Vanille Fraiche by Montagne

Parfums de Marly (PdM) introduced Layton in 2016, a creation of Hamid Merati-Kashani, nose of several fantastic fragrances including Percival from the same house, Oud Rose Intense from Fragrance Du Bois and Mystic Experience from Initio, suffice to say, Hamid knows what he’s doing and Layton might be his best creation with a 4.4 rating on Fragrantica, not a small feat to accomplish. Layton’s blue bottle has become a staple of fragrance shots on Instagram and you can’t find a forum that talks about scents that doesn’t obsess over this bottle, so, if you are pursuing Layton but find the price to be a deterrent, I present to you an alternative from Montagne, called Vanille Fraiche.

The Opening

The first few minutes with this fragrance, I can detect bergamot coming through, not dominating mind you, just coming trough, making the whole thing lively and sparkly, it’s enveloped in this lavender/apple/vanilla cloud that is then surrounded by wood and imprisoned… yes, the opening can be perceived as slightly fresh but it really isn’t a fresh fragrance, the sandalwood makes sure of that. In the past, I’ve had reservations about Montagne’s fragrances’s openings, I’ve found them different from the OGs and to be truthful, a little lacking. That changed with Vanille Fraiche, from the moment you apply it to your skin it’s well rounded and no notes go sparking off your skin in unknown directions, they work together to envelop you, out of my 15 Montagnes (so far), this has the best opening in terms of quality, it’s pretty amazing.

Heart & DryDown

The drydown for me is pretty crowd pleasing, it’s not challenging or mind-bending complicated, it’s very well done. You can detect different wood accords in there, sandalwood is not the only player and they all complement each other to form a wood bubble that is nothing short of pleasing, inside that bubble you get vanilla and lavender, a non-tart apple note as well, earthy apple, what you get from peeling and smelling the peel.  Note here, the patchouli comes through and it can create similarities to some of the Mugler fragrances, but, they are very different scents, Vanille Fraiche to me is about a ton of notes playing together, it feels complete, whether Mugler can take some notes and over-do them in a different way, pleasing as it is, it’s not this. The scent bubble from the drydown is inviting, office friendly, date approved, cuddling encouraged.

Is this spicy? That’s the one question I’m not able to answer yet… when compared to really spicy fragrances, this is not spicy to me, but, there is something on the drydown that invokes that spicy feeling, it’s a fleeting note that augments others, like pepper, I really like it but I’d be hard-pressed to call it spicy per-se.

Gender & Body Chemistry

Is this unisex? Absolutely. On my wife’s skin, bergamot is more lively than on mine and the apple is way more “detectable” than on my own skin, on my daughter’s skin, the fragrance goes almost fresh with the bergamot playing first violin as her skin tends to make fragrances sweeter than they are. Suffice to say, all 3 directions that I tested this on are incredible and I have no reservations saying this is a unisex fragrance (provided you like wood notes, of course)

Comparisons

I compared this to Alexandria Fragrance's Royal Equestrian, a clone I’ve held as a great interpretation before. Look, honesty can be brutal, but truth is important, Vanille Fraiche made me hate Royal Equestrian (RE), I wore them at the same time (one on each arm) and Royal Equestrian was so invasive on my skin, so loud without being rounded while Vanille Fraiche felt so complete on my skin, on the openings, there is a 100% clear winner and that is Vanille Fraiche. On the drydown, RE becomes more sub-dued and rounds itself better becoming more pleasing, but still, it augments certain notes (vanilla/apple) and they are louder than the wood, in my opinion, changing the fragrance from a wood bubble with apple/vanilla notes inside to a vanilla/apple bubble with wood notes inside, so, my comparison will be based on which I prefer and I do prefer Vanille Fraiche, I see no situation in which I would choose RE over Vanille Fraiche.

Compared to OG, I sadly ran out of my sampler for Layton before I could do a brutal and extended 1:1 comparison, but, the one time I compared them I couldn’t believe how close they were, in fact, I couldn’t take in that I was comparing two different fragrances. Layton is a staple scent on everyone’s collection, I’m not buying the OG, I don’t need to, I already have my Layton scent.

