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.

I've just sampled Patchouli by Reminiscence and in the dry down, it's very very similar to Nubica! Both are great! I'm learning to love Patchouli.

The vibe of this is kind of reminiscent of Dior Homme Intense. The very mild vanilla note has a similar warm, powdery vibe, and the patchouli has a similar floral/woody vibe. This is much lighter and more simple, though, and the patchouli gives it a bit of a more green, earthy vibe. So yeah, that's about it. A simpler, lighter, greener Dior Homme Intense. Really not bad, but not really amazing either. It's cheaper than DHI, but not that much cheaper, so you might as well go for the real thing. The cheaper price is reflected in the lack of complexity and depth. Then again, maybe a more simple scent is exactly what you want, or maybe you just love patchouli, and in that case this could be a very good option. There's really nothing wrong with it. A nice, simple, cheap-ish niche fragrance.

I really enjoy Nubica. I tried it several times before I bought it. It is a pretty linear and simple scent, but I just couldn't get it off my mind. Pretty obvious, but you have to love patch to like this. I think the vanilla-patchouli ratio is perfect (a 50/50 feel for a good part of it's duration).This is a natural scent, not a sweet one. A lot of patch in the opening, and a realistic vanilla that gets more dominant in the dry-down. A simple and easy to wear fragrance ❤️ I will reach for this a lot Update: layered this with vetiver essential oil and loved the result! Yum! Can't wait to try layering with other oils and perfumes as well

As someone who is ordinarily not a huge fan of patchouli fragrances, I’m decently pleased with this one. In the opening, the patchouli is quite strong, with just a little touch of sweetness. However, the drydown is the reverse—soft, dry vanilla grounded by a non-overbearing amount of patchouli. This lasts over 6 hours on my skin, although the projection is very subtle. I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re seeking a sweet vanilla, but it’s a pleasant, simple scent that performs as advertised. I have a 10 ml spray, but I can’t see myself upgrading to a full bottle.

At first I was going to describe Nubica as patchouli and nothing but patchouli. But several hours onto my wrist I can stigg subtle hints of smoke - the kind you smell in winter in teh countryside. I do not sense the vanilla individually, but the parfume bears a sweetness (just the rigt amount, nothing sugary or sticky) which I assume is coming from the vanilla notes, announced in the description. Overall, for me it is a nostalgic and mature winter perfume. Not too complicated, but sophisticated at the same time.

I'd call this an extreme comfort scent. Bedtime... reading a book... long walk to clear your head... it's really growing on me even though I usually like things more intense or bold than this. Soft but not a wall-flower, if that makes sense.

Un petit parfum d'excellente qualitée Vanille patchouli , assez féminin , presque poudré. Malheureusement tenue et performance tres faible.

Atacama desert in Chile by Melanie fritz ( milky way )

This is nice, in an ethereal way. 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. It's an easy wear, but I'm not sure I'd use it much. The longevity is good, but it's got that no sillage thing perfumers are going for these days.

It gives me nausea, it's not funny! Smells like something rotten with freshly burnt sugar on top

I don't think this is similar to Eau Duelle EDP or EDT. It's more sugary and powdery rather than the smooth and natural vanilla in the Diptyques. From the official Le Couvent site: Top note: Mandarin Heart note: Patchouli Base Note: Tonka Bean & Vanilla It's in the same sort of area as Lush Lord of Misrule without actually smelling like it. LOM is an earthy and green patch with warmth from black pepper and a very creamy and quite thick vanilla. Nubica has a slightly medicinal smelling patch and is much sweeter in a sugary way because it's tonka vanilla (mainly tonka!). IT's much closer (especially in texture) to Eisenbergs J'ose but even more so to Blumarine Let Me Love You.... which is basically J'ose with way more patchouli. So Nubica smalls like Patchouli with a hint of lavender, a dash of vanilla and lots of sweet, powdery tonka! I feel like I get a little hint of that Mandarin in the deeper drydown and that's when Nubica is at it's best. Considering I'm SO fussy when it comes to perfume, I'm surprised by how much I like this one once it's settled!

I get only the faintest hint of vanilla and near zero patchouli here. It mostly smells like a garden center: plants or seeds and... fertilizer! Given all the feline talk in the blurb I have to wonder whether they were going for civet. Not for me, this one.

Opens up a bit like Ysl-M7 and the dry down is similar to TF noir extreme but not so sweet . You get vanilla, cacao, tonka beans and a hint of tobacco. The silage is weak . It is a rich scent but very skin close.

I would love to love this perfume, 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...

Out of all the perfumes I have, this simple but beautiful one gets me the most compliments. It's like wearing Angel without alll the loud notes, just the vanilla patchouli base. Love it!

The notes listed here are incomplete. From their website: Top note : Mandarin Heart note : Patchouli Base note : Tonka & Vanilla