Have you ever met a fellow perfumaniac whose taste in fragrance matches yours so perfectly that it is downright uncanny? For me that person would be my fragrant friend Neil. Time and time again we reveal to each other that we treasure the same beauties. Not only does he completely get why I love Nocturnes de Caron but would eagerly douse himself in vanilla essential oil or patchouli straight up without apologies, as would I.
Where we part company is with two perfume notes. He adores vetiver to which I am somewhat indifferent. He abhors sandalwood, whereas I refer to it as “my oil”. So I secretly took it upon myself to convert him into a lover of sandalwood and made a silent bet that this would be accomplished before he converted me to a vetiver junkie.
One day he challenged me into wearing vetiver straight up. So I dug through my many vials from Eden Botanicals until I found a Sri Lankan vetiver essential oil: one tiny drop applied to one tiny wrist. Oh, my! Grassy, woody, mildly smoky, grounding and gorgeous! The test, however, would be my perfume despising co-worker. As I shoved my tiny wrist up to her nostrils expecting her to berate me for doing so, she stopped, pondered for a moment and then announced, “Mmm, earthy. I like it!”
The natural ingredients in Spiced Citrus Vetiver
So it should come as no surprise that when my absolute favourite perfume house, Sonoma Scent Studio, recently released the second fragrance in its all natural line up, Spiced Citrus Vetiver, I had to have it.
Laurie Erickson, the perfumer, has taken an unusual turn with vetiver, pairing it with a succulent blood orange and the soft florals of jasmine sambac and osmanthus absolute. Spiced Citrus Vetiver is rounded out with spices (ginger, cloves, cinnamon) with a gorgeous drydown of vanilla, cedar and (catch me while I faint!) Mysore sandalwood. And although natural perfumes usually have low sillage and limited longevity Spiced Citrus Vetiver lasts for hours on my skin. This is the vetiver perfume that I MUST have in my fragrance wardrobe in regular rotation.
Sonoma Scent Studio Spiced Citrus Vetiver follows closely on the heels of the first natural release from this line – Cocoa Sandalwood.
These perfumes are for people who enjoy softer scents that stay closer to the skin than mixed media scents but that highlight gorgeous natural materials in their purest forms.
Laurie Erickson
Sonoma Scent Studio
And Neil, if you are reading this, you can cease your gloating. Although you won this bet I am still determined to bringing you round to loving sandalwood one of these days! Perhaps it will be Sonoma Scent Studio’s Cocoa Sandalwood….
Tonight we have a Gift Package:
1ml of Sonoma Scent Studio Spiced Citrus Vetiver
1ml of my all natural vetiver blend “Ginza in the Rain”
1ml New Caledonia sandalwood absolute
A sampler of Tulsi tea
Leave a comment about your tastes in perfume – are they similar to your friends or vastly different?
Gift Recipient announced here May month end.
Further Reading
EauMG – review by Victoria Gent
CaFleurBon – review by Mark Behnke
Chemist in the Bottle – review by Lucas Szcześniak
Australian Perfume Junkies – review by Brie
Smelly Blog – review by Ayala Moriel
The Black Narcissus – review by Neil Chapman
The Fragrant Man 
He He HE!! It’s too hard to not like a note Brie. Somewhere, someone has done it EXACTLY the way that will turn you around! I’m glad you are loving your vetiver now. YUMMY!!
Portia xx
thanks P! and you know me…I never turn down a challenge! Especially when it comes to perfume!
My taste in perfume is quite volatile and changes with my moods and what I associate the scent with.If something unpleasant happens when I have worn particular scent,I find the memory of that will stay with me.The same applies with good memories.So incredible that smell can evoke all our senses with one whiff.
reneeg- Nice to see you here! I am the same with perfumes…I have to dismiss the ones that have negative associations for me..and yet there are many other fragrances that conjure up happy thoughts!!
Vetiver has been terribly mistreated in mainstream perfumery. Because I love the oil I have certain expectation from perfumes that feature it as a main ingredient, but sadly they are almost never met. A golden standard in my book has been the first Turtle Vetiver (haven’t tried the follow ups) which ticked all the boxes. Earthy, Smokey, Hay-like, Chocolatey and somewhat Musky. My decant is over I’m afraid and now I make do with straight up vetiver.
The vetivers that I haven’t tried but hold a lot of promise are Exultat by Maria Gentile and of course Spiced Citrus Vetiver
Amer,
I don’t think you will be disappointed with Spiced Citrus Vetiver, given your shared love for natural perfumes…I can’t wait to hear your thoughts once you try it!
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It took me a while to warm up to vetiver, but now that I have, I find it incredibly complex. Like patchouli (which has its detractors too), it can be coaxed in all kinds of ways!
