Varensia

I bought this fragrance after reading Fragrantica reviews while looking for something green and fresh, not overly fruity-floral or too sweet. So excited when it arrived, I absolutely HATED it upon first sprays. Getting hit in the face with 80s aldehydes reminded me of being plunked in front of MTV at my old babysitter's house as a second grader, forced to watch age-inappropriate music videos while she chainsmoked and tried to cover it up with some awful soapy 80s perfume. So this one was a macerator for me... like most fragrances, (regardless of what the frag snobs say here about maceration being only for expensive perfumes) letting a little air into the bottle and going about your business for a few weeks (or months) can change things-- even if it's just to put time between your expectations and your experience. I'd ignore it for the "good occasions" and instead put it on when I went places I didn't care about, like to run errands. Much to my surprise, I'd get complimented on it everywhere I went. But when the aldehydes wear off, there was something intriguing about it... cinnamon-y and watery at the same time, with a touch of powdery musk but overall indefinable. Turns out, this is basically the chypre genre as a whole: complex. Chypres open with some sort of a fresh note, either citrus (like bergamot), green (like fir) or possibly even marine or ozonic; then open up to either a fruity or a floral (or both) heart; then dry down to a mossy, earthy base. The most complex ones, like Varensia, add in some spice and powder for good effect. It's a classic "everything-but-the-kitchen-sink" type formulation where, when well-blended and well-balanced you end up with something that is delightfully some of all the things without being too much of any of them. Overall, a mystery in a bottle. What I grew to love about Varensia was that it keeps this watery freshness throughout and just smells CLEAN but not in a juvenile, boring or laundry detergent way. The fruits are there to warm it up but I don't smell fruitiness. I don't get a lot of floral notes either, they blend in so well. There is a spiciness that also stays with you and the contrast between the spice and the aquatic feel isn't something I've ever experienced before in a fragrance. Varensia feels expensive and casual at the same time. Each note is indiscernible individually but blends perfectly into a fragrance that is worlds apart from almost everything in its class. It easily competes with chypres that are more than double its price. I'm halfway through my current bottle and ordering another, and I don't know why this isn't on the lists of chypres among the other, more-known ones. Varensia is a daytime fragrance for me-- in cool spring weather when it rains in the afternoons and on crisp fall days. It's clean and fresh-smelling without being basic. Just when you think you smell aldehydes, you get spices. When you focus on floral notes, something watery emerges. Conclusions: Ulric de Varens has masterfully blended so many seemingly contradictory notes into one perfume that I cannot pick out a single individual one, but I love the smooth and interesting result. I don't know why Varensia works, but it just does. The result is something that smells grown, expensive, and fresh- and punches far above its weight class for the price. I wouldn't sleep on this one.

What a pretty girl we have here. This fragrance is bitter and warm. It just envelopes you like a blanket, it's comforting and familiar, but still has that element of surprise that is a common characteristic of chypre fragrances. The opening is a bit too powdery for my taste, but it goes away immediately and the floral notes kick in for a while. But in the end, it's all oak moss and carnation, at least on me. Fragrantica classifies it as chypre fruity, but I would define it simply as a chypre - no fruity notes clearly detectable on me (though I can definitely smell them if I spray it around my room). By looking at the notes, I was sure I'd be enveloped in cat urine scent in no time. Thankfully, everything merged perfectly on my skin and no urine scent can be detected whatsoever. Had I not known the notes, I would have never guessed there were blackcurrant and cassis in it. Still, I would advise you to be careful when first applying it, you never know how it's going to react to your skin. I don't know if this fragrance ever got reformulated over the years but, even if that were the case, it still has that vintage feeling that clearly characterizes the classic chypres, as opposed to the more modern ones - It's "vibe" is way closer to the classics like Mitsouko, Cuir de Russie, Diorella, than it is to Soir de Lune, Rose de Nuit or Chance. I read this was described as a dupe for the original Gianni Versace (which I own) and honestly, while I can feel the similarity, I wouldn't say Varensia is an imitation. They're both warm, and oak moss and carnation are quite prominent in Gianni Versace (and are clearly the dominant notes here), but Varensia lacks that incense and myrrh accord that so clearly defines Gianni Versace, and the floral notes are not nearly as strong. And honestly, the characteristics they have in common can be found in many vintage chypres, so I wouldn't really call one a direct imitation of the other. Of course, if you love the original Versace and cannot spend the hundreds of dollars necessary to secure a bottle (which may or may not have been conserved correctly and be in good condition), this could be a good substitute. This is a very inexpensive fragrance, that smells really expensive. I couldn't pinpoint why, but it gives me kind of a Bvlgari feeling.

