Valentina Poudre

I find this fragrance to be SO beautiful. Sometimes I’ll spray myself while sitting around at home just to smell this. Although, I do that with a lot of my collection! Probably my most favorite aspect of Fragrantica aside from the reviews is the “This perfume reminds me of...” section. I all too often will fall down the rabbit hole clicking perfume after perfume or opening multiple different tabs of scents that remind people of my favorites. I’ve discovered and purchased tons of perfumes that way! Something I’ve actually thought a lot about is how literal does that section have to be? Some people are quite militant and only want exact dupes, others allow for similarities in a note or two, and while some will say a perfume reminds them of another because it gives them a similar feeling about the perfumes. Aren’t all of those reasons equally valid? I look to that category to get an idea of what the scent smells like and to see if I am familiar with some of the scents it reminds other of. Or if it’s a favorite of mine, I always look there to see others like it that I may love even more! Most of us perfume junkies are always on the hunt for our next holy grail. Some people get so worked up over this section. When in actuality it’s OKAY for our noses to pick up different similarities. That’s why we all get to vote on the comparisons. Isn’t that great? We also all get to leave our own reviews describing our thoughts on the fragrance. I equally appreciate reviews that say they don’t agree with certain comparisons as much as others that do. Because, usually what I am looking for is an overall picture of the fragrance that I put together in my mind based on the different comparisons and different reviews. Today I was looking at this page and noticed that this perfume has the most votes as reminding people of Hypnotic Poison. I was so surprised as I didn’t think Valentina Poudre has any notes of almond or vanilla and I thought it had a slight bitter undertone to it. I also don’t pick up any Oriental vibes from it at all. So I sprayed each one on a different wrist and I was so surprised! The powdery aspect of Valentina Poudre does in fact have some slight almondish nuances and it was sweeter than I remembered. They do have some similarities which I wasn’t expecting at all! It’s really hard for me to describe overall similarities that I’m getting, but maybe it’s a similar vibe kind of thing. Anyways, now I know why I enjoy Valentina Poudre so much as Hypnotic Poison is my signature scent. As I smell each wrist I’m even more baffled, because to my nose Hypnotic Poison isn’t powdery and lacks the slight bittery powder edge that I find in Poudre. So I guess this means they’re cousins, not twins ;) Also nothing about Fragrantica and/or it’s comparison section strikes me as being set up to increase sales for any one fragrance. I find that to be an odd statement. And lastly, if you read this whole thing, I appreciate you! Sorry for that but of rambling.

I was recently browsing Fragrantica and came across Valentina Poudre. Being a powdery oriental vanilla gal through and through, the notes really sang to me. I saw positive votes for sillage and longevity, which made me even more excited. I mentally made a note of it in my head and went about my day. This past weekend while shopping at Nordstrom (Canada), I decided to take a walk through the fragrance section (even though my head was screaming NO, you do not need another perfume!!!) Low and behold, there she was. There was no tester, but the urge was too strong and I bought it blindly without smelling it. It was a good blind buy, because this perfume is heavenly. It is indeed similar to Hypnotic Poison, which I own and love, but they are not of the same ilk. Hypnotic Poison is deeper, smokier, sweeter, brighter, and with more depth, longevity and sillage. Valentina Poudre is much more powdery (hence the name), much drier, almost dusty, and not as sweet or smokey. The scent is quite linear, and doesn't change much on my skin. This may be a downer for some people, but I don't mind it. At least you know what you're getting. Does it smell divine? Yes, but it is not without fault. I have quite an extensive fragrance collection, and I have never in my life said this about a fragrance, but here it goes. After a few hours, I literally cannot smell this on my skin. Nor can my husband, and he has a very sensitive sniffer. It is absolutely a skin scent; next to no sillage whatsoever after about an hour, and longevity is weak, about 2-3 hours. Alas, in life, something always has to give, and I am willing to accept these faults for just how beautiful this perfume is. This is a fragrance that you can safely spray several times and not have to worry about punching somebody in the face with your scent. The bottle is just lovely; probably one of the prettiest bottles in my collection. It's heavy with a porcelain feel to it, and is a dusty matte pinkish rose, with a flower adorned to it. It suits the fragrance just perfectly. This fragrance is very reminiscent of an incredibly high end, expensive face powder, perhaps with the scent of a fireplace crackling way off in distance. Think Guerlain Meteorites face powder, but so much better and a little more complex. The vanilla is not sweet in any way; it's sophisticated, cozy and is blended superbly with the other notes, which are quite minimal. If you love powdery vanilla scents and aren't put off by the weak sillage and longevity, run, don't walk to this beauty! I do believe it is limited edition and quite hard to find. Nordstrom only had two in stock and were not able to order more.

