Weekly Waftings: Sampler Set Review – Vilhelm Parfumerie, Part II

Hello all and happy Wednesday to you! I’ve been spending the last couple of weeks tidying up my yard and getting things ready for hoped-for sunnier days ahead. I have some newly-purchased annuals and succulents patiently waiting in the wings to be planted. Spring is such a lovely time of refresh and renewal! 🌼

Another thing that’s had me excited lately is testing more lovely fragrances from the house of Vilhelm Parfumerie. I first introduced this house on the blog about 3 months ago, featuring their Best Seller sampler set. They now carry an updated version that features a few different newer scents mixed in with the old faves. However, you can also opt to mix and match and create your own customized sampler set which is exactly what I did and am featuring here today.

Find it here:

Vilhelm Parfumerie Create Your Own Eau de Parfum Discovery Set (at Vilhelm)

Here are my thoughts on 6 fragrances from my customized sampler set PLUS a bonus scent that I bought as a decant.

Body Paint

• Top Notes: pear, green pepper, red pepper, lemon
• Middle Notes: Iso E Super, nutmeg nut, clove
• Base Notes: cedar, Ambroxan, oak moss
• Description From Vilhelm: A COCKTAIL TO AROUSE THE SENSES: Paris in 1988. A secret cult of women. Matisse’s La Danse. Ritual dancing, whispered sounds, the ecstasy of burning skin. A maddening collision of ice cold pear juice and chili.
• Jan’s Personal Quote/Vision for This Fragrance: “If you take a sip of pear juice lifted with chili, you’ll realize how deceiving the word ‘virgin cocktail’ is! It’s never too late to give up.”

So, there’s a lot happening here! The opening is very peppery and aromatic with lots of green and spicy red pepper leading the way. There’s also lemon and a very green, galbanum-type vibe. As it dries down, the rest of the spices, moss, and cedar enter the picture. It also goes through a couple of brief, awkward stages where it literally smells like burnt rubber and even actual paint, lol But about 5-10 mins in, it becomes super bubblegummy (!) I don’t know how it is creating this sorcery on my skin, lol There’s no traditionally ‘bubblegummy’ notes listed (such as tuberose or a vanilla + neroli/orange blossom accord), which I’m surprised about. If I smell my arm up close, I can pick out all of the individual notes but the scent bubble around me is all bubblegum plus the spicy red pepper note. It does get a bit musky after a while, Ambroxan can present as musky at times.

Most of the fragrances from this house have light-to-moderate projection and decent longevity and this fragrance is in line with that. I find this one to be perfectly unisex. Overall, it’s an odd fragrance but I kind of like it! I think it would be fun to wear to a small indie concert or to an art walk. This is no safe blind buy with green pepper as a note (I would absolutely sample first) but it’s definitely unique and will take you on an entertaining olfactive journey, if you’re game.

Find it here:

Body Paint 20ml, 50ml, 100ml (at Vilhelm)

Body Paint 20ml (at ZGO Perfumery)

Body Paint 2ml decants, 50ml, 100ml (at ZGO Perfumery)

Chicago High

• Top Notes: champagne, pineapple, bergamot
• Middle Notes: honey, tabao (tobacco)
• Base Notes: leather, patchouli, amber
• Description From Vilhelm: 1920’S BOTTLED: Time for a party at Jay Gatsby’s mansion. Dresses are incredible; champagne is flowing; the spirits are high. It’s the wild celebration that defined an era of utmost extravagance, the peak of the 1920s – bottled. Structured like classic early 20th century perfumes, Chicago High was constructed to serve as a time machine, taking you back through scent memory to the experience of the Roaring Twenties. 
• Jan’s Personal Quote/Vision for This Fragrance: “I wanted to express the idea that there were hidden depths to this effervescent yet soon vanished glamorous time period. A rhyme and reason for such luxurious pursuits, not just a decadence of society.”

Chicago High’s opening is REALLY fruity, with TONS of sweet pineapple and honey. I also briefly get the sparkling champagne feel. But all of that is quite fleeting. There’s a small overlap moment where it smells like both pineapple and anise/black licorice. And then pretty quickly, it’s just ALL powdery licorice. Like, I mean wow, is this ever just LOTS of licorice! I think it’s perhaps the tobacco note? I could see a pipe tobacco possibly smelling like this.

The projection is light for this one, it’s more of an intimate skin scent. This one was also more fleeting on my skin than Vilhelm’s fragrances usually are. I got about 2 hours wear out of it before wanting to refresh. That could be just due to my very dry skin. Next time I wear this, I will try layering it over JHAG’s Not a Perfume or perhaps my favorite Camille Beckman scent-free lotion to boost the lasting power. This fragrance is a bit reminiscent of Margot Elena’s much-beloved TokyoMilk scent Dead Sexy to me. Lovers of licorice and anise fragrances should definitely try this one.

