Vaniglia Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella for women and men

I'm still in a slight state of shock. I never expected to smell such a sweet vanilla scent. Actually it's sweeter than sweet, it smells almost like a bag of icing sugar.

It's hard to detect the vanilla in Santa Maria Novella's Vaniglia. It seems to be smothered by a variety of sweet accords; soft incense, sugary powder and banana lollies. If you're not looking for the perfect vanilla, then this fragrance is enjoyably different, but for vanilla lovers seeking vanilla in all its glory, this fragrance could be a disappointment.

In all honesty, I'm not a huge fan of the sugary and powdery opening, but I do like it once it reaches the heart. Vaniglia becomes increasingly spicy and smokey as it settles on the skin. Very unique in its approach and strangely sensual.

It's somewhat of an acquired taste in some ways. It's not something that I initially liked, yet the more I subject myself to smelling it, the more it grows on me. The spicy and musky accords really make Vaniglia an interesting experience on the skin. After five hours of wear, the scent is still there but very subtle, as you would expect from a cologne.

Throughout Vaniglia's development, I really didn't sense any strong vanilla accords, however I did smell it every now and then, lingering in the background, not necessarily wanting to be found. Sugar, spices, powder and smokey incense is a more realistic scent description.

The vanilla is not too sweet and I smelled something like incense in the fragrance. For a minute, it reminded me of Ambre Sultan by Serge Lutens, but without the heavy smoky notes. The lasting power in this was excellent and I am very surprised because it's a cologne.