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L'Artisan Havana Vanille, M. Micallef Note Vanillee, or Tauer Lddm?

post #1 of 22
9/5/10 at 10:24am
Thread Starter 
So I plan to own all three of these eventually, but this week I'll purchase one. Which one should it be, and in what order would you purchase these fragrances? Truth be told, I am pretty certain which one I'm getting first, but I'm just curious as to how you guys feel about these three...
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post #2 of 22
9/5/10 at 10:41am
I have only tried Havana Vanille and Tauer Lddm - to be honest, I liked both but thought they were a tad overrated. I would say my disappointment ranged from minor (Tauer) to modest (HV), enough where they wouldn't make the cut for me personally to shell that kind of $ out for them. If I WAS to (or somebody gave me the choice of one free) I would definitely choose the Lddm. I see it as more wearable and certainly more masculine. I find vanilla for me to be a very infrequent type scent to wear. My vote is the Tauer Lddm.
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post #3 of 22
9/5/10 at 11:07am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Force of One View Post

I have only tried Havana Vanille and Tauer Lddm - to be honest, I liked both but thought they were a tad overrated. I would say my disappointment ranged from minor (Tauer) to modest (HV), enough where they wouldn't make the cut for me personally to shell that kind of $ out for them. If I WAS to (or somebody gave me the choice of one free) I would definitely choose the Lddm. I see it as more wearable and certainly more masculine. I find vanilla for me to be a very infrequent type scent to wear. My vote is the Tauer Lddm.

I don't see a lot of talk about HV, so I don't think I can agree that it's overrated. Even if it did get a lot of chatter, I would feel that it was deserved. When I first sampled it, I don't think I was wowed upon first application. But when I gave it a full wearing, I loved how I felt in it. That Vanilla/hay/slight leather vibe just felt very succulent. While wearing this one, I felt almost edible. It's a nice gourmand, imo. Lddm is the most masculine of the three. It has a very...I don't know if it's incense, but it's like a woody vanillac incensy thing going on. When I wore this, I felt very sophisticated. And the Note Vanillee is pretty close to SDV, but I think this has less rum in it. But it is very nice. Like the other two, I felt very fragrant and sophisticated in it.
I love them all. Well...love two of them, and I like one a lot.
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post #4 of 22
9/5/10 at 11:23am
Yeah perhaps "overrated" is a bit harsh. In fairness, my expectations might have been a little too high. I agree that it is a nice scent and if you like it that much, I certainly couldn't fault you for buying it. I guess I was just expecting something other than what I got.

I absolutely agree about the incense part in Tddm...that's what I like most about it.

Good luck with whatever you decide!
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post #5 of 22
9/5/10 at 11:42am
Thread Starter 
Your sentiments towards HV is similar to mine towards Tobacco Vanille. I was expecting something quite different from that too. People still seem to love it though. I think it smells like potpourri, personally. But I digress...
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post #6 of 22
9/5/10 at 11:43am
Havana Vanille had high expectations for a while from me and others on the board, but it was a disappointment to me. Not very vanillic and a bit of a boring L'Artisan base.

Perhaps it's better to spend a few bucks to sample them first. I have a bottle of LDDM though, which I don't wear enough although I really like the smell. I'm always afraid I'll suffocate the people around me. It's like carrying a catholic church in your pocket.
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post #7 of 22
9/5/10 at 12:39pm
Thread Starter 
I've sampled them all. I actuallly had a 5-10ml decant of HV. Loved it. Lost a bet and had to give it up. And I had samples of the other two as well. Got a few wearings out of them and decided they were worthy or purchases.
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post #8 of 22
9/5/10 at 7:59pm
Please go with Havana Vanille as your first buy. The tauer is not a practical scent IMO
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post #9 of 22
9/5/10 at 10:34pm
Havana Vanille.
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post #10 of 22
9/6/10 at 12:34am
Havana Vanille
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post #11 of 22
9/6/10 at 4:25am
I wouldn`t choose neither Havana Vanille nor Lddm. Havana Vanille is a big disappointment to me. It`s a fragrance that doesn`t seem to be done by the greatest Bertrand Douchafour. Douchafour is a master in producing intense, woody, incensy fragrances that seems airy but at the same time dominates the air. Havana Vanille is so flat that it`s strange that he produced this. The vanilla here is just sweet, the tobacco is flat and there is a strange note that reminds you of play doh in a depressing way. It`s more like a faded photocopy of a fragrant memory of a travel instead of a vivid memory, like the other frags on the travel line of L'artisan. Big, huge disappointment, and it didn`t even last on skin!
While i like LDDM topnotes and heartnotes, the basenotes on me is all about amber, a dry amber that i dislike.
My choice if for Note Vanille. Micallef really knows how to make a grown up gourmand fragrance, and note vanille is a proof of this. It`s a complex vanilla fragrance, with fruity, boozy, spicy, slightly animalic notes surrounding the vanilla. Delicious and longlasting.
I`d also recommend vanille aoud, that has a cozy agarwood with a roasted vanilla-benjoim base.
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post #12 of 22
9/6/10 at 4:27am
Now that I saw that you i`ll purchase the three, buy note vanille first. Micallef discontinued the first version of note vanille bottle and launched a second one, that comes in a new, small bottle, and costs much more now. You can find the first version for a more "affordable" price on ebay, around 130 dollars for 75ml, and since you never knows until when you`ll find this one for that price, I recommend you to buy it first, and then buy the others.
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post #13 of 22
9/6/10 at 4:38am
1) Note Vanille
2) Tauer LDDM
3) Havana Vanille
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post #14 of 22
9/6/10 at 7:34am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rickbr View Post

Now that I saw that you i`ll purchase the three, buy note vanille first. Micallef discontinued the first version of note vanille bottle and launched a second one, that comes in a new, small bottle, and costs much more now. You can find the first version for a more "affordable" price on ebay, around 130 dollars for 75ml, and since you never knows until when you`ll find this one for that price, I recommend you to buy it first, and then buy the others.

