has a knack of creating scents that are so clear and pungent. Having a home in the Vieux Carre amid some of the most demanding Creole tastes, recipes that date back over a hundred years, ingredient sources that they've developed over a century . . . their perfumes have a certain je nes se qua. Primal smells, undiluted, projecting their most provocative fragrance. There's a simple warm, rich elegance to Voodoo Love that evokes a timeless quality. This is the perfume of a Voodoo queen. Although BFF only discloses a few notes to let you have an idea of the style, their pyramid is elaborate. The nuances of this one confirm several accord themes, one is amber gold, another powdery elegance, with an underlying spicy/woody base. It has a complexity similar to Tabu, Toujours Moi, Shalimar. Amber, vanilla, patchouli, all smooth and creamy. Oriental spices, balsamic resins. Combined to produce a scent that is seductive and exuberant. Marie Laveau would have approved!

I just came from a New Orleans, had a great time there. I wanted to visit a Bourbon Perfume for long time. Expected more from it. In reality it is a small room with a lot of people and tiny bottles on a counter just to have a quick sniff. I got a set as s souvenir. One of my favorites is Evermore-light floral, modern style Voodoo Love- Floral with vanilla note Mon amore- light floral too La vie nouvelle- light floral, not bad Kus Kus- more traditional old style may be shipre Carrie- men's, but can be a unisex shipre Tea Rose- Classic rose, best lasting of all these as they all seem not long lasting.

This fragrance is truly remarkable. It is so unique, I can’t even get over it. This fragrance will take you on a journey so sit tight relax and enjoy your time. It’s truly witchy, and I absolutely love that about it. I get cinnamon and a powdery note in this. Now it doesn’t last overly long on my skin. But I think if you got the Edp of this you’d be better off. Although the edp is 1/4 oz which is why I got the edt because it’s 4 oz. All in all this fragrance is amazing and I think you should try it out. You won’t be disappointed.

a scent to bookend my time going to school in NOLA. reat for muggy days spent in the cool air conditioned library. i wore this while alternating between writing smut fanfics and writing my senior thesis screenplay. both times it was almost dizzyingly intoxicating. very rich, earthy, oily, spicy. sensual dirt almost? like using it in a ritual then scattering across wood floors, very much enjoy it and i'm lucky to have gotten it before the bourbon french closed its physical doors.