Black Vanilla and Cardamom Hair Gloss

[Silvertree]

With a touch of cinnamon, tobacco, and oudh.

This gloss is gorgeous, and deceptively simple. Its rich melange of sweet vanilla and softly spiced cardamom swirls around a deep, dark core of tobacco and oudh, creating a warm, beautifully blended scent. It's gentle, even comforting, yet utterly alluring. The throw is lighter compared to some of my other glosses, but it still works its smoothing, detangling, silkifying magic. I get a little cinnamon, but not that much, which is surprising--I'm used to that dominating most blends it's in.

Cardamom is one of my most beloved notes, and I can't wait to wear it with some of my favorite cardamom BPALs like Southern Cloudywing, Mama-Ji, Café Mille et une Nuits, or Pumpkin I from this year's Weenies.

[KitCroupier]

I really enjoy this scent! My hair is very long, so I use a lot of hair gloss, four or five spritzes and then I smooth it with my hands, which might affect this, I dunno.

 

At first spray it really reminds me of my favorite atmos spray, Exotic Bazaar. The cardamom and vanilla are very strong at first. After about an hour or so, it settled down and I keep smelling the tobacco (reminds me of Fallen Woman) with something sweet, possibly the oudh? Four or so hours later and it's mostly gone, unless I pick my hair up and huff it.

 

I wish that the top notes lasted longer, but it's delicious while it lasts!

[Atrous]

This starts out as Vanilla and Cardamon with the tiniest bit of cinnamon.

After about 15 minutes the faint scent of oudh is detected but Vanilla and Cinnamon fade completely.

So this ends up as primarily Cardamon with traces of Oudh.

I have to say I'm a bit disappointed.

____________________________________________________________________________________

 

Retest:

I was really curious whether, after a few months, I would have a different reaction to this HG. I don't know if HG's change with age the way oils do or if it's just me but the vanilla is not fading out the way it did when I tested it fresh. Cardamon is still strong with a pinch of oudh. I'm also finally getting tobacco but not smokey tobacco. This one's chewy and goes really well with the vanilla and cardamon. I am much more happy with this HG after letting it rest awhile.

Edited April 17, 2015 by Atrous

[Alethia]

I'm so disappointed in this. I was expecting a vanilla and cardamom heavy scent. What I got was tobacco single note Not a trace of anything else, just tobacco. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful tobacco: very similar to the French Tobacco single note, dark and rich and chewy.

 

But I wanted vanilla and spice

[Numanoid]

Yeah....not a winner for me, sadly!! Cinnamon and cardamom are usually winners....and of course any kind of vanilla is good, right?? In my damp hair, I don't detect any cinnamon. Maybe a bit of vanilla, but I get overpowered by the oudh. I don't smell tobacco either, which I was nervous about, but sadly, this is a bit too.....manly......for me. Off to the sales pile!

[TriGirlJ]

I get a lot of tobacco at first, with a bit of the cardamom and underlying sweetness of the vanilla and the oudh. It settled into something warm and smoky, but doesn't have as much of a throw as I would like. I'll have to try more next time - I used about 1 1/2 spritzes (first one out was not much) rubbed into hands then into short hair. Not sure how much really made it in.

[MuskWitch]

Wow, either my nose is really OFF, or I got a slightly different blend. I think it is heavy on the BLACK vanilla, with tobacco next, then oud, then the cardamom, I think. I had to go huff my bottle of cardamom to see what it smells like, not much scent, but it is an OLD bottle, probably older than some Forumites!

 

I have long hair and usually use about 4 or 5 spritzes (wash my hair every day, at night, go to bed with it wet. And I am 57 years old and have yet to catch my death of cold). I was afraid to use just the BVandC, so I did 3 spritzes of Dorian and one of BVandC. It was strong at first, but not much left this morning. So, I did one more spritz on my dry hair this morning, and it is hanging around much longer, and smells quite lovely!

 

It is a keeper!

[HerbGirl]

Well, color me disappointed. From a product titled Black Vanilla and Cardamom i would expect to smell both. I guess the Cardamom that they use doesn't smell like cardamom, more like anise? Good grief and i have never had luck with their vanilla smelling like vanilla so i guess i should have known better. This is a blast of tobacco (a hint? I think not) and their anise-y 'cardamom'. Vanilla and cinnamon, mia.

[neveragain]

I got straight cardamom...so harsh it made my eyes water and head ache. Sad it made me.

[MCS4096]

When I blind bought this I was dreaming it would smell like Gypsy (the moth LE from 2010). That is gorgeous creamy vanilla and cardamom.

 

Well.. Nope. This is straight tobacco. I get nothing else. Very sad. Will keep it a little while to see what happens, but I wish the description wasnt so misleading..

[macabre_fae]

I was lucky to receive a freebie decant of this one.

 

It's not what I imagined. I was thinking it would be a spicy, smoky vanilla. i guess my nose is picking up on the opposite, since I'm not getting any cardamom. The tobacco is the most prominent, followed by the vanilla which subdues it a bit and blends beautifully with it. The oudh must be hiding in the background because I'm not picking up on that note either.

 

Since I am not really a tobacco fan, I wouldn't have assumed I'd like this at all but the combo of the two is very nice and I end up having sweet, smoky smelling tresses. I like this enough to get a bottle.

[tharsei-thanate]

I love this gloss. It's predominately tobacco with little hints of cardamom and cinnamon. There's also a vague sweetness way in the background that's probably the vanilla. It doesn't have as much throw as I thought it would have but I don't mind too much since these notes could possibly be too overwhelming for others. Tobacco is my favorite note in the whole world so this gloss is perfect for me. If you're a fellow tobacco junkie you definitely need to try this!

