Juliette Has A Gun
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The fleur de sel announces itself with actual salinity—proper marine minerality that feels lifted from the foam line of a grey North Sea beach. This isn't metaphorical saltiness; it's bracing, slightly metallic, and immediately softened by the vanilla absolute which blooms warm and slightly boozy beneath. The synthetic freshness hovers above like coastal mist, keeping everything remarkably light despite the richness lurking underneath.
The brown musk emerges with that peculiar clean-skin quality, merging with the benzoin to create something that reads as expensive fabric softener meeting salted caramel. Tonka bean adds its characteristic hay-like sweetness, but the aquatic elements persist, refusing to let this settle into conventional gourmand territory. The sandalwood begins whispering creamy woodiness, rounding the sharper edges without dominating.
What remains is a soft, musky vanilla haze with lingering mineral coolness—like skin that's been swimming in the sea, then warmed in cashmere. The tonka and benzoin create a gentle resinous sweetness that sits close to the skin, whilst that persistent aquatic shimmer ensures it never becomes heavy or cloying. It's oddly addictive in its simplicity, a comfort scent with an edge of strangeness.
Vanilla Vibes is Romano Ricci's love letter to the salted caramel aesthetic, but filtered through a distinctly modern, almost sterile lens. That fleur de sel opens with genuine mineral bite—proper sea spray, not the usual timid whisper of salt that most perfumers dabble with. It crashes against the vanilla absolute with surprising force, creating this fascinating tension between oceanic freshness and confectionery warmth. The synthetic accord (clocking in at a notable 64%) isn't a weakness here; it's the scaffolding that keeps this from collapsing into basic gourmand territory. There's an almost laundry-musk quality to the brown musk that reads as exceptionally clean, amplified by what feels like ambroxan or a similar ISO E Super derivative lending that aquatic shimmer.
The base materials—benzoin and tonka alongside the vanilla—should theoretically create a thick, resinous puddle, but they're kept surprisingly airy. Sandalwood absolute adds a creamy woodiness without veering into the dreaded "wooden vanilla candle" zone. This is for the person who wants to smell comforting but refuses to smell safe. It's beachy without being coconutty, sweet without being cloying, creamy without feeling heavy. Think cashmere hoodies at a Scandi beach house, expensive hand soap in a minimalist bathroom, the ghost of vanilla extract on cool marble countertops. It won't challenge you, but it also won't bore you. The aquatic elements keep it perpetually breezy, never allowing the gourmand aspects to settle into full dessert mode.
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3.4/5 (109)