Estate Vanilla is a sophisticated vanilla carefully constructed to emphasize the hint of a woody, chocolaty, slightly earthy note you get when smelling a fresh vanilla bean pod -- the tiny hint of boozy extract and a creamy note reminiscent of French vanilla. It contains Solstice Scents' hand-tinctured organic vanilla beans and a variety of essential oils and synthetics to create a rich, sweet, deep, creamy, ethereal vanilla. Estate Vanilla is relatively linear and consistent smelling as it wears and the overall effect is a complex vanilla-focused fragrance. It has a mix of sugar infused with vanilla, French vanilla, cream, raw vanilla pods, a hint of boozy vanilla extract, and even a subtle marshmallow note.
Created as part of a collection of fragrances based on the fictional town of Foxcroft, Maine, Estate Vanilla is an eau de parfum, edp.
SOLSTICE SCENTS ESTATE VANILLA REVIEWS
Fragrantica: This is vanilla at it's best, with every facet and angle detectable during it's drydown evolution.Pure, but complex. Estate opens dark, broody, and intense, with a deep, dense, earthy vanilla and hints of sweet smoke. This is my favorite part; the contrast between the sweet smoke and browned, caramel-y vanilla is not foody, but it makes my mouth water. Estate then transitions to a woody, resinous vanilla with hints of french vanilla creamer- the good kind. It's not gourmand, thanks to the woods, but I also wouldn't mind tasting it. I can definitely pick up vanilla-extract-type vanilla here. The dark aspects fade away and yield a tranquil, smooth, white-ambery vanilla and boozy tones near the end. I can pick up the softest waft of marshmallow vanilla here, but again, Estate never goes fully gourmand. The deep drydown yields a more crowd-pleasing buttery vanilla cloud. These vanillas never strike me as any shade lighter than golden, unlike the crisp white and beige vanillas I smell more frequently in other fragrances. Estate maintains a warm, thrumming, radiant hum the whole time.
Fragrantica: The opening smells like brownies soaked in liquor. I’m glad I read the description, because this fragrance is supposed to have rich, chocolately nuances, reminiscent of smelling actual vanilla beans. I don’t love the opening and find it a bit harsh, but thankfully the drydown is much better. This is the closest I’ve found to a fragrance that smells like real vanilla extract. Despite having a cream note, I don’t find it as smooth and creamy as I like my vanillas to be. I’ve also realized that I prefer something resinous and woody to anchor vanilla in a fragrance, and this isn't “round” enough for me. Doesn’t have the best longevity and projection, but still a must try for vanilla lovers.
Fragrantica: This is beautiful - it smells of real natural vanilla - FINALLY. It’s so hard to find real vanilla - with the wordwide shortages prices these days are incredibly high for vanilla absolutes and most of my regular suppliers are OOS. This is a very expensive perfume to produce - it’s absolutely packed with beautiful and real raw materials. I think comparisons to vanilla extract will be natural because for many people that will be the only opportunity they’ve had to smell a product that is made from real vanilla bean as opposed to ethyl vanillin, caramel furfural and the other aromachemicals that go into the creation of synthetic vanilla accords. This - however - doesn’t smell like straight vanilla extract... There’s the beautiful depth of the absolute that captures more depth - more of the subtle warm spicy, rich and caramel like facets of the bean. There’s added creaminess and a tiny little bit of sweetness like a dab of fluffy marshmallow that’s been applied with restraint. It is without a doubt the most natural smelling vanilla perfume I’ve ever tried - because of the high concentration of natural vanilla absolute and tincture the perfume has a very slight brown tinge but that’s only because it’s packed with some of the most expensive ingredients in a perfumer’s palette. I definitely wouldn’t say it’s « too foody » although that’s subjective - if your palate is conditioned to associate natural vanilla exclusively with the products that are used for baking because that is the only context you’ve smelled it then I suppose it would make you think of baking. To me it smells of beautiful absolute - which is quite a bit more prized than simple extract - which I obvioisly see as perfumery and aromatherapy component because it’s not really edible. This is a very unique scent - I’ve yet to come across anything quite like it. It’s absolutely beautiful and is also a great deal.
Fragrantica: This might be my favorite vanilla, it’s really lovely. It’s creamy in a way that reminds me of Tihota. Gourmand and mildly creamy/milky but not overwhelmingly sweet. I get the marshmallow note too, but somehow it’s not juvenile, it also has a depth to it, baking vanilla but a little deeper, really well balanced. It passed the hubby test too, he thinks I smell mellow, like marshmallows.
