Five Indie Vanillas Worth Your Attention

I like vanilla oh hell lets me honest I love a good vanilla perfume, which these days feels like a bit of a contentious statement, but I think that is because there is so many bad vanillas on the market. What are my vanilla credentials: I have a lot of vanilla perfumes, I've worn vanilla perfumes for a long time, and I'm willing to smell the high and the low end of the vanilla perfume market. The above image is what I always feel like a good vanilla can do for the wearer.

1. Vanilla Botanique by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz
Do you need a decadent baroque vanilla in your life? The kind of thing that says I am utterly worthy of adoration mortals. Then you need to get your hands on a sample of Vanille Botanique. Vanille Botanique is the closest I have ever come to a diva vanilla, it is just so rich and assured of itself. It is deeply balsamic and full, this is no candy vanilla. This recalls the rich oriental scents of bygone eras but with the modern love of vanilla the emphasis. Try if you like Shalimar by Guerlain or Cuir Beluga by Guarlain.

2. Black Flower Mexican Vanilla by Dame Perfumery
A genuinely sexy musk vanilla. Vanilla perfumes can sometimes be well utterly girlish and adolescent, this is not. Black Flower Mexican Vanilla is the lovely genesis of the theme of musk and vanilla found in Shalimar but applied with Dame's sensibilities. The scent just blends with the wearer beautifully, the vanilla is dark and woodsy and the musk is gently animalic and there is a splash of sweet cream and woods. It is the sort of scent that blends beautifully with the wearer but still projects. Try if you like Shalimar by Guerlain, Spiritueuse Double Vanille by Guerlain, or Musc Ravageur by Frederic Malle.

3. Provanilla by Providence Perfume
A good genuine sweet vanilla that does not go into the banal and repetitive zone is very hard to find. Most scents that report to be "pure" vanilla scents usually have some sort of other sweet quality going on that is not in fact vanilla but is some sort of sweet that a user will think is vanilla unless they really analyze it. Provanilla is genuine sweet vanilla and I mean that as an utter compliment, this is a vanilla that is basically pure once the opening credits subside. Provanilla is about as close as that idea people always talk about finding in a vanilla perfume, the vanilla extract scent, but better because there is no alcohol note there is only perfect vanilla. I just have to say I love the opening of this scent, melon and then rose while it does quickly become pure vanilla on me, the opening could probably throw you for a loop. Try if you like Vanille Botanique by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, Midnight Orchid by Susanne Lang, or Un Bois Vanille by Serge Lutens.

4. Vanilla Autumn by CJ's Scents
The thing about many gourmand leaning vanillas is they can become very stifling after awhile (I'm looking at you Comptoir Sud Pacifique and your many variations on vanilla) so if you are me, you tend to avoid them. Yet, in the right perfumer's hand they know how to make the gourmand quality not stifling. Vanilla Autumn by CJ's Scents, is the perfect dulce de leche vanilla to me. This creamy caramel vanilla is so perfectly done, you get the gourmand, but the stifling effect is reigned in by CJ. Somehow CJ is able to add an airiness to this vanilla that keeps it from the suffocation zone yet at the same time the creamy goodness is still very there. Try if you like Candy by Prada, Vanille Abricot by Comptoir Sud Pacifique, or Vanille Fleurie de Tahiti by La Maison de la Vanille

5. Vanilla Flash by Tauerville
Do you want a big hunky spicy vanilla? Then please look no further than Vanilla Flash. Vanilla Flash is flashing because it is a hot flame like vanilla, there is an intense spicy cinnamon running through it and rich tobacco throughout the composition. The finale is the Tauerade of a whole lot of ambregris and musk with hints of rose but it is still very much vanilla. Try if you like Tobacco Vanilla by Tom Ford, Tonka by Reminiscence, or Eau Duelle by Diptyque.

So the thing about all these vanillas is all of the wonderful perfumers offer them at a reasonable price and smaller quantities. They all have excellent longevity and frankly knock out their extremely high end competition and low end competition in my opinion. If you are a vanilla lover these in my opinion are currently the best vanillas on the market to try.

Image by Reuban Negron