Parfums De Nicolai • Vie de Chateau • Fragrances

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*TOP REVIEWER* Wyrmiax on 3/11/2010 5:22:00 PM more reviews by Wyrmiax

Age: 44-55   Skin: Very Oily, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brown, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Hazel    

My husband's appraisal of this captured my opinion perfectly: "Smells like I have a cigar smoker's spit on me...but not in a bad way."

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*TOP REVIEWER* condesadepitimini on 10/9/2008 5:40:00 AM more reviews by condesadepitimini

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Fair, Warm   Hair: Blond, Fine   Eyes: Green    

Very well built fragrance....
Despite the very green notes advertised, it starts off quite fruity/aquatic (a light watermelon note, some ozonic/water like notes) but then this sweet start turn into a more "countryside" like fragrance... fresh, grassy, with some understated citrus notes. Easy to wear, uplifting, refreshing.
The rest is woods and some resins, to give some depth, some "masculinity".
I find that all the PdN I have tried so far have a common group of notes at the beginning, like a signature (in the same way you recognize a Chopin or a Mozart pièce from anything else) ... and I am loving that!
Vie de Chateau is probably more suitable for summer... But in any case it is a very enjoyable fragrance.
Give it a try!

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*TOP REVIEWER* 52pigtails on 8/2/2008 2:54:00 AM more reviews by 52pigtails

Age: 36-43   Skin: Normal   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

I was drawn to try this fragrance by the name alone, it's really, really beautiful. The notes list was highly intriguing to me too, promising the smell of fresh cut herbs, yet the components are more and not only herbs: grapefruit, hay, tobacco, patchouli, musk, fern, cut grass, oak moss, vetiver, and leather.
What I get from this fragrance, at least at the opening, is the smell of an undefined fruit (maybe watermelon, maybe banana) infused in a wonderful tobacco base. Just wait for ten minutes and the fruity notes fade away, and I sense all those tobacco leaves while the notes of leather, fern and woods slowly emerge. This is the moment when the smell gets truly divine, almost fresh, and I just can't stop smelling my wrist.
Anyway, I don't sense any sillage from this fragrance (I think I'm unable to understand or sense if there's any sillage when I wear a fragrance) and I think that putting on a bit more just to make sure others smell it would be dangerous. Plus, I'm more of a floral type, so I don't thicnk it's FBW, but good, yes, it is.

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*TOP REVIEWER* harperhilton on 7/6/2008 2:34:00 PM more reviews by harperhilton

Age: Unknown   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

classic aramis for men done softer: a lovely, leathery chypre in the drydown (this is where it is like aramis). the top and middle are a bit fruity, a tad sweet, rather green and herbal, and very nice also. but it is the base that shines in this one.

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jemimagold on 6/29/2008 7:53:00 PM more reviews by jemimagold

Age: 36-43   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

My first whiff of Vie de Chateau immediately conjured up associations of Edmond Roudnitska's masterpieces "Parfume de Therese" and "Diorama". It has the same classic perfume style as these fellow fruity chypres and uses a base which is astonishingly similar to Roudnitska's. Smell-wise, if you combined 3/4 of Parfum de Therese and 1/4 of Jolie Madame you would have Vie de Chateau. I Iiked this well enough but could imagine it being more "me" when I am in my 50's or so.

Per The Perfumed Court, here are the notes:grapefruit, hay, tobacco, patchouli, musk, fern, cut grass, oak moss, vetiver, and leather.

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filippa89 on 5/23/2008 12:02:00 PM more reviews by filippa89

Age: 19-24   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

I am one of the people on whom this perfume doesn't display any of the notes it promised - hay, leather, tobacco. There's a very strong sweet coconuty top note that lingers to the very end. And it's the type of thick sweetness that makes me feel dizzy and dislike. I rather like the wood notes but unfortunately they're overpowered by the sweetness. On the plus side, both the sillage and the lasting power are quite good, considering it's an eau fraiche.

On the official website it's categorised as 'fruity chypre'. They should've said what fruit it is...

EDIT: tried it again. This time the sweetness isn't so noticeabe, I still don't get any of the tobacco or leather, but it's more grassy and I can live with that now. Hence the increase on the rating.

