Frederic Malle • Vetiver Extraordinaire • Fragrances

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*TOP REVIEWER* SensualSusanna on 1/21/2011 6:25:00 PM more reviews by SensualSusanna

Age: 44-55   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Brunette, Medium   Eyes: Brown    

I have to confess that Iwas orginally wrong when I wrote the review for review for Vetiver Extraordinaire a few years ago when I said:

"Not my cup of tea. I was expecting sweet freshly mowed hay -- I got dirty barn. No thanks."

Since a FM sample came into my life and I re-sampled VE and I'm so glad I did. I have to admit that I sampled (not all in one day mind you) four other FMs -- maculines, including Bois d'Orage, Geranium Pour Monsoir and Dans trae Bras .. and I honestly thought the front runner would be Dans trae Bras.. well I found DtB not so good... too much smoke in the drydown for my liking... but upon sampling VE found it to be my choice of the FMs masculines. It's ~swoon-worthy~ good!! As another reviewer mentions it melts into your skin and creates this sexy, get close scent that just smells fresh and alluring. It's definitely a mesmerizingly ' your skin but better scent."

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elaborate on 4/4/2010 10:25:00 AM more reviews by elaborate

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

I have a sample of Vetiver Extraordinaire sent to me by Les Senteurs. Trying it for the first time today as some rubbed off into my hands as I tipped the sample vial's content into a sprayer... As I did that I thought - yes, I like this, but it is because this is very similar to something I love - this is like Cartier's Declaration!

Yes - this hard to get concoction currently selling for 105 € for 50ml and 155 € has topnotes that are very similar to Declaration and the drydown is just like Lalique's Encre Noire.

I am v disappointed as I was v intrigued by the reviews I read on the various blogs and I love that name! Almost all say good words about it. Not that they say "Run out and buy it all up!" but they do politely express how nice it is. I find it strange that F Malle is pushing it by saying how much vetiver there is in the perfume - 25% of the formula is vetiver - but I don't think it has any more vetiver than Encre Noire, Vetiver Tonka or Creed's Tabaróme. There may a lot of vetiver in the formula, but what is the proportion of formula to alcohol? I wonder.

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*TOP REVIEWER* suzi2qs on 2/21/2010 2:03:00 AM more reviews by suzi2qs

Age: 44-55   Skin: Combination, Medium, Warm   Hair: Blond, Coarse   Eyes: Green    

This opens with a green but dry woody blast. A very non-offensive, pure wood, maybe smouldering because it was not quite dry enough yet for the fireplace. The drydown is smoky, almost like embers from a dying campfire. No sweet notes, no cloying notes, just smoky wood with the slightest bit of skank, again, non-offensive. This is a great presentation of vetiver. Sadly, the staying power is minimal and the sillage non-existant. Enjoyed wearing my decant, but would not purchase a full bottle.

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*TOP REVIEWER* KelseyP on 8/15/2009 5:51:00 PM more reviews by KelseyP

Age: 30-35   Skin: Normal, Fair-Medium, Cool   Hair: Blond, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Blue    

I have only recently started a love affair with vetiver - I've had to work my way there over many years. And this scent is demanding in that it wasn't an easy love to acquire - up front the scent crackles with the sharpness of the vetiver, green and slick and the wood - so dry it seems ready to self ignite. But this scent begins a lovely evolution into an earthy warmth, a salty musk undertone blooms and carries the whole thing. I love that salty musk skin note, it always reminds me of laying on the beach after being in the ocean. Fantastic scent, but I wouldn't recommend it for those hoping for a softer scent with floral notes, or a fresh green scent, because this is not it :)

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*TOP REVIEWER* karelin7 on 5/13/2009 5:46:00 PM more reviews by karelin7

Age: 44-55   Skin: Oily, Medium   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

Austere, dry as the driest martini, with vetiver the dominant note by far, unlike some vetiver frags where it's plainly paired with citrus (Guerlain) or spices (Etro) or present only in name (Creed). There is something else that might be tobacco, and lemon, but they are in the background and not allowed their own identities. The effect is astringent, herbal, almost bitter, with no discernible florals. I really like it. It reminds me a bit of Dzongkha without the nagging sharp note that I dislike in that one, and it also reminds me of one of my favorites of all time, Yatagan, because of the dry, herbal, resinous accord. The reviewers who said you have to like vetiver are right. If you dislike vetiver, stay away (assuming you have a good sense of what vetiver smells like--it's often so adulterated it can be hard to tell). If you love vetiver, this could be your HG. I have doubts about sillage and longevity but those are issues for me with many frags, particularly frags that are as "transparent" as some of the Editions De Parfums.

