Divine Vanille by Essential Parfums

To my nose, this smells like tobacco with a green touch, soft spices that add warmth, and vanilla with tonka bean that sweetens it without being cloying. The differences from Herod are minimal: here the tobacco is greener and fresher, whereas in Herod it’s creamier and honeyed due to the osmanthus, which persists throughout. Performance is similar to current Herod batches: 1-2 hours of average projection followed by a personal bubble. In the cold, it shrinks significantly, but indoors it shines.

It starts strong with a spicy and amber touch, but soon turns into a warm, cozy personal bubble where the vanilla feels natural and not cloying. Longevity and projection are moderate, though sometimes there are bursts that accompany you for the first four hours before settling on the skin. If you’re looking for something ‘beast mode,’ you won’t find it here; these are day-to-day perfumes that make you feel great.

Divine vanilla! Soft, spiced with cinnamon, and slightly fresh, very pleasant and recommended even if, like me, vanillas usually give you nausea. This vanilla is light, nothing overwhelming. I loved it. The only downside is the short duration, about 2 to 3 hours.

Intense vanilla opening with spices, not very pleasant for me; but it improves greatly in the dry down, giving way to woody and cinnamon aromas. Very good duration and projection. Testing the Herod by Marly Perfums, the similarity is extreme, except this one lacks the tobacco note, but in the dry down they are almost identical.

Aroma of vanilla, tobacco, and cinnamon over an exquisite woody base. It compares a lot to PDM’s Herod, a perfume I own and love. At first they seem different, but in the dry down they are over 90% similar. On my skin, Divine Vanille has the vanilla as the star, while in Herod the tobacco and cinnamon stand out. This composition is softer and more balanced, perhaps because it’s less sweet and has a subtler smoky part. Herod is more powerful and projects more for the first 3-4 hours, but Divine Vanille wins on duration (>10h). It’s an excellent unisex option, ideal for fall-winter, almost nocturnal. I love it on my partner and think women wear it well too. I like both almost equally, but given the price difference, when Herod runs out, I’ll head straight for this. Value for money: 10.

If you think it smells like divine vanilla, you’re mistaken. It has a horrible opening and doesn’t change much after. I don’t even smell the vanilla anywhere.

Lately we’ve seen the rise of Essential Parfums, to the point of doubting reviewers due to the cliques that prevail. That’s why I’m writing this review on Divine Vanille. It’s a strange, chaotic perfume, with a slightly spicy and resinous opening that I don’t fully like, but in minutes it gains creaminess: the pepper disappears and the resinous part becomes balsamic. It’s hard to categorize; it’s a vanilla with so many nuances I can’t describe them, reminding me of Herod and the dry down of Ambre Tabac. It’s a vanilla that isn’t plastic but seems dirty to me and not as natural as they claim. I don’t doubt the ingredient quality, but aromatically it doesn’t convince me, and I think there are better niche vanillas. Performance is moderate: on skin it doesn’t last a 7-hour night, and projection is meager, almost skin-level from the start. I know the house reformulated and increased the alcohol, which could affect it, but I also have Bois Imperial which isn’t a bomb and has more alcohol. Its moderate performance gives it climatic versatility, but it’s eminently fall-winter due to its dense vanilla aromas. Regarding usage, everyone can use it as they wish, but I see it more casual than formal. In short, I was disappointed by the performance and aroma, especially by a chaotic opening that barely projects and a moderate duration. The price is competitive, but it offers mid-range designer performance with an aroma that didn’t surprise me. I’d recommend testing before buying; in my case, I won’t get the full bottle.

