Shalimar Ode a la Vanille

Shalimar Ode a la Vanille Starts off bright almost sparkling, then smooths, warms, becoming sweeter. I find this wears closer to the body and lasts quite long. First spray is bright with a bit of citrus, powder, vanilla warping shapes and forms, and licorice? But not at all dark. The top notes settle and vanilla takes on the form of being thicker, a bit boozy, and very sweet, along with warm and glowing amber, and with even more powder. There is some spice/smoke but much less when compared to the original. With time, the vanilla becomes stronger and sweeter with deep warm amber still glowing. When you think there was no vanilla left, it keeps giving and could drown you in it. This becomes really gourmand-like at times, but ever changing like the weather. I imagine Ode a la Vanille as the weather in the Shalimar temple. It being mid-afternoon outisde. A bright beautiful day, a few clouds, Strong rays of golden sunlight shine on the temple. On this day, the incense and spices are put out and away, but there is still a trace left in the air. The day wans, the sun is setting, the sunlight is still fighting to shine, and actually becomes more vividly golden even behind clouds. The Shalimar temple and everything around is cast in gold. An outline of shalimar is seen against the sun as it sets further down. I so enjoy and appreciate this Shalimar Ode a la Vanille in my collection!

SHALIMAR ODE A LA VANILLE is the younger, rebellious sister of Shalimar. This young vixen does not powder herself as much as her older sister and she loves to sneak out late at night and ride until morning on the back of her boyfriend's motorcycle. She smells of the lemon sucker she carries between her glossy lips; the dark, vanilla liquor that she swigs and shares with her boyfriend; the leather, from riding on the back of her boyfriend's bike and holding onto his leather covered body; and the rubber, smoke and tar from the exhaust of the motorcycle that they rode without a care 'till dawn. And the warmth from the night air is still on her skin when she sneaks back into her bed in the morning, evading detection from her parents . . . But not from her older sister, Shalimar, who smiles sheepishly, because she knows that aroma all too well. . . If you enjoy Shalimar, you will enjoy SHALIMAR ODE A LA VANILLE. I find them to be very similar. But, the later is less powdery, more boozy, more leathery and smokier than the original. The vanilla is present but not as much as one would expect/hope from the name. The longevity is wonderful, more than 8+ hours and the sillage is radiant. I feel fortunate to have a bottle of this exceptional juice in my collection.

I could swear that I can smell something smokey and boozy in this. As a matter of fact... When my hubby and I were first dating, he used to smoke a pipe of tobacco out on the porch occasionally. Unfortunately my lungs were very sensitive from a case of pneumonia, so he had to stop, because even the lingering scent on his clothes would irritate my lungs. Ode de Vanille smells to me exactly like that sweet, smokey, smooth, vanilla-y scent that used to linger on his clothes and in his beard after he smoked some pipe tobacco. I don't think this is something I would personally wear, as it's not quite my style, but it's wonderful to get a whiff of and enjoy the scent from time to time. Might just go sneak a dab onto the hubby and see how it smells on him. ETA: Asked my hubby what kind of tobacco he used to get, he says it was unflavored cavendish. Had him smell my wrist, and he agreed it smelled like his pipe tobacco. Then I dabbed some on him and....it smells nothing at all like how it smells on me! Doesn't smell anything like pipe tobacco. I got a blast of strong resins and spices, no vanilla on him at all. Skin chemistry is an intriguing and mysterious thing.

Woah I accidentally bought/received this, thinking I was buying a cheap vintage Shalimar. I didn't even know this version existed, but I'm so glad I received this. It's Soo Beautiful! Ode a la Vanille is a smoother, more wearable version of Shalimar, but isn't sweetened like Soufflé (which I also love). It definitely feels like you're still wearing Shalimar, but with the gasoline note removed. I also agree with other commenters who said there are more notes in this than what is listed in the pyramid above. To me, I also detect citrus, bergamot, balsam, and amber. I love it. It leaves the loveliest, most beautiful scent trail, and I love catching whiffs of myself when I have this on. If it was more readily available, I'd wear this more than Shalimar EDP or EDT, as they can still be a bit challenging for me at times. But this, I'd wear all the freakin time. Such a happy accident, and I feel so lucky to have stumbled on it.

