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Saturday, August 2, 2014

Guerlain Spiriteuese Double Vanille

The first time I heard of this fragrance, I was all "I must have it".  As in, without even trying it I wanted it.  Badly.  I stalked reviews of it online and every time I would agonize about how I would come up with the necessary funding for a bottle.  Back when this was going on it wasn't in production.....so trying to find a bottle on ebay or a decant was difficult and cost an arm and a leg.

When it was finally re-released a couple of years ago, I thought..."ah.  my chance".  But suddenly I had cold feet.  What if it wasn't the vanilla I had created in my mind?  What if it was too sweet?  To smokey?  Too cold?  Too warm?  To make up for my fickle thoughts I went out and purchased a ton of vanilla decants:  Vanille 44.  Vanille Orchidee.  Santa Maria Novella Vaniglia.  Monda Di Orio Vanilla.  Vanille Exquise.  Un Bois Vanille.  Vaniglia.  Havane Vanille.  Vanille Galante.  Kiehl's vanilla.  CO Bigelow vanilla.  You get the picture.  Anywho, I finally found a SDV decant....which then sat in my drawer for months because I had so many vanillas.

Finally, I am wearing it.

And it's okay.

As a whole, it is a nice scent.  The vanilla is solid.  It doesn't have a sugary sweet vibe but it's not overly dry either.   I do get the rum.  I get a slight burnt butter quality on my skin that lingers and develops further over time.  But that's it.  This scent feels like when I've tried to make desserts without a recipe and though they are ok and smell great, they are missing some vital piece to make it really worth my time.  I sometimes wonder if my apathy towards this scent is directly related to how much I built it up in my head beforehand.

Would I snag a bottle if I could get it at a screaming deal?  OK, Sure.  Would I use the whole bottle?  Probably not.   I would grab my bottle of Vanille 44 first on any winter day, and my Vanille Galante any summer day.