Vaara by Bertrand Duchaufour for Penhaligon’s 2013

/ australianperfumejunkiescom

Hello my Lovelies,

STILL looking for the perfect Christmas Presents? Frantically trying to find something special and unusual for your loved ones? I speak often of my mate Nick from Libertine Parfumerie, he is regularly in touch with new stuff and always sends me product for giveaways. He doesn’t have to do it and it always brightens my day to get a package from him. Please, even if you don’t enter today’s competition, go and have a look at the amazing fragrant beauties that Libertine Parfumerie has for sale, you will be astounded. Lately Nick’s buying power has become so good that some of his products are the same numerical value as you would buy them fore in the USA, that means with the current Aussie dollar that they are in fact 10% cheaper!!! AMAZING! Vaara is a bit more expensive than some of the OS sites though but Nick will be sending out deliveries in Australia till the 24th December!!! How good is that? Using couriers in the last few days.

Vaara by Bertrand Duchaufour for Penhaligon’s Giveaway 2013

Vaara Penhaligon`s FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Quince, rose water, carrot seeds, coriander, saffron
Heart: Rose, freesia, magnolia, peony
Base: Honey, white musk, cedar, sandalwood, benzoin, tonka bean

OK so if you have been reading the scentbloggosphere lately then you may think that Bertrand Duchaufour and Penhaligon’s have done something outrageously darstardly and are planning on taking over the world with inferior product (Mwa Ha ha ha haaaaaa with hand wringing and whites of eyes showing). The news is not all grim, gloom and doom but it’s not all super happy sunshine surprise either.

Vaara, the story of a fragrance created for the Royal House of Marwar-Jodphur in Rajasthan. In fact created for the newest member of the Royal House, a girl child. Created under the understanding that it would become a worldwide release. I do understand your sense of being let down. You are right, the hype set us up for failure in this case. A romantic story of far off India, Rajasthan no less, one of the world’s best and most prolific perfumers and the venerable house of Penhaligon’s. If the Maharajah had wanted something Indian he would have gone to the perfume wallahs in Old Delhi and had a special oil blend created for his beautiful girl but no, he did not do that he went to Penhaligon’s one of the most English titles of fragrance and asked them to create something inspired by his fabulous home in Rajasthan (one of my favourite parts of the world).

Vaara Penhaligon`s Pushkar Fair WikipediaPushkar Fair Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Why is everyone so surprised that this does not smell like India? The Maharaja wanted a pretty, soft, elegant fragrance that hinted at his homeland but screamed British Upper Crust. We act as if Bertrand Duchaufour can override his employers parameters anytime he wants and we also shout at him for cheapening the references to existing fragrances. We all wanted a budget version of Neela Vermeire’s work and it had to smell as good. Neela Vermeire is famous for using the most expensive concrete in her fragrance to sale value ratio, of course it only hints at her work with Duchaufour, this is a mass market fragrance by comparison though the price points are not that far apart. End rant.

Vaara Penhaligon`s Amber Fort Jaipur WikiMediaAmber Fort. Jaipur Photo Stolen WikiMedia

What do we get with Vaara? An excellent modern fragrance for the person who wants to take a step from department store to niche or a very pretty go to daily wear fragrance for the perfumista who works and needs to smell good all day but not weird or outrageous. I won’t go deeply into the notes list because many others have before me but this is a clean, fresh, fruity, floral with a sheerness and light through it but still excellent sillage and projection. Vaara lasts for ages on me and my scent eating skin, I can still smell the clean musks and an amorphous wash of other stuff hinting at woods and resins at the 8 hour point and that is impressive. Yes, the dry down is more BBW that NVC but it doesn’t smell bad, just a bit generic. I do like the rose water and think it maintains its hydrosol like wetness well into the heart of Vaara and that the herbs and quince add nice light and shade, that very Duchaufour saffron isn’t as front and centre on me but I do catch it on and off.