Find it here:

Chicago High 20ml, 50ml, 100ml (at Vilhelm)

Chicago High 2ml decants, 50ml, 100ml (at ZGO Perfumery)

Dirty Velvet

• Top Notes: bergamot, elemi
• Middle Notes: white leather, labdanum
• Base Notes: patchouli fraction, papyrus
• Description From Vilhelm: DEEP TANGO WITH MILES DAVIS: One summer night, in a suite at New York’s Chelsea Hotel. Red rose petals litter the floor and cigar smoke fills the air. Miles Davis plays the trumpet, while two Andalucian flamenco dancers move to the beats of tango. Strains of music were spilling onto the hot street below, dirty with deep soul and as smooth as velvet.
• Jan’s Personal Quote/Vision for This Fragrance: Jan called Paris home for many years and he looked to his favorite hotel, Villa d’Estrees, located in the Latin Quarter, for inspiration. Characterized by dimly lit, shadowed halls adorned with heavy blooming wallpaper and rich black doors that open to reveal a motionless journey, Dirty Velvet is sexy, refined and elegant.

The opening of Dirty Velvet has a very green and ambery feel. It immediately feels masculine-leaning to me. I also get a kiss of citrus from the bergamot. There’s an aftershavey/vetiver feel that I believe is from the papyrus. As it dries down, I get smoky leather and a bit of a boozy vibe. This smells like a well-groomed gentleman. The longer it dries down, I get quite a bit of musk, some spice, and an oud impression (which I’ve seen others mention as well). With that musk/oud combo, it leans a touch animalic for my personal liking but it smells incredible on my husband.

This fragrance has more oompf than the two mentioned above. The projection is good and it lasted well into the evening. Overall, a very pleasant, easy to wear, and enjoyable masculine-leaning scent.

Find it here:

Dirty Velvet 20ml, 50ml, 100ml (at Vilhelm)

Dirty Velvet 2ml decants, 50ml, 100ml (at ZGO Perfumery)

Dirty Velvet 20ml (at ZGO Perfumery)

Poets of Berlin

• Top Notes: blueberry, lemon
• Middle Notes: vanilla, green wild orris
• Base Notes: vanilla, sandalwood, vetiver
• Description From Vilhelm: A BOWIE STATE OF MIND: Berlin, a city that is alive with the same kinetic, magnetic energy that attracted David Bowie for a few formative, recuperative and prolific years in the Seventies. Perpetual creative movement embodied in a bold collision of blueberry, lemon, bamboo, green wild orris and Haitian vetiver. 
• Jan’s Personal Quote/Vision for This Fragrance: “A tribute to David Bowie: the more I read about him, the more I felt the warm and gentle person that he was behind the persona.”

This is, hands down, my favorite Vilhelm fragrance. It was created as an ode to David Bowie so, of course, I was destined to love it! The yummy opening smells like powdery milk chocolate with a hint of blueberry and lemon. It’s clean, woodsy, powdery, and slightly gourmandish but I wouldn’t call it overly sweet. It reminds me of walking through a magical forest made of chocolate. The lovely powdery orris, some tart fruit, and the woodsy vanilla notes stand out the strongest with my chemistry. This Jérôme Epinette-created fragrance reminds me of some of his others, including Floral Street’s Wild Vanilla Orchid and Commodity’s Velvet; and it’s also slightly similar to Floral Street’s Ylang Ylang Espresso (but minus the heavy patchouli).

This is another fragrance with intimate/lighter projection. Super long-lasting, though, the skin scent remains for several hours. The slightly gourmandish qualities here probably lean this a touch feminine but certainly anyone could wear it. The powdery sweet vibes combined with tart fruit here also reminds me of some other faves, Xerjoff’s Dama Bianca and the discontinued Marc Jacob’s Decadence and Byredo’s Unnamed (another Epinette fragrance). I think if you enjoy any of the various fragrances I’ve compared this to, it’ll definitely be worth your while to sample it. It is definitely on my wish list for a large full bottle and very few perfumes make that cut!

Find it here:

Poets of Berlin (20ml, 50ml, 100ml (at Vilhelm)

Poets of Berlin 2ml decants, 50ml, 100ml (at ZGO Perfumery)

Poets of Berlin 20ml (at ZGO Perfumery)

Purple Fig

• Top Notes: Sichuan pepper, angelica seeds
• Middle Notes: galbanum, green fig, jasmine absolue
• Base Notes: vetiver, cashmere woods
• Description From Vilhelm: ONE LAST BITE OF LIFE: What would you do if it were your last night on earth? For Johann Friedrich Struensee, doomed doctor of the Danish court, it meant a picnic with his love and their friends on the last night before his death. As always, champagne and figs, his favorite fruit, were on the menu, as dusk turned the sky purple. Joy and tears, sorrow and laughter, a bitter sweet cocktail that lives on in this Purple Fig.
• Jan’s Personal Quote/Vision for This Fragrance: “The last day of a condemned Danish court doctor, for a man who influenced society to be more open.”

This fig is super GREEN and spicy! This fragrance is very, very heavy on the galbanum note. There’s also lots of black pepper in the opening. This fragrance is very aromatic and leans quite masculine to me. Reminiscent of fresh leaves/stems/grass in the springtime, it’s also very clean from the cedar and slightly soapy with a hint of muskiness. Also get a bit of the zesty lemon. Actually, I really get all of the listed notes, though the jasmine is not a strong player for me, personally.