Varensia, oh Varensia, where have you been all my life? This is so freakin' BEAUTIFUL I don't even know were to start. Like the description of it says, this is the scent of a sub-tropical garden, with oranges, neroli, raspberry, some white flowers (even though not listed and lumped in with just 'floral') and a woody undertone, an oakmoss vibe that is quite literally like you're sitting under a tree in a baking garden. This baby BLOOMS in the heat, it's divine. And the composition. Oh. My. God. Even though the notes I describe are perhaps relatively easy to pick out, this perfume is pure art, it just hangs together so well, part classic chypre, part fruity floral, all just flat-out lovely. It's exactly as I expected, or hoped it would smell. It is how I thought (wrongly) that 24 Faubourg would smell, or even Shalimar. It's perfection. And I can't get over the price - it's pure class in a bottle, if I didn't know that this cost under 10 euro, I woulda easily bunged another nought onto that price for the 50 ml I have. I will say that this is better in the heat. I got this a few weeks ago, when it was still chilly, and, although still nice, it was a tiny bit metallic, bitter and sharp for my tastes in the cool weather. But now it's warmer, the sharp edges ae smoothed out, the flowers and woody smells have literally bloomed and the sharpness from the orange is gone. So round now, so smooth. I have found my summer signature! I'm so freakin' happy, 'cos this is so freakin' cheap.Sure, I'll still bust out my favourite, stupidly expensive white florals in the Summer now and again, but this will be my go to summer staple this year. Oh, I'm so happy I have this, and doubly happy that it's so cheap. One spray goes a looooong way, it's just amazing. Thank you Ulric De Varens, you are the 1st EVER cheapo that I genuinely, hand-on-heart think is BETTER than a lot of highend stuff. I cannot wait to explore other Ulrics. I will blind buy anything I can get my hands on, because this stuff is gold. I am in heaven. You have to try this, it's the best for the price. It's the best quality, full stop. Extraordinary. Am so happy I have it.

If i ever become more experienced in picking out different notes i still imagine i will not be able to do it in this one. It does not smell fruity to me,not even grown-up fruity, and it does not smell floral to me either. It smells just unusual and superb! Bought it in the street when i was a small girl and was about to go to a seaside for the first time in ma life with my school. A lady selling these showed me a few boring mainstream perfumes which i readily refused, and then i decided it was time to cut it short and make my point clear before i lose patience. I said i wanted something like cinnamon. She produced this one which,truth be told, has nothing to do with cinnamon or spices at all. At least she realized i meant business and showed me extraordinarily great stuff to which i took immediately ad bought in a very good price. The bottle itself is so decorative, i like its style. Now i gave it to my sister who liked both the ottle and the juice, and the smell can still be felt inside. This is hard to describe,it is mysterious,not loud or invasive but quietly confident,and i have never ever seen anytthing similar again. Thumbs up for uncatchable,ilusive,hard-to-pin down Varensia!

Upon first spray/sniff, it reminded me of my grandma (whom I adore) and is no longer around. Subsequently, I think after getting air into the bottle, the aldehydes don't come on as strong any more, but it's still a wonderfully comforting and nostalgic scent. Definitely an old fashioned vibe. I am addicted to it. It's actually beautiful. I love the spicy florals, the powderiness, the carnations. On the drydown, sometimes I can catch a freshness that reminds me of dew on grass, it could be the water lotus. It fades into a floral / vanilla base. On fabric I can pick up the orange blossoms/citrus a bit better. I don't know if I want to smell like this in the office but I've been wearing it at home, to sleep, and spraying it in my room. It lasts a full night of sleep, I can still smell it on my arm in the morning. It reminds me of some other famous perfume, but I can't quite put my finger on it. I can't believe this cost me only $8 - the quality feels much higher.