I bought a bottle two years ago. This was the only perfume I had ever wanted to scrub off. It smelt straight up like camphor and hair relaxer or perm. It was awful. In comparison, Teint de Neige, Iris by L'erbolario, and Elizabeth Arden Red Door are my favorite powdery scents. I love lathering myself in baby lotion - I can never smell too powdery. Two years later...I've tried it again and it's amazing. It's much sweeter and denser, it's the closest perfume I've found to replicate the OG Johnson baby powder scent. It's baby powder on steroids. I'm so happy with my bottle now. Perfumes are subjective, to me, I pick up baby powder, to others it will smell different. A difference in opinion does not make a review ill-informed or wrong. I love oud and I detect baby powder in this perfume - there's absolutely no reason why a person cannot enjoy both scent profiles. Anyway... It's super strong and lasts until it's washed off - over half a day for sure and projects like a beast. Everyone will smell you. It's not a replacement for TDN for me, as they have different profiles and I'd reach for them in different occasions. Just to note - I believe the metal bottles that Montale is using are interfering with the fragrances. All the scents I have bought from them have smelt awfully metallic and alcohlic initially. They usually settle a year or two down the line. I don't have this issue with Mancera or any Montale samples I buy as those come in glass bottles.

Smells exactly like Majestic Opulence from Zara. I can't pick up any cotton candy nuances. I'm able to pick up raspberry which reminds me heavily of LVEB Intensement - which is also similar to majestic opulence.

@S2312, It's not at all like Vanilla 28. Vanilla 28 is more like vanilla extract, not nearly as sweet, and is rather harsh. It doesn't project much either. It's a straightforward vanilla, much better for layering than wearing alone. Montales Vanille Absolu is powdery soft but absolutely projects, it leaves a beautiful scent trail. It's somewhat lactonic, like chocolate milk. I would say it smells nearly identical to hot chocolate powder. There are no chocolate notes, but this is definitely chocolatey and delicious. This is a true gourmand vanilla. It's nearly identical to Al Rehabs choco musk if you have smelt that.

@S2312 You would have to really enjoy Gourmands to enjoy this. Vanilla 28 is much more mature compared to Vanille Absolu. If I were looking for a sweet vanilla perfume, I would not go for Vanilla 28 whereas I would happily reach for Vanille Absolu. I truly think your best bet would be to sniff a bottle of sweet drinking chocolate, specifically, the types you'd be marketing to children rather than the healthy kind - like the yellow Nestle chocolate. This perfume is super sugary and sweet, if you like those types of scents you'd love this, I don't pick up any cloves or spices. Like the majority of the reviews are saying - it'll remind you of baked cookies or cake, really foodie and dense. To summarise; they both have very different vibes. They aren't dupes or substitutes for each other Vanilla 28 = Vanilla extract, somewhat mature or reserved Vanille Absolu = Chocolatey and bakery-scented, youthful, and playful If you like super sweet edible gourmands - I would think it's safe to blind buy.

I don't really pick up on Red Temptation other than the Litchi note in the Summer flanker. It's not nearly as sweet as Rose Gourmand, which is sugary and syrupy. However, Love Explosion does remind me of Club De Nuit White Imperiale, again because of the Litchi + Rose. It's just a tad bit more sour and screechy compared to CDI.

Gawjuss! They've started restocking this in my country, I had to snatch a bottle. It's not a super sweet gourmand vanilla, it's much more boozy and deep. If you like deeper vanilla scents like MFKs Grand Soir, Montales Arabians Tonka or Kayalis Vanilla Royale, you'd likely enjoy Babycat!

To me this smells a bit like Oriana, but nothing like Love don’t be shy or Barbie. LDBS and barbie have some sort of screechy note, it might be Licorice - which is absent in Velvet shadow and Oriana. However, I’m surprised more people haven’t clocked how much this resembles Narciso Poudree. It’s has the same beautiful soft sweet powdery profile.

This is Zara’s Barbie rebottled. Sprayed them on both my wrists, it is the exact same perfume, exact same juice in another bottle. Edit - after a few hours, it’s still Barbie, but there’s a slight sugary vanilla undertone in Forbidden pink. It’s only noticeable if I hold my nose up to my wrist, you definitely wouldn’t catch wafts of it. It’s not noticeable enough to differentiate or call it a whole different perfume. Still, Zara didn’t bother to change the descriptions of the two perfumes. They’ve copied and pasted the description from Barbie.

So beautiful, it smells like Parma violets. I don’t see any mentions of violet but this reminds me so much of Insolence by Guerlain. Insolence is sweeter, but this still has the same powdery kick.

This is amazing. It's definitely a sweet floral vanilla, which I have come to learn is my favorite variation of vanilla perfumes, like Burberry Goddess. It's definitely scratched the itch I had to buy Dama Bianca. I wouldn't say they smell the same, but they share a similar vanilla icing note. Silk Santal is still for sale in my country so I'm going to stock up a bunch! Edit: Mona has confirmed that it will be returning next summer under some tiktok comments ❤️