New Hermessence: Vanille Galante

'...In-house perfumer Jean Claude Ellena, responsible for the house's latest, the sleeper classic Kelly Calèche and the controversial Un Jardin après la Mousson, is now focusing on vanilla...'

Helg at The Perfume Shrine gets the scoop - link here

I was kind of thinking the same thing. But, remember, JCE also created Kelly Caleche recently and Parfum des Merveilles - and both of those are not subtle.

If it is a 'minimal' vanilla, I suspect it can't be as good as Vanille 44 by Le Labo. Maybe just cheaper?

No problem nthny - excitement is contagious!!

Got my bottle today (a 15 ml travel spray). Bought it blind - which I almost never do, except when it comes to JC Ellena and CdG scents.

I'll post a review after I've had a chance to give it a couple wearings. I'm excited!

If any of you want a rather lengthy (2 part) review of the scent, The Scented Salamander reviewed Vanille Galante here and here.

Thanks guys. Once my cold clears up completely I'll tackle a wearing and a review.

Pour_Monsieur - all of the Hermessences can be bought with those leather cases, or without. Classy, aren't they? They're outrageously expensive, though. But the VG one, in white, looks very chic.

bbBD - No I didn't buy my single 15 ml travel spray from a Hermes boutique - got mine from someone selling it separately.

The Hermessence bottles, themselves, are $230.

The leather slipcases are $350 (fragrance not included).

It's a steal in comparison to the $750 leather dog leash I saw in the store last time I visited. In pink.

So - I've gotten the opportunity to wear Vanille Galante several times since I bought it a month ago and I thought I'd post my thoughts on it.

The top notes remind me (as soon as I spray the nozzle) of ripe mango. We had a mango tree growing up in my backyard and I ate mangoes my whole life. There's a certain scent I get from holding a mango (with some of the peel still on) up to my mouth and biting into it that's replicated for a few seconds in VG. Odd - because of course, who expects to encounter this in a vanilla fragrance!?

What immediately followed was the aforementioned 'banana condom' accord. Of course it doesn't smell like banana or like condoms. But banana flavored candies give off a sharp, distinct (almost flowery) aroma (LifeSavers, for instance) and the VG floral element gives off this same aura. I am almost certain it is the ylang ylang. I personally have a problem enjoying this flower - in many scents it smells like woman's cold cream or face cream. The floral element of VG is creamy and very tropical. It reminds me of what a thick, heavy scented tanning sunblock cream might smell like.

The light aquatic (water) note in the middle is spicy (spiced water?) and it's hard to shake the resemblance to Un Jardin Apres la Mousson. Imagine the top notes of UJALM with all of the melon removed. That's what the aquatic note in VG smells like.

The vanilla? It's there, but it's been stripped of everything sweet and gourmand-y about it and all you can really smell is a very faint wisp of it that weaves in and out of the previously mentioned florals. The hide-and-seek vanilla is very seductive - it doesn't overpower the scent and it also allows VG to smell unlike any other scent I've ever experienced before. It's this distinctive quality that had me wearing VG many times, to wrap my head around it.

The verdict: I don't like it. I respect the artistry and achievement that Ellena strove for in creating VG. I also think it's wonderfully refreshing to smell a tropical floral scent, that is so different. But I feel incredibly uncomfortable wearing it.