Agreed D…like Portia says eventually a perfumer comes around to turning that note into a fragrance you can adore…for me it is Spiced Citrus Vetiver!
Hi! I live in a small town in the rural US and I have no perfume friends irl, or anywhere to shop for perfume. Just recently I’ve kind of outed myself to a few friends about my online perfume life but no one gets it, or else they think I’m nuts. My taste is dark and brooding, incense, woods and spice. Most of my friends love Bath and Bodyworks – not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s just not me. I love Sonoma Scent Studios and can’t wait to try Spiced Vetiver; thanks for the amazing draw!
Ringthing…welcome to the ‘fume nutters club! I forced my hubby to read one of my posts last night for the first time..his eyes rolling backwards in his head..clearly not interested…clearly does not get it…no worries…I have all of you to converse with, right?
oh and may I add I also adore woods,incense and spices!!! have you tried Incense Pure, Winter Woods or Ambre Noir yet?
I do enjoy “unusual” fragrances — this article opened my eyes to new possibilities. None of my friends shares my passion for fragrance so I no longer share news of new acquisitions – they’d be mystified, if not horrified, to know that my collection now numbers over 300 full bottles (plus back-ups!)
Wow, Lauren! that sounds like some collection! thanks for stopping by!
Vetiver and I have loved each other from the start 🙂 And this one from SSS sounds wonderful. I must try it sometime.
James-
I definitely see you as a vetiver man! I think you would like this one!
After the first “what on earth am I smelling?” moment, it has become the note that I love more than any other. How much I like it depends largely on what other notes it is paired with. Spiced Citrus Vetiver definitely has my attention.
Same her with the emphasis on “earth” …that grassy earthy quality initially threw me off (not sure why as I am a patch-a-holic and while once wearing it someone told me I smell like earthy mushrooms!) but now I really do adore vetiver…straight up!
Brie, you’re everywhere today. That’s fabulous!
I don’t really have any friends that are that into perfume. The few people that know I have a perfume interest think I’m nuts except my husband. He’s got a good collection of bottles for himself actually. Our tastes overlap once in a while but he likes clean fresh scents which make me think of window or bathroom cleaners. Maybe that’s a bit harsh…I don’t hate them but how many blue bottles that say fresh or sport does anyone really need?
I know poodle…I have been all over the place! (and responding to both sets of commenters is no easy feat!). I say count your blessings that hubby enjoys scents (no matter which bottles they may be). As you already know mine does not nor does he comprehend my obsession! And on a final note, you have loads of friends right here and elsewhere online who do not think you are “nuts”…always remember that!
But you HAVE already converted me: with that Bois De Santal hand cream, which is so strongly scented it counts as a perfume I think. It is absolutely gorgeous. And I don’t think I loathe sandalwood, per se, more the synthetic variety. I have been rocking vintage Samsara recently, so your conversion has been more thorough than you might realize…
I stand corrected, my friend! Indeed you do adore that Bois de Santal…(and how I wish the company made it in perfume format!!! I would be literally bathing in it!). Agreed, sandalwood essential oil is the one I turn to…some of the synth is not always my thing….
and may I say you must smell divine in that vintage Samsara (tiny sample coming my way?)
I think with sandalwood, it was love at first sniff for me! One of my friends is also a sandalwood (and incense) nut, which is great! My other friend is slowly being converted 😀
Nemo- Keep converting those friends of yours!!
I’ve always had a bit of bother with vetiver myself. My better half loves the green scents which are typically fresh and they smell fantastic on him, but I find them to be a bit linear and boring. I don’t mind a little vetiver, but have yet to find that one that just fits well. What I’m intrigued about Spice Citrus Vetiver is that blood orange. How can anything be better than blood orange, be it a cocktail, a dessert, etc.!
Mr. Hound,
That blood orange takes vetiver to a whole ‘nother level! And if you are familiar with SSS you already know the outstanding work behind all of Laurie’s creations…do give Spiced Citrus Vetiver a try!
Oh, I love vetiver in any pairing but I admit this one sounds extremely good. 🙂
Besides I already know Laurie does wonders with her perfumes – I am a huge fan of SSS.
Oh Ines…then you MUST try it ….from one SSS fan to another!