‘Divine Vanille’ is a pleasant vanilla with amber notes—not too sweet, but spicy, aromatic, smoky, and woody. Strong opening of cinnamon and pepper that evolves into something floral/fruity thanks to the osmanthus. I detect leather. It dries with woods, resins, and musk, adding so many nuances to the vanilla. On my skin, it’s very smoky, like it’s wearing blond tobacco (which it doesn’t), probably due to the blend of incense, cinnamon, and tonka. That’s the most noticeable trait. It doesn’t seem as much like Spiritueuse Double Vanille, which on my skin is more vanilla-forward, without cinnamon, and a bit boozy. I don’t have Herod handy, but it resembles it. Yes, it’s more masculine and has more tobacco, but it’s also more complex, creamy, and sweet. It reminded me of Angel’s Share due to the cinnamon and woody base, but this leans more gourmand and boozy, nothing like Divine Vanille. Pleasant, elegant, soft, warm, and sensual. Totally unisex. Ideal for autumn, but versatile. Sillage is medium to soft, with moderate longevity. I finished the sample today; I liked it, but not enough to buy it. Still, I’d love to try more from Essential Parfums; the quality/price ratio is good.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve tried the entire line from this house. Conclusion: an honest proposal, simple compositions but very beautiful. I like the concept, and you can tell the ingredients are high quality. Divine Vanille is a soft, fresh, light, and elegant vanilla, nothing like a dessert. It feels slightly powdery, a bit aniseed, with a woody base. It reminds me of other vanillas that break the sugary stereotype, like Zara’s Vanilla French Elegance. However, Divine Vanille feels much finer and more balanced. The resemblance to Herod by Parfums de Marly is evident in the drydown. But Herod is sweeter and shows the cloying, herbal aspect of tobacco very clearly, especially at the start. Divine Vanille is elegant and subtle, very pleasant and versatile, as long as you’re looking for something with soft sillage. Longevity on my skin is about 8-9 hours. Even though I adored it and would happily wear it if I received it as a gift, it wasn’t my pick from the discovery set to add to my collection, as another perfume stole my heart blatantly and seemed much more original. Scent 7.5/10, Longevity 8.5/10, Sillage 5.5/10, Value 6.5/10, Versatility 8/10, Packaging 7/10. Would I buy it again? No, I didn’t.

I’d dare to say Divine Vanille is an absolutely captivating fragrance and very well crafted. In line with the different creations from the brand I’ve tried, regardless of the perfumers’ styles, they share a unique and identifiable thread, with a precise balance between natural and synthetic essences that sets them apart. As a result, in this vanilla interpretation, we find uncommon yet predictable nuances when reading the notes. Another hallmark of this house is that their perfumes are always very sincere. A dry, dark vanilla, nothing gourmand, spicy but identifiable. Wrapped in the scent phases: an opening with spicy tones of cinnamon and a very realistic black pepper that hits the nose, resulting in an addictive, dark combination of vanilla so dry it seems to turn to powder. It evolves in the first hour with floral and fruity tones from osmanthus and that magical molecule, Pomarose, which here is identified as a gum of rose petals and apricots. Thus, the perfume passes through a more attractive, sensual, tasty phase that invites closeness. The drydown appears early, too early, a vanilla with balsamic and almost liquorish tones that the musk manages to keep clean and sensual with a woody base. This is the phase that lasts the longest, undoubtedly. It could be deceiving, as it doesn’t seem intense. But I assure you, others can smell it without issue after 5 hours of application, leaving a trail with movement. In my case, it causes a slight anosmia or saturation, so I advise measuring sprays; 5 is a good number. It shines in fresh seasons or light heat, being a versatile and very unisex perfume. From semiformal to formal, I invite you to enjoy it if you have the chance. Excellent quality/price ratio. Edit: I share the idea of the resemblance to Herod, without that sweet tobacco, but their paths follow similar lines.

This perfume conquered me at first sniff. It’s a very different vanilla from the conventional kind, and I’d say it’s very sensual; a bit smoky from the incense, also spicy from the rich cinnamon it carries, balsamic, sweet without exaggeration. Woody in just the right measure. The woody touch blends perfectly with patchouli, tonka bean, and vanilla, each ingredient in its place. Incredible aromatic fusion. Its sillage is very suitable for daily wear, at any time, without scandal and without being cloying. It’s noticeable, yes. It’s not too soft. Longevity is impressive, lasting hours and hours, and it lingers on clothes for much longer, until the imminent wash. I bought a 10ml sample on their official website and fell in love with it to the point that I want it in 100ml format, i.e., its maximum capacity. The price is a steal for the quality and composition it offers. Totally in love with this divine vanilla, worthy of its name.