Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Male Fragrance Discussion › MFD Archive › Varvatos Vintage versus Burberry London; help me choose!
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Varvatos Vintage versus Burberry London; help me choose!

post #1 of 22
11/30/08 at 5:52pm
Thread Starter 
Hi!

I've recently been hunting for a good wearable warm scent. I've been through about 35 samples of various niche and designer frags recently (not all in this category of course ), and these are the two that have captured my interest for my purposes.

I love Vintage's spiciness, the rhubarb is amazing, and the drydown is sweet, slightly spicy, boozy, warm and smells excellent.

London is a little bit softer and more 'comforting' to my nose, and a little bit more 'fruit and berry' instead of spicy. I love this one as well!

I've also gotten my share of compliments on both.

To be honest, there is very little between them for me in terms of which I prefer. So I'm stuck; I know they're not the same, but I feel they are in the same category for me and I cannot afford both.

If anyone would like to volunteer some opinions on these frags I'd love to hear it. Maybe it will help me finally decide


Jake


*Edit: and if anyone has any recommendations for other frags along these lines I'd be happy to hear them.
Reply
Reply

Features on Basenotes

Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
post #2 of 22
11/30/08 at 6:28pm
Varvatos Vintage is an absolute classic.....get it! you won't regret it. I find it infinitely better than London......for longetivity, sillage, and drydown......super classy, very interesting...and very complex with light leather undertones. A one of a kind fragrance.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 22
11/30/08 at 7:38pm
Having no opinion of my own, I will give you the opinion of Andrewthecologneguy; 327 reviews; This is his review of Vintage Varvatos:
Well, as most mentioned, pumpkin spice. I say rum raisin cake...but I think you get the idea. It is an excellent fall/holiday fragrance, much along the lines of Burberry London (rectangular bottle with the cloth around it) and especially like Liz Claiborne Spark. The differences between the 3 is very little, but I think Burberry London is the better of this trio.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 22
11/30/08 at 7:51pm
Burberry London. Its spicier to me. Vintage still had a sweetness that I was not a fan of. London is classic to me
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 22
11/30/08 at 8:21pm
I do not think they are similar.

London is good, certainly an interesting take on lavender and woods, but it can give me a headache every now and then.
Vintage is the best of the two. It is a modern fragrance that feels like a classic. Wild evolution and quite affordable.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 22
11/30/08 at 9:12pm
  • KMF
  • offline
  • Gender:
I would go with Burberry London... No Varvatos fragrance has really grabbed me...
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 22
11/30/08 at 10:48pm
Omg!!! I just got vintage and dood burberry london has nothing on this scent! Get it!! So interestingly put together. Very fitting for the season. Rhubarb leather woods .....amazing. No brainer
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 22
11/30/08 at 10:55pm
I'm going to have to recommend Burberry London, but that's only because I haven't smelled the Varvatos Vintage.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 22
12/1/08 at 1:40am
Vintage is forgettable. London is my absolute comfort scent. Today I got to shave my moustache off (because Movember/moustache charity month is over) and I used London Aftershave, and sneaked in a few sprays of the EdT. Simply gorgeous. When I got downstairs, my girlfriend smelled me for a good ten minutes. She also prefers the original Varvatos vastly to the Vintage.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 22
12/1/08 at 2:34am
First of all let me say, Vintage and London are comparable because their general smell is somewhat similar. Between the two I prefer "Vintage" without any doubt. Vintage is well crafted sleek scent which has a harmonious composition. Also it is extremely long lasting on my skin.
All I saw from London was a purposeless composition which reminds me tobaccos which we smoke in n Ghalyun (Hookah). And you know this type of tobacco is generally sweetened heavily more or less by fruits like cherry or similar things. If they had crafted it better and harmonized the notes in a meaningful way, it could have been a great perfume. Further London doesn't last enough on me.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 22
12/3/08 at 5:50pm
I can't believe all of the love for Vintage over London considering Vintage got mixed reviews while London has decent reviews on this site. Why don't all of you go and write a review to support this fragrance? I shall try this one on the skin soon after avoiding it for a while. I tried the first Varvatos fragrance and it got annoying to me soon after. London is a nice fragrance but wish the top notes didn't fade out so quickly. The initial spray from London out of the bottle is pure heaven. I just wish that smell lasted throughout. If Vintage is truly better than London then that would be amazing. I will definitely test Vintage on the skin in the next week or so and see if it works for me.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 22
12/3/08 at 7:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin View Post

I can't believe all of the love for Vintage over London considering Vintage got mixed reviews while London has decent reviews on this site. Why don't all of you go and write a review to support this fragrance? I shall try this one on the skin soon after avoiding it for a while. I tried the first Varvatos fragrance and it got annoying to me soon after. London is a nice fragrance but wish the top notes didn't fade out so quickly. The initial spray from London out of the bottle is pure heaven. I just wish that smell lasted throughout. If Vintage is truly better than London then that would be amazing. I will definitely test Vintage on the skin in the next week or so and see if it works for me.

