Virgile

This is the most addictive, intoxicating and unique fragrance I have in my collection. I bought a 30ml bottle in a boutique store in Grasse this summer after sampling Sylvaine Delacourte’s vanilla collection. This one stood out the most. On spraying it, you immediately get notes of rosemary/sage and smell some vanilla. The vanilla comes forward more in the dry down with some pink pepper as well. When you open the box, you get gorgeous notes of cedar in the box itself. The perfume bottle is an absolute treat - it’s a proper heavy glass bottle with a heavy metal cap. Opening the box is an experience in and of itself. Edit after wearing this for a month and being halfway through the 30 ml bottle: this is an easy go-to perfume for me and I still really enjoy it. However, I do agree with some reviews saying the staying power isn’t strong and you do need to reapply a few hours in. One person on here says they smell pencil shavings, and I understand what they mean.

Vanilla is my favorite note. Vanilla perfumes dominate my collection. When I heard about this line and that Sylvaine Delacourte, with her background in Guerlain, was the nose, I HAD to try them. Because I love gourmands, I did not expect to like this one very much because it's not as sweet as the vanillas I usually wear, but it has slowly become one of my favorites. It has a quiet herbal aura built on top of a creamy warm vanilla base; like walking through a field on a sunny day. It's not the straight up "vanilla extract" type of vanilla I usually wear, like Tihota, nor the sunshine tropical vanillas I love like Guerlain Ylang Vanilla; this one is savory AND sweet, and probably the most wearable and flexible vanilla I own. I picture walking through the agave fields in Mexico, in a long cream colored maxi dress in this one. It's really beautiful; like a beautiful landscape or a field of flowers kind of way.

God I love the vanillas from this line. I have sampled all of SD's offerings. The orange ones didn't connect with me, but I love Vahina and Virgile (from the vanilla set) and Lilylang from the musk set. I have ordered all 3 in small portions. I wish she offered fragrance oils. It's just amazing that a former Guerlain perfumer is making a cleaner line with no animal testing. Virgile's notes (herby vanilla) would not have appealed to me except for Sylvaine's crafty touch with the rich sweet vanilla. I get the rosemary and definitely cedar (pencil shavings), and they totally temper the vanilla to keep things interesting and not smelling like a cupcake (which is more of the direction of Vanori). Why can't I smell the geranium? I may grab a larger bottle of this if offered a deal. I cannot think of any smellalikes of this scent.

This one is fun. It begins startlingly sharp—the geranium and cedar make for a piny, evergreen opening, and the vanilla is barely smoke. I would not want to smell like a Christmas tree farm all day long, but I it caught my attention. As this settles, the sage and thyme come out and it smells like cooking. The herbs start sharp and green, and they mellow over time—much as they do in the oven. The vanilla comes up smoky sweet, and it reminds me of cigars more than anything you might eat. I get the frequent comparison with Vangelis, in that both feel decidedly smoky, but this one is homier. It’s more kitchen than temple; more campfire than censer. In the dry down, it continues to feel like that shirt you wore camping over the weekend. For me, that’s a pleasing and evocative smell.

It's so interesting to read how others perceive scent. I don't agree that Vangelis and Virgile smell similar. The first phase of Virgile is brighter and sharper. Vangelis leans gourmand with a smokey vibe (contrary to the notes listed, incense is absent). I do agree that the similar vanilla dominant dry down does connect them, but that is expected. Of the two offerings, I prefer the herbal notes that make Virgile unique for a vanilla fragrance, and I can squeak out a bit more in terms of projection and longevity which is slightly below average in terms of performance. Several differing opinions mean this is something you should experience for yourself and the discovery kit makes this possible. Order direct from Sylvaine Delacourte and and get all five vanilla based offerings.

