Hypnotic Vanilla

Hypnotic Vanilla has become one of my all time favorites, I absolutely adore it. I got it mostly because people said it was a dupe for Hypnotic Poison and yes, it is. Now granted, I didn't own a bottle of HP back when it came out because I foolishly didn't try it on myself because then, to me, Dior usually smelled a bit mature or matronly. You have to forgive me, my young nose was way more into fresh and light, with CK One and CK Be, Carolina Herrera 212, Noa by Cacharel etc. being my usual go to fragrances and Dior simply was yet to be understood by my 15 year old self. I do remember smelling it on my stepmom and thinking it smelled nice but way too grown up for me. I finally purchased a bottle of it last year and although it smells similar to what I remember (obviously as I never tried it on myself and only smelled it coming from someone else, I am not familiar with the nuances and complexities of HP before it got reformulated) and while I love the smell of it, I absolutely loathe it as the performance is a joke. And I have oily skin that grabs on to fragrance for it's dear life. I'm appalled that Dior offers this in its current condition - yes I am aware that due to the regulations in recent years some things had to be changed but I've started to believe that some of the designer houses have used this as an excuse to make weaker fragrances for an even higher price. Performance is weaker = people spray more = buy it more often. The reason I believe this is that many fragrances are being released by companies that follow these regulations and still manage to give us decent longevity and projection for way lower prices. As a result I'm smelling something fishy within the designer perfume market. And HP sadly disappears within 3 hours after staying close to my skin - people can smell me if they hug me or sniff me and I can barely smell it on myself during that time. OK, so random complaints aside, I love the smell of HP but not so much the price for the performance so I've been actively hunting out good dupes. Zara has been knocking it out of the park recently for me so when Hypnotic Vanilla came on my radar it was an easy blind buy decision. Man, I'm glad I bought it. I love it. It's no performance monster but it lasts me about 7 hours with decent projection in the first 4, and after that it sits closer to my skin, but does not disappear until the 7 hour mark. In terms of scent - yes, I'm absolutely reminded of HP. I'm very surprised to see some reviews say it doesn't. I still have my bottle of HP and have compared them wrist to wrist and the main difference is that HP is denser and with a more prominent almond note (I think that's what some people describe as a playdough note, and the only play dough I was familiar with as a kid smelled of nothing, perhaps a bit waxy but that was it. And since I'm not an American, the rootbeer note doesn't register either - I've only once tried rootbeer and to me it tastes and smells like soda with toothpaste wich is nothing like what HP reminds me of. But different noses, different olfactory experiences). The almond note in HP is also a bit powdery to me. Overall it's a deep sultry vanilla with a prominent almond note and tiny bit of licorice on the side. Hypnotic Vanilla is like a diet version of HP and I mean that in the nicest, most flattering way possible. By no means am I saying that it's lackluster or flat - I'm just saying that the depth of HP is not there in HV but in a good way? The almond has been toned down a lot and I smell no licorice either but the vanilla is still absolutely beautiful with almond peeking through, instead of dominating the scent. Do I dare say I love Hypnotic Vanilla even more than HP? HV has this watery (not ozonic or salty) and airy element to it that I just love. I really don't understand people who dislike this scent unless they're just not fans of vanilla in general. If you are looking for an exact replica of HP, no, you will not find it in HV because of the lack of depth in HV - but if you'd care to experience a lighter, watery (not weak) version of it, that still is very similar to the HP DNA, I would always recommend it. As a stand alone fragrance I'd recommend it in a heartbeat if you like a good vanilla fragrance. If you need your vanilla to be very complex then you might not like it, but it's far from the cookie cutter bakery vanilla either. I feel like I smell like a vanilla fairy hopping between almond blossoms with a slight breeze in my hair, sunshine warming up my skin after a swim in a beautiful lake nearby. I hope Zara never discontinues this. Edit to add: And I have to disagree with Hypnotic Vanilla being closer to Kenzo Amore - I have Amore as well and that one, while certainly staying within the same realm as HP and HV, is way more powdery than either of those. I'd never suggest Amore as an alternative to Hypnotic Poison as it's very baby powder vanilla, cute and inoffensive while Hypnotic Poison is sexy and deep. Hypnotic Vanilla is even further from Amore than that.

