Vetiver & Golden Vanilla

Vetiver is an ingredient that has been used since ancient Babylonian times. Until this day, it is brought to gods and goddesses in India as gifts of adoration by their worshippers. It is named, since ancient times, as "The Oil of Tranquility" and as "The Scent of Earth." Vetiver actually reduces and/or eliminates inflammation anywhere in the nervous system and has been proven to be as effective as diazepam on general anxiety disorder! It has also been proven to be effective treatment for those with panic disorder. I am a sufferer of panic disorder and I was so surprised that my anxiety disappeared when using Tom Ford's Bitter Peach. Just, POOF! Disappeared! I would have a panic attack riding in a vehicle but never when wearing Bitter Peach! Then one day I tried on Vetiver and Golden Vanilla at a Jo Malone boutique and this had the same effect on me as Bitter Peach. So, I went home and spent hours reading about Vetiver. Indeed, it eliminates nervous system inflammation!!! I was able to pinpoint my new mental freedom to the use of Vetiver and now I always use either Bitter Peach (apparently, it really does contain some high quality Vetiver in it); or, JM's Vetiver and Golden Vanilla. What a gift from Heaven! I am literally so grateful! As for the scent of this one... sillage on me is strong and longevity is 12 hours or longer. Even after showering it's still there! I'd say it leans more masculine than feminine, however, I really don't care. I have a very feminine facial structure and wardrobe style, so, it's interesting to balance out my overall impact with a masculine-type perfume. So, this works for me. I hope this information here can help anyone else with generalized anxiety disorder and/or panic disorder. Also, yes, Vetiver is an actual ingredient in Bitter Peach.

African Rooibos was my favorite tea fragrance and I thought it couldn’t be topped, but I would choose this over it. I love how when you don’t think you can find something better in a certain genre, but there’s always something else out there. My experience so far after about 5 wears or so: Performance 6-8 hours. Personal bubble scent. when you catch a whiff off the atomizer and in the opening on skin, it’s very tea forward. But it’s not an ugly tea on me at all. I feel like it puts the Golden in vanilla in my mind. It’s like a Shiny and metallic almost smell, but not overly so. Very tame shiny and metallic tea scent. You can sort of smell other stuff in the background. After about 5-10 minutes on skin, the tea note melds with everything else. It’s funny, it’s like the vetiver pops in and out, the vanilla is a very natural subtly spicy, yet almost edible vanilla. The vanilla and the vetiver work together beautifully. The grapefruit must be a bright type of grapefruit, but it’s not a harsh grapefruit smell. I think it just adds a little brightness to that tea note. I feel like the cardamom just helps bring the vanilla and vetiver together. As more time goes on it gets more wispy and it’s just beautifully blended in my opinion. The vetiver keeps popping in to let you know it’s there. I love the way everything works together. I damn near want to drink the stuff. Far into the life of the fragrance it turns into a creamy dirty/vetiver vanilla skin scent. Extremely unisex off my skin. I don’t find it to be overly masculine or feminine. Doesn’t scream either of the opposite sex, it just smells good. Damn good in my opinion.

Sometimes I hate that I live in the South, and after getting a sample decant of Vetiver&Golden Vanilla, it is one of those times I wished I lived in a colder climate. This is a warm, cozy, incense, gentle spice fragrance that I think would be best for chilly/cold Autumn and Winter months. Upon first application with the sample dabber, my nose got an instant rush of fresh cut hay...the vetiver. I thought oh no, Yuck!! This smells like a farm. Lol. But, within 2 minutes, that new mowed hay smell was gone. Yay! Now, all I want to do is sniff my wrist. I'm loving on this warm, tea-spice note, which I'm thinking is the cardamon, and it's sweetened with vanilla...Not cloyingly sweet, teen-age vanilla, but a cocoon wrapping, comfy sweater adult vanilla. I don't smell tobacco that many other reviewers picked up on. My nose is getting a more spiritual incense fragrance, but not that in your face Easter church incense...something far more subtle. I'm totally missing the grapefruit or any other citrus scent, however, I'm smelling a sweet jam-like note...not sure where that's coming from. I've always been a person who likes spicy fragrances over florals (loved Chergui), so I don't find this juice a turn-off for a woman. I'll go with unisex. Maybe I'll have hubby try it and see what he and I think? There's slight sillage with just dabbing unto my skin, and longevity is about 5 hours, which is great for a JM fragrance. I have other vanilla frags (Spiritueuse and Essential Parfum's Divine Vanille)...neither resemble this. Never tried TF's TV, so I can't compare, but this is a unique scent for me.

this is really a gorgeous elegant green vanilla. definitely signature scent worthy. it's surprisingly one of my new favourites, and totally unexpected to me from a brand that i'm not drawn to. i'd never heard of this frag until i spotted it in a department store (originally wanted to try the hinoki scent actually on recommendation from a colleague) and, intrigued by the name featuring two of my all time favourite notes, spritzed a bit on my wrist. that was about 5 months ago, and all i remember was 1. i loved it and 2. it reminded me of another one of my all time favourites, gris charnel. i still think they share a "cousins" type of similarity (undoubtedly the cardamom-tea combo), however GC is much more bold and woody where V&GV is very soft and creamy to my nose. finally i got my hands on a full bottle on sale. this is one of those scents where i can truly pick out each note in the composition (i guess it helps when there are few of them). on my skin, the opening is very bright and green with that citrus tea hit, and once settled is very cardamom-forward with a toasty cozy vanilla base. i almost think this should be called cardamom & golden vanilla.. i get the vetiver however pretty faintly in the back, would love it to be a bit more prominent as it's one of my favourite notes. i'm definitely keen to try layering with another vetiver-forward frag i own.

(Arrival test on paper) Hmmm....not what I was expecting. I have to stop expecting sweet fulfillment every time I see "Vanilla" in a title. This is a grassy green vanilla in the opening...like "Lalique - Le Parfum" and "VS - Tease Creme Cloud"... Both of which I already own...Guess I'm adding a third to my collection of "Green Vanillas". Starts out super duper green...pure vetiver almost...I don't like it much. Drydown an hour later is a stronger version of "Whispers in the Library"...THAT, I like ! (Follow-up test on skin) Opens with the Grapefruit and Vetiver!! Fresh...vetivery...moreso fresh! Almost feels like there is a Black/Pink-pepper in the background as the opening fades and the Grapefruit/light-citrus fades away. In the mid....I'm not getting any Tea...though I'm picking up a smoothness...guessing that's the vanilla and the spiciness is coming from the cardamom? Still very green with the Vetiver being the core of the fragrance. Yeah...Vanilla is just here to smooth the overall fragrance tone...it's not sweet and neither is it the focus of the fragrance. Overall...very professional...though it's missing....something....probably missing a creamy gourmandy vanilla. Verdict: This will require a few wears to get a real sense of how and where to wear this one. And what to mix it with to make it perfect.