Dear Polly

I received this sample as a freebie when I ordered an Arielle Shoshana discovery kit. When I first tried it I was not impressed and it sat in my closet unused for about 6 months or so. I just got something smokey with a bit of apple (but not a sweet apple, more of a crisp green apple without all the tang and sweetness). However I recently decided to give it another try and to my surprise, I like it now! I am not crazy about the opening still because it does have a touch of smokiness, but not so much to the point that I hate it (which I normally do hate smokey scents); the drydown is really pleasant to my nose. I love how it is not overpowering and it's not "too much" of anything; it's not really sweet, it's not super aromatic, it's not super fruity, it's not super fresh. I don't know how I would describe it. It smells clean but not in a shampoo-y way. I'm glad that it's not as smokey now as it was when I first tried it months ago. It doesn't project too much but I am okay with that; I'm rather introverted so I avoid beast mode fragrances. However I wish the longevity was a bit better considering the price point. Maybe one day I'll be a travel size but I don't know if it's worth it for the price, which is unfortunate because I really do enjoy this fragrance. When I first wore it in public my friend told me I smelled nice, which is always a confidence booster and just makes me want to buy it even more lol. But my wallet can't handle this one unfortunately, so I will just cherish my sample while it lasts.

Dear Polly is an incredible smoldering tea scent. I've been on the hunt for a good Earl Grey scent for a long time, or at least one with a strong black tea note with nuances of bergamot. This is steamy and beautiful. Smoky black tea singed with a bit of honey, brightened a little with citrus airness. The apple in this fragrance is subtle and like dried apple -- fleshy with a hint of dark green, not thin and aquatic. There's a prominent wood note that meets my nose as something between guaiac and oak -- really dry and smoky, very well balanced with dark amber in this composition -- never setting aflame into campfire territory, just gently smoldering. Along with musk which is also dark, this reads almost like a smoky pipe tobacco note, especially with the moist dark fruit infusion. The hint of oakmoss gives the base a really good texture that weaves in and out. Sometimes smooth, sometimes airy, sometimes mossy with an occasional woody prickle. Dear Polly is a cerebral scent letter inspired by the founder Jan Ahlgren's wife. I love the clean depth, warmth and woodiness of this fragrance, the complexity that culminates into a simple, soothing and natural scent. Longevity is great on me lasting for a good 12 hours.

I was introduced to the brand by a friend. Loved the design of their website and the packaging at first site, however, since I do not live anywhere that sells the brand, I had a friend buy blindly for me. Choosing Dear Polly based on the brand's official website proved that I bought the right scent, it's amazing!! The story behind the fragrance is also as romantic as the scent. (Please read on their website and other reports!) The scent is extremely warm, which is always what I'm looking for in my perfume (note l'ombre dans l'eau or Le Labo scents...etc) Black tea is very prominent, and with body temperature, it smells like a warm, big hug. I love it. My friends and family all adore this scent, been asked a few times on which fragrance I'm using. Cons: Price tag is ridiculously high and the bottle design proved the be beautiful but very unrealistic. The shape is difficult to get a grip on, so I often fear that the bottle will slip and break. Anyway, it's a beautiful fragrance, and for people who love black tea should definitely try. I hope one day they'll create travel size tubes.

I buy (and bought) the hype. I know the vision behind Polly is a cosy, tender one, and I see her listed on a lot of “comfort scent” lists, but I get something far more vivacious. Flirty, puckish, twee. Picnic first date. Zooey Deschanel comedy. Head-to-toe Anthropologie. She’s a fruit-tea gourmand, like a Starbucks Refresher, all sweet black tea and lemonade doused in green apple syrup. (My go-to order at Starbucks is a passion lemonade, guilty as charged). The apple is tart, juicy, a so-sour-it’s-sweet Granny Smith candy. The tea is cleverly steeped. It’s a creamy Earl Grey, bergamot rich, but somehow not at all lactonic. She lasts me at least six hours on skin and fabric, and radiates enough to reliably get complemented. Mental Snapshot: Summer the city. A cheeky tea party on a hilltop in the park. Farmer’s market strawberries, thrift shop china, yellow gingham sundress. Inside the picnic basket there’s a bottle of acid-strong sour apple schnapps. All this is directed by Wes Anderson. tl;dr: Earl gurl 🦜🫖

Sophisticated, very heavy on the tea and amber in the beginning for me but then it dries down to a nice citrus tea. I do tend to go nose blind to this and this perfume. It is a lovely year round sent and is very unique. My nose sensitive parents can smell it very easily on me and beg me to only use one spray so it can definitely be picked up on by others. This perfume is like walking through a forest after it’s rained and is foggy. The trees are wet to the point where moss is easily visible. Earthy smells in the air but not necessarily in a bad way. It’s grounding. It reads like a fairy or enchanted forest vibe. This is what I think some fae may smell like. No, it does not smell like nest’s tea perfume, at least to me. It’s much more refined and whimsical. It’s extremely unique and still quite not as known in the regular world so you’re very unlikely to meet someone who wears it too. This makes me think of Jude. Not sure why, it may be the earthiness of it. But I feel it fits her so well.

