First of all, a public service announcement. Saks Fifth Avenue Chevy Chase now carries The Motherload: Le Elixirs Charnels, L’Art et la Matiere, Vetiver pour Elle, Liu, Mayotte, Vega, and Sous le Vent. Of course, much to the dismay of the Guerlain saleswoman, I proceeded to try every single one of them.
SDV was one of the more interesting scents in the group. The concept is simple enough- vanilla and cedar- but oh, what a vanilla. SDV employs a deep, rich vanilla with an alcoholic feel, like a drink made with vanilla extract. The cedar note adds a medicinal strangeness, unexpected for a perfume from the venerable house of Guerlain. SDV feels rougher than the average Guerlain fragrance, but is also weirdly addictive. I’ll add to this review after spending a little more quality time with this baby.
SCENTS OF SELF 
I wonder if is to sweet… The bottle looks like an achoolic drink, made me curious to try.
Not to worry! This is some prime vanilla, none of that overly sweet cheap stuff in here. The bottle is just fabulous, too.
Have you ever avoided a perfume just because you thought you might love it, and you know that you Can Not Afford It?
This is me and SDV.
I not only avoid them, I disparage them. “Oh, those Amouage bottles are so tacky! They can’t possibly be worth over $300. Move along, now!”
Excellent strategy!
Answer – decants! 🙂
SDV I probably need to try. (I think Dear Daisy said she had a sample of this for me. Maybe. Unless I am hallucinating.)
I am so jealous of your proximity to a tester of Vega… just last week I ordered a sample of Liu. Just because.
But if I lived in MD, I could go to Chevy Chase and sniff Liu and Vega for free…
But if I sniffed for free, I’d want Liu and (more) Vega, and they ain’t free. Curses.
MD is the last place on earth I would have expected to have anything like this. We are one of those states where nobody has any clue how they ended up here.
Liu and Vega were classy broads, but I found the L’Art and the Le Elixirs lines to be BIG letdowns. Mostly pretty mainstream, for the price. Bois Torride in particular just smelled like any old floriental.
Another one I love, and I’m not a big vanilla fan. SDV is all about the BOOZE. I get lots of rum and hints of licorice and tobacco. Mmmmmm
My mother reads this blog, so I must inform you that I have no idea what you are talking about.
Really want to try this now. Booze-y vanilla, yes please. Guess who’s making a weekend trip up to Chevy Chase if the Tyson’s Saks doesn’t carry these.
Let me know if you end up having to come to CC! The Guerlain lady intimidates me, it would be nice to have some company.
Curious about the Vetiver Pour Elle. And double-darn – I was in MD this past weekend – shopping with my aunt. We purposely avoided Saks. Big mistake!
Where could y’all have possibly been shopping that took precedence over the Saks?? :O
Well, we were focused on clothes shopping, and my aunt prefers Bloomingdale’s and Lord and Taylor. If I had known about the Guerlain counter, I would have dragged her into Saks!!! Next time. 🙂
I love that huge new Bloomingdales! Nobody else can compete with those 40% off sales.
I don’t own an adequate vanilla. I keep meaning to try this. In fact, the fact that I have never tried this is one of the things that keeps me from buying a bottle of Indult Tihota. Which suggests that for financial survival, I should continue to Not Try This.
But I wanna.
I’m not sure if SDV would satisfy a pure vanilla craving (I keep CSPs around for that), but it’s a mighty interesting one. Of course, financial survival comes first, and these “niche” Guerlains aren’t a very good deal no matter how you look at it… at least Chanel gives you your money’s worth with the LEs.