You know how you only need to see a few square inches to know that a painting is a Van Gogh? Or read a paragraph to know a story is by Hemingway? Perfume brands can have a distinctive style, too. It’s wonderful when an artist has a “voice.” On the other hand, can a style become limiting — or even boring? For perfume, how do you avoid the olfactory equivalent of playing the same tune, but in a different register?
Neela Vermeire Créations’ fragrances have a definite voice: spice, a creamy density, a love of incense, wood and rose. When I sampled Rahele, I wondered how Neela Vermeire and Bertrand Duchaufour, the perfumer she works with, would spin something fresh. I needn’t have worried. Rahele melds well with the rest of the perfume house’s offerings, but smells like something new, too: a sheer yet complex fragrance that feels partly like a spice-tinted leather chypre and partly like a gentle cologne.
Rahele’s notes include green mandarin, cardamom, cinnamon, violet leaf, osmanthus, rose, magnolia, jasmin, iris, violet, cedar, sandalwood, oakmoss, patchouli and leather. The Neela Vermeire Creations website says “Rahele is intended as an ‘ode to exotic travel,’ and was inspired by three Frenchmen who traveled to India during the 17th century.”1
Rahele goes on fresh and sheer, but not bright — more “iced tea with a trace of orange and spice” than “lemonade.” It warms up and gains shape right away with glove leather, cedar, and enough cream-and-purple toned florals to soften it and give it body. The skin-like softness of patchouli lurks underneath and blends gently with sandalwood and moss. (Note to patchouli-phobes: no one would call this a patchouli fragrance at all, but it’s noticeable.)
As Rahele murmurs along on my skin, it twists now and then, showing a bit more sandalwood and supple leather, or a puff of cinnamon and osmanthus, a tingle of cedar. After half a day, it’s gone.
I’m worried that my description makes Rahele sound like a big, masculine fragrance that should come with cigars and a key to the executive washroom. It’s not. Rahele is light on my skin and present, but unobtrusive. It’s not an elevator-clearer. Rahele does tip slightly masculine, and men who cower at the mention of “rose” would feel comfortable wearing it. But it’s perfectly unisex, and I plan on taking it out on the town today with peony pink lipstick and a 1950s cotton sundress festooned with blue mums.
All in all, to me Rahele feels light, but not bright or simple. It wears with the airy ease of a cologne, but it’s warmer and more complex. It’s not a dabber, either. You’ll want to spray liberally and enjoy Rahele all around you. Which means it should come in a quart-sized bottle, if you want to make this a Rahele summer and fall. If it weren't for the mortgage, I’d be tempted.
Neela Vermeire Creations Rahele Eau de Parfum is $235 for 60 ml. For information on where to buy it, see Neela Vermeire Créations under Perfume Houses.
1. If you want to explore their lives and travels further, the men’s names are Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, Francois Bernier and Jean Thévenot.
This is one of my favourite scents of all time. However, I do not get much complexity as you did despite wearing it so often. It was primarily abstract flower tea, osmanthus and delicious sunny oakmoss with a hint of something resinous on my skin. This scent is like prozac in a bottle to me. I also want to say that this scent gives me the same vibe as both Dusita’s Isaara and St Clair’s First Cut. There’s a natural sunny like vibe in these scents.
I find that I do need to spray alot more compared to other Neela Vermeire scents which is a bit of a shame.
I love “prozac in a bottle”! We all need something like that at hand.
I loved the osmanthus-apricoty facet of Rahele and I could easily add this perfume to my collection 🙂
On me, the leathery part of the osmanthus stepped forward and not so much the apricot. It’s tempting, isn’t it?
Hmmmm maybe the reason I found Rahele a bit meh is because I dabbed it rather than spraying it. It also disappeared from my skin in about an hour, and was much more floral on me than it seems to have been on you. Oh well. Money saved!
Try spraying it! I think it makes a difference.
I agree with so much of what gunmetal24 said about Rahele. It’s mostly osmanthus leather tea on me too. I absolutely love it during spring and summer. If money were no object I’d opt for Mohur extrait. As it is, I don’t feel deprived as Rahele suits me quite well. I work in an office with people who have issues with strong perfume. This one smells wonderful and slips under the radar. I’d rather have scents that I can actually wear to work that I enjoy.
Great review Angela!
Thank you!
Mohur extrait is marvelous (I’m wearing it right now, in fact!). I think Rahele would be great in an office setting, not so much that it smells “office-y,” because it doesn’t, but because it’s more of an aura than a loud fragrance.
You smell wonderful today. I do have a decant of Mohur extrait. I usually hoard it but you’ve inspired me to wear it tomorrow!
I have only 5 mls, too, but it’s too good not to wear!
Rahele si a real shape-shifter on me. I’ve tried it on few occasions and each time got very different results: from full bottle cravings to… scrubbing.
I think the weather played an important role… mid-season testing sessions were the best. I didn’t find the perfume particularly light, I got lots of dry leather…which I like, in principle, if/when it is softened by floral and fruity notes. Sometime the osmanthus in Rahele just does not come through as much (and for as long) as I like.
Probably if I had a sample I would end up buying a full bottle.
But NV does not in general pay much attention to her paying customers, there are never NV samples available for in-shop purchases, or during Exsence…
She got me anyway, with Mohur first, and now with Niral, they really resonated immediately despite they both feature notes I don’t much care for (Rose and Iris)… Niral is so, so wonderful, I cannot even begin to describe how much it moves me, how beautiful it is and just how right it feels every time I wear it… <3
Samples can be tricky, depending on where you live. I’m lucky to live near a perfume boutique that can make samples and has a wonderful stock.
I wore a few drops of Niral once–but now you’ve inspired me to sample it again today!