Slow Dance
Byredo (2019)

The opening is a fresh, sweetish-spicy affair, but the spice is smooth and gentle. Initially the opoponax sets off, but soon a floral front instills its characteristics into the spice.

The florals are mainly geranium on me, but whiffs of carnations and and darker violet are also making an appearance. Nearly concurrently a labdanum evolves gradually, re-enforcing the spicy side.

In the base a vanilla is added, which is of a restrained sweetness, which is counteracted by an patchouli impression. This is very much a tamed patchouli, with shows very few characteristics of the dark, raw and harsh patchoulis this ingredient is often famed for, e.g. in Tom Ford's Purple Patchouli.

I get moderate sillage, good projection, and six hours of longevity on my skin.

Whist none of the ingredients in this pleasant scent for warmer autumn days are particularly unusual taken individually, in this combination some unexpectedly original moment develop. The persistently maintained delicate balance of the spicy and the sweet - both in very measured doses - is especially impressive, even given the sometimes a bit generic nature of some of the notes. Overall just in the positive realm. 3/5

Frankly I was very pleasantly surprised by this perfume. The inital tone was warm and slightly sweet. As it dried down, that pleasant odor I didn't recognize (opopanax?). This scent seemed to hold the rest of the scents as it developed; it became lightly floral, spring-time notes. A delight.
What stunned me when I read the fragrance notes was that patchouli and vanilla were the end notes. I usually avoid anything "patchouli" and with few exceptions, avoid vanilla in scent mixtures.
This was blended with skill and it's a scent I'll keep to wear for close and intimate situations. It did fade fairly quickly through early scents and even vanilla had faded out (on me) in 6 hours or so.