Vanilla Candy Rock Sugar | 42 Kayali 2024

I was one of the lucky ones who received a sample of this fragrance with a purchase from Sephora Canada when it was available. I waited until it was announced and entered in the Parfumo database before trying it.

Touted as the little sister to Vanilla | 28, she's more like the middle child between the aforementioned fragrance and The Wedding Silk Santal | 36 (without the praline note). Those who missed the latter will probably find solace in this one (although rumors of Silk Santal coming back have been circulating). The beginning is sweet and delightfully creamy, at times a bit overwhelming. It is light and airy, but at the same time quite sugary sweet. It reminded me a bit of an undescript B&B sweet fragrance. The middle notes gives off a sweetness that reminded me of crystaliized honey which is probably coming from the white caramel. Underneath the mound of sugary sweetness lies ylang ylang which has a slightly fruity and tropical facet while jasmine has a fruity and powdery aspect. If the top and middle notes remind me of Silk Santal | 36, the drydown does gives deeper and more complex notes reminiscent of Vanilla | 28. Cashmere wood adds this comforting velvety feeling while patchouli is dark and earthy, tempering down the sweetness that was quite apparent at the beginning. Vetiver adds warmth while tonka beans and sandalwood further reinforces this impression. There's no woody notes coming in from the sandalwood. Rock sugar adds a gourmand finishing touch.

There's quite a stark difference bewteen 2/3rd of the perfume and its drydown. The first part is young, sweet and delightful like candy while the drydown is deeper with complexity and a more mature take on sweetness. When the most volatile notes have left my skin, cashmere wood and tonka bean remain the strongest giving a velvety and powdery sugared skin scent.

The drydown is probably the reason why I gave this fragrance a score of 8/10. I still don't know if I'll get a full bottle or not (I do admit the bottle is gorgeous with its pink iridiscent finish). The top and middle notes remind me way too much of Silk Santal and I don't feel like Vanilla Candy Rock Sugar | 42 (VCRS) really stands out as a different or unique offering from Kayali. Like I've mentioned before, VCRS stands in the middle bewteen Vanilla | 28 and Silk Santal | 36. I will say that it's lighter than Vanilla | 28, offering a good alternative for warmer temperatures if you wish to smell sweet. It's also a bit less perfumey and powdery than Silk Santal | 36. If you own one or both of these fragrances, I'm not sure you really need this one (apart from supporting Kayali or owning the beautiful bottle).