Vaara

Vaara is a really really interesting fragrance. It is more like a bottle full of surprises (All of them good ones of course!) It is a very complex fragrance with so many exotic and beautiful notes and each of them compete for your attention and that is the secret to its surprising nature, because each time a different note wins the competition. It is like every time that you spray it on yourself you are getting a slightly different perfume than other days. This chameleon like aspect of it makes it very dear to me. Every time I spray it I ask myself: "Who is going to win today? The spicy saffron and coriander? Or will Vaara be a floral scent today and give me the luscious rose and magnolia? Or will the winners of today be the incense-like notes like sandal wood? Or maybe Vaara would be sweet and creamy like honey today?" You never know! The most interesting and original note in this concoction in my opinion is the carrot seed which is its wild card. Every time it appears it gives a devious twist to the whole composition. It is very interesting. I love it. I was a bit surprised at first that Vaara was listed as unisex. But after wearing it for a while I realised there are some days that it smells really salty believe it or not and on those days specially when the musk and carrot seeds are louder I can see a man wearing this perfume. But most of the time it is really feminine. This fragrance is really a masterpiece. It is really well crafted. It changes all the time and all its notes be it on the top or heart or base remain and play with each other a most interesting game till the last molecule is evaporated. Every sniff is a surprise and takes you to a different place. My only complaint is that it is rather fleeting and sadly on me it lasts no more than 3 hours usually. After that every so often after I have already given up and forgotten all about it I see a note jump out at me and flee again into oblivion. But the scent as a whole evaporates too quickly. That makes it not such a good value for the money. The sillage is quite modest too.That's a pity since even though I am not a fan of too loud and in your face fragrances, but on this occasion I would have wanted others to enjoy this olfactory symphony along with me. It is fancy and sophisticated enough to be worn in any evening occasion but its light touch makes it also suitable for daytime wear. I would say it is also suitable for all four seasons since it is so versatile . Light and floral enough for summer, but spicy and warm enough for winter. All in all a great fragrance and something truly original at last!

WOW! I have the privilege to write the first review (for once)! Just being launched in London recently and this fragrance has truly taken the city by storm. Obviously it is inspired by Indian culture (both product colours and name give it away). The ingredients are truly unusual and extremely well blended (despite their wonderful weirdness). Bertrand Duchaufour who I see as the Heston Blumenthal of perfumery (in other words what Heston is for the world of palates, Bertrand is for the olfactory world) created a truly wonderful concoction of florals, fruits & seeds, woods, et al without creating a heavy, cloying oriental monster. No, he mastered a truly delightful, fruity, wet and juicy, interesting and compelling new age world scent (I can literally see the Bollywood belly dancers in a promotional video in front of me). It is truly a pleasure to sniff this over and over again. True that the quince note "makes" the fragrance (and I love everything about the quince for my father planted and made jam and jelly from it when I was a child) but it is the whole vision and concept that turned this brief into a truly modern contemporary masterpiece, I dare to say. Best season for this is the "Indian Summer" for the scent breathes melancholy to me and funnily enough, despite being a "floriental" it is somewhat on the cool side. For me it represents the beauty of Indian fabrics, fruit/ flower markets and that cool morning/ evening breeze on a perfect Indian summer day in late August. I would wear this on my Wedding Day (in India)! 10/10 from concept to selection of ingredients to quality of ingredients to finished product to packaging (to customer service in one of London's most prestigious Arcades).

Missk's comment is on point. All I can add is: 1. Rose scents are very volatile. I recommend applying an oil prior to spraying; this helps with the issue of longevity. It's even better if I can use also as a base some rose scented lotion after the oil. 2. Sometimes a girl (or, why not a guy) just wants to smell like roses. I own many rose fragrances, I love to wear them as a comfort scent, something easy, warm and light for the weekends mostly. Here's the difference between Vaara and Vera Wang's Truly Pink or Cartier's Goutte de Rose: While simple rose scents are linear, Vaara takes you on a journey. It is an easy journey, one in which someone else is carrying your suitcases. Bertrand Duchaufour is a genius at giving you a tour. He presents the magnolia and freesia, the quince, the carrot seeds and coriander, while carrying a 3 dozen roses bouquet, as he takes you on this voyage, that begins with a very rosy "feminine" vibe and ends in a more "masculine" cedar and clean musk spectrum. I treasure Vaara, and only wear it when I can take the time, to just sit down and enjoy the journey

My first impression of the perfume is floral spicy and it doesn't change even after smelling it for so many times. It is one of my spring and daytime favourites as it is unique and elegant. The floral part seems like a combination of white flowers that I can hardly distinguish one from each other, not even the rose as suggested by many others, let alone other flowers. In the very beginning, I don't like it very much because of the spiciness. I love floral scents and I like the floral vibe of this perfume from first smell, however I found the spiciness totally destroys the floral. About 2 years later, I did a fragrance test in one of the Penhaligon's branches to see what fragrances do I prefer and the staff recommended Vaara according to my result from the test. Surprisingly, I found it super amazing and bautiful, especially with the spicy vibe probably provided by quince. I immediate bought a bottle and sprayed it every day for some time. Until now, it is still my top favourites.

Based upon the reviews, I was not sure what this fragrance would be like. I wonder if some have received a knock off, because my opinion is that is is BEAUTIFUL! There is a great deal of rose in it, that's true but there is also an exquisitely feminine complexity to this fragrance from the beginning. As time passes, the full on rose of Vaara is enhanced by an almost spicy woody musk which does not so much as take over as it does emerge and transform. I percieve a beautiful palace garden from the Arabian Nights as the warmth of the afternoon turns to darkness and the fragrances of the flowers change from the heat of day to the cool of night. From the clear precision of rose to a soft and almost smokey combination of cool aquatic rose and blooming night jasmine. I think this might be what Turkish Delight tasted like before it became mass produced and besmirched by Westernisation. Purest rosewater instilled with exotic splendor.