Jbells

I expected this to open with vanilla vanilla vanilla, but it did not! I'm not exactly sure how to describe the opening, but it is definitely sweet with a bit of a bitter undertone, something like a strangely flavoured water. I almost recognize the scent, but it endlessly eludes me.

Over time, it gently draws out sweetened milk warmed over a hot burning stove, with a single vanilla pod sliced open to allow its flavours to diffuse slowly throughout the milk.

It's quite pleasant to see how this develops and becomes more and more of a pronounced gourmand towards the end, supplemented by an ambery, benzoic scent that seems to work pretty well. My only gripe is that it's still rather similar to two other Chabaud creations, the Lait de Biscuit and Lait Concentre. While there are notable differences from one to the other, at first smell, the three of them aren't very singular in nature.

Nonetheless, Lait de Vanille is still a pretty yummy milky gourmand that isn't too rich or sweet. Projection was quite alright, especially in the first 2 hours, with a maximum wear on me of about 4.5 hours.

On me, this opens with straight up milk and coconut. I remember once, Starbucks introduced a coconut cappuccino, and if you've ever smelled that, the opening of Lait Concentre smells exactly like that minus the coffee. It quickly transitions into a sweeter and richer warm milk.

An hour or so after, it settles into a warm and rich sweetened milk, which shares some similarities with another Chabaud creation - the Lait de Biscuit. After this point, it ceases to develop further, but is by no means lamentable, especially if you fancy gourmands like these. It is yummy and smooth, tempting warm milk on a cool evening.

This is labelled as a feminine fragrance, but I think it is possible for a man to pull this off alright.

Sillage was pretty good, especially in the first half of wear. It was easy to pick up its scent when I've only applied it to the crooks of my elbows. It lasted 6 solid hours on me.

Eau Ambree opens zesty and lemony. It's quite light and tasty, albeit rather soft. It quickly gains a kind of creaminess to it, which reminds me of the kind of texture body lotions have. The base notes come up very early on though, so a very typical amber peeks through in about 15 minutes? More or less. The iris and rose only plays around on the sidelines, which I found slightly disappointing.

After that quick development, it's character doesn't change much anymore. It's a swirl of mildly spicy benzoic notes which manages to retain a light, airy freshness, but also a warm, smoky vibe. It does end with a sweeter, more floral note, though still highly benzoic.

I suppose I wasn't terribly impressed by this. It comes off as a typical amber fume with nothing much to offer, save for a calming freshness that is most prominent at the very beginning and lasts in soft touches throughout.

This was a very soft and silent perfume with not much sillage, and only lasted 3 hours on me.

I have no idea what Bohemian is supposed to smell like, but on me, this opens with a beautiful burst of ylang-ylang laced orange blossoms. It instantly feels uplifting and fresh, the way the aroma of summer fruits make me feel. There's also a hint of greenery in this, which lends to the whole summery feel to this.

An hour and a half later, an unmistakable jasmine comes up. It sneaks up little by little, then suddenly, it's sauntering all over the stage. This doesn't last too long, however, and transitions into a slightly more fruity and sweet stage after 30 minutes.

Chic et Boheme ends on a light, sweet note with a hint of green and florals. I pick up a mild warm feeling and the presence of ylangylang even at the end, but overall, it maintains the lighthearted happiness throughout. In a way, it still manages to be a little somber, and not be completely carefree in its joy. I still found this incredibly pleasant and uplifting though.

Sillage was pretty good, I'd say at about arm's length with a bit more for the first half, and sat quite close to the skin from the 3rd hour onwards. In total, it lasted about 5 hours on me.

Innocent Fragility opens with a milky, creamy jasmine. There's also one more flower in the opening stage, but I'm not particularly skilled at discerning notes, so I can't tell for sure if it's orange blossoms or gardenia. Either ways, the combo of jasmine and that one other floral is a happy and rich one, a little airy too.

Is there coconut in this, too? Because there's also a hint of a tropical creaminess, like the white flesh attached the the round shell of a coconut, and reminds me of canned coconut milk! Also, I'm also not entirely sure why, but it seems like there's a bitter floral playing around in the background.

It ends with a soft slightly sweet musk laced with white florals. At no point does this become offensive or overly strong. I can't say it's fragile, but I suppose there are aspects of this that fit "Innocent".

It is, however, a pretty safe perfume to wear, unless you do not enjoy jasmine (which was quite dominant in the early stages). I feel like it had the potential to be something a tad more impressive, but it falls short for me. Still not a bad fragrance, though.

Projection wasn't anything to shout about, but still noticeable for the most part. Lasted around 5-6 hours on me.