I love the combination of the herbs with the creamy, smooth vanilla. There's something quite delectable about the vanilla note in this one, yet I wouldn't call this a gourmand. It's a flexible scent that can be used any time, anywhere. A wonderfully aromatic, woodsy vanilla. It's perfectly unisex. Virgile, to my nose, lasts the longest and projects better than the rest of the vanilla series. I don't find this in any way similar to Vangelis. Vangelis, to my nose, comes up as powdery vanilla spices while Virgile is an aromatic, herbal vanilla. I ordered a full bottle of Virgile as my early birthday gift. Yay! Edit *This has that "wow" effect on people. A SERIOUS compliment getter! I've been told I smell so beautiful followed by what is the name of this scent multiple times.

One of my absolute favorites. A truly green, yet not astringent, vanilla with staying power. I normally dislike geranium as a note, but here it plays its part well. Sage is both uplifting and grounding. At first spray, you think, whoa ~ what have I done? But soon, everything calms down to smooth, cool, green very interesting to your nose - vanilla - that lasts a long time. Well, mine has sat a year and gained staying power, like a lot of perfumes, it needs to sit for some reason. As for smelling like Laliques green vanilla, Le Parfum, with the bay leaf, no, just no. That one, the bay is screechy and overpowering, nothing smooth about it. Sylvaine Delacourte is an amazing perfumer, Guerlain lost it's direction when she left.

Exactly right about the spa scent. This is creamy herby woody gentle musk. I tried it before Vangelis, which I am dying to get to (but how many can you try in one day???). I keep spraying it on. I think this maybe could have gone in her musk collection. She definitely has a style of scent you can recognize in all 10 of her starters. Reminds me of Drew Barrymore's Cherished and D&G La Temperance, both of which I love. Smells so good in the winter! If only this had more staying power. I have already gotten the custom box with 2 and a free refill. Now I will need the 4-portion one and will get Virgile, Vahina, Vanori, and special request Lilylang from the Musk collection.

It is my favourite from the 'Vanilla Collection' and one of my top favourite vanilla fragrances in my collection. A very unique take on vanilla... an unusual blend of aromatic and citrus notes with sweet, creamy vanilla. Mandarin in the opening adds some freshness and sage in this composition is just gorgeous! Vanilla is never too sweet or overpowering and in the base it blends nicely with cedar and subtle leathery note, to create a creamy, smooth dry-down. Virgile is a herbal, sweet, slightly powdery scent, that has a calming effect on me. I can wear it all year round, maybe except for hot summer days. A must-have in my collection.

This is one beautiful delectable vanilla. The aromatic elements sadly fade quite quickly but that is their nature. If you have steered away from vanilla centred scents in fear of smelling too girly then this is the one for you. The herbs and wood notes keep it very unisex. It's a creamy vanilla with a nice bit of kick but oh so very smooth. I love Sylvaines creations. They are exquisite. My only problem has been they just don't hang around more than a few hours with the sillage low for most of that time. Her scents also remain pretty linear so what you sniff at first is what will largely remain to the end. I'm happy with linear.

Cheerful fresh and happy vanilla from this collection, herbal aromatic with a slight powder and with cheerful mandarine top. It does remind me a bit of Lothair although the notes are quite different and Virgile is simpler. But there is an association of lemony tea that I get from Virgile, a little similar to citrusy tea in Malabah. On me its unisex leaning slightly feminine. Not too much cedar, a touch of spearmint-like freshness, and just a touch of suede (not full on leather) in the dry-down where powder really amps up. Easy wear in summer heat. Performance very polite as usual for this line.

This is such a beautiful, soft but still fresh fragrance. I mostly get the sage and rosemary which mingles beautifully with quite a sweet vanilla and dries down to a crisp cedar. It feels clean and tranquil. Like an expensive spa, or the cold morning air outside a wood cabin. I love it

I love aromatic fragrances. This one is nice because it combines vanilla with aromatic notes, I wear it almost all year long except for summer because the vanilla, which smells like cooking vanilla to me (only in the dry down though) gets too cloying in high heat

Wow. At first it smells like pepper and lemon peel. Then it warms up and I get something smooth, buttery, woody, definitely cedar and something gourmand, like argan oil or shea butter. Smells organic and not synthetic which is amazing for such a good price.

