Black Vanilla

I have a generous decant of this, and I think I still need more. Unexpectedly good. Pretty, and yummy, and just fun to wear. It's almost too sweet but just treads the line, and projection and longevity are insane - I put it on yesterday evening and could smell it late into this morning. As it fades, it becomes lovelier - I just spend this morning going 'damn, I actually smell amazing'. I don't get as much vanilla as I expected, but there's something that reminds me of vanilla ice-cream a hell of a lot; there's a big hit of rose, but it's very delicate rose-petals that have been sugared, a hint of jasmine, bits of sweet-powdery purple violet, and touches of fruit, and that's all layered over this idea of cold good-quality vanilla ice-cream, so it's almost like a slightly unusual, very posh ice-cream sundae. I really, really like this. Sometimes it veers a little too sweet and strong even for me, but a lot of the time, with a very light hand, it's just so pretty and it lasts forever. I will say, this needs a light hand - I'm used to close-to-the-skin scents and I made the mistake when I first got this of spraying this directly near my collar-bone when I first got it... don't do that, unless you want to feel like you've just been fumigated. It's probably not the most potent stuff on the market, but you can't say this still is weak. If this is rated 'not overwhelming' I don't want to know what 'strong' is... this stuff sticks like glue to me and wafts magnificently and smells good for a long time, but I'm only putting little bits on my extremities from now on, for my sinuses' sake. All in all, very pretty, delicious, and just lovely to wear. I also appreciate that I can put it on in the evening and wake up thinking 'omg, what smells amazing?' What I don't appreciate is the damage it could do to my bank account when my decant runs out.

Question- should a perfume called Black Vanilla have "White Peach, Coconut and Violet" in it? I was expecting a moody, black leather jacket vanilla and this is more of a hopeful, party dress vanilla...flirty, twirly and fun. I don't find this to be a gender neutral scent per se, but I'm sure there are guys out there with the confidence to pull this off --good smells good on everyone..and this smells very good. This is a rather light, sweet, "floranilla" perfume with a pretty, powdery drydown. The vanilla with the florals is quite nice, not overpowering, but it does have some staying power, as most Mancera frags do. I don't always care for musk, but it's good here and adds something mature to the perfume, to avoid smelling too fluffy & candy like. The longer this dries down, the nicer it gets. Smells beautiful on skin & clothes. It's a lovely concoction...just don't expect anything deep & dark. This perfume is blue skies, with puffy clouds, not thunderheads and impending storms. It may not be what I expected, but I'm not mad about it either. I wouldn't mind smelling this on anybody.

The opening is strong, lots of blackcurrant, yes femme, peachy and powdery, but the real unseen magic in this one is the drydown. Lasts forever and it's delectable, like cake or pastry. I sense it's the coconut mingled with vanilla. Also it's very unique--people will ask what smells so good and no one will know what you're wearing because it smells like nothing else! I have Molinard Vanille Fruitee so I sort of knew what I was going into here, but I wanted to try this because of the coconut note. Also, Vanille Fruitee is different because of grape, plus it's a bit lactonic (the orchid and ylang?) and incensy (osmanthus) despite having no listed milk or incense notes. I can smell the violet, coconut and white peach here going down to the base. The iris is not too powdery on me, and it's not an overly ripe peach but rather a kind of sweet yet tart peach note. I'm not a fan of peach but it's nice here. Overall I am very satisfied with this perfume and have kind of become addicted to the dessert-like drydown. A thumbs up!

I love Mancera perfumes and have good performance with them in the heat. I blind bought Black Vanilla after seeing a you tube review on it. This perfume is awesome! Projects at least 6 feet with a beautiful scent trail and lasts 6-8 hours depending on temperature and if I’m indoors in air conditioning. This perfume is beast mode but never cloying or sickeningly sweet. In cold weather it seems sweeter and different on me. Opening is peaches with hint of black currant then it dries down to powdery rose and violets. Base note of vanilla with tiny hint of musk but peaches still noticeable. I bought this in winter so I only know how this performs in 70 degree days 50 degree nights. I worry when Arizona desert hits 125 degrees or higher this will be too much. This is not another boring linear vanilla fragrance it has stages and is unique. I suggest testing it but this is a safe blind buy. I love smelling like peaches, powdery floral and vanilla!

I definitely picked up on the “baby wipes” scent at first sniff but I didn’t feel negatively about it, as I found on me it quickly developed into something more complex and decadent. It smells like the color thulian to me; I absolutely love this scent. It’s very sweet and I could see it mainly appealing to feminine folks but maybe some masculine ppl could make it work if worn with confidence. The notes and accord profile listed on here are pretty true to this scent, though it is extremely well blended so the notes are not easily distinguishable. Dense, but smooth— and very addictive and auric almost. Heavier lasting power and sillage from this fragrance are a plus for me from this house since my skin tends to not hold fragrance well despite moisturizing religiously and spraying sort of generously. Excited to try others from Mancera and Montale. Could definitely make for a good signature scent. This is a special one.