08/05/2023

PetitePinup
28 Reviews

PetitePinup
2
For when you want to smell like Barbie, *a* Barbie...
I own a variety of La Rive fragrances by now, some excellent, others acceptable, and a few downright disappointing to worse.
I'm a sucker for a good vanilla scent and everyone and their mother raved about this one being awesome vanilla- ness. And in some circles on another forum it was said to be a sister of Billy Eilish (imho those people need to visit a nose doctor).
Combine that with a promising pyramid, and the fact my first La Rive (Eternal Kiss) was a nice one after some maceration and another is now one of my favourite perfumes, and I expected a lot.
Well, we all know life is full of disappointments, don't we?
While the "after months of maceration scent" was a tiny bit better, I initially got "Old clothes that have been dumped in a garbage bag on a dirty attic floor and then taken out several years after the fact": that's the majority of what I smelled when spraying Vanilla Touch. That musty, dusty, mothballs, earthy scent. I don't know why, but the Vanilla didn't Touch any part of me! Nor any of the fruity notes, flowers, Caramel, coumarin, amber or woods.
I got a bit of musk, the cheap kind, and a teeny tiny bit of unrecognisable skanky flower. About 2 months later I got the same result, just stronger. I put it somewhere and forgot all about it...
[Fast forward about 8 months, March 2023] I'm reorganising my perfume bottles and my eye catches the loathed tiny bottle. "I still have that sh*tstain? Away with i ---" Before I can put it on the sale/ giveaway/throwaway pile I suddenly see it is much, much darker. Like what true vanilla fragrances are often prone to do when they've been sitting a while. Curious I spray it on my hand... and what do you know! It's actually oka...Ha! Got you there, didn't I?
With that luscious dark shade I had expected to get the Billy Eilish - Eilish miracle. Nope...
After all this maceration Vanilla Touch has become a fragrance that still won't give up most of its pyramid, thereby skipping over a possible fruity-floral vannilic, or a true gourmand. It's a perfume that leans less dusty old clothes now, and more synthetic gour-mess.
I get a hint of coconut flakes and a hint of musk in the opening and when these fade into the background - and if I put my nose to skin a gazillion times - I might, barely discernible, catch a whiff of the idea of a floral accord. The dry down is where the edible vanilla is supposed to shine, but base notes Vanilla, Sandalwood and Amber aren't giving me the creamy, possibly boozy, warm almondy or caramely vannilic blend I thínk La Rive went for. Instead I'm left with a fragrance that loses all strenght there was - not that much anyway - and gives me a rather particular smell: new plastic toy leg.
I believe sometimes referred to as Doll Head, or even lipliner pencil shavings. There's Barbie for ya!
I know certain people actually love that smell, so this could be great news to you. And who knows: perhaps your skin chemistry dóes turn Vanilla Touch into a warm gooy sweet vanilla with a nice floral heart and edible opening. Or maybe you're like me and you wish you'd bought another La Rive Angel Clone, because you luuurve that one.
Regardless, with these prices (€4 for 30ml) that's a risk most are willing and able to take.
Vanilla Touch went from a "strong dislike" to a "not my kinda thing". But if I had gotten a gourmand perfume to my liking, the projection and sillage would still be nothing to write home about; both intimate. Nor is the longevity - after 30min skin scent and staying like that for 2-3 hours max until it is gone altogether - worth cheering about.
Due to the disappointing SPL I think you can't wear it when it is truly cold, even though the pyramid leans more toward a Fall- Winter fragrance than a summer one. If you like the plastic vibe then it might be ideal as a bedtime scent on its own, or as a layer for 'another' gourmand.
Moral of the story: if you really disliked Vanilla Touch for the same reason as I did, then don't chuck it just yet. Once that liquid starts to turn dark yellow, bordering on light orange, then you know that the vanilla has had all the time to up its game. You could enjoy it then. For me it remains a blind buy fail, both in regards to the scent as the quality.