I’ve noticed whenever a fragrance has fig in its name or has it listed as a note, people immediately claim that it’s similar to Diptyque Philosykos (the gold standard fig fragrance, imo). So I did an extensive side by side comparison of the two and it confirmed my suspicions that these two are ZERO percent alike, lol I used to think Philosykos was a green-ish fragrance but holy cats, Purple Fig is soooo green! The slightly coconutty Philosykos is practically a gourmand when they’re presented side by side. All this to say, if you are used to Philosykos or other popular fig scents such as L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Premier Figuier (which, incidentally, was created by the same nose as Philosykos!), just know that Purple Fig is quite different (as always, sample first!) If you find Philosykos to be too sweet or coconutty, Purple Fig could be your perfect fig fragrance match. Also, be sure check out my list of the best fig fragrances here!

Find it here:

Purple Fig 20m, 50ml, 100ml (at Vilhelm)

Purple Fig 2ml decants, 50ml, 100ml (at ZGO Perfumery)

Purple Fig 20ml (at ZGO Perfumery)

Stockholm 1978

• Top Notes: black pepper, lemon, almond
• Middle Notes: geranium, rosemary
• Base Notes: patchouli, black amber, moss
• Description From Vilhelm: GIVE ME ABBA: The right place at the right time, that summer in the Swedish capital: a serene and intoxicating time in a city that was to become a place of congregation and celebration. Crisp lemon, warm almond, an uplifting spray of geranium with the tang of patchouli and a drift of faraway green fields floating on a summer breeze – the ABBA era.
• Jan’s Personal Quote/Vision for This Fragrance: “Another memory of my childhood: I was born at the height of ABBA! This is Sweden: safe, open-minded and eager to change our world.”

This love letter to Sweden’s capital has an ever-so-slightly sweet opening but it does not stay sweet for long. The lemon and almond quickly dissipate and I get TONS of rosemary + soapy/powdery/musky vibes. I have seen several compare this fragrance to ‘baby wipes’ and actually, I can agree with that 🙃 It’s woodsy, very aromatic, VERY powdery, clean, quite musky, dry, and sort of metallic in a slightly oudy way. Reminiscent of a couple of the scents Epinette has created for Byredo: Bal D’Afrique (though it’s SO dry, that when compared side by side, it actually makes BA seem sweet & vanillic – which it most certainly is NOT, lol) and there’s a hint of the aldehydes from Blanche in here, too.

This is a very long-laster that I could still smell the next morning after wearing. Though they’re not twinsies or anything, I would put this in a similar category with Tom Ford’s Oud Wood. It just smells like a classy, well-put-together dude.

Find it here:

Stockholm 1978 20ml, 50ml, 100ml (at Vilhelm)

BONUS FRAGRANCE – Darling Nikki

• Top Notes: Sicilian tangerine, cassis, black pepper
• Middle Notes: carrot seeds, saffron, black lotus
• Base Notes: leather, wood smoke, tonka beans
• Description From Vilhelm: THE CLUB CODE: Moscow in the Eighties. An anonymous door, a coded knock, a distant beat. A rush of scent – black pepper, saffron, leather and Sicilian tangerine – a smoky, spicy promise of what is still hidden that captures the effervescent thrill of secret parties, then and tomorrow.
• Jan’s Personal Quote/Vision for This Fragrance: “The Eighties in Moscow were a moment where uncertainty, hope, excitement and a hint of fear were scenting the air. A space for discussion, a time for the future.”

The initial spray of Ms. Nikki gives me lots of cinnamon and leather and it’s sort of reminiscent of a spicy apple cider! It reminded my husband of a cinnamon gummy bear, lol There’s aromatic (saffron & pepper) and smoky leathery impressions. Is cinnamon tobacco a thing? If it is, I feel like this would smell similar to that. The longer it dries down, I get serious cinnamon candle vibes, it even has a slightly waxy impression. The last time I wore it, I kept getting smoky-cinnamon whiffs throughout the night and was thinking do we have a candle lit? And then I would remember, oh it’s this perfume, lol

Projection is good and the longevity is excellent. It lasts pretty solidly throughout a full evening of wear and I can still lightly detect it on my skin the next morning. Around the 5 1/2 hour-mark, it fades to the EXACT scent of being out for a night of clubbing and having someone who’s just finished smoking a clove cigarette walk past you, lol Pretty much unisex with maybe a slight masculine-lean. If you enjoy cinnamon/smoky/leathery scents in the vein of Tom Ford’s Lost Cherry and/or Parfums de Marly Oajan, this should be in your wheelhouse and worth sampling,

Find it here:

Darling Nikki 20ml, 50ml, 100ml (at Vilhelm)

Darling Nikki 2ml decants, 50ml, 100ml (at ZGO Perfumery)

Well, that wraps up my review of 7 more perfumes from the stylish Vilhelm house! Please let me know in the comments if you’ve tried any of these scents or any of Vilhelm’s other artful creations. I love Jérôme Epinette’s fragrances so this house has quickly become a favorite of mine!

P.S. Don’t forget to check out my previous review with some other wonderful Vilhelm fragrances here, if you haven’t done so already 👍

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