Oh, now this one is fantastic. Lots of rosemary, sage and cooling geranium. Fantastic combination with the vanilla. This is probably the one I'd wanna buy from the Vanilla collection.

When my girlfriend heard this fragrance on me, she said that it was the smell of a beautiful man who fights bulls in a rodeo and then drinks whiskey.🤔

I'm so sad she is closing down. I would have bought a back-up of this.

The opening is absolutely to die for. Its so sweet. I don't know why but i just want to drink it, not eat it. Its just stunning. The sage is quite prominent but it doesn't come through too obnoxiously thankfully as i'm not a big fan of this note. It's herbal yes, which isn't usually my thing, but it's so dreamy. Though the notes are quite different, It puts me in mind of Lune Feline. When I put my nose on it it doesn't but when I am walking around that's what I smell wafting around me, the same sweet, dreamy vanilla of Lune, minus the smoke. The more I wear this, the more I am really falling for it. But don't over spray as it could get nauseating as it is a sweet one. I usually do two sprays, one on wrist and one on neck, and that's enough. Longevity is good. One spray to my wrist at 8am yesterday and I can still smell traces of it after my shower now. Gorgeous. Think I may have to get a small bottle of this. It really is good 💕 Unisex but leans feminine.

To me Virgile is an interesting study between two pretty disparate notes; geranium and vanilla. I had tested Vanori the day before testing Virgile and found that the vanilla in Vanori was sadly, totally overwhelmed by the honey/frangipani notes. That was not the case with Virgile. Throughout the wear, while the astringent geranium (and likely the sage and other herbs) were busy challenging my nose to decipher what was happening, there was a constant, gorgeous veil of the lightest, fluffiest, creamiest vanilla - like home-cranked vanilla ice cream! I don't know if this will be a purchase for me, but I will say that this is an intriguing fragrance that I am anxious to revisit, and a novel offering in the current market.

This is an interesting take on vanilla. Something new to my nose. I rather like it. Green, aromatic and herbal. This starts out w/ a aromatic rosemary, slight bergamot, a slight orange. The pink pepper is kept under control, that note can overpower if allowed. The vanilla mingles nicely w/ the fresh spiciness of the geranium and sage adds a bit of a dusty character. Very unisex and I think I would rather smell it on my husband. He likes it as well. It does lean masculine.

I bought the sample set while on holiday. I used this one a lot at Disney. I loved it at the time. ❤️ It smells like vanilla, herbs and woods. It was delightful but I'm going to pass on a bottle right now. EDIT: I still have my sample 15JULY2020 but I've fallen way out of like with this and all the others from the vanilla series. They're all just bland or on the verge of terrible including this one which I liked when the sample was fresh at the start of the year. -

Once again, it's just alright. My favorite part about this fragrance is the thyme and sage in the opening where the vanilla also peaks its head right away. I loved the idea of an aromatic vanilla using these herbs, but the opening isn't enough to convince me. The drydown is just the opening but more vanilla and softer. All 5 of her vanilla fragrances smell of good quality, unfortunately nothing stands out as unique enough to excite me. Glad I got to sample them.

I thought I was going to order a full bottle asap. I was loving this intensely herbal vanilla! But oddly all I smell now is Dayquil, the classic orange liquid. The drydown is more vanilla and less cold medicine, but the opening is almost too soothing with the herbs. It's the perfume equivalent of a cold remedy. A very well made perfume nonetheless, and nothing if not calming.

At first this smells strongly of makeup powder but then it dries down to the scent of cabbage patch kid dolls. lol. I actually really love it. It lasts quite a while (over 6 hours) but the sillage is poor, sits too close to the skin. I want to smell this constantly, but I hate that I have to put my nose to the skin to do so.

simple, linear fruity vanilla. As @HeatherNS said, the structure is similar to the white cube of NR. I have that one so that's so right! But this one is a lot sweeter. It reminds me of Nishane's Ani I don't know why nobody mentioned here. Not as tart as Ani though. A good simple fragrance for gourmand lovers.

