Penetrating, powerful, old world elegance with a touch of smoke. Global warming, demand and weather have destroyed many of the crops of this particularly labor-intensive plant product, making it extremely expensive. Synthetic vanilla molecules (like vanillin) are just as important to perfume as the real stuff.
Vetyver is a perfume in and of itself. Qualities vary heavily due to how long the roots of this grass are distilled, The Haitian is the finest. It has a coffee roasted peanut tone over straw-toned grass. Earthy and green, but it also screams yellow like the color of the finest distillates. Vetyver can be the base of almost anything from florals to woods. Vetyver from Indonesia is ashier like caramelized smoke.
Violet as a note often comes to us from old fashioned molecules called ionones. They recall the early 20th century, and sweetly fill out the heart of many fragrances.
A perfume in itself, ylang is the smell of paradise isles real and fantastical. I have found it growing in the Caribbean and was astounded by its depth. Overripe banana, vanillic, with a bready malt. It is a well-known cheaper alternative to modifying white flowers like jasmine and gardenia. Ylang ylang has a watery quality that is fresher and more calming than other tropical flowers. Indeed, it is used to relax in aromatherapy (I bring it on planes to sniff).
