Vanille Violette

If you love Violet your are going to love this perfume. It is one big Violet bomb with Vanilla sweeteners and powdery fillers. The fragrance stays true to its notes during the day and loses none of it staying power. It was a 42C day here in Australia and this perfume did not miss a beat, I smell just as fresh and gorgeous this afternoon as when I first applied it this morning. One of my all time favourite Violets.

The initial spray is fresh - the violet is just a tad sharp. The drydown comes quickly and it's pretty, smooth, silky, creamy, lovely, lilting, swoon-worthy. Vanille Violette is on the cleaner side of a gourmand, and on the warmer side for a violet scent. I like it much better that I'd anticipated. Something about it is familiar, but I can't put my finger on it. It's a little powdery but not childish.

VANILLE VIOLETTE is another very appealing fragrance from the Senteurs Gourmandes line in which vanilla appears but does not steal the show from the star, in this composition, violets. I have tried a number of violet-rich frags in recent months, and many of them seemed more like plastic violets than fresh ones. VANILLE VIOLETTE, in contrast, does not have that plasticky quality at all. The violets here are noteworthy, not pushy, as I have sometimes found. There is not a lot of development to this fragrance, but it is a pleasing synthesis: violet and rose petals sprinkled with a touch of vanilla sugar and sustained by benzoin. I've eaten rose petals before, and this composition makes me wonder whether violets might be edible too! In any case, I'm adding VANILLE VIOLETTE to my wish list.

Immediately upon smelling this I thought... nostalgic...but what? Baby powder! But done in a very grownup way. Opening is similar to Tokyo Milk's Honey and the Moon except with more fresh violets and vanilla replaces the sticky honey. As it dries down it turns into talcum powder, still with violets in the forefront. Compared to other reviews it only yields slight sweetness that keeps apart from being as gourmand for me. Wearing this I imagine myself as a flapper dusting myself with french powder before a night on the town. Very simple but with a vintage feel. I'll use this for spring days when I want to smell light and fresh but I'd rather turn to Honey and the Moon for the edible violets. I've also been enjoying Balenciaga Paris's wet/earthy chypre take on the flora.

Mmmm, Vanille Violette is instantly likeable! Soft and sweet, but with a good projection. Fresh powdery violets and light vanilla blended seamlessly with the other notes to form a feminine scent that is floral and gourmand, but also has an interesting waxy/plasticky feel. There is something here that while not juvenile, takes me right back to childhood. Dolls, makeup, candy, and carefree contentment. A very pretty and comforting fragrance! It stays mostly linear with the violet dying down to a vanilla skin scent. A mood booster for me!