Starts off very herby, like cooking spices. Must be the rosemary, though it is on a bed of sweetness. Throughout the day it morphs into more vanilla, until it ends some 6 hours later as a herby vanilla reminiscent of CSP vanille iconique or maybe Guerlain SDV. A nice departure from the pure sweet vanillas.

This is what Versace Eros would have smelled like if it had grown up on a lovely mild Mediterranean countryside playing in its green fields rather than in a hectic city clubbing every Friday and Saturday. The most masculine scent out of the five in the vanilla collection.

Lesser version of Vangelis. Same stuff but more tame.

So the notes listed on Fragrantica (sage, thyme, geranium, cedar and vanilla) are different than the notes listed for Virgile on the sampler pack from the company (Sylvaine Delacourte Paris). On the package for Virgile: Aromatic Vanilla - Tunisian Rosemary, French Pine Needles, Egyptian Geranium, Virginian Cedar, Canadian Cedar Leaves, Vanilla from Madagascar. It does smell like an herbal melange. The opening mellows from crisp herbs and then softens to a dusty vanilla, and the transition pleasantly takes its time. First the geranium can be picked out for sure, a soft rosemary (if there ever were such a thing), and sage. I can then feel the rustling of dusty leaves, and on my skin the cedar doesn't come out full force. It's unique enough, in my opinion, but the vanilla pegs it for a Sylvaine Delacourte easily.

In the opening I find Virgile really unique. The blend of fresh herbs, citrus and creamy vanilla is unusual. I get bergamot, sage, rosmary, but I also feel hints of basil and thyme. I imagine this could be very refreshing on warmer days. This is definitely the most unisex of the Sylvaine Delacourte vanillas, while I find most of theme more feminine. Unfortunately, the developement on my skin is not that great. Over the hours, the sweet creamy signature vanilla overwhelms the herbs and citrusses. They don't vanish immediately, but the vanilla is more dominant in the long run. I love vanilla, but this fragrance doesn't feel balanced anymore when the vanilla becomes stronger and stronger, it's just sweet in a boring way in the base. Maybe it's my skin, but the drydown can't live up to the top notes in this case.

I'm probably in the minority here, but I'm not a fan of Virgile. It's not horrible by any means, but it's nothing special. I've tried all of the vanillas from the collection (and have a full bottle of Valkyrie), however Virgile smells like a very basic vanilla-scented body spray that you could purchase from Victoria's Secret or Bath and Body Works. As one reviewer commented below, it's rather synthetic smelling, and should be priced at $35 rather than over $100. As others have noted, this starts out very similar to Vangelis, however the dry down is a basic vanilla body spray scent that sticks close to the skin.

I had very high expectations for this, but if you truly want an aromatic vanilla, get Lalique le Parfum which was created by Dominique Ropion. This is a good and nice non-synthetic vanilla, but nothing that 'stands out'.

I am slowly starting to realize that SD scents have this powdery aspect to all her scents and make them smell very vintage or lipstick like. Dry, herbal and powdery. Liked this more than the floral vanilla from the five

Unique, luxurious, herby, spa scent.. Reminds me of chartreuse verte (a French liqueur made by Monks with 130 herbs, plants and flowers from the Alps region)

Opens fresh, a bit sweet & a bit medicinal. Vanilla's quite prominent from the initial spray. As it dries down, the medicinal notes gain some depth and become evenly weighed against the vanilla. Eventually it dries down to a musky herbal scent grounded by a subtle sweetness that keeps it from being medicinal. I'd describe the herbal scent as a cool minty freshness that's musky, soft, and barely there. In its dry down it comes off a bit suede-like in texture (smooth yet something more, though I wouldn't say I get the rough texture that accompanies suede). Although suede came to mind for me, it makes sense when looking at the notes that the texture I picked up is characterized as leather here given its all-around smoothness. Lastly, at the heart of its dry down (which in my experience is a few minutes after initial spray), it loses even more of its herbal aroma and vanilla comes back to the forefront with minty/pine tree-like undertones supporting it.