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*TOP REVIEWER* sucrose77 on 5/18/2008 8:50:00 PM more reviews by sucrose77

Age: 30-35   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

This fragrance sounded like my dream perfume--tobacco, leather, and hay are favorite notes--so I expected to love it. But it just doesn't quite work. I get a note that smells like watermelon candy, and then heavy tobacco. L'Ete en Douce by L'Artisan is another hay scent that sometimes smells like watermelon, but in that one it seems to work because the fragrance is so sheer and summery. This one, despite being called "eau fraiche," is quite dense to my nose, and kind of oppressive.

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*TOP REVIEWER* tessture on 12/26/2007 12:25:00 PM more reviews by tessture

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

I"m not sure I'm getting any tobacco here, but I do get a foody, coconut edge with vanilla and a hint of wood that's lovely. I will definitely be looking for this on sale. It's extremely wearable (especially in winter) . Not really gourmand, but comfortable in the same sort of way. It's not five lippies because of the coconut edge, which always makes me think of cheap cologne for some reason. Possibly it's the sunscreen connection. Still, a winner at the right price.

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*TOP REVIEWER* rnornan on 11/24/2007 6:01:00 PM more reviews by rnornan

Age: 30-35   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair-Medium, Cool   Hair: Red, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Green    

Lovely in the vial, immediately sour tobacco on the skin. IMMEDIATEly turns foul. Incredible. I love PdN in general but this is perhaps my least favorite. True to form, I disagree with just about every scent that is highly rated by MUAers. I can nearly guarantee I won't like it if the ratings are 75% and abovce. Not fraiche as it claims to be. There is an immediate leathery and lemon pledge smell immediately upon drydown. and it would smell so much better on a man than on me. A little bit of a day-old cigarette smoke smell in there too. No thanks.

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*TOP REVIEWER* veruska on 8/5/2007 3:14:00 AM more reviews by veruska

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Green    

I absolutely agree with Carlybabes.I also happen to have the hateful tobbaco scents and the absolutely wonderful ones.This is it!The most elegant sexy tobbaco skin scent in the drydown.Great on a man's skin but heavenly on a woman's.Still i can't get pass by how elegant this one is.I can only imagine it in the most suave and polished,expensive dressed man and the most refined lady.It's tough to nail it but the title and the juice makes a hard to break bond with everything aristocratic for me.Anyway is really a bold tarragon note in the opening?It does have this vinegary scent before it goes on the deep grassy heart.But w2hat i really love in Vie de Chateau is the drydown.unfortunately at this point of my life i don't have the poise it needs.

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*TOP REVIEWER* rosarita on 8/4/2007 10:14:00 AM more reviews by rosarita

Age: 44-55   Skin: Dry, Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

If a perfumer set out to capture late summer/early fall in a fragrance, it would be very difficult to top Vie de Chateau. It is perfect herby grassy late afternoon sunshine over trees just starting to turn colors, with the faintest whiff of bonfire smoke floating throughout. The smoky leather note is very light, so don't be deterred if you're not a leather fan. This scent is a steal at beautyhabit, just $25 US for a 30ml bottle. It is definitely unisex. The scent lasts but is never overpowering, as has been my experience with most PdN fragrances. This a perfect day scent and would be fine worn in an office, imo.
Edit: While I still love this scent, is has a grapefruit note that at times comes off more sour than I would like. This doesn't always happen; my experience w/PdN frags is that they are often changeable on my skin. Anyway, while I will use my bottle, I probably wouldn't repurchase, there are just too many 'fumes out there for too much loyalty!

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*TOP REVIEWER* themeglet on 4/5/2007 6:22:00 PM more reviews by themeglet

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination   Hair: Other   Eyes: Blue    

This is quite nice-- hay, a hint of leather, and grass. For the first 10 minutes, it smells quite a bit like CdG #2-- crisp, tangy, almost citrusy, but with a more earthy base. On the drydown, the difference becomes much clearer. This would make a nice summer scent, especially if (like myself) you spend the summer months wishing it were winter so you could pull out your leather scents.

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*TOP REVIEWER* carlybabes on 3/7/2007 10:24:00 PM more reviews by carlybabes

Age: 25-29   Skin: Dry, Fair-Medium, Cool   Hair: Brunette, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Hazel    

I don't even know where to begin. This is positively one of the most amazing fragrances I have ever had the opportunity to behold. Like previous reviewers, I am massively enamored with tobacco fragrances. For me, though, there are two types of tobaccos. Those I love, and those I *hate, hate, hate* with a white-hot passion. This is one of the former, thankfully. The ones I love are smooth and full bodied, but not sweet or foody or god forbid- cherried. The grass and hay amp up the dryness of this fragrance, which does keep it from crossing over into girly territory, ala Fifi Chachnil. I find it very suitable for myself, though, and would find it suitable, if not gorgeous, on most women. However, on a man, I'm thinking this would be dead sexy. As in, 'all impulse control might just fly through the window when I pass the man who wears this' sexy. Yeah.