Performance

On cold days, this stops projecting after 1 hour and remains a pleasing skin scent for 8+ hours, on warmer days the projection lasts longer (perhaps 1.5 to 2 hours). Due to quarantine, measuring sillage or scent trail is almost impossible! This is not a beast mode fragrance and I’m glad it isn’t, making it beast mode would augment notes that need no augmenting, this scent profile is meant to be Eau de Parfum concentration for us to be able to enjoy all the notes and I’m glad Montagne respected that.

Conclusion

Clones or Inspired Expressions can feel different from the OGs on your skin because they lack the depth the OGs went for, for a long time those of us that like clones had to live with that and be ok with it, I think Montagne just introduced a fragrance that changes that perception, the opening on Vanille Fraiche is fantastic and the drydown worthy of daily wear. If you like Layton, this is an easy option which, considering the cost, is almost a no-brainer. The ingredients in Vanille Fraiche feel natural and over-spraying will not cause a headache or choke you, it will complement you. This is a solid 7/10, mainly because I find Layton to be too crowd pleasing for my taste. Well done Montagne, well done.


As always, wear it because it complements you, not because of the compliments.

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Essence N°9 : Tubéreuse by Elie Saab

Introduction

This fragrance was created by Francis Kurkdjian, the nose behind JPG Le Male, Mr Burberry, Baccarat Rouge 540, Grand Soir and many others. The essence collection from Elie Saab is all about taking one prominent note and make it play first violin on the compositions behind the name of the fragrance, for example, on Essence N°9  Tubéreuse, it’s all about the white flower but the notes also contain cinnamon bark,  musk and bergamot, however, the Tuberose flower is the main note and the prominent one, same for the rest of the line. What’s more, the fragrances are are meant to complement each other (for example, this one can be layered with the Vetiver, Our or Amande Tonka versions), part of the genius that only Kurkdjian can bring to the table.

The Opening 

Tuberose (Agave amica) can lean feminine as it’s very floral and rounded…. but, I think it leans feminine because we associate certain notes with a population, in my case, I associate white florals with a fragrance my mom and her friends wore when I was growing up called White Diamonds …therefore I consider Tuberose to lean feminine. However, I think forcing a scent profile to a gender is not correct, it limits your olfactory experience and you’ll miss out on some gems out there.

Enter Essence No 9. The opening is all white floral, all powder, very powerful and loud, the cinnamon sharpens the opening, upon first spray you think it’ll grow close to skin but it doesn’t, it sparks, it does this magic trick where it rests on your skin first and THEN it becomes loud, the scent cloud, if you are not careful, will be super strong. Imagine grabbing two handfuls of freshly picked tuberose flowers, on a hot day where the flowers are particularly loud, now imagine burying your face in those flowers…. but what’s more, imagine your hands can hold twice the amount of flowers and you bury your face again…THAT is what this feels like. It’s amazing, it’s so pure and loud.

The DryDown

Musk enters the composition but it never takes over completely, the essence of the white flower is there even though it sits darker and earthier on your skin. The drydown is very well rounded and still floral, the powder aspect remains but it’s not what I would consider a powdery scent considering the ingredients (meaning: it’ll always be powdery

Performance

This fragrance is a beast! It will project 1 to 2 feet for at least 3 hours, and will be on your skin 8+ hours.

Where to Buy?

I got mine from FragranceNet, highly recommend you join their mailing list to get some significant discounts.

The Bottle and The Sprayer

The cap is magnetic and it's easy to hold the bottle from the cap (useful when you store bottles on a drawer), the bottle is thick glass and screams quality, the sprayer produces a beautiful mist, 9/10 for the bottle. One of my favorite bottles from my collection.

Conclusion

If you are into white florals, this is not to be missed, if you are into Tuberose (pure scent) then this is definitively not to be missed. It sparks from your skin with the most pure Tuberose note, the cinamon helps tone down the powder and add complexity to the scent, the bergamot makes it shine and the musk allows it to sit on your skin, rounded and complete. This is not everyone’s cup of tea, but, it’s the right person’s sip of whiskey. Totally recommended, 8/10.

Have you tried this or any from the Essence Line? Drop me a line and tell me about your experience!

As always, wear it because it complements you, not because of the compliments.

