Scentzilla!

There’s a lot of vanilla perfumes out there. And many of the vanillas could be considered essentially indistinguishable from one to the next because they’re so, well, “vanilla.” However, there are some very good simple takes on vanilla out there, and one of my faves is Ecco Bella’s Bourbon Vanilla.

This eau de parfum is one of the least “foody” vanillas out there. A feather light note of vanilla with creamy intonations conveys the gist of the scent. However, what marks Bourbon Vanilla as different is the softest dusting of cocoa powder across the top of the scent. Underneath these notes, I smell giant antique oak barrels, like the kind you’d find in a winery waiting to be filled with that season’s harvest. The overall effect is very dry, and does not connote desserts. This is not a complex blend, but I consider it to be an elegantly unadorned vanilla.

The vanilla bath and body products produced by Ecco Bella do NOT match the fragrance of the eau de parfum. They are much more gourmand scented, with that warm baked goods feel that foody vanillas take on. I see no reason why someone couldn’t layer them, but for me the appeal of this scent is that it doesn’t smell like a bakery.

Ecco Bella products are available in health food stores, such as Wild Oats and Whole Foods. However, I do recommend purchasing their eau de parfums online, since they seem to be significantly cheaper. At my Wild Oats for example, the Vanilla Bourbon is priced at twenty-one dollars, whereas I picked it up for ten dollars less on sale from an online site. Two sites I know of, and I’m sure there are more, selling the line include MotherNature.com and House of Nutrition Online.