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*TOP REVIEWER* Maller on 8/25/2005 9:42:00 PM more reviews by Maller

Age: Unknown   Skin: Other   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

I put on Vie de Chateau somewhat lackadaisically with no major expectations as the site simply had mentioned freshly cut grass, oakmoss, leather and hay. I was looking for the leather and hay, but suddenly tobacco alarms began sounding wildly and joyfully in my brain. This was gloriously delicious soft leather, sweet tobacco and hay. Fresh cut grass? What odd type of tobacco/leather grass would that be? I'll happily rip up my lawn instantly to grow some. Dunanda Falls, as he's done before, rescues the day with his insider knowledge of detailed notes which do indeed include tobacco. Thank you, Dunanda Falls! I knew my tobacco censors weren't off. I also get the patchouli and vetiver notes in this, but it's not an overpowering or harsh patchouli at all - it simply is adding richness and depth to this warm, quite delicious scent. I am afraid I disagree w/ Dunanda Falls as I don't think it's overly masculine. I think it's sweet enough to definitely be a sophisticated, subtle unisex scent. However, I admit that due to my great love of them, I find it hard to think of most tobacco/leather scents as anything but unisex. I'll concede that this is certainly not overtly feminine.

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*TOP REVIEWER* DunandaFalls on 12/3/2004 10:42:00 PM more reviews by DunandaFalls

Age: 25-29   Skin: Other   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Green    

Parfums de Nicolai
Vie de Chateau is described as “an impression of freshly cut
herbs”. It contains notes of fern, oak moss, vetiver, tobacco,
patchouli, grapefruit, leather and musk. Wow! This one is warm and
intoxicating with familiar notes of patchouli and vetiver, fresh
notes of leafy fern and grapefruit with a mild moss and warm musk dry
down. The dry down also includes a very nice, light and unobtrusive
leather note. The patchouli becomes stronger as it dries down and
becomes one of the most pleasant patchouli notes I've found. The
fern and vetiver are also very well blended and don't overpower the
fragrance like both of these notes are capable of doing. If you find
Trumper's Eucris to be too sharp and heady and want something similar
but lighter, try Vie de Chateau. I find Eucris and Vie de Chateau
have very similar middle notes, though Vie de Chateau is much more
pleasant overall and has a much warmer dry down. Very manly and
unique with good lasting power, VdC gives a modern twist to a
marvelous collection of classic notes. I really enjoy it.

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authordonnah on 5/22/2004 12:32:00 PM more reviews by authordonnah

Age: Unknown   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

Very nice mellow leather note I haven't found before. A decidedly non-sweet mellow fragrance. This would go well for fall, and for days when your style is kind of (like the clothing of) Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren or Calvin Klein. The first notes are alcohol-y but the drydown's very beautiful.

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joyloot on 1/4/2004 3:00:00 PM more reviews by joyloot

Age: 30-35   Skin: Dry   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Blue    

This is the new hg for my dh. I got a sample for me and promptly decided it's just too manly. So, of course, I passed it right along to my dh. Not only do he and I both love it on him, he is getting compliments. It is a wonderful, rich leather and tobacco smell on him. Yum!

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CharlotteStant on 5/28/2003 5:14:00 PM more reviews by CharlotteStant

Age: 30-35   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

I didn't need to grieve when I found myself unable to wear the beautiful Eau d'Ete because Parfums di Nicolai offers so many other lovely summer fragrances. I expected this one to be dry, green, and smoky; but, I've had an unusual experience with it. I don't smell any hay, grass, or anything burning. It actually smells fruity-vanilla to me, reminiscent of L'Artisan's Les Merveilleuses (which I assume has been discontinued?), which featured mango and vanilla! In fact, it reminds me of a soft, lovely floral fruity fragrance with a vanilla base like a better Burberry for Women or like Eau d'Ete layered over Les Merveilleuses.

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auntgooey on 8/1/2002 5:59:00 PM more reviews by auntgooey

Age: Unknown   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

Classy, clean and smooooth! Here's the description : Freshly cut grass and oakmoss from the forest is reinforced by a rare leather-hay accord." It's mellow and fresh. Great office or casual fragrance.

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