You might have noticed the annual onslaught of rose-themed articles and posts in your social media feeds in the lead-up to Valentine's Day. Well, I wear rose perfumes all year 'round, and I'm a bit of a cynic where Valentine's Day is concerned, so this post is really business-as-usual for me! Les Parfums de Rosine was one of the first niche fragrance lines that I "studied" in the early 2000s and I still enjoy wearing my longtime Rosine favorites and exploring the house's recent releases.
Rosine's latest launch is a quartet called Les Extravagants that's billed as a more "extreme" interpretation of rose's many nuances. Vanille Paradoxe is the first "Extravagant" that I've tried. It was reportedly inspired by the Bourbon roses and vanilla plantations of Réunion and was developed for Les Parfums de Rosine by Delphine Lebeau. Its composition includes notes of juniper, rosemary, grapefruit, rose, angelica, cardamom, cedar, vanilla, musk and ambroxan.
The "paradox" of this fragrance seems to be its pairing of warm and cool facets — we often think of vanilla as a warmer note, but as I recently discussed with a frag-acquaintance in person, cool vanilla perfumes are really intriguing and fit more easily into our own everyday lives than cuddly, gourmand vanilla scents. What do I mean by "cool"? In this case, Vanille Paradoxe starts off as an herbal vanilla, as odd as that may sound, with its juniper and rosemary sounding out as aromatic green top notes.
As Vanille Paradoxe evolves and melds with my skin, it becomes more of a citrus-and-spice vanilla. I particularly love its cardamom note. (Tangent: why doesn't cardamom show up in more perfumes? I like House of Cherry Bomb Rose Cardamom and was disappointed in Jo Malone Mimosa & Cardamom...otherwise, I can't think of many other examples.) Vanille Paradoxe gradually turns warmer, once its herbal introduction and citrus highlights have burned off. The rose note is very subtle: vanilla definitely plays a larger role, especially in the musky and sweet (but not too sugary) dry down.
Vanille Paradoxe has above-average staying power on my skin and left some delectable traces of scent on my coat cuffs. After its initial application, it had moderate sillage and fit smoothly into my day. If you like other spicy-sweet contemporary vanilla scents like Atelier Cologne Vanille Incensée or Diptyque Eau Duelle, then you should give Vanille Paradoxe a try; it may be your way into the Rosine garden.
Les Parfums de Rosine Vanille Paradoxe is available as 100 ml ($170) Eau de Parfum. For buying information, see the listing for Les Parfums de Rosine under Perfume Houses.
Extra: I have a bottle of Vanille Paradoxe to give away, look for that post next week!
Great review! Your definition of “cool” vanilla is very useful. I have been wearing Sylvaine Delacourte’s Virgile alot lately and she describes it as an aromatic – hence “cool” – vanilla. I have been layering it with the somewhat dry rose of Mohur – it sounds like this perfume somewhat approximates that DYI pairing! So cool (in all the senses of the word…)
Ah, I love Mohur.
I’ve been thinking about layering a rose soliflore with Vanille Paradoxe to amp up the rose a bit…
What a smart way of thinking about vanilla. Love this review!
Thank you, Regina! Happy Valentine’s Day.
The brand recently shared with me 4 samples of all Les Extravagants. I also liked the combination of ‘hot and cold’ in Vanille Paradox. My favorite was Bleu Abysse though.
Yes, I’m looking forward to reviewing the other 3 next time!
I’ve never tried anything from this line, though I’ve been meaning to. I do love Vanille Incensee, if this is similar maybe I should let this be my induction.
Thanks for the review!
Even if you’re not a big rose-lover, there are still some good ones to try…Rose Praliné is very interesting (with tea and chocolate) too!
I AM a rose lover, making it all the more tragic that I haven’t touched them. I’ll add Rose Praline to the to-try list, sounds yummy.
Ah! Then you must try La Rose de Rosine (rose-violet chypre) and Secrets de Rose (saffron jammy-rose).
🌹❤
Wow, that sounds like a must-try!
Lovely intriguing review, many thanks. Other suggestions for cool vanillas? Jicky? I’m wearing Jicky EDP today.
I agree Vanille Incensee is a great one though not a favourite of mine because I find it rather linear once the opening aromatics have burned off.
Jicky would fit the bill!
For a sugared-vanilla that still feels “cool,” I like Les Nereides Douceur de Vanille. It’s a good hot-weather vanilla!
This sounds wonderful. I have a few Rosines in my collection, and in general I love the line. Thanks for this review!
I love the line, too, even if I don’t love every single fragrance in it. This new collection is an interesting new direction…
Roses are wonderful and I definitely associate them with you Jessica and your lovely art deco icon.
As to cardamon, my mind goes to the perfume that for me into big, loud perfumes- Madame rochas.
My theory is its not that common because people are thought to be wary of savoury food related notes.
I love this house, and its history. This particular offering doesn’t sound like my cuppa, but I love the foray into a slightly different direction and the bottles are lovely.
Chinatown is a big ol’ cardamon bomb on me, and just about the only fragrance I can tolerate with even a smidge of the note in it. Not a fan of it, as a rule, so I’m not sure why I like Chinatown so much.
I LOVE cardamom in perfumes. It’s my absolute favorite. Check out Hermès Epice Marine or LUSH Cardamom Coffee for some lovely cardamom notes. Fragonard also has a lovely Santal Cardamome that I enjoyed when I tried it at the Fragonard shop in Paris, and I often kick myself for not picking up a bottle when I went there.
Anyway, you make this sound lovely. I tried several Parfums de Rosine a few years ago, and they were all kind of powdery and white-haired-woman-y on me, but this one sounds better than those were