Ms. Erickson has perhaps no better advocate than you, Brie. She’s very lucky. You truly make them all sound amazing. So, you know how I have those 80 perfume samples to test/review, let’s forget about me waiting to get through the lot. You might as well go ahead and send me samples of your favorite SSS ones now. LOL. (I’m ordering decant samples today to start preparing your package, btw.). But, seriously, you might as well go ahead. Your passion is so infectious. 🙂
As for friends sharing tastes, well, almost none of my friends in real life are interested in perfume. There is one exception, but that’s about it. Frankly, none of them can understand how I ended up writing about perfume, since they all associate me with history or the law. Thank God for the online perfume community, although I find very few people who have truly similar tastes to mine even here. 🙂
I know Kafka…I am absolutely smitten with Laurie’s work…and I just can’t curb my enthusiasm!!!! In actuality my taste in perfume is so eclectic that I believe we share similar tastes as well (after all I ADORE vintage Opium as well as non-reformulated Coco). Am e-mailing you right now! I am getting you those SSS samples!
I love fragrance, I tend to go for more natural smelling things, woods, spice,vetiver and the few people I know that use fragrance like floral-fruity scents. I love the sound of the spiced citrus vetiver, ever since Lucas’ review on this one and Cocoa Sandalwood. I need to place a sample order.
rosiegreen- I say sample both! I can vouch that the cocoa sandalwood (being on my second full bottle) is as lovely as the Citrus Vetiver!
I am very plain. I buy what I like out of the stores. I would love to try something new though! Right now, I am wearing rose, but I would love to try a sample of what you have!
rose is beautiful, morgansmom! ( and I hope that you are sharing your perfumes with morgan!)
My nose follows a different drummer. I rarely buy mainstream fragrance but search out warm, close to the skin scents. I perfume myself for me. Right now I am wearing an white musk, tomorrow, sire de indres. I adore a fine vetiver; it reminds me of a long lost friend.
dtrvrmoi,
March on to the beat of your own drum….I am sure that you smell lovely!
Mine are different I like the musks.
Me too!
Dearest Brie
What a lovely tale of you and your perfume sharing pal!
I’m so pleased that you’ve found a veitiver that you can love, I for one feel that no wardrobe is truly complete without its little wild grass lawn… and this does sound like a particularly fine one!
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
Absolutely, Mr. Dandy!
It was high time I updated my fragrance collection with a little “wild grass lawn” and I have Neil to thank for that!
Dearest Brie
Just such a shame that Guerlain don’t make “Vetiver Pour Elle” anymore. It was wonderful… as the sky high prices on the internet attest to!
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
Oh Mr. Dandy! and now that I am truly a “vetiver junkie” I will have to see if I can get my hands on a sample of that!
Oh Brie
Sorry to be the tempter!
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
Touche, Monsieur Dandy….as I have often been the tempter for you with lovelies that you have no access to!
No worries!
Two years later I am still kicking myself that I didn’t pick up a bottle of Vetiver pour Elle when I visited the Guerlain boutique in Vegas. The SA there named Chuck (I hear he’s been promoted to something regional, he was THAT good), insisted I try VpE when I told him I had difficulty with the green note. Seriously, why didn’t I pick it up on the spot?
On the whole though, vetiver is a note I have respect for, instead of love. But holy cow! it’s sexy on The Engineer. I’m willing to give a whirl to anything Laurie does, but my last sample order with her was placed just before she made this available.
Hmmm, people who share my taste? No one in real-life, although I have an “evil skin-chemistry twin” who likes how my stuff smells on me, but can’t wear the same notes at all. I’m the Iris-and-Incense girl, and haven’t yet met someone in the perfumista crowd who shares my Venn diagram of outlier skin chemistry.
Missed perfume bottle opportunities are always heartbreaking…how are you getting on with the SSS samples you received thus far? Which ones did you choose? You and I need to do comparisons!
and I say get thee another set of samples including this one….for your Engineer!
The latest batch of SSS samples haven’t arrived yet, they’re coming up this weekend with my “scent mule” so I’m looking forward to trying large spray samples Rose Volupté, Forest Walk and Cocoa Sandalwood. Other than that, I’ve sampled her whole line. All of her woodsier ones work on me, but the lighter florals don’t. ‘Tis the issue with my skin and higher-pitched stuff – although my evil skin-chemistry twin now owns a bottle of her VdV and smells faboo in it.
Did you have the chance to try her Femme Jolie before it was dc’ed?
As you have I have literally sampled the entire line (including the Egyptian Musk…flew through a whole bottle of that one)…you will surely like what you are getting! everything works on me….I love the dark (including Fireside Intense) as well as the florals (especially the violets :D!!) Unfortunately Femme Jolie was discontinued before I jumped on the SSS train…but I know it has a cult following…I am sure you will get to sample Citrus vetiver soon when a fragrant fairy gets a FB!
Unfortunately this wasn’t available yet when I ordered my sample set from SSS. This does sound like something I would like. I have not found my scent twin yet. I do have a couple friends who wear fragrance, but not one would consider reading a blog about it and they probably consider five scents to be a complete wardrobe. Oh well, to each his own…
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