This one opens woody with a citrus blend, perhaps that grapefruit again? I actually think there's a peppery, light smoked hint of cedar at the back of this and if it was just cedar and citrus I'd probably accuse it of being boring or cliched, so I can't have it both ways. (Well actually you can just make a better fragrance!!) however, the vanilla makes the whole thing a bit smooshy...not offended as such, I just don't like it and I'm not a fan.

I understand that perfumes smell different according to each person's chemistry, but am I the only one that smells like pencil shavings? It's very odd. I don't like this one, but there are some excellent Sylvaine Delacourte scents. This one just missed the mark for me.

Again an other outstanding herbal opening that's amazingly and naturally done, but 5 mins later it turns into an other baby powder. It looks like Sylvaine is crazy about powdery scents. a big pass for me.

Sweet cakey vanilla and dry aromatic herbs.

I dislike being negative but I have tried all 5 samples from this collection and they are all mediocre at best, and the price tag for the quality is the reason I am writing the review. I usually just skip reviews if I don’t like something because it makes me feel bad to not be nice. But these are $35 type fragrances with a $160 price tag. They are simple vanilla, mostly synthetic, no originality, no artistry, no quality materials reflected in the price tag, there is literally no reason for the price point. They are all so forgetful I can’t even remember which one this one was but am pretty sure this was the more herbal, unisex one leaning slightly masculine. You can get some really good perfume for $160. Maybe somewhere in the rest of her range I’m not sure. These are the only ones I’ve tried so far. I’m moving on to the musk ones next and am hoping for a much better outcome. I would literally give all these 1 star and I’m a really easy to please overly positive kind of person. But I know quality perfume, recognize good materials, and know when I’m being hoodwinked. If these were less than $60 I would have skipped doing a review. Because they don’t smell awful, they just smell simple, boring and inexpensive. So for $160, I’m offended and therefore doing something I rarely do and leaving a less than positive review.

Tl;dr- Vanilla+cedar gives me pencil shavings, Virgile is a distinct, herbaceous vanilla, a little popcorn, a little toothpaste, overall pretty, unisex and worth the sample set. You don't have to dig too deep into my review history to read praise for Sylvaine Delacourte. The three sample sets are such a cool concept, and priced nice and low, also. As I near the end of my SD reviews, I've found the vanilla set to be the hardest to quantify, and here's why: musk is kind of an abstract concept, so there's a huge range of qualities a frag can have to be considered even a basic musk. Therefore the musk collection was made up of 5 really distinct edps. The Orange blossom set was distinct as well, simply because orange blossom is so volatile that after the initial open, you really are just left with the supporting notes to flesh out the identity of each frag. Vanilla, on the other hand.... Has seemed less distinct. If I'm being honest, in spite of my love for this house, the vanillas have been a bit of a slog. Happily, Virgile distinguishes itself in a really nice way, which I attribute to the sage note. Who knew that an herbaceous vanilla I was exactly what I needed in my life? If I find a deal on the 30 ml, I might go for it.

It's as if an aromatic, green cologne (something like Bel Ami, or Villoresi Uomo) was layered on top of a bed of vanilla. I absolutely love this. The notes in the official site are: Top notes: Bergamot, Mandarin, Rosemary. Heart notes: Rose, Geranium, Sage. (I think this is a mistake-see below-it should be Pink Pelargonium, Sage) Base notes: Leather, Cedar, Vanilla. But, I think there is a lost in translation situation here. Pink Pelargonium (which is mentioned in the French list) has been translated as 2 different things: geranium (yes they are related) and rose (a common mistake when translating rose-with an accent- from French which means pink...) In any case, this feels like the younger, more well-behaved sibling to Ambre Sultan. Also, it is not similar to Lalique Le Parfum, where the bay leaf (not sage!) note was so bitter that it overtook everything else. With Virgile the sage is beautifully aromatic and blends well with everything else. Excellent creation.