Dear Polly, You are so fresh, so green, so delicious. A fresh apple and a cup of black tea while you are sitting in the garden or in a park just enjoying life. Someone is walking past you, and for a brief moment you smell a trace of a cigarette, a menthol one to be precise. It makes you feel grown up and put together. You could’ve been a juvenile scent if you just got the apple and tea, but the musk and amber ties it together, and in my book, you are one of the best tea scents. Alas, I do understand why some would say you smell like apple shampoo, or a conditioner spray or something along those lines, but all that aside. You have a great lasting power. You are absolutely intoxicating and alluring, and I can’t help but think about you, dreaming about sitting in that park with my warm tea and green apple. Just try this, you won’t regret it. I promise. Love from me.

She is my favorite!! I was fortunate to find a bottle for a fantastic price because I had wanted Dear Polly for a loooong time!! This vetiver, black tea and apple trifecta reminds me of a cold, rainy day at the English countryside retreat. There’s a roaring fire from the stone fireplace and a riveting book to be read. The fragrance is sheer feeling for the heavier elements, and that apple adds just enough sweetness to not be too masculine. The vetiver has almost a burning match quality. There’s an edge about it, like a cigarette smell (but that’s what I like about it!). The tea helps calm that down. Dear Polly took some getting used to, but is a staple in my fragrance wardrobe. Side note: I also love to mix this with Cote D Azure by Oribe and God is a Woman by Ariana Grande - and those two happen to come from the same perfumer!

Dear Polly" by Vilhelm Parfumerie transports you to a chic city café, where the air is filled with the delightful aromas of fresh baked goods and the subtle waft of someone’s cigarette in the distance. This fragrance embodies a perfect blend of sophistication and playfulness, inviting you to imagine yourself sipping tea while indulging in a spoonful of fig jam, all while clad in a stylish outfit topped with a beret. The scent opens with a bright, refreshing burst that feels as vibrant as the city life around you. As it develops, it reveals warm, inviting notes that evoke a sense of comfort and ease, making you feel effortlessly sexy and confident. "Dear Polly" is a beautifully crafted olfactory experience that captures the essence of leisure and allure, perfect for those moments when you want to embrace your inner muse.

I want to start by saying that I absolutely adore tea fragrances and I've been constantly searching for good ones, therefore i criticize them a lot and without hesitation. Spoiler alert: this is literally addictive. It's cozy like a warm cup of tea, but fresh like an ice tea during summer at the same time. It transcends beautifully into a slightly nice bitter-ish scent that I personally directly link to black tea. Definitely tea is the main actor here, accompanied in the beginning by a lot of bergamot and the moss comes along with the musk after an hour or so. Nothing smokey, rubbery, burnt or anything like that, or at least not on my skin. It's true that the projection is quite bad, the performance is per usual for this category and the price is kind of insane, but IT IS JUST TOO GOOD!!!

It's a cold winter so when I tested this fragrance outdoors it didnt really blow me away and I was ready to write it off as another nice but boring frehsie. Then I went to sleep while having it on my wrist.... and oh man I woke up hypnotized. What I thought had middling performance was now filling my nostrils without even the need to bring my hand close to my face. The tea note came off much stronger and added a soft and warm character to the scent. Completely unlike most tea scents that I've tried which were either too earthy or too spicy. The tea in this fragrance is how I imagine Uncle Iroh's tea shop to smell like: warm, delicate, and inviting. Completely blew my previous fave fresh tea scents Wulong Cha and The Cachemire out of the water.

Oh this is beautiful! On paper I didn't get a whole lot, the scent was quite shy, but on my skin I get through all the notes so beautifully! First a not too sharp bergamot, with a little fruity/sweet apple which made me wonder if I would really like this perfume as I wasn't really looking for something sweet. And then it transitioned into a really pleasant tea, still keeping a little bit of the sweetness, in the exact right amount. As a tea lover, I often get disappointed by many "tea" perfumes which don't actually really smell like tea, but this gets pretty close! Smelling it again as I finish typing this and I think I'm falling in love with this perfume. I keep smelling my hand and the more I do, the more I love it. Damn.

