Black Flower Mexican Vanilla by Dame Perfumery Scottsdale

I received a sample of this in my monthly Olfactif subscription box. If you have ever been curious about expanding your nose and would like to check it out I highly encourage you to do so; check out this link and use code FIRSTMONTH3 to get your first month for only $3.00! I am an affiliate of theirs so if you subscribe to a monthly plan it helps me out, and I really appreciate your support!

***For those new to fragrance please check the main fragrance landing page here for a description of terms commonly used in the fragrance community

I am not a huge gourmand fan. I tend to like my fragrances on the heavier side. There are very few sweet fragrances that can hold my attention. This is a great starter for someone who isn't sure if they like things on the sweet or dark side as it sits perfectly on the cusp of both.

As the name implies, this fragrance is heavy on vanilla. Before you go rolling your eyes, it is not on the synthetic side. This is the smoothest vanilla I have smelled to date. Overall it is sweet, balsamic, spicy and fresh. The base is pure Mexican vanilla absolute, lemon, grapefruit, caramel, nutmeg, gardenia, jasmine, sandalwood, patchouli, vetiver, musk, and tonka.

The lemon and grapefruit do not make a harsh citrus appearance; I am happy about this because citrus can go sour on me very quickly. It starts off slightly soapy. However, once this fragrance dries down that's when the magic happens. It is lovely from beginning to finish. It's very cozy, like a warm cashmere sweater on a cool/cold day. Again, this is a sweet fragrance that is not cloying. This is the perfect blend of woods/musk/vanilla. Even though there is no lavender in this fragrance, it reminds me of the lavender vanilla fragrance from Bath & Bodyworks.

Longevity: This is something that will vary from person to person. My skin does not hold fragrance well despite my best efforts to keep it moisturized. It lasted 4 hours on my skin. There are many other people who report this to be moderate to long lasting up to 12 hours on them.

Projection/Sillage: This doesn't project, on me. I noticed this at about 1-2 feet away, if even. The majority of people report a moderate projection for this one. There is little to no sillage with this one.

Price: You won't find this one on discount. There is a slim chance that you might find this on a swap site or "used". This retails for $85.00/100 ml both on the retailer site https://dameperfumery.com/search?q=black+mexican+vanilla

And on Olfactif's site: http://www.olfactif.com/products/black-flower-mexican-vanilla

Overall: This is a crowd pleaser. This is a unisex scent but I feel this is more on the feminine side and might be hard for some men to pull off… it's like a pink shirt; you must wear it with confidence boys! I highly doubt that the majority of women would regret blind buying this one. It would make a great gift to you, or someone else. I found this fragrance to be really relaxing. Again, this one reminds me of the relaxation collection from Bath & Bodyworks. I could see myself spraying this prior to bed as this makes an excellent bedtime scent.