[annemathematics]

I read the above reviews, with a few people complaining that this was too tobacco heavy, and as I LOVE tobacco, I ran and blind bought a bottle.

 

well, the labbies responded to the above complainers, and what I received was very much heavy on the vanilla, and light on the tobacco (weep). it's nice, very similar to a lighter version of Boo Hg, actually, but much much lighter in throw. It's the only gloss I have tried that fades completely with an hour.

 

this will be worn when I work my job that I can't go scent-heavy to.

Edited March 13, 2015 by annemathematics

[stellamaris]

Well, I got the same batch as annemathematics, very vanilla heavy. I wouldn't have minded the tobacco, but as I already have Fallen Woman, which is a beautiful tobacco, I am happy to have this vanilla gorgeousness.

 

Edit : after a week or so, I do get the tobacco, and it's very nice. Not as strong as Fallen Woman but quite good.

No anise smell whatsoever.

Edited March 11, 2015 by stellamaris

[Balame]

I'm having the same experience as Herb Girl. I hesitated on this one because I thought the cardamom might be too astringent, but instead of getting sharp spice it smells more like anise here. Since I'm not a big fan of licorice that isn't sitting too well with me. On the upside, the vanilla is really sweet and gorgeous. This is fairly airy and what I'd call "grown-up gourmand." The notes are foody yet they come together in a way that smells more perfumey and elegant than dessert-ish.

 

Surprisingly I'm getting very little tobacco, though it lends some weight to the blend. Seems this one either wears differently on people or else there are strong batch variations, as it's definitely vanilla predominant for me. The cardamom/anise note will probably keep me from upgrading my sample size, but it's nearly a winner thanks to the fantastic vanilla.

[Jeni Mullen]

Decanting this last night, I actually had to stop halfway through.

 

I don't smell vanilla or Cardamom at all actually. All I get is this licorice scent, like the majority of this oil is actually anise.

 

I had three bottles and I rolled and tested all of them seperately and they all have this licorice scent to them. I'm not going to say that I hate licorice but I really dislike it strongly.

 

I had hopes that some of the later batches would be more vanilla or more spice but alas.

 

If anyone loves the smell of anise absolutely get this right away.

[miss_rynn]

I think I've figured out what is going on with this one - the vanilla is the base note, tobacco is the heart note, and the cardamom is the top note. The vanilla is there, but only as a back drop the the cardamom. It's actually quite a masculine scent, rather than the foody scent I was expecting. While it doesn't really work on me (I'm a sweet/foody/girlie type of perfume person) I think that this would work fabulously on a guy.

[greedygirl]

I love this Hair Gloss. When I spray this on my hair I get smoky vanilla lightly spiced . But A high end vanilla like the vanilla in my all time favorite vanilla fragrance. (Spiritueuse Double Vanille by Guerlain of which I have a small decant) The tobacco & oud lend depth to the overall scent. I would adore a perfume oil in this particular blend but I need more of this hair gloss for sure

[Poenari]

It is so interesting how many different impressions there are of this one! My initial reaction is that mine is heavy on the vanilla, but the tobacco and oudh combine with the vanilla to lend depth to it. I get very little cardamom and no cinnamon as separate, distinct notes, but there is definitely an exotic spicy note mixed in with the vanilla. This is a beautiful scent, and I would LOVE to have this in a bath oil. As it is, I'm also using this as a body spray because it makes a beautiful scent to layer with many of my perfumes.

[theseagrows]

this is nice but not what I expected. I thought it would be heavier on the vanilla to be honest. this is mostly spicy cardamom and cinnamon at first. I swear I smell sarsaparilla in this for a bit. the vanilla comes out more later, but it's primarily cardamom with vanilla backing it up. I don't smell any oudh in this. this is nice, but my decant is enough for me. i think maybe i'd enjoy it even more in the winter.

Edited March 16, 2015 by theseagrows

[zankoku_zen]

For me, I get mainly vanilla and cardamom on wet, but it dries to an almost all oudh with a slight hint of tobacco (after an hour) on my hair.

 

Nice, but I was really hoping for vanilla and tobacco.

 

Sad puppy face.

[blacksambuca]

I really wanted (and expected) to love this, but there's something acrid here that just punches me between the eyes when I first apply it. I'm not sure what it is, I generally love tobacco but I think it's something about the interplay of tobacco and cardamom here. Whatever it is it's not pleasant to my nose. It fades away relatively quickly however, and I'm left with a faint whiff of vanilla and not much else. So it goes from headache-y to barely there. Unfortunately this is definitely not for me.

[Suusje]

I wish I got more vanilla and cardamom but this is mostly tobacco and woods. Which I do like but I just wanted something else. It reminds me a lot of Dolly Keio.

[nightwing]

The moment I smelled this at Will Call I knew I needed to have it. In the bottle, I get deep blackened vanilla and tobacco with a hint of spice playing in the background. The cardamom came out a lot clearer on my hand and in my hair, reminding me a lot of Cafe Mille Nuits minus the strange coffee and scones issue that made me pass that along. The throw is subtler than the initial blast of scent suggested, which I think is a plus overall, given that I like wearing hair gloss that doesn't totally overwhelm other scents.

 

The only trouble is it smells like NOTHING I wear, so I'll have to hunt for a good perfume pairing.

[DJ Sin]

This is my favorite from this years Lupers and the one I was most hesitate to try because I am not a tobacco fan. Its a spicy vanilla on me! Love!!!!! After trying my decant, I ordered a full bottle immediately. This will layer really with Aristocratic Couple.