Well I am smitten! I am a fan of Shalimar, of Light/Legere and to Eau... So I had to try this one. At first without comparing, it seemed this was identical to reg Shalimar, but the vanilla nuance is there. Those who never liked Shalimar will probably not like this as they are very similar but where reg Shalimar has that waxy/gas note early on (which I love) but sometimes find it too serious for weekends, Ode skips over that note altogether. There is also the standard Shalimar powder notes missing and instead a slightly sweet low boozy (think diet SDV lol) tucked in Ode. Have had it now for a month and just loving Ode - easily wearing it to the office and on weekends and the drydown is sooo delicious much sweeter vanilla. But not petite fille or cupcake vanilla in any way. Will be getting a backup of this one for sure. Did I mention the bottle and box are gorgeous?

Thanks to one of my lovely swap partners I was able to test Ode A La Vanille. It's 100% Shalimar but with vanilla turned up and citrus dialed down. Though not listed citrus is still very much present. Amber makes it powdery, rich and opulent, creating a hefty base for everything else to lay upon. There's a musky animalic undertone which isn't surprising being a Shalimar. It's a warm, sweet, bordering gourmand version of Shalimar still retaining the original's powdery, citrus, animalic swag. Easy to wear in the cool months. Starts off strong then comes closer to the skin after 30 min. Much sweeter in the drydown where the tempering of citrus and powder has faded and vanilla and amber are left to their own devices. It can be sickeningly sweet so I couldn't see myself reaching for it regularly. But I'm thankful to have tried it.

Oh wow! I love this. This is art! This is an orgasmic experience! I won a 1.7oz bottle 90% full on ebay and ive been on a quest to find it for a long time! I want a bigger bottle. I desire to wear it but scared of using it all. I smell 3 distinct phases. It opens with fresh lemon and vanilla, next it smells like anise, leather, and lemon, finally for the remainder of the wear it smells like a luxurious expensive leather purse that someone spilled some compact powder and lipstick in. I swear there is iris in this. I can also smell sweetness from the vanilla and depth and creaminess from the resins. This is the ultimate lipstick/compact powder smell imo! I'm so sad that is discontinued! Why! Why do they do this! I'm in love and i want more:(

Dirty vanilla of shalimar without gasoline or powder - check! I do think this has some powder, and for sure the shalimar DNA. Nice and thick and sugary, I can imagine opoponax in here for sure like the OG shalimar. Vintage, but gourmand vintage which tend to cater better to younger audiences. I think this is much more wearable than OG EDP for sure. I'm missing the iris and florals, especially as I'm in a bit of a powdery iris phase but definitely love this too and happy to use up my sample. Edit. Smells real swanky gasoline on second try! Maybe as I'm comparing to more gourmand flankers ...

I had high hopes for this one. The opening was similar to the medicinal opening of Shalimar, but somehow muted. It is missing the powdery dry down I love from the original, and instead has a sugar almost Mugler-type vanilla. On me the silage and longevity are both poor, but I also dab instead of spray Shalimars(and many classic powerhouses). I feel it is like other flankers and is safer for a heavy sprayer than the original

I find this to be SO much more wearable than the original Shalimar, which smells far too medicinal to me. Everyone fawns over the "leather," but to me it smells like raw hide; it all makes me downright queasy. Ode de la Vanille lives up to its name. It's Shalimar smothered with heaps of creamy vanilla, which completely drowns out any of the original's nausea-inducing qualities. This is one Shalimar I wish I could own!

First off this is Shalimar at the beginning. It takes about an hour for the Vanilla really to kick in. It is not as powdery as original Shalimar. It is well done, but not extraordinary. Its worth it if you really want more Vanilla in the drydown. Update: This one is really short-lived. The more I have tried the more disappointed I am with it. It almost leaves me feeling cheated.

Reminiscent of the Shalimar of the 1970's, before the iconic perfume became an overwrought vanilla bomb. "Ode" is soft, powdery, lightly sweet, lightly vanilla. Feminine and hopelessly romantic. This was a limited edition from Guerlain. They should consider junking the current and making "Ode" the flagship of the Shalimar family.

Nice fragrance. Starts out lemony but not sweet. Then a mixture of iris and vanilla as it settles down. I would recommend that you apply this lightly. Use too much and it will smell medicinal, like the band-aid comments people make about Shalimar. It does get a tad bit masculine later.

