Vanisia Creed 1987

This afternoon, I had the immense honor of testing "Vanisia" for the first time. Yes, I consciously speak of an "honor," because from the bottle of "Vanisia" emerges a Grande Dame par excellence. This perfume is neither for a gray wallflower nor does it suit a perfectly styled beauty blogger who willingly embraces every crazy fashion trend. It also does not fit a young girl who still needs to find her fragrance identity or a successful businesswoman who likes to use her elbows to climb higher on the career ladder. Instead, "Vanisia" is the ideal companion for a strong-willed, glamorous, seductive, and profound woman. "Vanisia" was the favorite perfume of Romy Schneider (1938 - 1982). Romy Schneider, an Austrian character actress, who in the German-speaking world was often unjustly reduced to the Sissi image she despised, was able to portray psychologically complex characters like no other in films such as "The Innocents with Dirty Hands" (1975). The perfume was released for the mass market some time after Schneider's death in 1987. I initially tried to explore the meaning of the name, and the only thing I could find was a Google translation. According to this, "Vanisia" means "vanity" in Maori. However, this meaning fatalistically misrepresents the true qualities of the scent. After a harsh citrus start (bergamot), the fragrance smells smoky, a bit dusty, mysterious, and enigmatic. The rose notes and flowers are light and in the background. After a while, "la Vanisia" calms down and becomes more vanilla-like, woody, and warm with each passing minute. It suddenly feels very inviting and luxurious to me. Even more: the longer you wait, the more inviting, warmer, and more seductive this fragrance becomes. You definitely have to give it time to reveal its true beauty. Due to the generously used sandalwood notes, "Vanisia" occasionally reminds me of "Samsara." Although I am not a "Creed" fan, this is a hidden treasure within the house. I will not buy "Vanisia" for now, but I will continue to cautiously circle around it like a cat around hot porridge and test it...

EDIT after further tests: Those who derive the name "Vanisia" from "vanilla" and expect a sweet gourmand like "La vie est belle," "Angel," or "Scandal" might be unpleasantly surprised here. "Vanisia" is beautiful, but as my predecessors have already noted, it is a not-sweet vanilla (similar to Guerlain's "Shalimar") that plays the leading role alongside amber and sandalwood.