Vanilla Marble
Agonist (2011)

I get vanilla and almond. I like both of those notes very much in perfumes, but here the accords somehow sit uneasily on me, as if they will twist and go bad any minute. There just seems to be too much going on in this one for it to settle enough on me for me to enjoy it. Gonna give it a neutral rating because I don't hate it, but I won't ever want to wear it again.

This is a rich, tropical vanilla with lots of depth. The scents of almond macaroons, milky white florals, tiare & fig combine to produce a delectable & mouthwatering confection evocative of exotic islands like Tahiti, at least in my imagination. lt dries down to a sweet, woody coconut base over the course of around eight hours. As a lover of tropical scents, this one is right up my street!

Vanilla, Almond, Tiare, Orchid, Fig, Amber, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Tonka Bean, Vanilla, Benzoin.

If you happen to like your vanilla accented heavily with almond, then this one is for you. Vanilla Marble opens with a sweet and heavy vanilla and almond duo. The almond used here also has accents of coconut, further perpetuating the sweet quality that is inherent in this fragrance.

Vanilla Marble is more or less a linear scent and with dominant notes of Vanilla and Almond, that's no surprise. They permeate every aspect of the wearings, but I will say that the overall aroma gives the impression of a well made creation. That's the upside. The drawback is that Vanilla Marble really doesn't set itself apart from others I've sampled featuring similar notes. Once again, it boils down to price point and an individual's willingness to dig deep for a niche acquisition.

After numerous wearings, I admit to experiencing the Vanilla and Almond, but not much else. I was hoping for a resinous amber to kick in and a nice rendition of Sandalwood as well, but it wasn't to be. I'm not claiming they aren't in the mix, but their tuning is way too low for me to appreciate.

Also missing in action are the other listed notes, so more than likely, my wearings produced fatigue from the dominance of Vanilla and Almond. The fragrance is full and rich however, so lovers of these 2 notes should have no problem enjoying this.

Sillage is good and longevity is 6 hours ( give or take ) on my skin. I cannot muster more than a neutral rating for this scent because of what it doesn't do and the price. Perhaps others will experience more versatility than I, but since numerous attempts produced only Vanilla and Almond for me, a sample wear is highly recommended.

The opening comprises vanillin, cardamom, tonka and sandalwood: the exact same smell of a cough syrup I used to drink when I was a child. A dense, syrupy, creamy, almondy, slightly boozy scent, with a balsamic-medicinal aftertaste. After a while it blossoms up a subtle floral vein, cold and translucid, with something like aniseed and perhaps a patchouli note on the very base. Once the blend progressively loses the syrupiness and "dries" down, it turns into a beach cream scent, à la Bois Vanille or Xerjoff's Shunkoin – same vanilla-almond accord, just less syrupy and more creamy-floral-powdery. The drydown is pleasant, slightly ambery and floral with an overall mellow and lively "talcumness". Overall I'm afraid this does not go much beyond "averagely pleasant", it's decent but a bit uninspired and unoriginal – several similar scents come to mind and sadly, to me this has apparently no extra special features to let it stand out of the crowd (and justify the price).

5/10

A first blast on skin and...oh God!!!..., exactly the aroma of the tanning coconutty foam i used to layer on the body in the course of the long sunny days on the beach in the summers of my childhood. Overly cosmetic almondy/coconutty sultry juice with a typical (for this type of sunscreens) pungent/penetrating almost salty exotic undertone probably enhanced by a sort of resinous/lymphatic stickiness coming from the figs milk. The aroma, despite the huge number of notes, expresses a pale evolution. The almondy/coconutty tropical orchid is absolutely starring throughout in the middle of the balsams and i would say also the note of tonka plays a determinant role. Carnal, "caribbean", sultry and also a tad marine but far to be labelled as a sophisticated, elegant and structured real fragrance. Yes, delicious and evocative but not my cup of tea. Rating medium because of a whisper of nostalgia.

This is all about vanilla, fig and sandalwood and is a very rich rendition indeed. Not everyone's cup of tea I should imagine due to the sweetness, but if you like vanilla based fragrances, you'll love this. I actually prefer this to Guerlain's SDV and it is slightly cheaper, so a 'win win'. Professes to use 'Australian Sandalwood' and it smells good enough to be actually factual.