Vanille des Roches

Annick Goutal sets out the composition in three stages. The top brings together an infusion of Madagascar vanilla, toasted almond and plum; the heart, white jasmine, benzoin and a Tahitian vanilla; the base, cypriol, an Indonesian patchouli essence and a second Tahitian vanilla.

Three vanillas

Vanilla returns in the top, in the middle of the composition and in the base, in three forms the house names: an infusion of Madagascar vanilla, a Tahitian vanilla obtained through the Firgood process and a tahitensis vanilla extracted by the SFE process.

Around the vanilla

Almond and plum give the opening its gourmand character; jasmine and balsamic benzoin round it out in the middle of the composition. Smoky cypriol and patchouli draw the base toward wood, which the house associates with the warmth of stone.

What the label declares

The published ingredient list has seventeen entries. Right after water come a synthetic woody molecule, tetramethyl acetyloctahydronaphthalenes, and vanillin; the label also names patchouli oil and acetyl cedrene, another synthetic woody note.

It also lists two UV filters, ethylhexyl salicylate and butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane, as well as alpha-isomethyl ionone, benzaldehyde, beta-caryophyllene and rose ketones.