Vanille Sauvage de Madagascar

Imagine you are opening up a dark flask of Madagascar bourbon vanilla, only you're not going to bake a cake with it. Instead, this is the secret ingredient to the chocolate chip waffles you're making. Smell that? They come out of the waffle iron with the perfect amount of crispiness and you serve with caramel syrup and lavender lattes. Vanille Sauvage de Madagascar is a beautiful vanilla scent, straight up but well-rounded. The lavender note is much fainter than the notes would suggest, however, it smells chocolatey-caramel to my nose. When you get beneath the forward vanilla notes, there is a traditional amber with incense and a balsamic quality. Contrast to Vanille Franck Boclet: These are different, but both are vanilla forward scents. Citrus is more forward in VFB while lavender is more forward in VSdM, but they share the insense-y amber quality. Roughly equivalent performance. Comparison to Pacifica Island Vanilla body lotion: These are different, but I initially thought this was the closest vanilla scent to my nose. Over time I noticed the incense-y amber more in VSdM. The performance is much better than Pacifica Island Vanilla. The chocolate and caramel hints are done in a similar way. Comparison to Lira by Xerjoff: These are different, although these are both forward vanilla scents. The citrus is more prominent in Lira, and the lavender more prominent in Vanille Sauvage de Madagascar which also has a more noticeable incense-y amber. Overall: this is a classic and rich vanilla, great for layering or on it's own. Worth more than a decant. 10/10.

I didn't really know what to expect and never really heard of this house before, picked it up on sale as a blind buy. The aromatic notes intrigued me. I fall in love with this a little more each time I wear this. It's 85% custard-y sweet vanilla, the rest is sandalwood, smokiness from the incense, a bit of lavender and then just a touch of a coriander spiciness that comes through. For someone passing you by and getting a whiff of the projection, lavender and coriander is probably not very noticeable except it warms up the vanilla and makes it more than a one dimensional vanilla gourmand. I know a lot of reviews mentioned the lack of lavender, I prefer it because the blaring lavender in YSL Libre almost put be off the note for good when I tested that. I appreciate restraint sometimes. To me it's enough to just pique your nose that there's a je ne sais quoi depth without being able to pick out that it's lavender. I paid about $25 for 30mL on sale which is decent. While not an unusual combination, both the vanilla and sandalwood are very pleasant and smooth, as well as well balanced. Like the name suggests, it is akin to a madagascar baking vanilla, that is dark brown toffee-type of vanilla, not a bright screechy vanilla akin to say Body Shop. It's not so sweet that others may find it cloying or headache inducing, IMO, because of the round warmth.

Vanille Sauvage de Madagascar opens with a subtly refreshing and spicy combination of bergamot and lavender with a touch of coriander and thyme. The lavender smoothly transitions into a smoky vanilla, sandalwood and vetiver with a hint of geranium heart. The vetiver and geranium fade and my favourite combination of vanilla and sandalwood settles into a glorious base. It’s warm and cozy but also mysterious and misty. It’s slightly powdery, woody, soft and musky. It smells like dreams and adventures. It smells exotic but homely. It smells like markets and gardens. It reminds me of the song 'Scarborough Fair.' It smells Celtic. It smells magical. It’s rather sexy, both cool and warm as well as being gender-neutral. It’s slightly honeyed with a touch of floral sweetness. It’s mature and worldly and easily wearable. You could wear it anywhere and at any-time and it’s sooo affordable. It’s got medium sillage and lasts about 5 hours. I brought the set of all 5 La Maison de la Vanille 15ml EDT’s. I love this collection and think it is a must for vanilla-lovers. I applaud this wonderfully blended perfume. I carry it with me in my purse and will by the 100ml FB when I run out.

This is a GROWN UP vanilla perfume. It trumps any and all of the vanilla perfumes I have tried, including my beloved Vanilla Fields and all of it's sister scents produced by La Maison. It is french, "herb-y", and FABULOUS. It mixes well with warm skin and is unobtrusive yet leaves an impression of you with other people that exudes warmth and caring and sensuality that is not an overt sexual smell, just a scent that let's people know you are comfortable with your femininity and are happy to be in your own shoes. I received compliments on this parfum (when I could not smell it on myself) from the woman at the ferry landing (seattle), the man at the gas-station, my husband and the bag-boy at Safeway all in one evening. They are quite affordable, especially since you do not need much. I highly recommend the "Divine des Tropiques" sister body lotion to go with it. It smells like you have been on a vanilla plantation in the sun while visiting Ibizia. Love it!

Another lovely offering from La Maison de la Vanille, Vanille Sauvage de Madagascar is very similar to Vanille Noire du Mexique, both very agreeable vanillas that aren't influenced by a ton or floral or spicy characteristics. But where Mexique is provocative and dark, Madagascar is subtle and blended with woods. I really don't get too many of the listed notes---sure, lavender could be in the mix but apart from that, the florals are unusually shy and I'm mostly left the with mixed base of sandalwood, incense, and vetiver, which are all subservient to the main vanilla note, as with most of the other La Maison de la Vanille fragrances. Performance is solid for an EDT. I might have to get a full bottle of this in addition to the Mexique. Impressively blended and very pleasant. A recommendation for vanilla lovers. 8 out of 10