Vanilla Bean

[ethermaiden]

Interesting. Now I know why I never smell vanilla in any of the BPAL blends which are supposed to contain it.

 

In the vial it smells almost like ameretto. Correction, it smells exactly like amerettini cookies. Once on my skin, it turns into a baby powder scent. Vaguely similar to the Vanilla and Jasmine Johnson & Johnson baby powder I have (which smells neither of vanilla or jasmine really). Definately not vanilla though. After a few hours I thought maybe it would have morphed, like many people seemed to experiance. Nope. No morphing. Still baby powder, still not even a hint of vanilla.

 

Well drat. I really wanted to believe that BPAL's vanilla bean note would be just that- the smell of slicing open a vanilla bean. Alas, it is not.

[olympia301]

 

This is undoubtedly, the most exquisite vanilla I have ever smelled. It is round, slightly spicy, warm and with a hint of butter or cream but only the best parts of dairy. It is strong. It contains a hint of a tarragon-like backnote. There is something faintly like whiskey in the background.

 

It is not: woody, animalic, weak, overpowering, plasticy, chemical.

 

The absolutely perfect vanilla. Nobody does it better. Not nobody. This is to kill for. Why die for it, then you couldn't smell it, right?

Edited November 18, 2005 by olympia301

[yeahbutnobut]

Vanilla Bean

 

In the imp: very light, but sweet, slightly liqueur-ish vanilla.

Wet on skin: this smells like a very light but strangely alcoholic vanilla, like a vanilla liqueur. I’m hoping that this doesn’t turn plastic like other vanilla SNs do…

Dry: still a creamy vanilla liqueur…it reminds me of Baileys, the variety with vanilla added to it (I think it’s called Glide?). It has a very slight, oddly sour or sharp aspect to it, reminiscent of milk, but underneath is the smooth vanilla sweetness. It’s really quite soft, but I’m pretty sure it’s got the potential to get stronger. It didn’t turn to plastic, but it’s not what I expected either.

After a while: after about 5 minutes or so, the odd sour note goes away, and now this scent becomes a smooth, dark, sweet vanilla scent which I love. This is more like a base note vanilla, a scent that only truly hits you only a few seconds after the initial sniff. It’s like an ‘after-sniff’, a soft, sweet, creamy, rich but not cloying scent, a true vanilla without the icky plastic scent that I’ve experienced with (mainly synthetic) single note vanilla perfumes from other companies. This is the real thing. However, this is not a light vanilla as such, this is a darker vanilla scent, like the one in Velvet and Snake Charmer etc, as opposed to the one in Antique Lace and Dorian etc.

This gets better and better as time passes, the vanilla becomes a wonderful, velvety scent, soft, smooth, deep, comforting.

Verdict: I adore vanilla as a component in a blend, be it with BPAL or many other companies, but when it came to looking for the perfect vanilla single note, I was disappointed that most of them turned to plastic on me (probably because they were mainly synthetic) so I thought I’d give BPAL’s a whirl, thinking ‘if Beth doesn’t use synthetics, this certainly won’t smell of plastic on me! Could this be The One?’ So I tried it…and first I was a bit puzzled. No, it didn’t smell plastic, but it had an odd note to it that at times, reminded me of alcohol, and at other times, reminded me of milk…it was strange, but I was patient…because then that odd note faded and the glorious vanilla goodness came through-a deep, rich, sweet, dark vanilla scent, a real base note that seems faint at the first instant of smelling but then hits you a few seconds after. And a very true vanilla note at that…reminiscent of my mum’s vanilla pods. I also realised that Beth uses different vanilla notes in her scents-this is the darker variety, as opposed to the light, fluffy vanilla scent. So whilst I’m unsure if I’ve found my holy grail of vanilla SNs, this comes very close to it, and it is one of the best-and most natural-vanilla notes I’ve tried. I can’t wait to layer with this!

Edited November 21, 2005 by yeahbutnobut

[Lori]

Well, since I am about to part with all of my much sought after and hard won Single Notes from BPAL, I thought that before they go, I would do some reviews.

 

Imp: Decanted, won in Ebay auction.

 

Oh..My..God...this smells absolutely delicious!!! This is like the best vanilla ice cream with caramel topping and whipped cream! Sweet and yet sensuous. I want to eat this!

[UltraViolet]

4

An orchid, vanilla is a viney plant. The vines produce yellow-white orchid flowers which turn into slender beans or pods.

BPAL blends with Vanilla single note as one if it's ingredients:

Bearded Lady, Belle Epoque, Blood Kiss, Desire, Dorian, Eclipse, Euphrosyne, Fee, Freak Show, Gluttony, Golden Priapus, Hollywood Babylon, Hunger, King of Spades, Le Serpent Qui Danse, Love in the Asylum, Mata Hari, O, Pink Phoenix, Siren, Snake Charmer, Snake Oil, Snowblind, Spooky, Tamora, Tombstone, Velvet, Voodoo, White Rabbit, Zephyr.