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adeline_chan_sy on 6/4/2008 11:46:00 AM more reviews by adeline_chan_sy

Age: 30-35   Skin: Acne-prone, Olive   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

Beautiful and earthy vetiver with a quality I can best describe as wet roots steeped in monsoon mud. Defintely not one of those chilly bracing vetivers, in my opinion. Second only to The Diff Company's Sel de Vetiver that I kick for that saliva-inducing quality. Have just experimentally layered Vetiver Ex with Prescriptives' Calyx (wanted to tone the citrus down) and was stunned by the intimate skinscent and sensual quality I got. Looks like I'm on to something ...

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*TOP REVIEWER* tessture on 2/16/2008 11:21:00 AM more reviews by tessture

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

This is what I thought Tabarome would smell like. A scent that Humphrey Bogart and Winston Churchill wore. Bergamot and vetiver with woody herbs and a slight skin musk scent...It's leathery and spicy and slightly musty. It smells like the inside of a wooden chest in a library. A men's club. A smoking den with leather and antique wood furniture. An elegant, last era man with excellent taste in clothes, cars and music. Strangely, I think it would smell more sharply woody on a man and I'm not sure I'd like it. On me, I see Silver Screen men with felt hats and long coats and snappy repartee. It's a scent to dream with., but maybe not wear out.

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*TOP REVIEWER* darkharbour on 2/6/2008 10:22:00 AM more reviews by darkharbour

Age: 44-55   Skin: Dry, Fair-Medium, Neutral   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Hazel    

It was bound to happen. A Malle I can honestly say I detest. Vetiver is from the root of a rainforest grass, also know as khus-khus. It imparts a very pungent green, earthy, dry, and perhaps acrid note that grounds many a fine fragrance. For this one, you might imagine scrubbing your house top to bottom with Pine Sol, applying Ben Gay to your aching back, and then for some perverse reason, deciding to smell your dirty, sweaty feet. A scrubber. Fortunately, it did not last on me.

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*TOP REVIEWER* ellizam on 12/23/2007 9:07:00 PM more reviews by ellizam

Age: 44-55   Skin: Combination   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

Sigh. I wish I'd hated this. I got some in a split, and it is utterly gorgeous. It opens with what may, for many, be a mildly frightening cedar hinting at B.O. But ignore that. Almost instantly, a green, dry, slightly peppery vetiver kicks in. As it dries down, there's a combination of freshly cut wood, green, vetiver, and in the back of my throat, the lemony taste not just of the pulp, but of an entire lemon wedge squeezed into water. This is very subtle, very beautiful, a gorgeous intimate scent. No one would ever identify it with "perfume," but you would just plain "smell good" in the nicest, most mysterious way. A guy in this would drive me CRAZY with lust!

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*TOP REVIEWER* sucrose77 on 9/5/2007 5:13:00 PM more reviews by sucrose77

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

I got a sample of this from a lovely MUA-er, and at first test I thought: nice but I'll pass. I had just fallen for Vetiver Tonka and this one seemed a little too green. But when I really wore it, I realized it what a beauty it is. It begins with a bracing, almost minty greenness and becomes woody and earthy as it settles. Although the notes list some bergamot and spice and woods, they don't interfere with the earthy, grassy vetiver, and it doesn't turn into a men's cologne. It feels pure and refreshing, like a vacation spot I keep wanting to return to. Unfortunately it fades more quickly on me than the other Malles.

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*TOP REVIEWER* BasiaS on 12/14/2006 9:07:00 PM more reviews by BasiaS

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

The fragrance is a dry, dusty and uncompromising vetiver with a soft woody base. I would recommend this to anyone who likes vetiver, but I find the note itself too much too handle.

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*TOP REVIEWER* purplebird on 11/30/2006 11:48:00 AM more reviews by purplebird

Age: 44-55   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

Unusual, fresh, green, dry, unsweet. Smells like citrusy lemongrass from the Thai grocery, with a little salty celery, and a bit of smoky, dusty cedar. Very refreshing. A good palate-cleanser from all other scents. Airy, not particularly long-lasting on me, but avoids harshness well.

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*TOP REVIEWER* veruska on 11/1/2006 1:30:00 AM more reviews by veruska

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

First of all i deeply respect the work and philosophy of FM.Bigarade Concentree is in my opinion the big window that open in front of me and urge me to fly into real perfumes terittory(well a review for the perfume that changed my life will eventually come)but this vetiver didn't worked for me.As i own a full bottle i have the right to say that i was fighting over a long time to understand why it doesn't lure me.And i think that i have to blame all those other notes that cover my beloved precious root.Maybe it's a matter of skin chemistry or something else, i just don't get enough from it. the perfume starts with a refreshing blast of bergamot and in the process it becomes drier and spicier.Vetiver seems to be lurking deep down but it only becomes apparent in the drydown (the best part of the composition in my opinion)that's rich with a morrocan desert twist,deep resinous and woody teaming with oakmoss.Oh why all this couldn't happen earlier!