Vaara Penhaligon`s John Haslam FlickrPhoto Stolen John Haslam  Flickr

Further reading: Kafkaesque and Perfume Shrine
Libertine Parfumerie has $245/100ml
Surrender To Chance starts at $5/ml

giveaway manoneileenPhoto Stolen ManonEileen

 

Vaara by Penhaligon`s GIVEAWAY

WHAT CAN YOU WIN?

This week we will have one winner who will receive:

1 x 100ml TESTER bottle with lid of Vaara by Penhaligons (with about 5ml missing)
P&H Anywhere in the world

HOW DO YOU WIN?

Open to everyone worldwide who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. I must be able to check that you follow so if you have an email address on your gravatar that’s different to your follow address then please email me so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.

You must tell me how you follow APJ and go to Libertine Perfumes<<<JUMP and find me a perfume and its manufacturer. NO DOUBLE UPS!!

Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie @PenhaligonsLtd Vaara GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-2jm #Perfume #Giveaway @LibertineParfum

HOUSEKEEPING

Entries Close Sunday 22nd December 2013 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by putting names on same sized papers, folded similarly, put on a tray and Jin will pick a winner.
The winners will have till Thursday 26th December 2013 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit.

Special THANKS to LibertinePerfumerie for these amazing giveaways. Please visit their site because they are so generous and helpful. If you wonder why they are sometimes more expensive than the discounters or OS retailers it’s because they are the only licensed company selling their fragrances in Australia; where you know you are buying new, fresh and genuine product. The cost of importing, and buying the right to import, alcohol based fragrances (and having the right to send alcohol based fragrances throughout Australia, which are illegal to send in the Australia Post air system) is expensive and they must cover their costs to bring you these luxury goods.

52 thoughts on “Vaara by Bertrand Duchaufour for Penhaligon’s 2013”

  1. Weeeeellll, I don’t mind that it doesn’t smell like India! It can smell how it wants to! 😀
    Giveaway: Creed’s Love in White, and I follow by email.

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  4. Portia, your take on Vaara is so similar to mine on Olfactoria’s Travels!

    I would love to win a bottle, thanks so much for the giveaway. I follow via Twitter and email and I’m off to tweet too. I found Fate Woman by Amouage at Libertine Perfumerie.

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    • We seem to have snapped on this one Tara. I am pleased. Vaara has a surprisingly good lasting ability, I am astounded also by its sheer sillage.
      As someone else noted, Niche Lite. Perfect summation. I am stealing the 5ml missing for myself, I like it a lot.
      Portia xx

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  5. I’d say it looks like it smells good – but I’m still at the point where EVERYTHING smells good so that’d be cheating.

    I’m currently looking for a perfume to memory link with China on my next holiday so I’m a bit oriental obsessed. My perfume choice for the giveaway is Josephine by Rance.

    I follow by email.

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  6. There’s definitely a place for “niche lite” fragrances, whether for perfumistas constrained by the environment, or for luring casual scent appreciators into trying niche!

    I follow by bloglovin: Sleeping With Ghosts by Mark Buxton Perfumes!

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    • Niche Lite is my new favourite phrase. You will be seeing it a LOT around here. So many crews are going mainstream
      Portia xx

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  8. Such a great, great giveaway. Thank you, Libertine Perfumerie!
    Duchaufour is one of my favorite noses and all I have read about Vaara sounds great.
    Pefume in Libertine:

    Costume National-so NUDE

    RSS, WordPress, mail,twitter,FB.

    Like

  12. Hi! I really liked Vaara. It became one of my Penhaligon’s favorites.
    My pick is JUBILATION 25 by AMOUAGE . I follow by email.
    Thanks!

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  14. Great write up, Portia.
    The creation of this perfume provides an interesting comment on the history of India. Perhaps things really haven’t changed so much after all. I went to Libertine and found Mark Buxton “Emotional Rescue” . I follow by e-mail.
    Azar xx

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  17. I miss original Victorian Posey; I live w/ 2, 4-bottle sets of Penhaligon`s minis from 30 years ago!!**??!!, plus 5 single minis from that same time…I just hold the bottle to my nose and whiff the neck! 🙂 I follow a la blog, e-mail, and FB Time for a FB Of Amaranthine before it`s gone!!