As someone who used to love HP before it was reformulated, I was gifted this for Christmas and was instantly transported back to high school 2002, I was brought HP for Christmas 2001 by my grandmother and sprayed it to oblivion thinking I was the bees knees having a Dior perfume! It came to school with me every day, friends would ask if they could spray it ‘just one spray, it’s strong and I want it to last’ I’d tell them, that was rich coming from the girl who’d practically bathed in it just moments earlier right before their eyes. Hypnotic Vanilla has the depth of the original HP, minus the playdough note that caused me to retire it forever. It also has the longevity of the original, 8-10 hours on my skin which doesn’t usually hold fragrance well. It has the slightest powderyness that isn’t ‘old’ but adds to the depth. I don’t get the apricot blossom or much fruitiness atall. I just get the most incredible deep vanilla with almond (even though almond isn’t listed as a note, to my nose it’s there) it’s not a bitter almond either. Hypnotic Vanilla is sultry, sexy, dark, mysterious and fluffy without being too gourmand. It doesn’t have a baked cookies type of vanilla vibe and does not smell even the slightest bit cheap. For £22.99 for 80ml of such a beautiful fragrance I will wear this in the summer aswell as winter months with confidence. It’s not a perfume I’m going to just wear around the house, it isn’t a juvenile candy basic vanilla scent, it has depth and some serious legs. I will never buy HP again, it doesn’t even come close to the sillage or longevity of this. Yes, I do what is called ‘overspray’ sometimes - behind my ears, pulse points, chest, my hair and then clothes. No I am not ashamed of overspraying. After years of my perfumes never lasting more than an hour, even expensive ones, I discovered that the only way to get them to last so I get value for money is by spraying a little more. Not 20 sprays but 8-10 of some scents. Though Hypnotic Vanilla doesn’t need more than 6-8 to last all day and well into the night. It’s a lovely bedtime fragrance too, if I apply this ontop of EOS Vanilla Cashmere body lotion after my evening shower, I will still smell Hypnotic Vanilla in the morning. It lingers in my hair, my pillows and bedding. It does have a slightly oily feel on skin, but to me that is not a bad thing, I actually think this oil like residue is part of what makes HV last as long as it does. It’s Summer here now in the UK. I’m still wearing this from time to time, it isn’t cloying due to it not being too sweet or sickly, the notes dance on my skin like a dream no matter the weather although I do think that it will be absolutely perfect for winter and evenings, I’m happy to wear it in warmer weather and day time. I got through 30ml of this in 2 weeks - not even daily use and had to buy the 80ml, I just loved it so much I reapplied sometimes throughout the day just because I wanted to smell those initial notes again. It doesnt need reapplying though, its strong and long lasting. But not headache inducing. Some evenings I will apply 1 spray behind each ear before bed and drift off to sleep in the most wonderful silky vanilla and almond cloud. It is very smooth, and I know I smell good when I wear it. I’ve had more compliments on this £22/80ml fragrance that ANY of my others. Infact I’ve had more compliments on this in just a few short months than I’ve ever had on any fragrance ever! It doesn’t smell like a cheap Hypnotic Poison rip off atall. It smells more like HP than the current HP does! It reminds me of Christmas morning with my since passed grandparents, my grandma clearing up wrapping paper, my mother cooking from the break of dawn and my since passed dad fussing over his turkey. And then there’s me, spraying the classic Hypnotic Poison all over me, at my happiest, feeling like the coolest kid in the world because I have a bottle of Dior perfume. Zara has done amazing with this scent and I will be trying more from the range, I have a list ready to order. If you love vanilla, but not synthetic cheap vanilla, and also miss the old Hypnotic Poison, then grab a bottle of this, the 30ml is only £12.99 and I honestly don’t think you would go back to whatever the stuff they call Hypnotic Poison now is.. honestly, I can’t believe how beautiful, strong and long lasting this scent is without being ‘too much’ I love Hypnotic Vanilla, infact I put it on about an hour ago, ready for bed and it is going strong and I know it will still be on my skin in the morning. I don’t think you have to be either young or old to wear this. Any age can pull it off, my 15 year old started to steal it to wear for school so now she has her own bottle that she takes in her school bag, all her friends borrow it and love it. It’s a fragrance that is affordable for any age but doesn’t smell cheaply made by any means. It smells luxurious and like it could be £80 a bottle. I think I’d still buy it if it was because it’s worth every single penny!

I’ll write this as two reviews, for the people who are curious about HV as a potential vanilla scent, and for the people curious about it as a dupe for HP. As a vanilla scent on its own: on the paper, HV is a mossy vanilla-caramel, with a fresh, powdery undertone from the florals. It’s not a ‘pure’ vanilla scent, so it would work well for the people that want a vanilla perfume, but find straight vanilla fragrances kind of thin and boring. That said, I wouldn’t recommend this for anyone going for the ‘clean girl’ aesthetic. There’s a bit of green to it, but if it’s less ‘came out of the shower’ and more ‘old cableknit sweater that you wear when hiking, with vanilla perfume caked between the wool’. If I had to recommend it to anyone, I’d recommend it to the Tik Tok girlies who’re still deep in their ‘Y2K Slavic bimbo ushanka+shuba’ phase. HV was created to smell similar to Hypnotic Poision, which came out in ‘97 and was a big hit. Along with the oakmoss, which is something you don’t see as much anymore, I’d say HV has a bit of an old-fashioned, late-90s glam to it. If that’s what you’re going for, buy it. It’s dirt-cheap and lasts about 6 hours. As an HP dupe.... Use your brain, and test it out in store. The notes are completely different. I wore HP throughout secondary school, and so I’d say I’m very familiar with it. They’re totally identical, but HP was always an earthy, powdery vanilla-woods scent on me. I never got much coconut or almond out of HP, in the same way I don’t get much caramel out of HV. If HP runs vanilla-almond Play-Doh on you, this isn’t the right fit. If it runs woody, you might really like this. Personally, I enjoy it more than the original HP. For one, HP is incredibly strong, which isn’t a bad thing... until you consider just how powdery it is. HV is long-lasting but it’s subtler and so it doesn't get on my nerves, and I don’t need to be as careful. The bottle is also much nicer. To each their own, but I don’t know what the people at Dior were smoking when they decided to change that sultry, vampiric dark red bottle out for an opaque, red-and-black mall-goth looking MONSTROSITY. Even the Britney Spears perfume I purchased at Marshall’s looks more expensive than that. It’s so bad that I can’t justify repurchasing it because I hate it so, so much. It should be classified as a crime against humanity. But luckily Hypnotic Vanilla smells the same (on me), is a quarter of the cost, and comes in nicer packaging. Yippee!!

This was really unexpected for me. I think this is the fastest I have used up a bottle (30 ml in about 6 weeks). I was curious about dior hypnotic poison but haven't been able to find any place to smell it. I smelled this in store and after checking reviews, I saw the comparisons. Now I have no care to try hypnotic poison as long as this exists because I love it so much. I would describe it as a "dry" vanilla and marzipan. It's not too sweet or warm. This doesn't pull as play-doh to me, but I see how it could for others. I think why I like this scent is that it scratches at some faded memory that I can't conjure up completely. The soft smell of a doll's skin or hair I had in the 90's? The longevity is an easy 10 hours or more. I feel like I am crawling out of my skin now that this bottle is finished because I so badly want to run and get the large bottle. But I've decided to hold off for a bit and give some love to my other perfumes now that it is spring.

A dark and sophisticated vanilla- sweet but with a dark depth. To me this is definitely not a gourmand! Possibly gourmand adjacent like how Angel Mugler is. Smells of vanilla and almonds- even though almond is not listed as a note. The oak moss adds a forest earthiness to it, and I smell a faint smokiness in the background like a coal fire. I think this perfume is best suited to night time and autumn. Good sillage initially. Longevity is not amazing, after 2-3 hours it needs a top up. Have to over spray to get it to last and have some strength. I haven't smelled Hypnotic Poison unfortunately but this is definitely how I imagine it would smell. Overall, I'd describe it as a vanilla vampire fragrance! It smells mysterious- it's sweet, sexy, inviting, complex and dark. For the price this is really decent- I think I'll be buying the larger 80ml very soon.