Oh, how I adore Sylvaine Delacourte’s musk perfumes and vanilla perfumes. Valkyrie, Virgile, and Vanori are my favorites from the vanilla range. Virgile is a stunning work of art, not for the faint-hearted. The opening consists of a beautiful contrast of bright and fresh green, citrusy aromatics, developing into a geranium heart atop a warmer, silky, fluffy, rich base of transparent vanilla. The leather is very much in the background and provides a suede-like texture and richness. The effect is simultaneously calming, soothing, and invigorating. Virgile has excellent longevity; applied in the evening, the fragrance persisted well into the next morning. This perfume is blended so beautifully. The ingredients are top notch and the vanilla smells quite natural. Nothing else I know of smells like this—a truly unique and stunning perfume featuring a transparent vanilla with herbaceous, resinous green notes ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This has got to be my favourite of the Vanilla line. It is unique in my opinion. A very sweet, thick, syrup like vanilla, with maybe a hint of spice. Could be cloying for some but I love it. If you like the sweetness of Osiris or something like By Kilian, love don't be shy or St Barth, Vanille west indies then you might like this. It looks like what i smell is totally different to what others smell which makes me question. Hmm, I wonder whether my sample set was mixed up! I don't smell the notes listed above. I smell more fruit and vanilla. A sweet citrus. I think the Mandarin in this line is very sweet. It smells so juicy, i feel like there is a sweeter note in there. It projects a lot to begin with then becomes a beautiful skin scent. I love it and plan to purchase it. FB worthy for sure.

A unique, fascinating fragrance combining spicy herbal notes and smooth, sweet vanilla. The thyme and sage definitely give Virgile an unexpected twist of dryness and aromaticity, and this is indeed less creamy (and instead, more powdery) than the other perfumes in the Vanilla collection. However, as another reviewer pointed out, the 5 perfumes in that set share the same vanilla drydown, which makes purchasing multiple fragrances from the collection somewhat redundant. However, if you were to buy only 1, you'd be just fine.

Bright, green and botanical! I think the note list here is missing some notes, because I definitely sense a little fruity sweetness, maybe from clementine- the Sylvaine Delacourte brochure says this has pink berries. Virgile is yummy- very aromatic and herbaceous. It reminds me of Helicriss from Delacourt’s musc line as they both smell like something from my spice cabinet, however Virgile is IMO more wearable. Vanilla is more present in the dry down. Overall still a little too herby for me but quite nice.

Opens up alcohol/medicinal...but quickly changes...herbal aromatic/floral /woody/vanilla...I am thinking a more sweet Jicky..???....but then it changes again...confusing me...LOL. I actually "LIKE" when this occurs with a scent...it says to me that the "blending" was good...???...This one goes into 2nd place of the 5 samples I received from this line...So...a "possible" FB buy. I have to experience this one more, but so far, so good. Unisex too..btw.

You're in the kitchen chopping fresh basil, oregano, and rosemary while a delicious cake bakes in the oven. That's the opening I get before the herbaceousness yields to a strong unpowdery vanilla which lingers for hours. I got the sample pack of vanillas and surprisingly Virgile has garnered the most compliments! I thought people would be put off by the strange juxtaposition of herbs and vanilla, but most seem to love its' uniqueness.

Loving this from my sample pack. I’ve been doing 2 a night for the last 5 nights. I get a fresh opening with lemon thyme rounded out with vanilla. It’s like lemon herbal tea with vanilla drank in a garden filled with mid spring sunshine but not too warm. I can’t stop sniffing my wrist. I have vangelis on my other wrist and it’s more dark tea and vanilla, less of the light aromatics of Virgil.

یه عطر با کیفیت و ملوی اروماتیک و گیاهی که یکم شیرینی وانیلو همراهش داره ولی کاملن کنترل شدس. خیلی حس تمیزی و خنکی و کیفیت بالارو میده بهم ولی رایحه عجیب نیست سیف و تا حدی آشنا. فضای کار به مرور گلی از نوع فرش و شاد بهاره هم میشه. کاملن یونیسکس. ----------- Scent & Quality: 9/10 Longevity: 7/10 Sillage: 7/10 Creativity & Uniqueness: 6/10 Affordability: 5/10 ----------- Overall: 6.8/10