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Sherapop
Helpful Review
4
More to it than just that...
After wearing Kiehl's VANILLA & CEDARWOOD a few times I must admit that it is more complex than I initially supposed. Probably I was expecting vanilla and cedarwood and did not really think about what else might be going on here. Wearing perfume is similar to listening to music for me--I can never fully grasp a composition, but only notice salient aspects, and they will vary from one occasion to the next. Now that I give this "aromatic mist" a closer sniff, I realize that the orchid is quite important to the mix. The cedar smells natural, and the vanilla good, but there is an extra edge to this seemingly straightforward two-note wonder.
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Here is the text about this creation which I found at the Kiehl's site:
"Vanilla & Cedarwood: A seductive fusion of Ugandan Vanilla and Cedarwood, heightened with a hint of iris, which gives way to rich amber. The creamy vanilla in our blend owes its unique aromatic character to the exotic vanilla orchid grown on small, sustainable farms in Uganda. This warm and sensual aroma was fused with smoky Cedarwood to add a complex, balsamic character - reminiscent of tobacco farms in the southern United States."
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To my nose, the notes here are variably dominant, and, no, I do not believe that this is a figment of my imagination. As a matter of fact, I recently learned from the NSTAR gas man that the reason why I thought that I had smelled a gas leak in our basement on one occasion, and then the next day I detected nothing (though it turns out that there really was a small, "annoyance" leak--fortunately not life-threatening!) could have a variety of different explanations, including the draftiness of the place and also the temperature and humidity!
Today while wearing VANILLA & CEDARWOOD I even noticed a slight mintiness in the opening, which I had never noticed before. I don't want to go overboard here, though. This is not a super-complex perfume. It's more of a light fragrance made of natural-smelling cedar and vanilla and orchid with those notes waxing and waning to produce epiphenomenally a more complex combination. It smells good, but the orchid might be too strong--at least under certain conditions!--for someone who is looking for a flower-free composition. On a cedary day, I'd say that this composition is definitely unisex. On a vanilla-orchid day, it seems more feminine to me.
VANILLA & CEDARWOOD is said to be an aromatic mist (a new concentration category, to join cologne concentrée?), but the longevity and sillage seem just like that of an eau de toilette. This is not a body spray.