Thanks for reading,


X.


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Good Life by Rêveur

Vetiver can take many forms in fragrances, it can be earthy with a strong edge, almost dirty… it can

also be bright, almost like a happy version of itself, regardless, the fragrant grass with a great fixative is a staple on perfumery, and Rêveur has included it on it’s Eaux de Perfume, Good Life.

The Opening

The first time I smelled Good life I remember thinking “so, this is what a green fragrance is”, don’t get wrong, I love Guerlain’s Vetiver, Creed’s Green Irish Tweed and many other well known green fragrances I’ve tried or owned before this one, but Good Life managed to separate itself from the rest by the perfect mix of mint, vetiver and lavender, the opening is very green and rooty , it’s strong, almost essential oil strong, however, it has a lot of character while it allows you to enjoy it. It’s important to note, I think the concentration on this fragrance is pretty high, all of the notes spark from your skin as though to yell at you, do not apply this and think it will disappear, it will not.

Look, I’m a sucker for lavender, I just am, but I’m not a fan of the overly done lavender note on soaps / shampoos /etc, I’m a fan of the earthy lavender and this is what I detect on Good Life. It stays at the same level as the Vetiver and the mint and they complement each other.

DryDown

This fragrance is linear,  meaning that it stays on the same vibe from opening to drydown with the difference being that musk now appears after 30 minutes or so, white musk is how I would describe it and what I feel. It compliments the vetiver as the mint and lavender die down from the notes. The drydown is less sharp on the vetiver but the fragrance never loses it’s DNA, this is a green fragrance from beginning to end, have no doubt about it.

Performance

Good Life will suffocate if you over-spray it, I did the mistake of spraying 7 times on me (3 on chest, 1 on neck, 1 on each arm bend, 1 on forearm that I rubbed with the other forearm) and the scent bubble became too much for the first 45 minutes or so, after that, it died down enough to be more tolerable (NOTE: This is subjective, some people love that beast mode so to each it's own). However, when I spray less, the scent bubble is airy and very pleasing for my taste. Longevity wise, expect a solid 5-7 hours depending on how hydrated your skin is (or if you apply it over lotion) and expect a projection of 1 feet for about 1-3 hours. Sillage is harder to measure in times of Quarantine, so, I was not able to measure it.

Use

This is a spring/summer fragrance with the capability of extending into warmer days during Fall. I use this when I’m wearing a buttoned short sleeve shirt with shorts and it really complements the attire and overall feeling of a sunny day. Because this is not a skin scent and it projects, the scent bubble will become more noticeable as you sweat so take that in consideration.

The Bottle and The Sprayer

I got the 1.7oz (50ml) and it comes with a nice pleather bag for travel. I can lift the bottle by the cap (which is useful as I store my fragrances in drawers) but the cap is not magnetic. The bottle has good heft to it and you can tell the label is applied manually as sometimes it’s not 100% centered, I like this as I appreciate the fact that someone worked on my bottle individually. The sprayer produces a nice mist but its not great at regulating, so, the spray it produces is awesome but don’t expect to press halfway and get a consistent spray like you would get with Dior. I rate the bottle and the sprayer at 6.5/10 where Creed, Kilian and Dior’s sprayers are 10.

Price

The 50ml goes for $80 ($1.60 / ml) while the 100ml goes for $120 ($1.20 / ml).  These prices enter the niche stratosphere as you would expect, but look, I’ll throw a curve-ball here… price per ML is on the same range as DUA and the quality and unique-ness you are getting here is better…so, there’s that. Also, price per ml is less than some offerings from Creed and I would compare this house to Creed in terms of quality. So yes, it’s a little expensive for a relatively unknown brand but I assure you, the quality is there.

Conclusion

Look, there are many options on green fragrances that are good and many options that are fantastic, I think Good Life is part of the fantastic ones and one you should consider, at $80 is not exactly cheap and committing to it might scare someone off, I suggest you visit Rêveur’s page and get some samples, put them to the test on your skin, play with them, see if you agree with me... I have a feeling you'll get the bottle.

I have 99 bottles of fragrance on my collection, I use Good Life several times a month as the weather gets warmer, that should tell you how high I think of this, 8/10 on my book.