Un Bois Vanille Eau de Parfum

10 Reviews

1. 

   shamefulPorpoise3

   Reply

   I love Lutens’ take on fragrant notes and since vanilla is one of my favorites I was excited to try it. It’s a powdery take on vanilla, slightly burnt. Brings to mind a tasty creme brulee with a candle burning nearby. I wouldn’t classify Un Bois Vanille as edible gourmand, the beeswax is too prominent for that. I like it but wouldn’t repurchase.

2. 

   wrathfulCaviar2

   Reply

   Pink Sugar for adults. I smell Crème Brulée for 10 minutes…after that it gets very doll-head-plastic and settles quietly into furniture polish…

3. 

   spiritedBuck1

   Reply

   Years ago I wore a lot of Serge Lutens (FBs of FT, MKK, Chergui, Bois et fruits, ISM, Fourreau Noire, Jeu de Peaux (a mistake), TC, Fille et Anguilles, and shiesedo Fem de Bois). I also had manufacturers samples or decants of about 10 other SLs. I briefly wore Une Bois Vanille (probably at the tail end of my brief foray into gourmand which included Etro Heliotrope (very powdery rich and overly sweet); Fresh Cannabis Santal, PoTL etc). I recall Bois et Vanille as being pleasant, vanilla woods, albeit too sweet for my taste (along the same level of sweetness as Bois et Fruits).

   This year, I returned to an older decant of BdV, to find that it had gone off, acrid, bitter, aqueous? It’s from a reputable decanting retailer, and stored responsibly.

   So I got a fresh decant for this review. Fruity, rich, sweet vanilla, not much cedar or wood on my skin. (A wine analogy would be a cross between Sauternes and unoaked Chardonnay, new world style. I am a fan of old world style white burgundy, so this isn’t really my genre of choice) Richer, sweeter, deeper than the bargain priced Yves Rocher Vanille Noir or the more green Diptique Eau Duelle. It’s thankfully not powdery in the dry down (I find SL FT and Chergui extremely arid powdery).

   I returned to Vanilla after a many year hiatus was my new found love of Andy Tauer Tauerville Vanilla Flash rollerball (NOT spray which amplifies powdery sillage). VF is very noire (rose, tobacco, incense mingling with vanilla and slowly softening into a plush scent that lies close to the skin, in fact it’s probably closer to FT than it is to BdV). BdV is not at all noire like that. In fact on my skin, BdV is more straight vanilla than either Tom ford Tobacco Vanilla, Guerlain SDV, cologne de missions. Based on the fact that my skin chemistry does not reveal any bois in BdV, it’s almost like its a lighter cousin, in the same vein, as Indult Tihota. (I should note here that I have determined that while I like Kurdjians NR musk oil for her and Rose Barbare, I am not as fond of his gourmand dark roses which are too sweet for my taste. It’s possible that my small decant of IT would send me into diabetic shock. (And I have never tried pink sugar).

   I like BdV, assuming the decant is fresh. And, I think if you want a straight rich vanilla, department store niche, readily available at discounter so for 40-60% off, it’s a decent choice. If you have SL Cedre or a favorite sandalwood or incense, it would be easy to layer.

   today I am wearing it along with a bit of Bulgari Black.

   If I were a gourmand lover, it’s possible that this would get 4 stars.

4. 

   holisticSalt9

   Reply

   This seems to be a well-composed, grown-up vanilla, not too sweet, not too masculine, until you read some comments about Wunderbaum and scented candles. After that every time you use it your mind is in a desperate debate if you’ve bought an item of luxury or something extremely commonplace.

5. 

   euphoricLard5

   Reply

   This is the perfect scent for those who crave vanilla but need for it to have a haunting, dark, and smoky overtone. Once it develops I smell Nag Champa incense burning with a fresh maple donut tempting me nearby and a little réglisse macaron from Ladurée thrown in for good measure. An oriental gourmand at its absolute best; this has been my signature scent for two years now. I get a full day of enjoyment out of it and I find that I sometimes can even still smell it here and there for days after on inanimate objects I inadvertently brushed against. A whiff when I open my closet… a whiff on the photocopier… on the little dog’s fur….

6. 

   humorousPiglet8

   Reply

   Let me preface my review by stating that I have dry skin on my body. It eats fragrance and then laughs at me. On the flip side of this, I can successfully wear the heavy hitters from the ’80’s, Coco, Opium, Paris, etc., and people love them on me. Un Bois Vanille is very soft on me and wears very close. I’m not getting the coconut, licorice.. Have been wanting to try this one for years, and am saddened to say that I am disappointed. Will stick with my TF Tobacco Vanille and Guerlain’s Spiritueuse Double Vanille.

7. 

   hushedCrane2

   Reply

   Blind purchase this one was. Not really impressed at first, but it definitely grew on me. It is a warm, comforting, and dare I say, yummy fragrance. It lasts all day on me. I find myself sniffing my wrists most of the day and also reaching for it over and over again in spite of my having so many darned fragrances to choose from. I think that this is my favorite vanilla scent…right up there with Hypnotic Poison. I think that it is suited more for winter weather and can be stifling in the summer heat. Smelling it makes me smile and must have a positive effect on my psyche because I find that I am decidedly content whenever I wear it. Kudos. Can’t ask for more than that, huh?

8. 

   artisticEagle0

   Reply

   I’m a fan of Serge Lutens, so my review might be biais! What I love the most about this perfume is the opening, cedar, warm wood is the first top note, this is kind of rare because usually it is a note you find in the dry down of perfume, and I love cedar! so right from the get go it just make me happy! And then it dry down to a sweet vanilla no surprise here as it says bois Vanille. I’m not that good with smell and all the note my nose can pick up but it is a nice all year round perfume with close to the body sillage and medium longevity.

9. 

   resolvedOrange3

   Reply

   Fluffy, wearable comfort fragrance on the thick, milky side without much woods or fruit on me. Coconut, a note I’m generally careful about, is very present here, but somehow it doesn’t disturb me. Likeable, but I don’t crave it the way I crave some gourmands.

   medium sillage and longevity

10. 

    amusedCake2

    Reply

    I’ve been on the hunt for a sweet vanilla that contains enough darkness to give it depth and character. I sampled several including L’AP Vanille Absolument, Guerlain SDV, and Liz Zorn’s Vanillaville. I chose UBV over the aforementioned because they were not what I was looking for; they were dank (good dank), syrupy, and boozy. I thought they were too intellectual. I wanted a vanilla that was sexy and a little ditzy. At first sniff, UBV careened toward caramel and cake. After five minutes, she turned the corner and presented as an assertive tonka . I know Marilyn Monroe was known for wearing Chanel no. 5 to bed, but I could see her wearing this on quiet evenings spent with Arthur Miller and a copy of Ulysses. This perfume is a little vulgar on the outset, but smart and interesting at the finish. EDIT: My boyfriend (who is not particularly sophisticated re:perfumes) says that I smell “generic” and like “a candle store” when I wear this. This frag is pretty one-dimensional on me, but I like it for what it is. I wanted a straightforward and sweet vanilla, after all. I layer this with Dzing! to give it more depth and dimension. Dzing! and UBV complement each other well; therefore, I imagine it would be delicious paired with Bulgari black or any other sweet leather scent. I’ve decided that I won’t repurchase this fragrance. It’
    s lovely, but not special enough to justify the price. I’m still haunted by Liz Zorn’s Vanillaville.