By Dane
I had given Vanille Galante a brief but fair review. A nice vanilla...but I don't do vanilla. What I didn't account for is that VG is so much more than just vanilla. It is, simply put, a stunning, masterful interpretation of a living flower.
Before I get too poetic (I hate that), I will say that I've had issues for Ellena lately. I have no idea why, but I go through a love-hate thing with his work. I will always put Declaration on a pedestal as one of the greatest men's fragrances ever created (not a position I take lightly), but have difficulties with his carry-forward technique from one fragrance to the next. In short, it makes life a bit too predictable and, let's face it, dullsville. Vanille Galante changed the love-hate to pure admiration, for it is a technical marvel of fluidity, grace, and depth. Wow...where do I come up with this fluff?
Lily is a tricky note...many associate it with funerals. Ylang can be tricky as well...banana parfait. Jasmine...well...it's been done. VG takes these three notes, has each blow past you like a breeze from the garden, and rests them on the lightest veil of vanilla imaginable. Your typical perfume just sits on the skin...Vanille Galante swirls around you and creates a magical aura of creamy translucence. An oxymoron really, but what art isn't? Genius from top to bottom, and so easy to overlook, even for me.
Year: 2009
Perfumer: Jean-Claude Ellena
Notes: Green Notes, Ylang Ylang, Lily, Spicy Notes, Salicylates, Sandalwood, "Touch of Vanilla"
Before I get too poetic (I hate that), I will say that I've had issues for Ellena lately. I have no idea why, but I go through a love-hate thing with his work. I will always put Declaration on a pedestal as one of the greatest men's fragrances ever created (not a position I take lightly), but have difficulties with his carry-forward technique from one fragrance to the next. In short, it makes life a bit too predictable and, let's face it, dullsville. Vanille Galante changed the love-hate to pure admiration, for it is a technical marvel of fluidity, grace, and depth. Wow...where do I come up with this fluff?
Lily is a tricky note...many associate it with funerals. Ylang can be tricky as well...banana parfait. Jasmine...well...it's been done. VG takes these three notes, has each blow past you like a breeze from the garden, and rests them on the lightest veil of vanilla imaginable. Your typical perfume just sits on the skin...Vanille Galante swirls around you and creates a magical aura of creamy translucence. An oxymoron really, but what art isn't? Genius from top to bottom, and so easy to overlook, even for me.
Year: 2009
Perfumer: Jean-Claude Ellena
Notes: Green Notes, Ylang Ylang, Lily, Spicy Notes, Salicylates, Sandalwood, "Touch of Vanilla"
This one's totally a sleeper for me, too. I used to hate lily, but this one snuck up on me, and before I knew it--I was a lily-lurving fool!
ReplyDelete