Me neither. I never see much on Vintage and found it really good but nowhere near London. London is just dear to my heart. It was my wedding fragrance...first full wearing and then wore it through my Italian honeymoon on the Amalfi Coast, Tuscany and Venice. everytime I wear it it reminds me of the smoke from the vines off in the distance in the cold Tuscan air. It is classic and I've never heard a bad thing and have gotten nothing but compliments. Its pure class for Fall and Winter.
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 22
12/3/08 at 7:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by blacklibran1 View Post

Omg!!! I just got vintage and dood burberry london has nothing on this scent! Get it!! So interestingly put together. Very fitting for the season. Rhubarb leather woods .....amazing. No brainer

haha...that's exactly the same as i felt when i first 'realised' how fantastic this scent is.

it's funny because i tried it about 3 or 4 times at shops...until one time i tried it and it just CLICKED. I think it really is a very complex scent....and it takes time to register. Once it does----it just takes off! brilliant.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 22
12/3/08 at 7:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ToughCool View Post

Me neither. I never see much on Vintage and found it really good but nowhere near London. London is just dear to my heart. It was my wedding fragrance...first full wearing and then wore it through my Italian honeymoon on the Amalfi Coast, Tuscany and Venice. everytime I wear it it reminds me of the smoke from the vines off in the distance in the cold Tuscan air. It is classic and I've never heard a bad thing and have gotten nothing but compliments. Its pure class for Fall and Winter.

London is definitely great. I bought it last month but sold it immediately to my friend because I was worried that the longevity wasn't that great and wanted to see how it would smell off of him since we hang out all the time. Spraying on fabric should be encouraged with London since the top notes are my favorite but they fade too quickly on the skin. I will give it another chance and will buy a large bottle of London next week along with Brit.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 22
12/3/08 at 8:07pm
Go with the Burberry London
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 22
12/4/08 at 1:56am
Another recommendation for Burberry London. I think it's great.

On the other hand, neither of the Varvatos frags have done much for me.
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 22
12/4/08 at 2:05am
London for me. It's classier and has more depth, imo. Longevity on me is great, 2 sprays lasts all day.
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 22
12/4/08 at 5:55am
I have JV but not the vintage and BL out of the two i prefer JV only because i think it wears better.
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 22
12/4/08 at 8:32am
Thread Starter 
Out of the two Burberry lasts MUCH longer than VV on me, strangely. And I get much better sillage from London; Vintage seems to wear very close to my skin.

I really really love both but I am leaning toward London because of its role, I can see wearing Vintage for nights out but I already have frags for that, and London is a great comfort scent.
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 22
12/4/08 at 8:35am
Get Both
Reply
Reply
post #21 of 22
12/4/08 at 11:31am
i have both, and ill have to say i thought i loved vintage at the store so i bought it pretty cheap online and now i kind of regret it. As my wardrobe grows and i want to move into niche fragrances this will be one of the first I will not feel to bad saying goodbye to. Its a "nice" fragrance but i dont find it really superior on any level for spice, leather, or anything in between, i guess if you love rhubarb thats one thing, but sometimes on me this scent gets extremely cloying and is one of the few that can make me nauseous. I feel bad almost that i dont like it more but its just becomming a meh for me, When i had only tried designer frags and not sampled any niche it was great but with the door to the niche world now open to me this one really does not have a place in my wardrobe

london however the fragrance is really good for a niche but i find it fairly fleeting in longevity, so if it lasts on you i could sniff london all day .

london btw was all over the place at my local tj maxx so go get it

3.3 oz with shower gell and balm with bag for 30 bucks not bad
Reply
Reply
post #22 of 22
2/17/09 at 2:23pm
honestly they're both a little heavy for me. But I'd say go with Burberry, simply because I own it, and prefer it, because it feels a little more classy and warm.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: MFD Archive

Features on Basenotes

Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Male Fragrance Discussion › MFD Archive › Varvatos Vintage versus Burberry London; help me choose!