Perfume Review: Libre Vanille Couture Eau De Parfum (YSL)

Notes: Vanilla Bourbon, Orange Blossom, Vanilla Caviar, Lavender, Rum

I have been dying to get my nose on this scent seeing as I am a self-proclaimed Libre girl. It is no secret that Libre Intense is my favorite flanker, as well as one of my favorite perfumes of all time, but I have respect for each flanker for their own reasons. The original Libre dna took so many notes from Its predecessors of the “sweet white floral” genre and then paved the way for many other well known scents today. Something I have always appreciated about this brand in particular is that whichever line they come out with, the flankers truly do have a different flair to them. All Libre come at us with an Orange Blossom and Lavender bomb but in very different ways. The OG keeps it on the grounded and airy side with some Petigrain and musk notes, Intense added a rich and woody depth with the addition of Tonka Bean and Vetiver and Parfum spiced and lathered up the DNA with Saffron and Honey. Flowers & Flames goes floral, Platine takes the Aldehyde route and Nue went all out on citrus. And now we have Vanilla Couture which by the notes would indicate this was the lines version of a Libre gourmand. So let’s talk about it.

I’ll start with this: this is no gourmand. However, it is heavy vanilla in the untraditional sense. When I first sprayed this, it was in my car which I really try NOT to do, but I couldn’t help myself. When I FINALLY had this in my hands I was like a kid on Christmas morning. Upon first spray, I immediately smelled that original but much like a 1-2 punch, was quickly overtaken by a very thick and enveloping orange note. It was thick and syrupy in an alcoholic way, like the orange flare in an old fashioned. This slap of orange reminded me of the same opening orange in Angel’s Share On the Rocks. Although the orange created a thickness to the overall fragrance opening, the orange itself actually had an airy quality to it - almost teetering between boozy and fresh depending on when you smelled it. As it started to dry down, it was giving a very upscale vanilla essence and smelled extremely expensive. The orange was still very much present, but was now being spooned by a classy vanilla giving it a complexity that still didn’t feel too thick. It embodied the boldness of Intense but with a silkiness they have only ever incorporated into Parfum in the past. I noticed that this was laying on my skin differently as well. This was laying on my skin very delicately like the original, but projecting more like Parfum. It had a very similar wear to Goddess but without the kick to the throat by lavender. The remainder of the wear didn’t change much more after that, only becoming a bit richer and more embedded as time went on.

Now I will say, Intense is still my baby. And as far as flankers go, this wasn’t bad by any means. However, I was slightly let down by the lack of uniqueness on this one. It felt like they mixed the original, intense and parfum all together to come up with this. Which I am fine with and it smells amazing but for myself, I don’t need this in my collection when I already have the others. The other flankers before it really went down their own path but this one felt a little less trailblazey. I really liked the used of rum to give it a thickness that doesn’t feel too sticky and I really like how that mixed with the orange because I really loved that about AS On the Rocks. That was only elevated and classed up by the Bourbon Vanilla. The lavender was present here for sure but its only purpose was to keep it a little original and light which I am very happy about. In my opinion, that is how any purple floral should be used. I would like to say that the Vanilla Caviar changed the game here but I don’t even know what the hell that is so I’m not touching that one. I maybe would’ve liked a brown sugar note added in here as I think it could’ve blended the other notes while added just a little more sweetness to this. All in all, if you have ever wished that Libre Parfum and Burb Goddess had a love child - this may be the flanker for you. If you are already Team Intense or Team Parfum though, I don’t see this as a necessary addition to your collection. That bottle though? Absolute fire.

With Love as Always,

The Front-Range Fraghead