Love this. Its very much appropriate any day, any occasion, any place. Its soft, attractive and its a subtle Shalimar. Its a favorite. Smells like a mild version of the original.

This to me is a sligthly more smokey and liquereboozy take one the Original edp shalimar The name Ode de vanille made me think this would be more strong on the Vanilla note then the original. but to me it is not that different on this note from the original .. this has a slightly more spicy note to it aswell.. The original is a little bit more powdery citrusy then this .. This is more off a night time queen . a woman shure off here self whit somthing strong in here glas , ready to seduce whom ever she set here eyes one.. (i would say that this is a bit more seducing then the Orignal) A beautiful fragrance , maybe more suitable for autumn and winter then summer . the original has the Citrus feal to brigthen it up . this one has a warmer more confy feal to it

I love Shalimar and I think this variation is wonderful. As others have stated, it starts out in the beginning being a slightly lighter version of Shalimar but the dry down has more vanilla. I think it would be great for the office as it is a sophisticated fragrance but not so overpowering as to be offensive. My only complaint is it doesn't seem to last on me more then a couple of hours. I see others have the same problem.

Very similar to the classical Shalimar. More herbal in the opening and with bigger dose of citrus. Then it turns very similar cedar-vetiver-leather. The resins, vanilla and spices are in the background. Up close it is a bit skunky. Rather for autumn and winter and just as fit for a day than for the evening

This is a lovely version of Shalimar, I agree it's a bit lighter than the original with the vanilla more pronounced. I also agree good for any occassion. It's never a bad day with Shalimar. I keep smelling my wrist whenever I wear this, and get a lot of compliments.

I like this better than the original, as it's more wearable. It's more smooth, not so sharp. The pyramid above isnt very accurate, it has much more going on than what it shows

I really like the dry down. very vanilla and powdery. but before it dries down I get a bit of sweaty gym socks.

Not really a good perfume to wear on this already 'spicy' skin. It just comes out all musty and synthetic, like a skeleton hiding out in some long-dead ancestor's closet! Not much vanilla, and too much heady spices. I only got a 1mL sample, and I'm glad I did.

Yesterday I got my bottle of "Sur la Route de Madagaskar", as it is a limited edition and being a Shalimar afficionada I simply could not resist. The bad news first : I found the bottle dissappointing in the way it should be altered a bit as it is not the regular EdP and should hence not be the same bottle with just some more letters on. Besides, they made such a fuzz about the outer packaging...well. Just my opinion on that. The good news : Delicious perfume and 100% suitable for those in love with vanilla and/or Shalimar EdP. My nose did not detect much difference, just the expected emphasis on a medium-sweet and slightly tobacco-infused vanilla. In the very beginning there is the same citrussy start-off as I knew it from my EdP. As I already love my regular EdP as a creme brulée treat I have fallen in love this limited edition as well. Whoever does not like the regular Shalimar will most likely not like this one either as it includes the main characteristics of its big sister. Too bad it is available only with extra efforts : I had to place an order with my preferred perfume boutique in town and even though they sell the regular Guerlain scents she only got this one bottle in her order and did not offer other bottles of Ode à la Vanille in her store. Strange, it seems you need to have a "special license" to sell it. The marketing seems incredibly strange with Guerlain. Nevertheless - my overall result : nice, nice, nice one !

Found this, regarding the differences between the 2010 and 2012 relaunch: The Route de Madagascar (2012) opens with a sharper, brighter lemon note, it is a tad sweeter as it develops, creamier, a bit more gourmand, it is softer, less smoky and less leathery. But we are talking nuances here. The differences are not dramatic, but noticeable. Deep, smoky, with a feeling of “noir” (REAL noir, dear Chanel!) and the accent on the basenotes, Madagascar is truly bewitching. Upon spraying we are hit with the familiar bergamot-lemon-cream opening, which is very sweet and almost reminiscent of Eau de Shalimar, the lighter, summery version of Shalimar. It dissipates after a while to showcase a smoky vanilla-leather in a big way. That is a kind of preview of things to come in the drydown. The sillage is very big at the beginning, but after half an hour it shrinks back (to my relief actually, I will remember to spray this on a good while before I have to leave the house!) to more comfortable levels. Now the floral heart becomes apparent, always with an undercurrent of dry patchouli, smoky leather and sweet benzoin. Wrapping this arrangement like a soft, but warm cashmere throw, is the vanilla. Dark, spicy and nuanced, this is far from your run of the mill sweet ‘n happy vanilla. It is complex and alluring, it shows depth and sensuality, but it still manages to be roll-your-eyes-back-and-curl-your-toes delicious.

