Venenum 32

EDIT TO UPDATE 3/8/24: Ok... so I need to buy a new bottle since I had returned the last one. Apparently I adore this fragrance. I do wish it had better performance but the scent itself is SO WELL DONE. If anyone is wondering about the "spicy notes" - they are not overdone or overpowering at all - very well-balanced. I am hoping that with time this beauty will just get a heavier sillage/projection as it matures. I have been noticing this happening with other perfumes of mine that I almost gave up on. Now nearly 3/4 year later their performance has jumped up a significant amount. And it isn't too often that I find a fragrance/scent that I absolutely adore. I need to try the Cartier one now... Does anyone else know of any other fragrances that are similar to this? ORIGINAL POST: I am so sad this didn't work out. It smells AMAZING and is exactly what I've been looking for. But it just isn't strong enough. I can only smell it when I put my nose to skin/clothes. And even then it dies down within the hour to being barely detectable. Wow does it smell fantastic but it needs to be 2-3× stronger - and it would still not be a very strong fragrance. It is a soft-spicy lactonic woody fragrance. Very beautiful but it is frustrating me. So I think I need to pass it on. If this had better performance it could be one of my favorite perfumes ever. I have and love Piano Santal, which is definitely similar. My quest for more lactonic-woody fragrances continues. This has been my favorite genre of perfume, along side gourmand. I recommend this for someone who doesn't mind a light fragrance, where they may not smell it a lot themselves but others around them can perceive it. I've tried overspraying it too... can anyone confirm if this gets better performance after maturing for a while? Would love more recommendations for similar fragrances too.

This is exquisite to my nose.... a comforting warm mug of milky chai, gently sipped as you walk around in the silence and peace of a new dawn, breaking on a early summer day. It is evocative of that specific state...when the world is still, your mind relaxed, your soul calm, your heart open, and you just enjoy the stillness and the silence of everything atound you that's imbued with the golden light and growing warmth of the returning sun. Where you can just be. This is a really realistic chai black tea, warming spices and the most divine and relaxing laconic leaming sandalwood note. It reminds me somewhat of 'Starlight' by Xjerkoff, which I also adore, the difference is this one is less cardamom leaning, and focuses more on cumin and other spices, backed by a black tea and sandalwood base. Whilst the Xerjoff one is bright, sweet and more of a high pitched perfume that sings to the celestial skies, this one is more mellow, a cosy sunrise light, rather than the bright spark of 'Starlight'. It is savoury and doesn't go too sweet, whilst it is more of a low meditative chant that feels more grounded to the earth beneath us. I don't understand the complaints that this one doesn't last either, it lasts rather well on me for an l'artisan perfume, which are often short lived beauties. I really need to get myself a full Bottle of this, as along with 'Starlight' (which I already own) they're both the best example of this sort of style scent I've found that, whilst with similarities in the scent itself, both create a different emotional state in myself. I totally love the both of them. Edit - treated myself to this as a full bottle and couldn't be happier. I'll look forward to wearing this a lot in the autumn weather.

Holy jebus, I love this. First, the bottle is badass - snakey and ambery and mysterious. But who cares about the bottle? This stuff is so freaking delicious. You are greeted with chai tea -- just spicy enough to be interesting but not so much to offend the nostrils (and nearby humans). Yes, this has facets of milk tea - but the lactonic note is not super strong or sour. It feels comforting the way a hot milky tea might feel (I think of the Cowboy Junkies song "Cold Tea Blues" when I wear this scent). The real magic happens at the drydown where the most delicious soft spicy flourish lingers -- so warm, so beautiful. This is a perfect scent for cold weather. I don't get any vanilla here but this is one of those fragrances that is blended so well that to pick out individual notes is to miss the point. L'Artisan has been very hit or miss for me (mostly miss) so I was surprised to have fallen in so deeply with this one. Extreme love and lust all around. 10 hell yeahs/10 hell yeahs

Sadly finished a bottle of this and it's sad because i already miss how comforting and cozy it has been to wear this fragrance, it reminds me of the good smell of a cozy calm living room. It's especially good for cooler autumn days or early spring when winter is leaving but spring flowers didn't start to bloom yet. I agree on the name being badly matched with the actual notes, i couldn't see anything narcotic and poisonous in it. The opening has a soft cinnamon feeling which is not annoying or overly present, short after Venenum evolves into a milky sandalwood and i get hints of basmati rice too...the projection is discreet and after about 5 hours it's a skin scent. Stays waaay longer on clothes, i m able to smell it after days on a sweater and i love that, it makes me want to cuddle up in it and sip tea,maybe tea with milk with some cinnamon butter cookies.

cf L'Artisan Parfumeur's website: Fragrance Notes: Masala Chai, Rice, Sandalwood So the spices, tea and milk listed here stand for the chai tea and are not to be considered separately, so the masala chai icon - which exists in fragrantica's notes - should be used here to avoid misinterpretation ... and where does the bread note come from when it should be rice? Venenum is the hot and spicy masala chai tea you would love to sip when coming in from the chilly outside, cupping your mug to warm your fingers and inhaling the fragrant steam. Joint by the sandalwood this is such a cozy perfume, perfect for this time of the year and the colder months to come.