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luisafranca on 7/23/2006 5:20:00 AM more reviews by luisafranca

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

My first impression was: This is like radiant white light! VE opens so wonderful fresh and clean and, yes, shining. Some kind of cool, but it is not minty, a note I knew I was serching for a long time, but couldn´t describe. Then the Vetiver enters the stage, a dry, earthy and natural, like in pure oils. But it is so wonderful encircled by fresh notes as well by sandalwood and a bit of musk. No sweetness, no artificial lemonsquash here! From now it doesn´t much alter it´s state, what I appreciate. A perfume like big white fluttering sails in a summerbreeze.

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*TOP REVIEWER* rpolisk on 6/8/2006 12:20:00 PM more reviews by rpolisk

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

Was not at all interested in even trying this one, but allowed v. nice man at barneys counter in BH to spray my wrist. Not much initially, as I got stuck on the harsh gray-green notes up front. To boot, the salesperson told me "true blonds" go crazy for this scent, and I am anything but a blond, "true" or not. And here is the mark of a truly great salesperson, vs. a complete amateur. Even though I looked completely nonplussed and was clearly not going to buy anything at that point, he remained very gracious and gave me one of the wonderful FM sample bottles, so I could live with the scent for a few days, and I walked away, sniffing my arm. Well, I quickly discovered the warm, sexy, underlying musk of this and absolutely love the way it melds with my natural scent to create a deep complex fragrance that is absolutely appropriate for work/summer, yet has a "funkiness" to it that keeps it very much out of the league of everyday perfume counter citrus/light/innofensive scents multiplying like crazy this time of year. By funkiness, I mean whatever is in Fleur de Cassie to give it that oomph!, stopped by the lab when VE was made. When I was little, one of the kindest woman in my life wore an Italian man's scent called Pino Silvestre. You couldn't exactly tell she was wearing perfume, but somehow there was a surrounding warm, sexy scent to her that was very close to skin scent, and yet if you smelled the bottle of Pino Silvestre, you'd realize that's what she was wearing. VE reminds me very much of this fragrance in that, after the initial few minutes when you swear you put on too much, it melts into your skin and remains close to the body so that someone has to lean in near you to smell a clean yet undeniably sexy blend of oakmoss and, of course, vetyver, plus a blend of fresh greens that never leaves the musky base, so that you don't end up with yet another bland mushy warm base devoid of personality as so often occurs. If you are a fan of Angeliques sous la Pluie, you will love vetiver. In fact, the same nice FM salesperson told me some folks layer VE on top on Angeliques to give it more lasting power. I can't imagine marring the beauty of either of these fragrances by mixing them, but there you go. Of course, I came back a few days later and bought the large bottle of vetyver, plus some goodies from the Artisan Parfumeur counter for my daughter. As with other FM frags, the price tag is heavy, but well worth it .

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*TOP REVIEWER* helg on 6/29/2005 11:53:00 AM more reviews by helg

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

One of the best in its category out there , even if it does feature the eponymous note so dominantly,alongside Vetiver Oriental by Serge Lutens (more candied and licorice-like) and Vetiver Tonka Hermessences( which is nutty sweet and completely different).

Needless to say too much here. Just TRY it , even if you think that vetiver is a musty smell that can't possibly be good on a woman. I used to think so too , previously scared by the terrifically strong essential oil). It can be great and here is proof of it. Bravo!

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*TOP REVIEWER* Maximina on 4/2/2005 3:50:00 PM more reviews by Maximina

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

I thought this smelled like BO and wood shavings. It settles down to a smooth and soft scent (which nearly gives it a 3 for me) but in general I find that BO note unbearable.

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*TOP REVIEWER* laurenaj on 11/16/2004 5:59:00 PM more reviews by laurenaj

Age: 44-55   Skin: Very Dry   Hair: Red   Eyes: Brown    

Unadulterated Vetiver. Exquisite, Divine and Lovely. Raw Vetiver,straight up! You have to love and apreciate Vetiver to love this one. Woodsy, sweet and very sexy. long lasting too!

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*TOP REVIEWER* Elyse on 7/23/2004 7:50:00 PM more reviews by Elyse

Age: Unknown   Skin: Acne-prone   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

very concentrated vetiver. not feminine at all. deep and woody, but so intense that it almost doesn't seem natural. it also seems to have a note that smells like ink. the "color" of this fragrance would be a really inky blue/black... this lasts forever on skin, and i find it perfect when i'm prepared to handle it (not so often).

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anne7134 on 7/2/2004 9:35:00 AM more reviews by anne7134

Age: 25-29   Skin: Normal   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Hazel    

My DH wears this and it is my favorite vetiver. If you don't like vetiver scents, STAY AWAY, but if you do, I find this one to be one of the best: fresh, green, spicy, masculine with excellent lasting power.

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