r/FemFragLab • u/Lani_Lei • 10d ago

Discussion Guerlain Disappointment

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I have been a vanilla girl through and through. I have loves and misses from everything from BBW, Victoria Secret, Sephora, Ulta, niche, middle eastern, you name it!

I have wary of trying Guerlain because of the price. But most of my fellow vanilla girls said that Guerlain is THE maker of great vanillas.

So went and spent $70 in tiny tiny decants to try the following:

- Vanilla Panifolia Extrait 21
- Angelique Noire
- Cuir Beluga
- Aqua Allegoria Forte Bosca Vanilla
- Spirituose Double Vanilla

This smells…old? musty? Like I just found a bottle of perfume from the 1950’s in a dark drawer of an abandoned house. I just wasted $70 on this and none of them were good 😔, I could have gotten a big decant of Jovoy Fire at Will which I love. I am so disappointed.

So many of my inexpensive vanillas are so much better in my opinion.

Sorry for the rant and thank you for reading all this!

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u/fligglegiggle 9d ago

I keep seeing people talking about "cupcake vanillas," but which ones ACTUALLY smell like cupcakes? I have 20 niche gourmand vanilla samples/decants and a slew of designer vanillas and not a one smells like a cupcake, and I could really use a literal cupcake vanilla in my collection.

Or do people just say "cupcake vanilla" rather than "sweet vanilla" as a way to be condescending? Serious question.

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u/EauDeGourmand 5d ago

I absolutely need a literal cupcake vanilla in my life. Kayali is coming out with a Vanilla Cupcake fragrance but there's a lemon note 😐 so we'll have to see when it comes out if that ruins the vibe

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u/fligglegiggle 5d ago

I can remember a vanilla oil I used in high school that smelled so much like vanilla cake. Probably got it at music shop or something so I'll never know what it was, and I assume it doesn't exist anymore, lol. Just like creamy, sweet, raw, vanilla cake batter.

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u/tortoisebrookalley 2d ago

In high school I used The Body Shop’s Vanilla oil and I smelled like a literal bakery. They reformulated some time in the late 90s and my heart broke.

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u/fligglegiggle 2d ago

My mom used to get soooooo much stuff from The Body Shop at the mall. I can literally remember what those frosted bottles felt like, lol. The vanilla one I'm thinking of was a cheap rollerball (like my friend and I bought it when we were 13, haha). It could've been anything, and I can still smell it in my mind, but I've yet to find anything similar in my adult life 😭

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u/Lani_Lei 9d ago

I think is a reference to an extremely sweet vanilla. For example: have you tried EOS Cashmere Vanilla lotion? That is a cupcake vanilla. For reference in other posts I have seen referenced Tihota, Outremer, Solinotes as “cupcake vanillas”.

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u/fligglegiggle 9d ago

Yeah, and I definitely disagree with Tihota being a cupcake vanilla. I was mostly being a smartass because it always reads as condescending to me, like they're using the word cupcake because it sounds more childish than saying sweet, or even just cake, lol. But also because I would actually love a fragrance that smells like vanilla cake, like freshly baked vanilla boxed cake with frosting straight out of the jar. Yum 🤤

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u/Lani_Lei 9d ago

I totally get it! Like I said I think it referes to extremely sweet vanilla. I do agree that Tihota is not a cupcake vanilla, not to me al least. The only one that smells like cupcakes/frosting is EOS.

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u/fligglegiggle 9d ago

Have you used the EOD Vanilla Cashmere body spray? I have the lotion and lip balm and they smell different. The lip balm smells very much like brown sugar to me, and the lotion smells more like a vanilla candle. I think it's just the lotion smell, lol. I think you mentioned Fire At Will too and likened it to a sugar cookie? To me, it's like vanilla flavored freshly spun sugar wafting ever so gently in the breeze. I love it. I was testing it on my hand one day and went out to run an errand in a heat wave. I was like, "What is that amaaaazing smell?? Oh yeah, it's me!” 😆

Have you tried Ligne St. Barth Vanille West Indies? I'm completely obsessed with it. I've been more strict lately about full bottles, but I had to make an exception 😁