A Day at the Beach: Vanille Divine des Tropiques

I don't go to the beach often. Getting from where I live to the beach involves two very congested pieces of road in the summer and those are basically the only two ways to get there. On the other hand after yesterday I am determined to do it more often. The burnt out dry brittle summer of Northern California is getting to me, more so this year because of the intense blistering drought. I was born and raised here and yet I am not a summer person, give me cool wet autumnal weather and I am happy. The beaches of Northern California are not the warm tropical wonders or bright summer paradises that people consider ideal beaches. The beaches here are dark crashing wonders for the most part, the water always cold, and the sand never perfectly white, it is also frequently overcast and foggy. Yesterday, was one of those rare days when the sun peeped out but the cool breeze remained. I celebrated my beach day by wearing La Maison de la Vanille's  Vanille Divine des Tropiques a tropical scent that is a little different.

Vanille Divine des Tropiques first surprise is that it begins with aldehydes, not extreme aldehydes but none the less they are there. The aldehydes dissipate quickly and then it enters the creamy white floral stage part, what I find interesting is I get the distinct mentholated cooling impression of ylang ylang in this section yet ylang ylang is not mentioned on the notes but as they say you can't always believe the listing of notes. As the scent progresses a distinct animalic musk note enters, nothing frightening like the Musc Kublai Khan arena but it definitely plays a supporting role keeping the scent in check never letting it become too cupcake like. Overall I enjoy this tropical scent because it uses frequently unused notes in its tropicalness the aldehydes replace the role of citrus/pineapple and coconut base is replace by an animalic musk. It really allows for the blend of white florals and vanilla to be seen and play out on the skin.

Try if  you like: Songes by Annick Goutal, Sicily by Dolce & Gabbana, Dilmun by Lorenzo Villoresi, Sira des Indes by Jean Patou, Do Son by Diptyque, Grand Neroli by Atelier Cologne, Vanillary by LUSH, and Bronze Goddess by Estee Lauder.

Image of Aria Giovanni.

SOTD: Vanille Fleurie de Tahiti

Quote of the Day: If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done.-- Ludwig Wittgenstein

Today I'm wearing something I haven't worn in ages La Maison de la Vanille's Vanille Fleurie de Tahiti. I suppose this one has been overshadowed in the years since the great vanilla awakening and well this scent has a great deal of memories attached to it; I wore this the first summer my boyfriend and I were together. It is a rich little vanilla with a boozy opening with a lovely ylang-ylang note woven through it and a rich sugery amber cream dry-down. It is a high calorie scent that I would suggest to those that love Annick Goutal's Songes, they don't smell alike but they are most definately in the same family of high calorie tropical vanilla orientals. By the way use this one lightly.

One of my favorite songs being covered by Arcade Fire, Naive Melodly by The Talking Heads:


image provided by artnet.com
image: Tropical Paradiza by Vladimir Manic
video uploaded by jfar23