Vanilla Touch goes back to the sell/gift pile and my search for the perfect vanilla continues on...
I'm a sucker for a good vanilla scent and everyone and their mother raved about this one being awesome vanilla- ness. And in some circles on another forum it was said to be a sister of Billy Eilish (imho those people need to visit a nose doctor).
Combine that with a promising pyramid, and the fact my first La Rive (Eternal Kiss) was a nice one after some maceration and another is now one of my favourite perfumes, and I expected a lot.
Well, we all know life is full of disappointments, don't we?
While the "after months of maceration scent" was a tiny bit better, I initially got "Old clothes that have been dumped in a garbage bag on a dirty attic floor and then taken out several years after the fact": that's the majority of what I smelled when spraying Vanilla Touch. That musty, dusty, mothballs, earthy scent. I don't know why, but the Vanilla didn't Touch any part of me! Nor any of the fruity notes, flowers, Caramel, coumarin, amber or woods.
I got a bit of musk, the cheap kind, and a teeny tiny bit of unrecognisable skanky flower. About 2 months later I got the same result, just stronger. I put it somewhere and forgot all about it...
[Fast forward about 8 months, March 2023] I'm reorganising my perfume bottles and my eye catches the loathed tiny bottle. "I still have that sh*tstain? Away with i ---" Before I can put it on the sale/ giveaway/throwaway pile I suddenly see it is much, much darker. Like what true vanilla fragrances are often prone to do when they've been sitting a while. Curious I spray it on my hand... and what do you know! It's actually oka...Ha! Got you there, didn't I?
With that luscious dark shade I had expected to get the Billy Eilish - Eilish miracle. Nope...
After all this maceration Vanilla Touch has become a fragrance that still won't give up most of its pyramid, thereby skipping over a possible fruity-floral vannilic, or a true gourmand. It's a perfume that leans less dusty old clothes now, and more synthetic gour-mess.
I get a hint of coconut flakes and a hint of musk in the opening and when these fade into the background - and if I put my nose to skin a gazillion times - I might, barely discernible, catch a whiff of the idea of a floral accord. The dry down is where the edible vanilla is supposed to shine, but base notes Vanilla, Sandalwood and Amber aren't giving me the creamy, possibly boozy, warm almondy or caramely vannilic blend I thínk La Rive went for. Instead I'm left with a fragrance that loses all strenght there was - not that much anyway - and gives me a rather particular smell: new plastic toy leg.
I believe sometimes referred to as Doll Head, or even lipliner pencil shavings. There's Barbie for ya!
I know certain people actually love that smell, so this could be great news to you. And who knows: perhaps your skin chemistry dóes turn Vanilla Touch into a warm gooy sweet vanilla with a nice floral heart and edible opening. Or maybe you're like me and you wish you'd bought another La Rive Angel Clone, because you luuurve that one.
Regardless, with these prices (€4 for 30ml) that's a risk most are willing and able to take.
Vanilla Touch went from a "strong dislike" to a "not my kinda thing". But if I had gotten a gourmand perfume to my liking, the projection and sillage would still be nothing to write home about; both intimate. Nor is the longevity - after 30min skin scent and staying like that for 2-3 hours max until it is gone altogether - worth cheering about.
Due to the disappointing SPL I think you can't wear it when it is truly cold, even though the pyramid leans more toward a Fall- Winter fragrance than a summer one. If you like the plastic vibe then it might be ideal as a bedtime scent on its own, or as a layer for 'another' gourmand.
Moral of the story: if you really disliked Vanilla Touch for the same reason as I did, then don't chuck it just yet. Once that liquid starts to turn dark yellow, bordering on light orange, then you know that the vanilla has had all the time to up its game. You could enjoy it then. For me it remains a blind buy fail, both in regards to the scent as the quality.
Vanilla Touch goes back to the sell/gift pile and my search for the perfect vanilla continues on...