Best 212 VIP Black Elixir by Carolina Herrera Alternatives & Similar Perfumes

Vanilla’s in the name, but it’s not the name of the game, here. Instead, vanilla’s a team player with sticky, resinous labdanum, enigmatic orris and dark’n’dirty vertiver and patchouli. White chocolate smooths out the rough edges, while a lick of licorice adds an exclamation point!

From the heart of the Mediterranean scrub, where the air hums with resin and sun-drenched leaves, Ladano rises — a fragrance shaped by the slow pulse of Cistus ladanifer. For centuries, this golden resin has been gathered from the wool of animals, breathing its scent into fabric and skin. Here, labdanum glows rather than burns — thick, balsamic, embracing. It’s animated by tickly aromatics: licorice, celery seed, cinnamon leaf and immortelle.

Perfumer: Kévin Mathys

In this perfume story, the smoky gaiac aroma is gliding across a fresh and boundless ozonic void.

The story is open to interpretation: you can smell the waterproof canvas of the parachute gear in the abstract clean woodiness of the formula; or the air from under the tarpaulin you pull off a glider in its hangar; or think of any scenario involving flying machinery and an unlimited supply of fresh air.

The perfumer wanted to achieve a hazy floating shadow of an aroma, evoking a sensation of endless dark blue space, the calm humming of an engine, and hints of gasoline or machine oil. A worthy heir to the grandpa of all hazy smoky formulas inspired by airplane wings: Guerlain’s Vol de Nuit.

Lances is a Spanish word that means the fleeting but decisive moments that change everything ever after. Risks are taken, character is forged. This extrait embodies this risk and reward dynamic with the high-contrast tension between hazelnut and four varieties of lavender. The effect is intriguingly ambiguous, simultaneously pulled towards the gourmand with the help of vanilla and sandalwood, while maintaining an aromatic aloofness thanks to the lavender and cedarwood.

Perfumer: Jean-Christophe Hérault

Feret Parfumeur, a French family business producing toiletries and perfumes since 1865 are launching a classic theme of patchouli and spices but with a contemporary linear architecture and lovely playful licorice twist.  

“In rifleing the closet of the ladie, they found a pipe of oyntement, wherewith she greased a staffe, upon which she ambled and galloped through thick and thin, when and in what manner she listed”
– Proceedings Against Dame Alice Kyteler, Prosecuted for Sorcery, 1324

Hexensalbe, also known as witches’ flying ointment, was a hallucinogenic salve used in witchcraft in the middle ages. It was a mixture of extremely poisonous ingredients that produced an ecstatic trance with powerful sensations of flying, images of otherworldly creatures and a primal sexual hunger. 

But where did the witches’ broomstick come in? The ointment was too poisonous to eat, so instead it was applied to other soft membranes, commonly the genitals. Because of the erotic effects of the high, the salve would often be rubbed directly onto a phallic object like the end of a staff or a broomstick. (Now that’s what we call “riding a broomstick”!)

Given which aspects of the history of hexensalbe have been suppressed, it would seem that the one thing more terrifying than witches is female sexuality. This fragrance celebrates the forbidden rituals of personal power, summoning the ancient ways with dark aromatics: wormwood, liquorice, belladonna and black hemlock. Voluptuous tuberose and vibrant patchouli ensure a long and blissful trip.

Bon Parfumeur add another tome on their shelf of fresh crisp woody genre.

702 is a mix of rich incense balanced with earthy bitter sweet freshness of lavender.

PS: Bon Parfumeur chose a magnificent quality of lavender from the South of France, produced by IFF-LMR. This supreme olfactory quality makes all the difference.

A timeless, traditional cologne: fresh, versatile and eternally elegant like all true classics. The fragrance expresses all its radiant freshness with the most intoxicating citrus aromas: Bergamot, Lemon and Orange are a perfect contrast to the Lavender and invigorating Mediterranean herbs.

Aragon is an olfactory tribute to the Aragon region of Spain, the birthplace of Mallo. A unique aromatic fougere, the scent showcases local aromatic plant extracts from cypress, basil, thyme, rosemary and artemisia. Added to this busy mix is the pipirigallo flower, exclusive to the region. The scent is rounded off by mossy, resinous elements for a warm, enveloping feel.

Arc is a natural fougere with a concentration of around 40%. Perfumer Rajesh Balkrishnan has summoned a glorious symphony of sunkissed herbs, lavender, jasmine and pine, grounded by the deep earthy richness of oakmoss. The cinnamon spice of styrax and the smoky vanillic sweetness of benzoin assist the joyful lift-off.