celestia Report post Posted February 27, 2017 (edited) ♔ Elf v4 It's taken me a long time to review this, but I know words will never do it justice. I'm absolutely in love with this, I've always worried that my review would either either not do it justice, or praise it so highly that I'll never track more down...but such a perfect scent deserves to be talked about. So this is my review of what I deem to be my long time, signature scent. In the Bottle: Gorgeous, regal Madagascan vanilla musk with a hint of beautiful white florals Wet: A creamy vanilla orchid, much like that in NAVA Kobalt in the bottle which I absolutely adore. as well as the same Madagascar vanilla bean in Celeste. It bares uncanny resemblance to the vanilla used in XCDL13 and Black Lace too. One of my long sought-after holy grails. Along with NAVA Crystalline and Eternal Ankh, this is one of the best non-EDP vanillas I’ve ever smelt. It’s sweet, musky, non-gourmand, but rich and slightly creamy. There are definitely white florals of some sort in this, really it’s a musky rich vanilla orchid. It’s smooth and has a creamy, almost velvety transparent texture that kind of looks like sheer gauzy cloth. It almosts reminds me of a 'mid-day star' counterpart to the 'midnight star' aspect of the blend, Zorya Polunochnaya. Both use the same vanilla, but while Elf v4 is a beautiful, slightly warmer, ethereal glow, Zorya Polunochnaya is a little more powdery and tinted pastel blue. Drydown: In this phase, it smells even more beautiful, like a more refined and elegant Antique Lace, with a lot of depth, gorgeous vanilla musk, ethereal, semi-transparent and absolutely perfect in all of its stages. It’s just so perfect on me, I’m convinced it’s my signature BPAL scent which depresses me because something this good ought to be a GC. I will keep hoping, wishing and praying it manifests again. This is better than Antique Lace to me and even though I draw similarities between NAVA Kobalt, the depth and chemistry from Elf v4 reacts a lot better to my skin. TL;DR: The perfect Madagascan vanilla bean infused into a beautiful, delicate vanilla orchid musk- and a hint of beautifully delicate, soft white florals. ETA: comparisons of Elf v4 with Zorya Polunochnaya. Edited February 15, 2018 by celestia Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cassandra Dudum Report post Posted November 13, 2017 I only have a tester of this so maybe that is why it fades fast and has low throw on my skin? Despite that fast fading and low throw (which could just be because of the tiny amount I tested), it is a deliciously beautiful rich vanilla scent. Not foody, not "perfumey", just perfect. I can see why people love this scent so much. This is what I wanted Antique Lace to smell like. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites