Les Orientaux: Vanille Patchouli

I fell in love with Molinard Vanille, which I blind bought on ebay over the summer. Luckily I was given Vanille Patchouli for Christmas. Oddly enough, when sniffed from the bottle it smelled rather like thick, Greek yogurt. Not necessarily a bad smell, though unexpected. But upon being sprayed onto my skin it's powdery, clean patchouli leaves dipped into a fresh batch of lusciously creamy, old fashioned caramel spiced with the barest hint of warm, spicy cloves. The clove note fades in seconds leaving the caramel dipped patchouli that lasts forever. I detect no orange or pepper at all, but I'm not disappointed. Though generally linear the caramel and patch do eventually dry down to creamy vanilla. This has become another favorite winter fragrance. I sense a longstanding relationship with many more Molinard fragrances in my future!

I really like this scent, I love patchouli and there is enough present in this fragrance to make it enjoyable. I have yet to be disappointed in anything from this house. For the price, it is worth checking out. I feel it would be great with layering it with a lighter scent just to give it a twist. Edit 10/13/13- I loved this scent and I decided to wear it today since it is becoming a little cooler here. The longevity is absolutely amazing. I applied it generously around 2 pm and it is now a little after 10 pm and it is still very noticeable. That's pretty impressive! I also paired it with Alkemia's vanilla and patchouli perfume oil and the two blended very well together.

I agree with TillyWave. It is not horrible maybe a little cloying so a light touch is necessary. There is not a lot of COLD COLD weather in Texas but I am going to wait until the cooler weather to wear it. A nice heavy sweater and a fire in the fire place maybe Vanille Patchouli's best friend. It is a no go in warmer weather. Anyway, I am not here to boss you around. Just my opinion. :) Happy Perfuming! ♥

I have an EDT version of this in new packaging. The bottle is the same shape as those in Molinard's "Les Fleurs" series and has a light brown label. The notes listed here for the EDP are identical to the notes listed for Molinard's Vanille Patchouli in Les Elements collection. I know I have the EDT, but I would have wagered a reasonable sum that there are more notes than those listed here. Beaute Test (a French retailer) lists the following for the EDT: Top: orange neroli, caramel accord, bourbon vanilla Middle: chilli, patchouli, clove Base: musk, sandalwood, vanilla I think this is pretty accurate as - on initial spraying - one of the notes which is standing out for me is... caramel. There is a definite but gentle spicy feel to the perfume as well, although vanilla is the strongest of the notes. If you are not a patchouli lover (unlike me) you don't need to be afraid that this will overwhelm you. It's extremely subtle - in fact, I would have preferred a heftier dose of patchouli to give the whole perfume more weight. On my skin, the sillage and longevity just creep into the moderate range, but this is probably because it's EDT strength. I'd say this is a safe blind buy, if you like sweet vanilla perfumes - it's very pretty.

I totally agree with Sherapop; this is not a sum of both Molinards Patchouli & Molinards Vanille. I find this fragrance pleasant smelling enough, but mostly just detect the "Vanille" part of it; where's the "Patchouli"???? I'm a serious Patch-Head, so I've searched out All 3 Molinards Patchouli dominated fragrances, and out of the 3 the only one I find somewhat rememberable is the Intense version. The oringal is a basic vintage Homme Patch, and this one (Vanille) is basically just a vintage Vanilla fragrance. Basically, I don't detect much Patchouli in this. It's mainly just a Vanilla & Caramel dominated scent with a smooth Sandalwood drydown. I can just barely detect Patchouli which is unfortunate. I still like this fragrance because vanilla is one of my favorite notes, but if you're a fellow patch-head, and looking for a real patchouli frag from Molinard then I would recommend Molinard's Patchouli Intense. This "Vanille" is a slightly airy, non-artificial, transparent type of vanilla scent. Pleasing enough. Someone else mentioned layering with this frag, and I think that would be a good idea with this one.