Nubica

EDIT - 2 months later: I'm so happy I kept it! I had to educate myself to love it. Other fashionable and trendy fragrances make you "fall in love instantly". But then you might grow tired of them. I've been using this one for a while, and now I understand it. I think it's a 'long term relationship' kind of love. JC Ellena's creations are not agressive for the nose. They are kind on our sense of smell. So take your time to get to know them! Unbelievably beautiful! ------------- This was a blind buy, because I own already 7 fragrances from Le Couvent and I love their quality. I'd been searching for a more vanilla scent, and using their website's fragrance finder, it kept pointing me in the direction of Nubica. So... blind buy... and I wanted to love it so much, but I can't. On my skin, and on paper, all I smell is Patchoul. Sorry, it's not what I expected on my skin. So, even if I love all their creations, why, oh, why, did I expect something so different? I blame these lines from other reviews: -"Nubica has a slightly medicinal smelling patch and is much sweeter in a sugary way because it's tonka vanilla (mainly tonka!)" = IMO, I get ZERO sweetness here. Warmth? maybe, but zero sweet. -"and lots of sweet, powdery tonka!" = IMO ok, yes, I get Tonka, but again, this is not what I would call sweet. -"the vanilla is so dry, and is fabulous. The patchouli that i love is light and transparent, is fantastic. But this parfum last only about 20 minutes on my skin..." = IMO - I don't get the vanilla, the patchoulis is indeed light and transparent, one of the best you'll ever get; it's been on my skin for 5 hours (but I applied 6-7 sprays) -"the dry down is similar to TF noir extreme but not so sweet . You get vanilla, cacao, tonka beans and a hint of tobacco." = I get a slight cacao, more tonka and patchouli. -"The patch is tamed, very tame but at the same time you know what it is. Surrounding it is a semi sweet vanilla that somehow gives off an almost nutty vibe but never quite gets there." = I agree with the 'almost nutty' only... I expected a sweet comforting scent... and realize this is someone else's idea of comfort. My idea of comfort is Fort Royal's or Porto Bello's dry down, or even Heliaca and Aqua Minimes are my idea of perfect elegance. I agree most with Selfscentred and Tamlin's descriptions. It's a beautiful scent and I can appreciate why people love it, but I expected it to be more agressively sweet/choucolatoussy vanilla/patch... it's completely different to the idea I had while reading. Maybe I'll start enjoying it in a few months. Meanwhile, I'll go back to Tinhare, Ilhabela and ... oh, layering. I'll add Molinard's vanilla and see what happens.

This is my all time favourite perfume! On my skin it opens more essence-y - which I deeply love. After a while, it becomes more citrus-y, but also vanilla-y, which I find to be a very balanced and lovely mix. It smells comforting, cosy and warm, but elegant, airy and clean. It is not too sweet, which I appreciate since I don't really enjoy gourmand perfumes, at least not when they are too sweet and loud. Also, it lasts all day on my skin - it is not a loud perfume, so the whole room won't be smelling Nubica, but it is still moderate to intimate, which again, I personally appreciate. I love smelling it throughout the day. In my opinion, this perfume leans more feminine, but it is still unisex. It is overall all a more than amazing perfume, my favourite without a doubt, but I do understand it can be more "niche", in the sense it is not like most "commercial" perfumes we are used to. It was a blind buy for me, but I after years of searching for my signature perfume and learning what I liked and disliked, I knew I was going to love it. Being that said, I wouldn't recommend it as a blind buy unless you are sure you like an essence-y perfume (Patchouli especially).

Powdery non-sweet vanilla rounded by a soft and almost transparent patchouli. Non-offensive, linear and simple, but really enjoyable and equally wearable. Some think scents like that are too basic or even boring, but Nubica smells good without too much fuzz and I find myself craving this type of non-challenging scents recently. Basically they are comforting in times with a lot of uncertainty and instability. Covid, war, financial insecurity; we live in stressfull times and most of us have to make adjustments in order to keep going. Nubica isn’t a scent I have to adapt to; it simply adapts to me. It makes me feel relaxed, calm and at ease and for that I’m thankful.

Dry vanilla. I got a soft spot for that. I'd say this is a 3 season fragrance. People seem to like it when i wear it and it seems to project nicely without being to much and lingers for a while. It's the sweet spot for a fragrance like this that otherwise would be easily to much if you're not carefull. This will be my secret weapon for when the weather gets a little colder.

I got to tell... this is my favourite perfum... ❤ I just love it... special to wear on my skin, not on my clouthers. Its just lean on my skin and stays for quite long. The scent is a perfecion to me. Its like the scent I always had on my mind and now i find it. This is how I always wanted my skin to smell... perfect perfect perfect.