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  19. I think Vaara sounds really nice, regardless of what others may have written about it. It doesn’t have to smell exactly like what one might expect in order to be a lovely fragrance. My choice from Libertine is Miller & Bertaux A Quiet Morning. I follow via RSS (Feedly).

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  21. Thanks APJ and Libertine…I’ too am loving the niche light classification.
    I follow by email
    Keiko Mecheri Loukhoum

    possibly: instinctnaturel at hotmail dot com

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  22. I quite like Penhaligons, although I’m not sure which I’d pick if I ended up with one. Vaara sounds interesting with the quince note.

    Cuir Fauve by Keiko Mecheri Bespoke (cause I like it)
    I follow by email

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  23. Such fun! Keillor Mecheri Bespoke, Bal de Roses. I follow by email from across the ditch Merry Xmas everyone. May your God go with you, as the late Dave Allan used to say

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  24. Not a double post. Just a correction of a typo because it will drive me insane.
    Keiko Mecheri Bespoke should appear correctly. It is very early in the morning.

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  26. En pointe Portia. Best write-up and analysis of Vaara yet. It all hinges on the granddaughter who seems to be forgotten in some but not all of the other reviews. The scent was made for her and publically released. Thank for putting all this in context.

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  27. I follow by email, and uusually read with coffee after breakfast. Today I’m reading this while snow is falling here in Vancouver! My selection from Libertine’s wares is Nasomatto Nuda.
    Thanks for the generous draw opportunity.

    Like

  29. Great giveaway, thank you! I found Chaman’s Party by Honore des Pres at Liberty Perfumes. I follow via bloglovin. By the way, Portia, I tried following by email many times but didn’t get any confirmation emails..

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  34. Totally agree with your assessment of Vaara. Pleasant but not earth-shattering. That said, I would enjoy wearing it if I won. 🙂 I follow you by email and my Libertine perfume choice would be Aleksandr by Arquiste.

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  35. Hi Portia, how wonderful of Nick to donate this for a giveaway 🙂 I have a friend who’d love this for Xmas & I’m hankering for some Arquiste Anima Dulcis x

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  36. How can anyone resist a giveaway? I follow by email and I choose ‘After My Own Heart’ by Ineke, a brand which I didn’t realise was stocked by Libertine until now 🙂

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  37. Hey Portia 🙂

    What an awesome giveaway! I follow by email and Facebook, I choose a perfume by my favourite Niche house, Amouage Memoir 🙂

    Like

  39. I follow via newsletter and Facebook : what a great website , i chose FLORIS SANTAL, as am going through sandalwood phase . Thanks again for the chance to enter . Katherine

    Like

  41. I follow you via Email, ofcourse! it’s a lovely mix of perfume writings and emails from teachers, haha…
    I choose Iris Prima, it sounds interesting.
    Hoping you have a great christmas
    Edward

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  43. A profound analysis of Vaara – haven’t tried it yet and I really wish to!
    Found Costume National 21 and I love it!
    I follow on FB and by email!
    Thanks for the draw!

    Like

  44. I’ve been so curious about Vaara – it sounds as if it might be right up my alley. Libertine is a wonderful site (and potentially hazardous to my budget!) I found Floris Night-Scented Jasmine, which sounds divine… I follow APJ via e-mail (and on Facebook).

    Like

  45. Pingback: The Scent Of Music: Jingle Bells « AustralianPerfumeJunkies

  46. No this doesn’t shout “must buy!” But I’d definitely still love to try this. I’m currently having a love affair with quince having just made jelly and a Christmas fruit butter with the quince pulp in it, so I’m curious to find and try perfumes with quince notes. Quince is foul smelling at first when it’s cooking (think dirty gym socks) and then becomes beautiful with a tropical sort of perfume to it. I’m fascinated by it!

    I live in the US and follow APJ by email. Perfume: what I asked for for Christmas, Idole de Lubin edp, by Lubin. Intoxicating!

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