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Tahitian Vanilla, Mysore Sandalwood & Bergamot

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In the bottle, this just smells sweet and dessert-like. I might be getting a hint of bergamot, but there's nothing that screams citrus.

 

I've been distracted all day so I didn't make any notes for when it was wet and right as it dried, but for a while, it's been smelling like a very sweet, slightly boozy coconut. What's up with my skin today? 🤔

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In the bottle, this is just bright and sweet.

 

Applied, it starts out nice and even; sweet, without being too sweet. Strangely, there is a foreign-to-me floral note. I almost want to say jasmine? But that would be the bergamot, I suppose - but not the bergamot I am familiar with from my beloved Earl Grey tea, though I can definitely place the orange-blossom-esque scent. But then if I smell it through my sleeve, it does come across as more of the familiar bergamot.

 

The sandalwood keeps it a little on the dry side, and the vanilla comes out a bit more as it dries, while the bergamot fades to the background.

 

Ultimately, I end up with a sweet, dusty (but not powdery), delicate scent, which -I kid you not- smells like Breyer's Vanilla Bean ice cream. It doesn't have much throw, sadly; even while wearing it I only get faint whiffs of it, and it seems to escape my sniffer a bit even when I'm huffing my own wrists.

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I tried this ménage for the first time a few weeks ago, and it was a perfect soft vanilla skin scent.  I love vanilla and sandalwood, so I thought this would be in my regular rotation.  I noticed some subtle differences during my second wear.  Tonight is my third try, and it has definitely changed.  

 

As previously noted, this is a sweet vanilla floral.  I expected the bergamot to give a sharper citrus edge.  Instead, the Tahitian Vanilla and bergamot have amalgamated and become honeysuckle.  I have Japanese Honeysuckle growing in my back yard, and that is exactly what this blend smells like.  It is sickly sweet now.  The sandalwood is nearly nonexistent.  I wish it were stronger and woodier to help ground the overly sweet floral.  

 

I amp florals to dizzying heights, so I am projecting this all over the place.  I mostly avoid them, because they tend to veer off into cloying territory on me.  That is the case here, unfortunately.   It finally calmed down after around three hours.  I nodded off on the couch and slept through most of the honeysuckle bombardment, otherwise I would have washed it off.  

 

I hope aging deepens this blend and brings the sweet floral down to Earth.  I'll give it a try in my locket, but if the "honeysuckle" keeps acting a fool, I'll have to move it to the destash box.

 

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I am amping the hell out of the tahitian vanilla. It is lush, sweet, and tropical vanilla. This actually is giving BBW Brown Sugar vibes. Which means that mr. zee_zee will fanboy over this. Great throw and wear length.

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I love vanilla. I love the Mysore Sandalwood in Kit. I like bergamot.

 

But my nose is just not jiving with this. I know it's my nose and not my skin chemistry because it actually smells the same in the vial as it does on me. I just get this funk from the Tahitian vanilla, and I know it's that note that I'm not enjoying because it's the same funk that I got from Hagoromo-No-Taki Hair Gloss. The Tahitian vanilla is syrupy sweet and has this aspect to it that I really dislike -- kind of like if a smoker doused themselves in a sicky sweet vanilla? I think there may be some indolic floral component in it that I just don't enjoy.

 

After a while, that does end up calming down and it ends up being a bergamot-infused vanilla backed by the dry Mysore sandalwood, but I wouldn't want to wear this for a few hours to get to that point.

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In the decant and once on, it's primarily lush, tropical vanilla floral. I didn't expect bergamot to play well with this kind of vanilla, but it really does -- the citrus is just a tad dissonant, but in a way that adds some complexity to the scent. The sandalwood is pretty subtle, adding a bit of dry softness to the scent. Over time, the bergamot and vanilla fade while the sandalwood remains constant -- hours later, I get a pretty soft sandalwood with a hint of that vanilla floral and bergamot behind it. Overall impression: lush vanilla floral, but the bergamot and sandalwood keep it from going into full dessert territory. A little on the sweet side, but the end result is great.

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Sweet lush vanilla, almost like the vanilla orchid note is in there as well.  The bergamot is just a hint, and the sandalwood only a little more prominent.  Really, this is the vanilla show, an almost floral vanilla.  It's kind of uplifting, as if it were a happy-making TAL, but it's not the kind of thing I wear.  It does have unusually good throw on me, though!

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I love this. I really fucking love this. I learned a long time ago that if a blend has Mysore Sandalwood in it, I will want it. Also Tahitian anything. 
 

This is creamy, lush, sweet vanilla Sandalwood with the Bergamot just brightening it up a bit. It’s very strong up first application but then dries down soft and close to the skin. I can still smell it as it makes a close, comfy bubble around my head...shit I am going to need so many more bottles. 

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I like this scent quite a bit - but I don't get it. There's definitely a "more than the sum of it's parts" thing happening here, turning this into a lush, tropical scent that I SWEAR smells like jasmine, but without the funky cat pee thing that jasmine almost always does on my skin. It's quite lovely. Sweet and tropical, heavy on the vanilla but with that inexplicable floral vibe as well. Will tuck it away for summer.

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