Never have I purchased a full bottle so quickly. How do I even summarise my love for this fragrance? She is everything I’ve ever wanted and more. I love tea notes, and this is so perfect and divine. To me the black tea is very photorealistic but the other beautifully blended notes stop it from being bitter, or overpowering. To be fair, I wouldn’t want to walk around smelling totally of tea. The citrus and oakmass are the stars that perfectly complement the tea in my opinion. Imagine going on a picnic amongst lush, earthy greenery. The air is crisp, and no one else is around. It rained recently so the greenery has come to life, and you’re sipping on an ever so slightly sweetened lemon iced tea. What an incredible blend.

I’m a big tea fragrance fan, but honestly was surprised at how much I like Dear Polly. To me it is the most balanced and wearable version of a tea fragrance where it clearly has notes of tea but in a way that melds with the person wearing it. It does have a light sweetness that lingers nicely and again just feels balanced throughout the wear, never cloying. I also agree with some other comments that it’s a darker tea, but not heavy or challenging (there are some maté notes out there that are way more challenging as far as tea goes). While I love a gourmand that smells like a London Fog, or a Chai, or even a lemon iced tea, sometimes I just want the hint of tea to keep me company, which is when I pick Dear Polly!

This does something magical when sprayed on my skin. I get dark brewed black tea with smokiness right behind it; almost as if the two coincide to concoct the uncanny likeness of a freshly steeped lapsang soochong. The bright bite of apple and bergamot comes in next with resinous dips of amber and fig. The woody oak moss wades throughout the base with a welcome hint of powdery musk for balance. This scent is surprising; the more I smell it the more I notice about it. It’s complex and intriguing; at some points throughout the day I swear it almost smells peppery too. This is pleasant, interesting, and unique without being TOO out there. Big fan!

I grew up near the Baltic sea, so it was almost always cold and everyone, including children, drank a lot of black tea. The rich, loose-leaf tea was served piping hot with a wedge of lemon, no sugar. I used to squeeze the lemon into the hot liquid and smoosh it with my spoon to make it extra citrusy. The scent of that lemony tea, including the earthy dregs, would linger in the house for hours. The first time I tried Dear Polly, I was instantly a kid again, wrapped in a blanket in my grandmother's kitchen, drinking a hot cup of black tea with lemon. This is a masterpiece of a tea fragrance: hyper-realistic, comforting, and beautifully nuanced.

Oolong tea with an amber, orange, & musk dry down. This is a unique blend of notes, and my husband described it as unlike perfume but more of an aromatic luxury spa scent. We agree it will be a date night and special occasion perfume, not an everyday reach. Nest Indigo is a lot sweeter, but it comes from a similar family—like a distant younger cousin. My husband gifted the 100ml to me for my birthday after I adored the sample I tried, and it’s such a special gift presentation. The bottle truly feels special with the engraved flowers on the cap and bottom, as well as the weighted glass.

The first tea fragrance I smelled where I ACTUALLY smelled tea. Not sure what Dear Polly did different but it really clicked with me here. I really like this one, it's bright and fresh. There's something kind of snappy and green in it. I think this would be gorgeous on a morning walk in the springtime. I see the complaints about cigarette smell and it's funny, my skin definitely tends to pull those notes out of fragrances but I really don't smell it here. Similarly, a lot of these black tea fragrances smell masculine on my skin but not this one. This was definitely a win for me.

I love the tea and bergamot notes. I don't love the ambroxide note. I don't get the smokiness that a lot of the comments talk about, but the ambrox has that dull grey saltiness to it that mellows out the bright freshness to this one. However, I'm sure that the super longevity this has is due to the ambroxide in it, so there are pros and cons. Dear Polly lasts on my skin overnight and projects strongly. This is a strong like for me. This and Wulong Cha are duking it out as my favorite tea frags but Dear Polly may come out ahead as it smells less like a hotel lobby.

I do not agree with the review below me at all. BR540 is very different. This fragrance really smells like green apple bergamonte. They both have a crispness to them, but in very different ways. MFK said he wanted BR540 to smell like what he envisioned crushed crystal to smell like, and I feel like he accomplished that. Dear Polly is nothing like that. This is pure green fruit. Crisp green apple and green leaf tea. Hint of green citrus. All balanced with wood notes like oakmoss and vetiver. It's very elegant and approachable. I'd 100% have both in my collection.

The opening is like opening a bag of loose-leaf Assam tea. The apple soon makes an appearance and the fragrance slowly dries down to a very calming and quite fantastic ambery black tea. Very well done, IMO. I bought it for myself (on Mercari. Don't pay full price) and my wife sprays it on herself quite often so it's safely unisex. A must-try for tea lovers. 4 sprays is more than enough and it will last several hours. If you layer the dry down with a citrus scent like Jo Malone's Orange Blossom Cologne, it smells like a wonderful spicy tea rose.