Aqua Allegoria Ylang & Vanille

Very unusual for an Aqua Allegoria, this could be a standalone fragrance. I wish Guerlain made more of the collection like this instead of the endless lineup of light fruity florals and citruses, but I guess those also have their time and place. Ylang & Vanille starts out a little retro from today's point of view, it just smells like a 90s floral, a bit heavier than the typical recent summer scents and with a good dose of naturalistic, slightly indolic jasmin. It really reminds me of flowers in full bloom and their pollen in the air. I like it, but I also like that the fragrance doesn't stay like that forever and takes some turns. Unsurprisingly the eponymous vanilla and ylang ylang become the most dominant notes after a while, so this is a creamy, sweet, tropical scent. But there is also a surprise in the drydown: The carnation. I love, love, love this flower in real life, but in perfumes it's a little difficult. It often has a stuffy, dated vibe, or it just smells spicy like cloves and not very floral at all. But here it's done just right: Powdery, soft and slightly spiced, just like the small pink carnations I like to have on my balcony. Together with the jasmine and ylang ylang it forms a perfectly balanced floral bouquet that feels romantic, but also a little exotic. I think if you like the way carnation is done in L'Artisan Oeillet Sauvage, you might also like this. This is very suitable for summer and especially spring, but it doesn't need heat to unfold. It smells beautiful right now in February, too. Too bad this has gotten so rare. I'm glad I got to try it, but I don't even hope I will ever have a bottle.

When I first started to become preoccupied with perfume, I bought a bottle of ylang ylang essential oil, which I kept around for a few months before throwing in the trash (What was I thinking!?). Okay, what I was thinking was that everyone I lived with was grossed out by the potency of the oil, and if I spilled any, the whole house would stink for hours. Though I was aware that ylang is a very common ingredient in fragrances, I found myself asking how a perfume could feature this flower and still be well-balanced and beautiful. Several years later, the answed has arrived in the form of Ylang & Vanille. Thank you so much, Vie Cafe, for enabling me to sample this rarity. Ylang & Vanille is two tough mother flowers (ylang and carnation) forced to make nice together with vanilla/jasmine acting as the professional moderators. This fragrance is nothing short of a miracle, because of how beautifully all the elements get along. There is the sweet, bold ripeness of ylang, and the green almost peppery sharpness of carnation, wrapped gracefully into one bundle with a smooth, soft and slightly salty vanilla/jasmine (these two notes work as one entity for me here. I am not sure where the jasmine ends and vanilla begins). Longevity and projection are quite good. For me, Ylang & Vanilla is the olfactory equivalent of the Platonic form of YELLOW. The color of insanity, but also of imperial status, and of friendship.

If I had to live with three (lol, I couldn't do just one!) this would be one of them. I adore it. For me, it is exactly each of its notes, mixed to perfection. Ylang is so beautiful when done well. Of course, when it's not, it can be a disaster- too heavy and beyond cloying. It is not the case in Ylang and Vanille. It's heady but rich and interesting enough to make it one of the best blends I know. What makes it ultra special to me is how well it can be worn alone or blended with other scents, namely, other Guerlain AAs. I have two additional AAs that I layer with this: Nerolia Bianca and Lys Soleia. Divine. It's the only word I can use to express how I feel about these gorgeous scents worn together. Togigi, I sent a private message regarding your extra bottle and I'm holding my breath (well, not really, I'm sticking my nose on my wrist where I'm currently wearing Y&V with LS!) until I hear back from you with all my hopes set on you still having that extra bottle! Does anyone have any suggestions for something similar so I can go on living without this discontinued gem? ps, my other two, if I could only have three (I couldn't just leave you hanging, haha!) would be Lolita Lempicka Lolita Lempicka and either Nerolia Bianca or Lys Soleia. I'll decide before I leave my next feedback ;-)

I have a mini bottle of this, part of a set that also included Pamplelune. I just love it. There are quite a few AAs I would love to own - Jasminora and Lys Soleia most of all - and a full bottle of Ylang & Vanille ranks right up there. I can't quite put my finger on why I love this the way I do. The entire line is composed of simple, light EDTs, containing high quality, natural ingredients and I suppose I just enjoy the combination of the Guerlain vanila with such creamy ylang! The fact that they manage to take such heady notes and transform them into something light and sheer is noteworthy in my opinion. So I will continue to hunt this one down at a decent price, perhaps a partially used bottle. Not much of a review I suppose. More of a commentary on a line of fragrances that are often dismissed as inferior in the pantheon of so many great, classic Guerlain fragrances, but sometimes less is more. UPDATE - Just purchased an 85% full bottle for a very decent price. Very happy.

The greatest combo of wild ylang-ylang and clean vanilla. Ylang is really bold, sultry, almost dirty. In contrast, vanilla is very clean, sugarless, smells like wood powder. At first, I thought this is simple fragrance for casual use. But I was wrong. It's more than the simple name! It has depth and elegance in it. Imagine an exotic brunette lady in pearly white satin dress. That's it. I remember when the line of Aqua Allegoria was released, they had bath products. I purchased bath cream of Ylang & Vanille in a plastic bee bottle. It was glorious. By hot steam, the scent was gorgeously stood out. My bathroom became heaven! I miss it for long years. Well, I have gotten Ylang & Vanille in 1999. 18 years ago!? Oh my god...so fast. I have experienced many harsh things in my life, and my world was changed. But this little gem of Jean Paul Guerlain's creations kept its beauty. Amazing.

