Felanilla 21 (2009)
by Parfumerie Generale

When I first sampled this one I had a contrasting feeling. On one side I thought it was a pleasant warm vanilla, on the other side I thought it was too similar to FM Musc Ravageur but without FM power. I gave it a second chance and got a another sample. Well, I still think Maurice Roucel is much better than Guillame, I still think Felanilla lacks in something but I can definitely say Felanilla is incredibly addicting and very comfortable scent.

Here follows my review based on the first sample I got:

I quite like this one but, to be honest, it striked me as a sort of mash up between Musc Ravageur and Acier Alluminum. Well, actually I think Musc Ravageur has a stronger personality and Maurice Roucel is much better than Pierre Guillame, but that's another point. Felanilla is surely a well crafted warm vanilla scent, filled with top quality ingredients, with an acceptable sillage and a no more than reasonable lasting power but IMO it lacks in depth. It has a nice opening with a lot of amber and a hint of banana wood somewhere and a much better drydown that turns the scent into a confortable and quite close to the skin amber/vanilla but it still lacks in something...I still have to decide if I really like Pierre Guillame's creations or not but my suggestion to him, would surely be to reduce a little the reange of his productions and maybe focus on just a bunch of fragrances and complete them. I love Cozè, Intrigant Patchouli, Aomassai and find Papyrus De Ciane absolutely fantastic (unfortunately the latter doesn't match with my skin chemistry, but on paper is delightful) but my impression is too many of Guillame's fragrances (not all of them) are kinda incomplete or inconsistent. A nice scent, anyway.

4th March, 2011. (Last Edited: 2nd November, 2011.)

Even though I am not a fan of saffron notes, Felanilla does a very good job of presenting that particular spice: I get only a tiny adverse reaction to its presentation here. The orris is nicely contained, too. The vanilla note is exceptional – a dried, somewhat burned note… delicious and foody but not a bit sharp, oversweet, or cloying. The woody elements of the fragrance – hay and banana wood – form an excellent, sappy / resinous platform for the refined and rich sweetness of the vanilla and the touch of amber. The scent is designed with excellent balance and refinement, and it strikes me as an original use of that luscious vanilla note in its combination with the woody elements of the fragrance. Because of its saffron and orris, I won’t be considering Felanilla for purchase, but I can’t help but admire the quality and the uplifting ambiance of the fragrance… Very nice scent, indeed.

4th October, 2010.

This is one of my favorite PG compositions along with L'Ombre Fauve. If you're expecting it to be like a conventional sticky, creamy and sweet gourmand-y vanilla, you'd be in for a surprise! This one opens with an accord of fizzy saffron, and oily, slightly carroty and buttery iris. This duo seems to combine to give a rather quirky aroma. The vanilla here doesn't exactly take centre-stage. I understand that the idea of Felanilla is "Feline Vanilla" and I have to say that Moltening got it right when he mentioned that the Iris, Saffron and Banana wood have been infused to mimic an animalic accord (As Feline would suggest), and that at first whiff can actually smell a little like antiseptic. The vanilla which rounds up the Iris, Saffron, Banana wood accords, isn't anything too rich or sweet. As the scent settles, the ambery vanilla, soapy musk, and some lingering iris and saffron is what is left for one to enjoy. This is my choice non-gourmand vanilla. In fact, it was through Moltening's recommendation that I got introduced to this. And being a fan of saffron, iris, vanilla, musk, this scent is a winner. It is easy to identify and detect the notes in this one as they are all well-represented and managed, never being mashed into some accord too difficult to breakdown or understand. A simple composition, yet so alluring, addictive and warm.

My only gripe: Even for a skin-scent, it ought to have much better longevity! It is an "Eau De Parfum Intense" after all...


Moltening's review is probably the most accurate for me.

10th April, 2010. (Last Edited: 11th April, 2010.)

I'm getting the vanilla and banana, but no iris. I think I heard there was hay in this, but I don't get that. The vanilla goes a bit rummy on me, not in a terribly offensive way, but not really the overall scent I was hoping for. It's nice, and I'm glad I got a sample of it, but won't need a FB.

7th April, 2010.

Vanillas! Vanillas everywhere! I'm not sure exactly which fragrance started the current proliferation of high-end vanillas (was it SDV that started it?), but regardless of how it started it seems like every house needs to have a high end vanilla. Even houses that have one or many vanillas are coming out with more vanilla perfumes (i.e. L'Artisan had Vanilia, came out with Havana Vanille, Profumum has several vanillas, came out with Vanitas, etc.).

Pierre Guillaume aka Parfumerie Generale has a line full of vanilla/amber gourmands and the PG specialty, the 'semi-gourmand' (i.e. Aomassai, Cadjmere, L'Oiseau de Nuit, L'Ombre Fauve, Brulure de Rose, etc.). Those like myself who appreciate and understand the subtle genius of Guillaume were very curious as to what a PG vanilla would be like, and some bought blind without even sampling, such were their trust in PG's quality.

I can't lie, I was not blown away by Felanilla - not at first - but over months of continuing samplings and wearings has revealed a fantastic vanilla-grounded fragrance that is about much more then "just vanilla". Vibert's review excellently describes the interplay of notes and I'm not sure I can do much better. The smokiness of the orris, the unique hint of 'bananawood' (which smells like it sounds), the musky/powdery iris, and the dry complexity of hay absolute all balance and enhance a vanilla note that is rich without being too thick. While SDV remains my holy grail vanilla for its volume and pure audaciousness, Felanilla represents a superior technical composition. Compared to the other high-end niche vanillas, whether it be Profumum Vanitas, SL Un Bois Vanille, LP Havana Vanille, PdN Vanille Intense, etc. this PG is the most intriguing, the most nuanced, the most truly unique. As is typical of PG perfumes I get significant sillage with a typical application and roughly 10 hours of longevity. Now that PGs are available in 30ml sizes (to join 50ml and 100ml options) it's even easier to put these on your shelf.

If you could only own one vanilla I'd say get SDV, but if you're buying a second vanilla make sure it's Felanilla.... thumbs up!

8th March, 2010.

Notes: Vanilla, saffron, orris, banana wood, hay absolute, amber.

That Felanilla's smoky vanilla and astringent saffron top notes don’t smell at all foody is an ongoing (and welcome) source of wonderment for me. There’s a woody edge to these notes that renders them inedible, and the intensely rooty iris that joins them after a few minutes only drives Felanilla further from the dessert cart. Never mind the name or the note pyramid – this isn’t vanilla custard and it isn’t rice pudding. It isn’t even Bananas Foster. In fact, to my nose it’s more of a rich, sweetened iris scent with lots of wood and bitter saffron over a vanillic amber foundation. A trace of gamy labdanum adds a welcome animalic tang to the drydown.

The weird, dark complexity of hay absolute is played very subtly in Felanilla, so anyone expecting it to dominate the scent to the degree it does in Serge Lutens’s Chergui may wind up disappointed. While it offers plenty of depth, Felanilla is not the kind of cloying, syrupy fragrance the note pyramid might suggest. It’s greatest liability to my mind is its endurance – or should I say its lack thereof. It may be that I’m partly anosmic to the drydown, or that I habituate to Felanilla rapidly, but whatever the case I find it hard to detect after just a couple of hours’ wear. Even so, I enjoy it enough to want to wear it and to reapply it as necessary.

11th December, 2009. (Last Edited: 6th February, 2010.)