 

In the bottle

What a golden and perfect vanilla bean. Sheesh.

On

*swoon* The perfect, creamy vanilla.

As it dries but is still somewhat wet it starts to get I dunno to the stage that is familiar to me with Snake Oil et al; It reminds me of a medicinal/bandaid smell.

Why does my skin do this to me?

30 minutes

When I smell it on my skin 30 minutes later it's so wonderful but still now and again I still get that medicinal smell. Must be my nose.

Throw:

average

Scent category:

Foody/Spice

Summary

Initially it is this creamy vanilla heaven in a bottle smell. Than it goes through this morph with my skin chemistry and smells kinda plastic-y or something. And then the scent just vascillates between creamy milky vanilla goodness and chemical plastic bandaid smell.

Purchase again?

Whenever I need to smell something heavenly I can smell this blend in the bottle. It's that good that I would keep it just for that, and to mix with other sn's too.

1-5 rating (5 being best)

4 (if it wasn't for that weird thing with my skin chemistry this would be a 5)

Edited November 28, 2005 by UltraViolet

[slave1]

In Bottle: Sweet vanilla

 

On Skin: This is vanilla in a syrup form. So delicious. It reminds me of my honeymoon in Tahiti where vanilla beans were everywhere and in everything. My favorite was leaving one in a sugar bowl so the sugar becomes vanilla flavored and that’s exactly what this smells like. I would LOVE a bottle of this… gallons of this!!! This and honey single note are the scents I really would love to bathe in and have my skin permanently smell like. It is very simple and pure, a scent that could be layered with almost anything. It isn’t overpowering and the staying power is decent. This is my husbands favorite scent on me…

[grrrlennyl]

at first: super-sweet and foodlike.

on: this smells like thick, rich vanilla frosting.

1 hour later: still foody and sweet. lovely and heady.

2 hours later: still sweet and fruity. i love this.

3 hours later: still about the same. i love it!

overall: i adore this. it'll be perfect when i want something sweet.

[brownbear]

I like vanilla scents. I like them a lot. They just don't usually like me.

I had a theory that it was the vanilla in the blends that was going weird on my skin. Now I can prove it. There is a hint of vanilla in with the play-doh, melted plastic overall tone of this. In the vial it is delicious pure vanilla. It reminds me of the mexican vanilla I use for cooking. It just doesn't work with my skin.

[GemmaCat]

I agree with slave1; this is vanilla in syrup form. So gooey and sweet and rich.

 

This is very true to life like pretty much all of the BPAL SNs. It makes me hungry and I'm finding it hard not to lick my wrist!

[theshapeshifter]

Just wonderful! I was a devotee of the Body Shop's original vanilla (i.e. before they changed it to a nasty perfumey blend) for many years, and I still have a very aged bottle - at least 7 or 8 years old now - tucked away. SN Vanilla Bean smells very much like that: rich, deep, dark sweetness. Love, love, love.

[blueroses]

A long time ago, I got my hands on an imp of Vanilla Bean, and from the very first sniff in the imp, I could tell that this was the note that ruins a lot of the foody BPAL blends that I want to love. The sweet, plastic-y smell from the imp stayed the same on my skin.

 

I'm having a different experience with it now. Like a poster above said, it smells like amaretto in the bottle, and I am not getting the same chemical plastic smell. On my skin, it's vanilla with a nutty, marshmallow-smell. I still feel like it is on the verge of turning to complete plastic, but I am having a much better experience with it, and with some of the other vanilla blends.

[Muppetk]

Wow. This is rich and round and sweet and cakey, (and the oil itself is slightly thicker than the most other blends that aren't heavily resinous) with almost a ghosting of butter underneath. (Not the smell of butter so much as a faint faint impression of it. Ie, this full well could be my overactive imagination.) I see why Josiebird went nuts over it. Lovely.

[edenssixthday]

Vanilla Bean - This is the vanilla from Snake Oil!!! It's gorgeous, warm, sweet, and almost spicy. I can't stop sniffing my arm while wearing this. This is totally a single note I would wear on its own, but only if I didn't have Snake Oil, which is so full of this note that I really see no reason to ever wear Vanilla Bean solo if I could step it up a notch and wear Snake Oil. However, it's absolutely thrilling to get a chance to experience Vanilla Bean single note and to recognize it now as the primary note in Snake Oil. Lovely, lovely scent -- and just like Snake Oil, it has amazing throw and lasts all day long.

[ND¢]

Got an opportunity to sniff this locally. More than anything it reminded me of Snake Charmer (my number one guy): warm, snappy, and for all the world like my sugar jar: an airtight container filled with organic sugar and a vanilla bean to keep things moving. I sniffed and sniffed with my eyes closed, forgetting everything but the smell in front of me. Lovely.

[sofiaviolet]

This is a Good Vanilla. As opposed to Bad Vanillas which make me feel sick. Sweet, creamy, and reminding me of my childhood. Lovely but not my thing.