I have used this for years. It has become my winter day floral...or summer evening. I love ylang ylang and not so crazy about vanilla any more, but this is balanced so well that I enjoy the vanilla. I get many compliments when I wear it. It's not easy to fnd in Canada as we seem to get only what is popular at the time. I can usually find it in a small perfume boutique which is risky and we can find aged stock. But because of the ingredients this one never goes bad, so it's always a lucky find. If you want a "Warm" floral and not too loud then go for this.

I was afraid that the carnation would put me off this, since I haven't previously liked anything that included carnation. Happily, I don't notice it on my skin. I can smell it in the liquid itself (and it gives me a headache there), but on me it starts out smelling like ylang ylang and honey. I get a little jasmine and eventually a big dose of vanilla. I'm in love with this scent and I was crushed when I accidentally knocked over my sample because it means I have to wait for awhile before I can wear this again.

So far it`s my favorite Aqua Allegoria. With all it`s simplicity, it managed to capture the mood of a content and happy woman, a little dreamy, perhaps.Though it is light enough to wear in the afternoon, I always think of it as an evening perfume.Not a gala evening, but stay-with-friends evening...It is also very comforting to fall asleep wearing it, almost like an aromatherapy.

i have been looking for a perfect ylang ylang perfume and this may be it. opens with a gorgeous ylang ylang and vanilla. it smells like actual flowers to me. i've never actually smelled a real ylang ylang but have smelled something similar to this. i get a slight spiciness and dusting of pollen with a bit of greenness. just gorgeous for spring/summer.

A few years ago my mom bought this perfume and I had no idea the name of it then, but I was in LOVE!!! I just took over the bottle and she had to let me have it. If you are looking for a dreamy, vanilla, powdery CLASSY scent, this is it! I love love love this perfume. It is my favorite all time hands down.

I love the fleshy Ylang Ylang opening, it surely keeps it's promise give by it's name. The drydown is not as exciting as it dries down very similar to Caron Bellodgia: loads of carnation and vanilla. Nice, but I dont need a full bottle. A large decant would be nice to have.

I still have half a bottle left, I love this scent and sadly it is not made any more. Why?? So many women loved it. I get many compliments when I wear it. I keep hanging on to this last half bottle ..I better wear it before it evaporates or changes for the worse.

This was my wedding scent. I lucked into at a Marshall's store where the box was beat up but the bottle was fine. $12 I think. I like how it stays sweet and light in the heat, great for hot, humid summers. It stays fresh and does not get acrid.

I just got this today with 4 other perfumes. It was a blind buy, and I am so glad I got it. It has a very soft floral scent, I love the vanilla and ylang-ylang. I will have to get another bottle as I heard that it is being discontinued.

Well, I didn’t like this at first. It had this schreecy and old smell on my skin. But after a while it settled down to a creamy, honey/nectar- scent. I quite like it now! I get gorgeous whiffs all day when I wear it.

I’m shocked by how much I like this relatively simple perfume. It’s soft and cozy and clean. Just beautiful. Almost a white linen kind of smell though I’m sure the notes are different.

This is exactly what dianthus plumarius smell like. Just a beautiful perfume. It deserves a place among the Guerlain classics and should never be discontinued.

Carnation + carnation + light vanilla. I like it... but I prefer it in my grandma! ^^

The fact that I would purchase an edt by the name of YLANG & VANILLA speaks volumes of my obsession with Guerlain, for ylang ylang immediately evokes memories of Pier 1 Imports and overly incensed small claustrophobic apartments whose denizens are hippy types! I purchased YLANG & VANILLA at TJMaxx, along with several other Aqua Allegorias, each at the ridiculously low price of $9.99 (perhaps they were mismarked by some inattentive clerk?). Having had no prior experience with the AA line, I assumed that these must be some sort of body spray--given the hefty 4.2oz volume--but felt nonetheless compelled to scoop up a basket of bottles graced as they were with the label GUERLAIN. (What a coup!) Despite their generous volume, the beautiful Aqua Allegorias are all filled with high-quality eau de toilette, with staying power that vastly exceeds many of the current celebrity edps. To my nose, ylang-ylang is really a domineering essence, which can therefore be tastefully combined only very sparingly with other assertive notes, as in MITSOUKO and ARPEGE, where its presence, while detectable, is tempered by all of the other mighty contenders. In AQUA ALLEGORIA YLANG & VANILLA, the vanilla does manage to attenuate the ylang, but not much. This is really a bold blast of ylang-ylang with a dash of Vanilla and a dot of other florals. But I am enjoying this fragrance today, holed up at home to escape the sub-freezing temperature outside. I probably would not wear even Guerlain's Ylang Vanilla edt in the company of others... Unless I happened to be going to a party at an overly incensed small claustrophobic apartment!

I held onto my 125 ml bottle for years. I loved it for being vintage, I loved it for being Guerlain and that beautiful bee bottle, and for the color of the juice and for the fact that I had a piece of early Aqua Allegoria history. But I didn't love it enough for the scent. I'm not afraid of vintage smelling florals and this one did it well. I enjoy it. But it really is a carnation explosion, dry and dusty, not all yellow ylang and vanilla as the name and color of the juice would suggest. First and foremost it smells of spicy dry carnations. There's a whisk of ylang and Guerlainade vanilla. There is depth due to the natural spice of the flowers and the Guerlain touch on old classics. It smells of times past and I believe it takes a trained nose to appreciate it. Not a millenial fragrance, let's say. Which to me is a wonderful thing. I finally decided no matter how discontinued or sought after a fragrance, if it doesn't strike me in a special way it's gotta go. Ylang and Vanille was part of that category. If it were available today would I need to own it? No. I am happy to have had it in my little perfume family for a time and I got to know it well but passing it along to a new home was an easy choice. I'm sure it's getting the love it deserves.