By Hannah Powling
During my time so far at Beauty and the Dirt – I have had the pleasure of experiencing numerous fragrances. Perfumes come into our office, older classics and hot new launches – and there is just one that has been forever a favourite discovery of mine. So I’m spreading the word. Again.
In my quest to find the perfect vanilla fragrance last summer – I was sniffing out all kinds of vanilla-ry perfumes left right and centre – and then bam, Van Cleef & Arpels Orchidée Vanille came into my life. This is the fragrance I now judge other fragrances on, this is the one I could happily live in forever. I heard once from a fragrance expert that your wedding day perfume should be chosen very carefully – and kept afterwards as a vivid reminder of that day and how you felt, how it all looked. Orchidée Vanille is definitely my wedding day fragrance.
I’m going to mention that I’m not a big fan of typical alcohol-like perfumes. You know the ones you smell and you feel like you’ve come across it hundreds of times in other fragrances. This isn’t like that at all – it is so unique to me. It has a deepness, and realness that I am totally obsessed with.
Van Cleef and Arpels wanted to use a vanilla that was not too sugary sweet – but more like candied almond, and real. This fragrance smells like actual vanilla pod, that warm aroma that tingles your nose when you scrape them out to make a delicious cake. It is soft, milky, yet with a sharper musky tinge – keeping it warm and sophisticated at the same time.
It is smooth and sophisticated; the notes are mandarin, orange, lychee, bitter almond, dark chocolate, bulgarian rose, violet, cedar, balsamic tonka bean and white musk.
Go on – give it a sniff and find out for yourself just how lovely it is – and find the Van Cleef & Arpels Orchidée Vanille fragrance in Libertys, House Of Fraser and other luxury perfume stockists, for £126 for 75ml.
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