So, these days I have been trying to explore different kind of powdery scents, as normally I'm more into the sweet, baby powder/soapy kind of those, something like Teint de Neige, Iris by L'Erbolario, etc. This time it's the makeup kind of powder and, well, this fragrance is pure delight. :) It really does smell like makeup, like a makeup bag, like crushed eyeshadow, or more precisely, like those 1990s/early 2000s eyeshadow palettes, as the eyeshadow palettes nowdays don't have that old, nostalgic kind of scent anymore, sadly... The iris and vanilla combination is magical, creamy and very powdery here... I love iris in perfumes and I'm in awe of this one. :) As I implied above, Valentina Poudre is definitely not like those Teint de Neige or other famous "powder bombs", it's rather different from that... but if you love powdery scents, you will probably like this one, too. As far as the longevity and sillage goes, this smell lingers and lingers on my skin and clothes, on my hair, too. Even people around me noticed immediately I'm wearing a new perfume, so, it' s a nice surprise for me, as I didn't expect good sillage with this, based on the reviews. However, I like being generous with my spritzes, so maybe that's why. :) Anyway, this was a blind buy and I'm quite happy I purchased a brand new 80 ml full bottle, as this is rare to find these days. The seller in the country I live in had this one left and so I couldn't wait anymore and had to get it. >P I keep smelling my wrists and I can't wrap my head around how much this scent reminds me of my mom's old eyeshadows, this scent literally takes me back to my childhood, it' s so unique. The most "makeup-y thing" I have smelled so far, indeed.

Very realistic vintage makeup powder scent. That's it. No more, no less. After you first spray it the scent is a little off-putting, sharp, and quite bitter. Then it softens a bit into the skin. To be honest, this is a bit challenging for me, i expected it to be softer somehow? It's not a love at first sniff, but i do find it interesting. And here's the obligatory Hypnotic Poison comparison, since i have that too, and is one of my faves: they both have a bitterness to them, but in HP it's contrasted with the creaminess of the vanilla. Valentina is less sweet, less creamy, less complex, more dry and powdery. Although they do have similarities,I think they are different enough to justify owning both of them. I can see wearing Valentina during the day, and then at night changing to HP without them clashing. Overall I do like it, I'll have to wear it a bit more to see if it grows on me. Glad I sampled it first instead of blindly buying a full bottle. EDIT I love it now! The trick is not to spray too close to the skin, and obviously do not overspray, otherwise it will be too much. I would buy a bottle of this but since i have narciso poudree already i think it's redundant to have both since they have a similar vibe. The bottle is so beautiful though...

I have been craving for this perfume for 6 months! Yes, I need to save my money because this perfume is expensive for a college student like me:") First time I knew this perfume is because I went to Douglas and tried sniff it. When I went home, I was really amazed by the smell of powdery (I love soft perfume) and the longevity which is really long (it can be a whole day and it still lingers). However, because it's expensive, I always switch with my Jlo-Still perfume so it doesn't empty quickly HAHA. This perfume really perfect for cold weather. It makes me feel calm. It is suitable too for day/hot condition, but sometimes if it's really hot, it becomes a little bit heavy for my nose. Anyway, I really love the design of the bottle (and I love nude pink, so yeah, we are fate). Anyway, IT'S MY SIGNATURE now! (updated 02.07.20): I need to make this perfume empty. Since at first I love this perfume, it made me use this perfume so slow until now I have 4 perfumes and nothing empty yet. Now, I am using it everyday even when I am going to sleep. Since corona virus came and I need to be at home everyday, she accompanied me ;)