Being part oriental, I was always going to be attracted to this one. I remember the first time I tried it at the department store, I initially felt let down by the citrus affront, then after 20-30mins of walking about I picked up the changed, it warmed into a more sensual and pleasant vanillery woody scent with a twist. It's stylish yet mysterious and sensual. It stayed on my skin practically the whole day. Where does it take me? To the interior of a beautiful blue ship sailing on the south-east orient, where I'm a kimono-clad princess resting on a bed of cream silk sheets, burning incense and eating delicious vanilla icecream :)

I love how this is a spinnoff with more vanilla,but when i smelt it,its just like shalimar without the leathery note(i love it coz i hate too much leather) but i dont like how it takes the powderiness from the original shalimar,i dont smell any sweetness whatsoever,another thing,i dont think its more vanilla but its less everything except vanilla,i dont have a keen eye on non-sweet vanilla fragrances,so without the powderiness i think its even less vanilla than the original

Upon first sniff, Ode a la Vanille is just the same as the original Shalimar EDP. I was in public and overwhelmed, so I don't blame myself for thinking so carelessly. Shalimar Ode a la Vanille is much bitier than the original, much more balsamic and sour. That's not entirely a bad thing. It settles down to a very beautiful resinous affair, I'm going to guess benzoin and perhaps something like myrrhe? Very unusual and I'd love to own a bottle at some point.

Am stil on my quest to find this perfume.can anybody help me.wilĺ buy or swop if you like anything of mine thats compatable.i find the leather in the shalimar edp overwelming and the parfum doesnt help.its the powder note that attracts me to this perfume.i just bought a bottle of what i thought was the ode but after checking properly it turned out to be mexico unboxed which i already have.i want a summer shalimar but the edt would be to light.thank you

I was hoping this could be a Shalimar I could wear. A friend wears the original and it's an incredible vanilla incense on her. On me, it's a mess. This started the same, going on a horrid sticky vanilla, with acidic, medicinal lemon and harsh strong synthetic civet. In half an hour it dried to the delicious vanilla incense I was hoping for! Annnnndddd....faded back down to the sticky horrible bug-repellant and vanilla it started with. Sad.

This smells like Shalimar EDP only with less strength and lasting power. I was expecting some sort of ode to vanilla or emphasis on it, but I didn't detect anything of the sort. This was just regular Shalimar neutered with its sexy growl missing. Also, this lasted poorly on my skin--even less time than the EDT or cologne formulations of the original. This is difficult to get ahold of, so I'm almost relieved I wasn't impressed.

Shalimar Ode a la Vanille is a fragrance in harmony with the exotic sweetness of vanilla. Shalimar per se, just Shalimar, is, however, my only option among the whole series of versions of this unique perfume that have been made to date. Perhaps because of the fact that I almost always used its extract form and never a light version of Shalimar.

Shalimar is indeed the queen of perfume. Sensual, soft and carnal. However, I would strongly suggest to anyone that they source the vintage stuff from ebay. The vintage is more leathery, musky and rounder. Ebay is a great place to seek out these gems. I have an 80ml bottle of vintage 1970's extract. A world apart front what's on the shelves.

The lemon opening reminds me of Habit Rouge, it then turns in to a lighter version of Shalimar without the leather. Then the bottom notes are a skin scent dark vanilla. It's lovely and a nice change of pace. I prefer the original version more because of the leather but I will wear this on occassions where I need a lighter scent.

Light and sweet with kind of depth and intensity to me. Very classic with a modern twist, in which vanilla notes warm the fresh burst of citrus aromas. A totally sensual, sophisticated, bewitching fragrance.

La version de Shalimar qui m'a enfin permis de me l'offrir. Je lui trouve une parfaite cohérence et un petit quelque chose de l'extrait dans cette version là. Subtil et terriblement féminin.

I have a near full bottle for sale or swap in nz message me for details