La Belle Vanille

This is really a beautiful perfume. It smells so expensive and luxurious! Definitely leans super feminine and would probably be best for spring/summer. Not a gourmand, not patchouli heavy, just an incredibly well-balanced sweet vanilla floral. If you gravitated towards scents like flower bomb in your youth, this is definitely a similar (but way more sophisticated & grown-up) vibe. 10/10 absolutely full bottle worthy. I love!!!

Super feminine. Definitely very floral on top and then dries down to a lovely vanilla floral with a bit of incense. I like wearing this during the day and would place it as more of a spring scent. I don't usually like very floral perfumes but the scents tie nicely together. Packaging is beautiful. Couldn't be happier.

This is a lovely vanilla fragrance that does not smother you in vanilla. The vanilla is subtle. Very nice.

Sebastian "The Perfume Guy" did a review on Cafe Avellana by Elysian Perfumes, in which he raved about the fragrance. So, several months back, I blind-bought a 50 ml bottle. Cafe Avellana completely transformed me; I was awestruck by just about EVERYTHING regarding the fragrance. The Elysian Website allows customers to place together sample sets. So, I chose six fragrances that spoke to me and ordered my sample set! To put this in perspective: I've currently been on a rather lengthy, vanilla-caramel-coffee-slightly floral-lactonic gourmand jag. I was hoping that one of the six fragrances I sampled might hold a candle to Cafe Avellana's heavenliness. I purchased six fragrances, each in a 3ml vial with atomizer: Blackwood & Bourbon, LaBelle Vanille, Charmante, Temple of Echos, Sombre Douceur and Black Gardenia. From the six samples, I was MOST looking forward to trying La Belle Vanille. Unfortunately, La Belle Vanille is somewhat disappointing to me. Truthfully, La Belle Vanille and Black Gardenia were the most disappointing fragrances out of the six samples. The quality ingredients in Elysian perfumes speak for themselves, as does the way each perfume is exquisitely and artfully blended. Each ingredient note is clearly identifiable; what is listed in the perfume notes is PRECISELY what you get. It's difficult to "capture" how purely each perfume note and each fragrance morphs and develops once applied to the skin. But the way the perfumes are blended and executed is superior, bar none. The quality, artistry and ingenuity that goes into the production of each fragrance is clearly evident. On my skin and to my nose, La Belle Vanille opens with an extremely pungent & strong, almost shrill, aldehydic top note that really is a medley of the florals listed in the perfume. I'd say the most prominent note to my nose is dry, powdery iris & jasmine. The strong, floral top notes immediately move La Belle Vanille away from a gourmand experience. As the fragrance develops, something actually feels sticky on my skin. I definitely detect a bit of tonka and a little incense, which cut through some of the opening's floral intensity. The dry-down is persistent amber & cashmeran, the latter of which smells synthetic. Unfortunately, my nose detects zero caramel, zero vanilla, zero patchouli, little incense. I would say La Belle Vanilla is a dry, woody fragrance. Out of all my samples, La Belle Vanille developed the least and remained pretty linear throughout its wear. This fragrance wears VERY close to the skin with fair longevity (2-3 hrs) and limited silage. As with nearly ALL the fragrances I sampled, my choices seem completely unisex, if not masculine leaning. Unfortunately, la Belle Vanille simply did not resonate with me. Not a fragrance I would wear.

La Belle Vanille is SEXY. A beautiful, silky smooth vanilla with warm caramel & amber. The addition of rich tonka and creamy jasmine is what takes it over the edge for me, it is definitely not a “basic” vanilla. The patchouli is present, but to me, gives off more of a saffron vibe when combined with the other notes, leaving you with a warm, rich base. LBV is a “grown up’s” vanilla