Estate Vanilla

This is beautiful - it smells of real natural vanilla - FINALLY. It’s so hard to find real vanilla - with the wordwide shortages prices these days are incredibly high for vanilla absolutes and most of my regular suppliers are OOS. This is a very expensive perfume to produce - it’s absolutely packed with beautiful and real raw materials. I think comparisons to vanilla extract will be natural because for many people that will be the only opportunity they’ve had to smell a product that is made from real vanilla bean as opposed to ethyl vanillin, caramel furfural and the other aromachemicals that go into the creation of synthetic vanilla accords. This - however - doesn’t smell like straight vanilla extract... There’s the beautiful depth of the absolute that captures more depth - more of the subtle warm spicy, rich and caramel like facets of the bean. There’s added creaminess and a tiny little bit of sweetness like a dab of fluffy marshmallow that’s been applied with restraint. It is without a doubt the most natural smelling vanilla perfume I’ve ever tried - because of the high concentration of natural vanilla absolute and tincture the perfume has a very slight brown tinge but that’s only because it’s packed with some of the most expensive ingredients in a perfumer’s palette. I definitely wouldn’t say it’s « too foody » although that’s subjective - if your palate is conditioned to associate natural vanilla exclusively with the products that are used for baking because that is the only context you’ve smelled it then I suppose it would make you think of baking. To me it smells of beautiful absolute - which is quite a bit more prized than simple extract - which I obvioisly see as perfumery and aromatherapy component because it’s not really edible. This is a very unique scent - I’ve yet to come across anything quite like it. It’s absolutely beautiful and is also a great deal.

Is this... the perfect vanilla? It might be for me! Estate Vanilla is not heavy, not cloying, not juvenile, not a skin scent but not beast-mode - to me, this is the perfect vanilla. This smells the most like high-quality vanilla extract and really evokes baking to me; I'm almost tempted to lick my wrist. The wear time and development throughout the day has seriously impressed me; on my skin with just two sprays it lingered throughout my seven hour work day and remained pleasant throughout. After the initial alcohol in the spray, I don't notice any liquor or boozy qualities. I do notice the marshmallow sweetness though, rounding everything out. Out of my collection of mostly-vanilla perfumes, it's most similar to Dulce by Rosie Jane as they have similar levels of sweetness and both have a slight powdery quality. I don't know if I can justify getting a full bottle of this as I have one of Dulce currently, but this will definitely win out to me over a second bottle of Dulce.

@KowltheOwl the creamy and milkiness may be coming from the marshmallow and whipped cream notes, and after trying many other houses I have found that Solstice Scents does marshmallow the best. I will agree with "zephyr1973" that it DOES smell a bit TOO foody, strongly reminiscent of a vanilla extract used for baking... at first. That particular vanilla seems to be more of a top or mid note, and after several hours I find that it starts to sit more into the background, letting the other vanillas take the spotlight. I enjoy the mid and drydown much more for that reason. Excellent for layering. In a market saturated with vanillas, I am not aware of any other fragrance like it. Although I do still believe Tihota by Indult to be better-smelling, I respect this fragrance for being a deep, rich, multi-faceted, pure vanilla.

This is an excellent vanilla perfume. It smells like a lovely vanilla extract, the creaminess is there making the entire scent so very velvety smooth. The creamy vanilla sits on top of a sprinkling of sugar that peeks through from underneath. I don't feel that it's fully gourmand, there's something else in there that also makes this more than your average vanilla scent. It's not cupcake-ish at all, there's something beautifully sophisticated about it. It's darker and perhaps woodier/earthier than Tihota and not as sweet. Longevity is moderate and sillage is very low (on me anyway). If you're a vanilla fanatic like me, definitely try this out.

This might be my favorite vanilla, it’s really lovely. It’s creamy in a way that reminds me of Tihota. Gourmand and mildly creamy/milky but not overwhelmingly sweet. I get the marshmallow note too, but somehow it’s not juvenile, it also has a depth to it, baking vanilla but a little deeper, really well balanced. It passed the hubby test too, he thinks I smell mellow, like marshmallows.