My husband and I used to go to a delicious Nepalese restaurant called Kathmandu. Every time we went, I would get the restaurant's signature Kathmandu tea– a spiced, milky, masala chai black tea whose aroma was enough to make me fall in love with it before sipping. That comforting, aromatic experience is captured beautifully in this beautiful snakey bottle. This is exactly the kind of gourmand a gourmand-skeptic like me enjoys. I always love it when an appealing bottle houses an equally appealing fragrance! Beautifully blended. Moderate longevity and surprisingly polite sillage for the heaviness of the notes.

I've just tried (reformulated) Santal Blush, and it's quite similar to Venenum. However, Santal is very thin, it lacks depth and doesn't have the cozy factor that Venenum creates well. It is also spicy and a bit creamy, but it smells a bit more synthetic and basic woody than V. Go with Venenum, it's a better and more memorable creation. Someone in comments asked if Venenum has been reformulated- I first got a factory sample from the official website. Yes, the projection was weak, so I decided to find an old bottle with a bee. It took me a while to find it, but unfortunately, there is no difference.

I’ve gown up with Indian chai and to my nose this is not a straight up Indian chai. I would say this is another drink which is warm milk with chai spices, little bit of sugar and saffron (though) not in notes. There’s sandalwood and hint of tea in the background. The perfumers website also has rice listed in the notes but I didn’t smell any. It gets to the dry down pretty fast with a soapy sandalwood like the sandalwood soaps that you get in India. I enjoyed every stage of this journey and want the FB if it wasn’t so expensive! A lovely cosy scent for cooler months. IG/Tiktok: @wilddew_vibes

I bought a bottle of this back when it was designed with the golden bee on the bottle. Years later as the weather starts to become cooler I find myself craving for the creamy, smooth and delicious smell I remembered. Finally took the hit on my wallet and bought it. It's the same scent, I love it just as much but I am starting to think have they reformulated it? I found this time the juice is less potent, it has a weaker projection, still a good longevity on fabrics but seems to be faster to fade on skin (am I alone in this?)

I love sandal wood, especially lactonic sandal wood. That is why I love both By Killian - Sacred Wood and Chlo'e Santalum. However, this one is totally different. The spicy warm Chai tea opening makes it very interesting. The dry down is not exactly lactonic sandal wood, it is more like rice or wheat-scented sandal wood but I also love it. Another love at first sniff to dry down. Moderate sillage and longivity. If you like Chai tea and sandal wood, blind buy should not be a problem.

Irresistibly warm, buttery cookies smoked with spices fresh out of oven, dried orange, wholegrain rye bread, and ginger milk tea on the side. It's more of a night scent for me, because that's when I crave for such treats. The fulfilling warmth and goodness that it radiates, lures me to sleep. This one is a exceptionally well harmonised gourmand, unlike Cartier Declaration. + I normally hate chai latte, but the richness of the scent changed my mind 7.8/10

This is an incredibly beautiful milky, sandalwood, chai. I agree with the majority of the reviews saying so. The spices are dry and sweetened just enough. This isn’t gourmand, but then again it almost is. This is sandalwood made edible. I love this scent. This is one I would carry with me and respray throughout the day as needed. L’Artisan has great sales in the winter. Keep your eye out. I bought my bottle on sale last year.

A cozy kitchen at dusk. The sunlight is gentle and golden. A kettle hums on the stove, and every so often a little cloud of cardamom‐and‐cinnamon steam rises into the air. On the table, a bowl of fluffy rice sits beside a warm, crusty loaf of bread. The aroma of the bread mingles with the soft scent of sandalwood incense lazily curling through the room. This is comfort in a bottle.

I love this stuff. I was shopping for green/fresh scents and was given a sample of this - WOW. Instant buy. No regrets but its not as long lasting as others I own. I dont think it opens that much versus others on the market, but god almighty its just such a beautiful scent to catch on the wind. I just love it, and luckily I got the last one at my local spot.

This scent is decadent, spicy, and playful. It’s the seduction of a priest who tends to a poison garden. I bake him sweet spiced pastries and he sends me dark blooms and sonnets filled with yearning. The sillage and longevity is just enough so that it’s our little open secret. Definitely worth a try; the whole Botanique collection is gorgeous.

I smelled this and thought “this smells exactly like chai!” and then read the notes and went - oh that’s why! It’s a beautiful spicy, milky, vanilla perfume. Would work best in cold weather I think. Unisex but I’d say the sweetness makes it lean slightly feminine. Really unique and nice one to have in the collection.

Yesterday I was in Indian restaurant and drink really tasty, authentic (ang o god, not so sweet) masala chai. And this fragrance is the same! Finally spicy tea, warm and cozy and without vanilla or tonka!! Hell yeah!

To me extremely sandalwood dominant, it's actually hard to notice anything else. I tried a sample but I'm in love with the bottle. Hoping I can buy from someone it didn't work for.

On my skin it smells like horchata and I kind of love it for fall!

Five spiced version of Le Labo 26. Interesting oriental gourmet!