Wednesday, October 10, 2007

M. Micallef Note Vanillée



I could write tomes on the joys of discovering new, unique and magnificent lines of perfume. In the midst of an arduous, taxing, and draining day, to rummage through my poorly organized samples and find something as exquisite as M. Micallef Les Notes is like a ray of light upon a dark storm. And the storm clouds lifted considerably when I tested this incredibly gorgeous vanilla fragrance: Note Vanillée. "Oh my!" is all I can utter as I fan myself and ponder how to get my hands on more of this beauty.

As my love of perfume has solidified, I find myself searching for "perfects." The perfect musk, the perfect amber, the perfect citrus ... you get the picture. As elusive as the Holy Grail, perfects don't come along very often and many times are replaced with a new release. My dears, I believe we have in our midst the perfect vanilla. Walk on by L'Artisan Vanilia, Serge Lutens Un Bois Vanille, L'Aromarine Vanille, and (dare I say!) Il Profumo Vanille Bourbon, as lovely as all of them are in their own right. Note Vanillée strikes the perfect balance between rich, sweet, sensual and boozy. I would be remiss if I did not list the text on M. Micallef's website. It is as follows:

"The new Perfume of Parfums M. Micallef is like a symphony of a grand perfume orchestra.
At first there are the Mandarin’s and Hesperide.The heart note is based on Jasmine and valuable Flowers. These will create the very special Perfume Note of this Scent.
Santal, Amber, Bourbon-Vanilla, Cognac and Rum will round off the whole composition.
A new Masterpiece is born."

One sniff of my wrist and I am transported to the most decadent of bakeries, my grandmother's kitchen, a cozy lit fire on a cold evening and a hot cup of tea after a long day of snow skiing. I mention all of these images not for their olfactory qualities, but for their soothe-the-soul qualities. Note Vanillée is a comfort scent on the grandest of scales. I have always found vanilla to be comforting with its rich sweetness. Note Vanillée is so beautifully composed that it creates its own melody, without need for other notes. It lacks the smokey/woodsy qualities of several of its contemporaries. Rather the combination of citrus, jasmine, amber and rum create a lush, boozy scent that I find utterly irrestistable.


M. Micallef Note Vanillée is available here. A 75mL bottle retails for 117€ and 150mL bottle retails for 156€.

Image source: mmicallef.com, kitsixteen.co.uk

15 comments:

Divina said...

Oh, isn't this bottle just adorable?? I love it! It would be so good to have it on my dressing table, I think it would make me smile every time I cast my eyes on it! Am I being silly? :P

ForTheLoveOfPerfume said...

Sounds like a good enough reason to get it, in my humble opinion. :-) Wait until you see the others!!

tmp00 said...

hmmm, this is sounding yummy-delicious.

Love the new look by the way! So clean!

ForTheLoveOfPerfume said...

Thanks Tom! I'm always up for decluttering. You must try this one for it's yummy-ness.

Unknown said...

I haven't done a Micallef since the Black and Red Sea ones, which I like, but these note ones are sounding pretty yummy, and I don't even like gourmand generally, but this time of year, I start to crave it.

Noteworthy Fragrances said...

Since I too love Vanilla fragrances, I think this is a must try. Have you sampled Tihota by Indult? My new favorite and after a sample I fell for the full bottle costing almost as much as my car payment!! Worth every dollar, but now I am more than curious about this one. Thanks for the review!

ForTheLoveOfPerfume said...

Patty,

The Notes will appeal to every type of fragrance lover. If you don't generally like gourmand, there is bound to be another you will like. So far, all of them are stunning on. The Vanillee could be great layered with florals or spices.

ForTheLoveOfPerfume said...

Joyce,

You are most welcome! I have not tried Tihota but after your experience with it, it sounds like I must. The things we do for the love of fragrance!

noteworthy fragrances said...

You can get a sample of Tihota from Lucky Scent. Today, and every Friday by habit, I wear Tihota at the office. This afternoon, I seemed to notice someone standing behind me, without speaking. I turned around to see my friend Ashley - asking her if she needed me for something...she just said, "No, I just love standing over here to smell the vanilla cloud." I thank that as a compliment. Tihota is one of those fragrances that after awhile you really can't detect it on yourself unless you plunge your nose to your wrist, but it is very much evident to others? From your experience, why does that happen?

Fragrant wishes,
Joyce

ForTheLoveOfPerfume said...

After reading Lucky Scent's divine description of Tihota and hearing about your office incident, it sounds like this vanilla lover should order a sample today! Regarding your question, I think there is some truth to the argument that we become desensitized to our own scent or perfume after lots of wear. If you were to change your scent for a few days and then go back to Tihota, I wonder what your experience would be? My guess is that you would resenstize your nose the the beautiful vanilla beans. At least for a few hours.

Fragrant wishes to you!
T

Anonymous said...

Hmmm - it sounds wonderful - but is it as good as Montale Vanille Absolu? I am wearing that today and I can hardly stand how delicious it is.... :-)

ForTheLoveOfPerfume said...

Hello Flora,

From what I recall, Montale Vanille Absolu is sweeter than this one. Note Vanillee is yummy, but not predominantly sweet.

Anonymous said...

I own Tihota, and this blows it away. I got a sample of this and it was so good I ordered it immediately! I thought I was going to be buying Guerlain's Spirituese Double Vanilla, these two are very similar but ultimately I find the Guerlain one more masculine. I would love to know what you think of the similarties and differences of these two :-)

ForTheLoveOfPerfume said...

I agree that Guerlain's Spirituese Double Vanilla seems more masculine than this one. There is a quality to Guerlain's that is extremely rich, like cognac. This one is lighter and more playful, but rich as well. I agree Note Vanillee is worth an immediate order! Good call!

Dudù (Schimera Antonio) said...

This Bottle is... bleah!