VC&A sample pack thoughts

Alityke, I’ll be interested in your impressions of the rest. I’ll post mine, too, later. I’ll be curious to see if we agree. So far we do, sort of.

Here are my impressions (copied from my SotD posts):

Gardénia Pétale. It is gorgeously well done, I can see that, but I’m actually finding this a bit shrill and high pitched. I am very, very picky about gardenia scents, however.

Orchidée Vanille. Notes of Mandarin orange, litchi, bitter almond, dark chocolate, Bulgarian rose, violet, vanilla pod, cedar, tonka, and white musk. This is not a gourmand, though, to my nose. It hits me as a BIG grand floral with vanilla. One drop is almost more than I can tolerate this early in the morning on an empty stomach. It’s beautiful, but to me it’s like a big formal floral arrangement sitting in a grand room, whereas I’m more the humble jug of wildflowers on a windowsill type.

Cologne Noir – Nice! Black peppery, sweetly spicy, woodsy. Very pleasant. Subtle, LIGHT, and the woods don’t overwhelm. Nicely balanced. Delicious. I find this type of scent sexy, maybe because of *masculine* associations, the type you’d like to borrow or smell on your lover’s shirt. That you’ve borrowed.

Lys Carmin – LOVE this one! Exotic and spicy yet feathery-airy. Magical. Sweetens as it dries down, but stays aloft. I can see this one as a summer evening scent, outside among the twinkling lanterns. Romantic – but not dreary and heavy. Can’t stop sniffing my wrist. Delightful. Love, love, love.

Muguet Blanc. I’ve smelled so many muguet/lily of the valley fragrances. This one hits “mediocre” on my muguet-o-meter. It’s green, a little soapy, and there is something strange there, something that goes sour on my skin, though that passes. A muted, ascetic muguet.

Bois d’Iris. Wow! Arresting. Very woodsy. I can’t smell the iris underneath, as that note can be so elusive and subtle for me for me. Under the woods it is obliterated, though when the woodsy blast begins to subside I think I can begin to pick up the iris. It’s actually pretty nice, but I don’t like that woods blast part.

Looks like Lys Carmin is the winner for me.

I had tried three fragrances out of six before the pack came to my mailbox -- Gardenia, Lys and Muguet -- with Lys Carmin being my favoriite. As a pack -- they somewhat disappointed me, I was expecting more. At this point NONE of them is even a 4**** star fragrance for me or bottle worthy.

Overhyped, overpriced, nothing really special.

Would like to return to them, perhaps, in another 6 months to see if my perception will have changed.

I see this pack for sale on ebay usually around £10. A few times I have been tempted but always ended up not buying. It was the Iris one I was interested in trying, didn't fancy buying the rest.