Vanille des Afriques Intensivo
Eau de Parfum, Ormonde Jayne (2024)

Vanille des Afriques is essentially a reformulation of Vanille d’Iris to adhere to IFRA regulations but with the addition of a bourbon and a Madagascan vanilla absolute to replace the Tahitian vanilla of the original. Personally, though I liked the original Vanille d’Iris well enough, it came at a time when I was searching for more drama in my vanilla. This time around, I can better appreciate its gently monochromatic beauty. With its starched orris against the clean, rubbery magnolia and oceans of musky vanilla cream, it is perhaps the whitest thing in Africa right now other than me.

White doesn’t mean boring, though. There is a creamy-sour lime or bergamot tinge to the pop of orris in the topnotes that lends the perfume a pleasant bitterness, similar to the topnotes of Infusion d’Iris Absolue (Prada). Carrot seed adds a bright, almost savory muskiness that reminds me somewhat of the creamy vegetal vibe of Evernia (soft-stemmed greens cooked for hours in Irish butter into a gray-green sludge). The florals that move underneath are, in typical Ormonde Jayne style, sheer but strangely robust – the rubbery, apricot-skin tartness of osmanthus makes itself known first, but the lemony ‘cold cream’ aspect of magnolia is also evident.

Just don’t come to Vanille des Afriques looking for drama. Despite the double dose of vanilla, it is neither ‘delicious’ nor indeed particularly vanilla-ish. Despite the listed jasmine and the ‘Afrique’ in the name, this is no bold, exotic creation in the manner of L’Elephant (Kenzo), African Leather (Memo), or Afrika Olifant (Nishane). It is not florid or tropical or spicy. Rather, it is as luxuriantly bland and soothing as a wodge of ugali, the thick white maize meal used as a spongey foil to goat stews and steamed kales here in East Africa. And therein lies its beauty – sometimes life itself is so spicy that you just want a cooling starch upon which to rest your weary head. And Vanille des Afriques is a beautiful example of this olfactory pillow.