Okay, to be honest...that is the purchase I was going to make, Note Vanille. And I WAS going to buy the 30ml bottle off of Luckyscent because I didn't know I could find the old bigger bottle on ebay for around the same price. But I will definetely do a search. I loved the old bottle too! The new one is nice as well, but $115 is an awful lot for 1 darn ounce.

But Rick...3 people in a row voted for Havana Vanille, so it can't be that bad now can it? I think it's a really nice fragrance. I didn't find anything flat about it. I really enjoyed wearing it. I think it is one of the best vanilla fragrances out. Lddm I like the least, but...I really enjoyed my full wearings of this. So I dunno...I'll definetely get bottles of Note and Havana, and maybe just a decant of LDDM...
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post #15 of 22
9/6/10 at 10:47am
It`s not bad, but i expected much more about Havana Vanille, especially for the description it was made when it was launched. I didn`t saw anything exotic on that one, just a plain vanilla with some tobacco, and I think I like my vanillas more like SDV, Note Vanille, Lush Vanillary (one of my favorites) and Vanille Aoud. HV it`s not a bad one, but i don`t see myself wearing a full bottle of it. And it really didn`t had a big longevity on me. 5 hours only, and I had to wear a lot of it
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post #16 of 22
9/6/10 at 11:35am
I have samples of HV and LDDM. .I like both but LDDM lasts longer and has better projection .I think HV is an elegant perfume.Unfortunately I haven't sampled Note Vanillee yet.
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post #17 of 22
9/6/10 at 12:02pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rickbr View Post

It`s not bad, but i expected much more about Havana Vanille, especially for the description it was made when it was launched. I didn`t saw anything exotic on that one, just a plain vanilla with some tobacco, and I think I like my vanillas more like SDV, Note Vanille, Lush Vanillary (one of my favorites) and Vanille Aoud. HV it`s not a bad one, but i don`t see myself wearing a full bottle of it. And it really didn`t had a big longevity on me. 5 hours only, and I had to wear a lot of it

5 hours? Did you apply it directly to your skin or did you do one of those new school spritz and walk through applications? lol Cuz when I had it, it lasted all day. Easily 8 hours! I prefer Note Vanillee, SDV, etc. In fact, I ordered my samples of Note and Havana together. I remember having a job interview, and not being sure which one I wanted to wear at first. I decided that I liked the feel that the Note gave me a little more than the Havana. But, they're both nice. I like the fact that HV doesn't smell like SDV or Note, and to me, it doesn't smell like a simple vanilla fragrance. It's uber sweet, but it has some notes in it...I suspect it's the hya/leather, that make it a little distinct. When I was dressed to impress, I would often reach for this one, and the sillage throught the day was always consistently good. I always felt confident in HV, and that is why it is a definite purchase for me, most likely right after I get Note. If I didn't already at one point own a decant of HV, that is probably the one I would be purchasing first. But since I had HV in my life for some time, and only had a 1 ml sample of Note, I figure it's time to reacquaint and reintroduce that back into my life.
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post #18 of 22
9/6/10 at 12:06pm
Thread Starter 
I tell you what Ciprian...Lddm had REALLLY good projection/longevity. When I would wear my sample to work, I would smell it all day, and consistently throughout the day. Some fragrances become fleeting after a few hours, but not Lddm. HV probably didn't last quite as long, but it was not skin sent either. It was quite potent in its own right. It would easily give me a full work day.
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post #19 of 22
8/11/11 at 1:12pm
I've owned both Note Vanille and Havana Vanille, but got rid of the Micallef. If sweet is your thing, then you will like Note Vanille. If you lean toward smoky, rum-my vanilla, then Havana is the way to go. I found the Micallef almost nauseating - it's so sweet, but the L'Artisan is much more subtle and wearable. The only bonus to Micallef is its longevity - it really lasts for hours.

Haven't tried the Tauer.
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post #20 of 22
8/11/11 at 1:15pm
I've only tried Havana Vanille and Micallef and found Havana to be far better. haven't smelled Tauer yet.
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post #21 of 22
8/11/11 at 2:00pm
To the OP, Larwiz -

Luckyscent has a new shipment in of Note Vanille - last batch they will ever have. Just got my bottle - awesome!
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post #22 of 22
8/11/11 at 2:27pm
I believe Havana Vanille has been renamed to something like Vanille Absolute. I don't believe it's supposed to be a reformulation, just a name change. FYI, I'm going to be listing an 80% full bottle of Havana Vanille in a sales thread within a few days, so that might be a good way for the o.p. to get a bottle at a discount.
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Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Male Fragrance Discussion › MFD Archive › L'Artisan Havana Vanille, M. Micallef Note Vanillee, or Tauer Lddm?