[supremegoddessofall]

Pure, beautiful vanilla. This is soft and lovely. Yum!

[filigree_shadow]

This vanilla bean is sweet and soft, and not too creamy. Smells like a very true vanilla, but it's less beany than I was expecting. The thing is, it's not beany at all, and I thought it would be. (I've smelled tonka bean before, and that one was beany -- it had a definitely planty feel to it.) There's nothing harsh or planty about this. Just a lovely vanilla.

 

And now I'm sure that vanilla is NOT the play-doh or plastic culprit on my skin.

[wikkidraven]

pure vanilla, without the cloying sweetness of false blends. i immediately hit on this as being the sacred vanilla in my beloved snake oil. stunning.

[Alchemy21599]

I received a decant of Vanilla Bean from a lovely Forumite.

 

In the vial: warm, slightly spicy, and well rounded.

 

Wet: rich and ever so slightly sweet.

 

Dry: this smells like the most wonderful Madagascar vanilla. Absolutely lovely.

[forspecial_plate]

Yep, that's vanilla! This has a lot more 'weight' than the actual smell of vanilla beans, which to me have an ethereal quality although warm. Anyway, I recognize this from the Snake Oil family of scents, especially Snake Charmer. This single note has a LOT of strength, throw, and endurance. I tried 4 scents at once and Vanilla Bean SN definitely pushed all the others aside and outlasted them too.

 

So yeah, it's a warm vanilla with a complexity, maybe just a hint of smoke, or maybe that's because I want it to smell smokey so my nose is making that association. Oh and the oil is *very* thick like syrup. Honestly, I wanted to try this, review it, and then maybe swap for another single note just so I could try more of them. Now, I'm not sure I want to give it up! The layering possibilities are tantalizing.

[myoubi]

This vanilla is not soft at all! It's not the cookie-dough-ish vanilla I'm used to smelling (I have a friend who /smothers/ herself in vanilla oil, and while it's not too bad from seven feet away, up close it's smothering). THis vanilla is actually rather sharp -- sharper than sniffing vanilla extract. Smoky it certainly is, and almost flowery as well, there is something distinctly orchid-y about it. It does have throw. It was taped shut and in a little baggie when I received it, and as soon as I opened the baggie the scent hit me.

 

I'm actually not a huge vanilla fan -- so I can't say I'm surprised that this doesn't love me. Oh well, I'm grateful I got a chance to try it

[dzurlady]

This is a lot less smooth than I was expecting. In the imp it's slightly alchoholic (that's the best description I can come up with!). On the skin it's slighly smoky and slightly plasticy vanilla. Strong, not soft and fluffy. Very little throw, amazingly enough, since when I wear vanilla scents I get heaps of vanilla throw. The longer I wear it, the softer and sweeter it gets, and more straight vanilla.

 

ETA: I'm coming back to this over a year later with more thoughts. Firstly, Beth uses a couple of different vanillas in her blends. This is the vanilla that's in Snake Oil. Like that vanilla, it gets stronger and richer after a couple of hours and stays that way. It's very strong, warm, sweet smell. It's almost a little too one dimensional - for regular wear, I'd want to have some other notes to spice things up a little. It would be nice if I wanted to boost the vanilla in something if I were on a vanilla kick that day.

Edited November 14, 2008 by dzurlady

[The_Merf]

This is not the light, fresh vanilla of vanilla ice cream or vanilla wafer cookies (and it doesn't smell a thing like imitation vanilla extract! )--it is a very foody vanilla, almost a bit buttery, as the other reviewers have said. I think one of the BPAL blends that best represents this smell is Velvet. I think this is even foodier than an intentionally heavy vanilla like Villainess's 'Decadence' products. I don't get a boozy sense from this...definitely food. I really would mistake this for a buttery note. I have to admit that most of the vanilla blends I like from the Lab are have a sweeter vanilla than this (i.e. Perilous Parlor). Of course, I do love Velvet, but that's because this foody vanilla bean really does go beautifully with cocoa!

[Pookstrell]

Continuing my BPAL nostalgia, I have been having sniffy of my treasured vanilla bean. It has become so lush over the last two years. Opening it today, it is very reminiscent of Snake Oil. Really lovely, but like all the SN's I've tried (with the possible exception of ambergris) much better when blended with other notes

[puck_nc]

Origin: Decant bought on eBay

 

Initial Thoughts: Vanilla is a favorite scent of mine, a note in several of my favorite blends.

 

In the Vial: Yum! A very rich, deep vanilla. This seems much stronger than the vanilla note in Antique Lace (probably my favorite BPAL vanilla blend). Whether that's due to aging of the SN or the blending of other notes, I don't know.

 

Wet: Hey, where'd it go? For several moments I have to jam my nose almost against my hand to detect the faint trace of vanilla.

 

Drydown: As it dries the scent strengthens. Rich, smooth, decadent vanilla with just enough sweetness to mellow it. It's been going strong for hours, now, wafting up unexpectedly.

 

Verdict: I am very glad that I got this.