Oud Vanille by Franck Olivier

This perfume is pure gold for men with dark skin. Why? Skin chemistry varies by tone, changing how molecules interact. This happens with everything: shampoos, creams, makeup. While we have general patterns, every skin is unique. Generally, darker skin is more acidic, with more sebum and natural oils, which intensifies scents, especially spicy and musky ones (for better or worse, like armpits). This one has a strong, invasive opening; it smells spectacular in the air with a mysterious trail, but up close it seems too strong and slightly fecal. I love its spicy, woody, and musky notes, but on my semi-fair skin, it just doesn’t work. PS: A friend of color owns it and it looks spectacular on him.

Same pyramid as its brother Oud Touch, but here vanilla is the star from the start. It opens sweet with caramel, vanilla, and raspberry, contrasting with the bitter note of incense, which fades in intensity as it dries down to leave an ultra-creamy vanilla. The rose feels a bit powdery, and the incense is medicinal in the background, along with a touch of patchouli and amber. In my opinion, it’s rich, unisex, and ideal for mild weather. It projects a lot at first and lasts more than 8 hours. I don’t see it as elegant as its brother, but it’s more versatile; with regulated sprays, it works for day, night, and any season except summer.

Another addition to my collection bought blind. On my skin, it smells like incense; I liked it quite a bit. It’s for winter, very masculine. I don’t sense the other notes, just incense and woods.

I let myself be swayed by the notes and the good reviews… but I got a huge surprise. Non grata. My skin turns it bitter; I don’t sense any sweet notes, neither the caramel nor the vanilla, nor the flowers. It smells like burnt wood, totally masculine. It projects a ton and is very potent, confirming it’s a low-cost perfume of quality, but not for every nose. It wasn’t a successful blind buy, though I think it’s good to try complex fragrances to educate your nose.

I fell in love with this Franck Olivier Oud Vainille beauty. It’s perfect for autumn and winter, cold days. I was surprised by the longevity: it lasts like 14 hours on the skin and stays on clothes even after washing. It hugs me warmly, vanilla-scented, sweet, with that powdery rose wrapped in caramel. I can smell it with me all the time and have received many compliments. I would buy it again, it’s worth it. It has the 3 Bs: Good, Beautiful, Good Price.

It’s a good perfume, economical for its quality. It has an air of Shagaf Oud by Swiss Arabian, but here the rose is more accentuated; Shagaf is more vanilla-heavy and classier. Since it has caramel instead of oud, it’s a bit stickier. For some reason, it doesn’t last long on my skin or project much; in my case, it doesn’t seem to be a beast mode.

Nice fragrance, reminds me quite a bit of Oud Touch, but this one is sweeter due to the vanilla. Maybe it’s sharper than Oud Touch, clearly it’s more unisex, ideal for fresh and intermediate seasons.

Affordable and long-lasting scent. Pity. Definitely unisex, though very heavily feminine. I only perceive the rose note from start to finish, I don’t sense any other olfactory notes. It wasn’t to my liking and I wouldn’t buy it again. Definitely not for blind buys.

Thanks to a colleague, I got to try it, and this perfume is an absolute nightmare, although it does have brutal projection.

Hi Calidum Alis, the batch looks a bit blurry, but I can see 29/11/012796/10, which is from my second bottle. I’m not sure if they reformulated it, but it lasts all day and has good projection. Best regards.

An exquisite fragrance that uses a winning formula of oud, rose, and frankincense. The opening is caramelized and sweet with red berries, but it doesn’t get cloying thanks to the wood notes that emerge as it dries down. There’s a fruity raspberry touch that fades away after an hour. The oud isn’t listed, but you can feel it through the combination of notes; it resembles Mauboussin Cristal Oud or Venezia’s Exciting Oud Touch (which actually list it). Compared to Oud Touch, there’s no contest: Vainille Oud surpasses it in quality, originality, trail, and projection. Lasts 15 hours on skin and projects for at least 4 hours to more than a meter away. It has power, doesn’t go unnoticed, and dries down to vanilla and rose—very beautiful.