Velvet Haze

This to me was love at first sniff. I agree it starts off weird, almost plasticly in a way memories of santal bush TF soft woody and fluffy with a creamy woody feel and a hint of spice and sweaty skin. It turned positively fresh and airy and sweet , after 3 minutes I knew I needed it. Then I realized this is all about patchouli but in such a modern , non hippy way that I was perplexed at its art, if that makes any sense. The patch gets very strong and comes to the center but it’s hazed with a milky chocolate coconut all wrapped up in a creamy airy musk . This scent to me is compfortable and perfect as a daily skin scent , for a woman and a man equally appropriate . It can resemble the sweet sweat of unwashed skin but in a good way that is. I was searching for a scent like this and I just bumped into it by coincidence yesterday walking by the Byredo boutique. You need to love strange scents and patchouli in order to appreciate this one. Does it smell like Narciso for her ( black tall bottle ) in my opinion NOT but there are stages it goes through where I can’t deny a resemblance ! Narciso was and still is one of my favourite fragrances and one of my most complimented perfumes . However velvet haze is more unique and niche smelling. It’s very fluffy , creamy and sexy ! But it’s all about patchouli and musk . However the cacao and coconut also play a role in this beautiful warm scent. It literally puts a haze around the musky smell. Impressive !

The only scent I've ever truly fallen in love with! It's currently winter and on my (cold) skin the fragrance opens with a gentle milky and musky scent which stays close to the skin and remains that way for a couple hours before unfurling into a soft cacao scent and finally a sweet musk. I find that the fragrance behaves extremely differently when my skin is warm, such as after exercise or if I've been in a heated area all day. In such a scenario the initial milky coconut opening disappears almost instantly and I get a blast of warm cacao radiating off my skin for a couple hours before it fades into a sweet but not cloying musk. I'm not the greatest at identifying notes, but I would say the patchouli is a background/supporting character throughout the opening to finish of the fragrance and it never truly jumps out at me and is not at all offensive. I would describe the perfume as more feminine leaning, though my mum tells me she finds it quite masculine, so I guess the unisex label is appropriate. I never tried NR For Her prior to purchasing Velvet Haze, and while I plan to do so in the future, comments that the dry-down of For Her and VH are identical don't really impact how I value VH. I personally love VH for the milky coconut/cacao that encapsulates the fragrance and without those qualities (such as in NR For Her) I doubt I would give it more than a passing glance.

The first few times I tried Velvet Haze I found it pleasant but not pleasant enough to want to wear over and over and buy a full bottle or even a smaller bottle. I kept coming back to try it and realized that after about 30 minutes of it on my skin, it turns into this amazing fragrance. There is a freshness about it, especially at first, I think that might be the coconut water note and there is an earthiness that comes through later which is likely the patchouli. What I like about several Byredo fragrances is that some of the notes are abstract in the sense that they don't smell completely like a given note. I don't completely smell coconut water, I smell elements of coconut water (freshness, lightness), I don't smell full-on patchouli, I smell an earthiness that's just enough to ground the fragrance. There is a warmth there also and something sweet that isn't completely sweet but just a hint of something heading in the direction of sweet. All together it smells like nothing else out in the world, it's truly art for the nose. I ended up getting a full bottle for $196.99 from Costco online.

This is one of my favorite perfumes. I got a full sized bottle for under $200 from Costco (online). It's amazing how a fragrance can smell like a texture, in this case, it smells like velvet even though velvet doesn't have a smell. It's cozy but only as cozy as velvet can be. If it were a color, it would be a dark fuchsia. Sweet but but only sort of, night time salsa dancing in a heavily decorated dance club without the sweat. Mysterious, different. Fresh at first, I think it might be the coconut water, without smelling like coconut, maybe a tiny bit of abstract young coconut. I'm usually picky about musk and I will not wear anything remotely masculine or anything that resembles body odor in the least bit. This has a musk note but it's not the super fresh musk and it's not the animalic body odor musk. It's almost hippy, almost like incense but not either of those things at all. I'd say it's hazy and I'd say it's wonderful.

I get something salty/sweet from this which I really enjoy. Velvet Haze is soft and cosy and maybe a little fuzzy so the name is perfect. I love the juxtaposition between this initial burst of tropical brightness contrasted with some woodier powdery notes. The musk in VH is fuzzy and gorgeous. It is a lactonic fragrance, uplifting at the start leading into a patchouli mid and an earthy musky dry down with hints of coconut and cacao. As with many releases from the house of Byredo, the performance is not great. Longevity is minimal, lasting up to 4 hours on skin and all day on clothing, with an intimate trail. However I don’t mind too much with this particular fragrance as it is subtle enough for daily wear, and yet unique enough to pique my interest. Those types of smells tend to get a lot of wear in my collection. I’m currently testing a sample but I think I’m going to need a full bottle! A new favourite from Byredo.