Le Voluttuose La Vaniglia Bois 1920

Source: www.basenotes.net

I will fully admit that my girly girl side fell for the blush pink and gold bottle BUT what tipped me into blind buying a bottle of La Vaniglia was that it has quite a number of detractors despite being a vanilla scent. Oriental vanilla that is. Very oriental indeed. 

Vanilla usually out shouts its accompanying notes and vanilla scents can get a bit boring and repetitive after a while. Standout vanillas like Mona di Orio's Vanille and La Vaniglia break out of the gourmand category and present challenging compositions that will have their equal share of fans and critics. Mona di Orio's Vanille is an acrid woody vanilla that I enjoy sniffing but cannot wear as I find it too dry to be comfortable and I do like some sugar with my vanilla. L`Erbolario Dolcelisir is a boozy gourmand vanilla that's loaded with cinnamon and other spices which makes it feel drier than other gourmand vanilla perfumes that I've tried. 

Where Dolcelisir is laden with cinnamon, La Vaniglia my third encounter with a dry vanilla, is liberally peppered especially in the opening where the smell of freshly grated ginger and pepper is almost overwhelming and there's no sign of vanilla at this time. The initial spiciness dissipates over time but spice remains a prominent note even to the drydown and this dry spiciness gives a feeling of antiquity to La Vaniglia. Under the spice, living beneath a thick fog of darkest patchouli and smoky incense that is so intense it is as if someone sucked up the incense of several cathedrals and stuck it in this creation, there is a creamy vanilla but La Vaniglia is not just vanilla as she claims to be nor is she the innocent cotton candy pink of the bottle. Yes there is sugar but just enough to be noticed so in comparison I will say much less sweet than Dolcelisir but sweeter than Vanille. She is very much a sophisticated, audacious take on vanilla that is both wildly weird and wonderful. Potent and promiscuous this is definitely not for little girls. AMAZING longevity and good projection. Blind buy success! 

PG12 Hyperessence Matale Parfumerie Generale

Source:madisonperfumery.com

Based on notes alone this shouldn't be my cup of tea as I'm not particularly crazy over fresh scents, but I was introduced to it during a Parfumerie Generale smell-fest and although I don't love it, I do like it and think it's quite special.

Well the drydown is special that is. The opening is rather like living in a bottle of lemon detergent with sharp and shrill citruses in an aerial bombardment. Adding to the (imagined) luminous yellow discord are eye-watering peppery notes such that the start of Hyperessence Matale is not just hyper, it's migraine-inducing. 

In the aftermath there is peace. The limes and lemons have careened off chart taking most of the pepper with them, leaving an enjoyable level of spiciness...and enter the Zen garden, where a soothing cup of hot pu-erh (or insert other favorite black tea here) awaits on a low table in front of a pile of cushions scattered on the floor, facing a manicured green garden bordered by a thick wall of trees to protect its tranquility. Bottle all this and you have the drydown.

After the loud entrance, Hyperessence Matale quietens to a more pleasing and moderate level of projection and has an average longevity. 

Fracas versus Carnal Flower

There are endless debates on whether Robert Piguet's (Germaine Cellier) Fracas (I bought mine in 2011) and Frederic Malle's (Dominique Ropion) Carnal Flower smell similar and I thought they did but then I never tested them side by side till now. 

Fracas opens with a bigger blast than Carnal Flower but that's definitely not alluding that Carnal Flower is in any way weak, it's not. Fracas is a buttery and creamy big white floral featuring tuberose as the main actress, with supporting roles going to gardenia, orange blossom and jasmine. Carnal Flower is greener and fresher than Fracas by far but strangely I'm only noticing that now when I compare them next to each other. In Carnal Flower I smell the ylang ylang and a just ripe melon as the supporting notes and not so much the gardenia as I do in Fracas.

Although both Fracas and Carnal Flower are laden with tuberose, Profumum Roma's Tuberosa takes the award for the most fulsome tuberose perfume ever, it's tuberose and nothing else for hours on end and at only one volume, super loud. Next to Tuberosa, both Fracas and Carnal Flower are practically tame.

Fracas smells "older" than Carnal Flower due to the dewiness of the tuberose in Carnal Flower.  Both are sexy beasts but Fracas has this heavy on syrup factor that makes her seem like a perennially boozed up lush that has seen too much before her age, whereas Carnal Flower doesn't flaunt her sexuality while remaining alluring. Think of Elizabeth Taylor as Fracas and Greta Garbo as Carnal Flower. 

Both are monsters that project forever, so I won't worry about either under-performing. I think the only tuberose that doesn't stick on me is L'Artisan's La Chasse aux Papillons, most other tuberose-based perfumes that I've tried are tenacious creatures. 

So the verdict is, no they don't smell similar and yes if you adore tuberose, you would want both in your life.