Perfume Review: Vanilla Lust by Jill Stuart
Needless to say, vanilla is a very widely used note in perfume, and it’s especially prevalent in recent trends (and rather excessively so). I tend to categorize vanilla into gourmand, fruity-floral, and complex. Gourmand, obviously, pertaining to perfumes that have a foody, edible effect (Comptoir Sud Pacifique line, for instance). Fruity-floral vanilla is pretty much everything that gets released these days, heavy on fruits and often cloyingly sweet. Complex vanilla is where it’s used strictly as a supplementary ingredient, usually polishing the composition or adding a certain lushness to it. This complex vanilla gets my vote, most of the time. Sure, I find some gourmand vanillas quite nice and wearable (L’Aromarine Vanille comes to mind). Likewise, some fruity-floral ones can be unique or well-blended in spite of such commonly used ingredients (Badgley Mischka is one of them). Complex vanilla scents, however, do not usually have vanilla written all over them. It’s often so masterfully blended with other notes that you can barely tell it’s even there. I especially like vanilla blended with amber, sandalwood, incense, tobacco, opoponax, patchouli, frankincense. I plan to write about these different vanillas in the future, and for today my pick is Vanilla Lust by Jill Stuart.
Vanilla Lust is borderline complex vanilla in my perception. Borderline because it’s not quite gourmand, and not quite complex. It features the notes of Madagascar vanilla, coconut milk, neroli, caramel, tiare, and sandalwood. Caramel and coconut milk give it a slightly gourmand quality. However, that only happens in top notes, when the scent is quite cream soda-like in effect (milky and creamy). As it develops, the tiare flower gives it a certain tropical lushness that’s rather subdued. The sandalwood plays an important part in the drydown. It makes me think of fresh wood shavings soaked in coconut milk and sprinkled with vanilla (and this is why it’s not quite gourmand). What doesn’t quite qualify it as a complex vanilla is the fact that it is a predominantly vanilla scent. It is a very wearable and sort of mature vanilla, however. I’m still on the fence about whether I need a bottle - I feel like it’d be ideal for the upcoming cold weather when you don’t want to smell quite like a cupcake, yet need some comfort and warmth in your perfume.
Vanilla Lust is created by a fashion designer, Jill Stuart. It’s available at Nordstrom and Beautyhabit as well as directly from Jill Stuart Beauty.
Image source: www.nordstrom.com
23 comments September 11th, 2006