VANILLA VIRTU

I’ve been wearing Vanilla Virtu for a couple of days now, and it completely subverts what you’d usually expect from a vanilla fragrance (there are no cupcakes here). It opens with a heavy, prominent wave of incense that instantly reminds me of wandering through medieval 13th-century buildings in Tallinn. Beneath that dark, atmospheric smoke, there’s a really interesting savoury warmth that smells a bit like hot cross buns or raisin bread.

Curiously, the vanilla itself is pretty elusive to my nose. I'm so used to associating the note with standard gourmands that it’s taking some retraining to spot it here. But it really does live up to the "medieval vanilla" concept — it's atmospheric, dark, and deeply comforting without being sugary.

I am often not impressed by your typical, run of the mill vanilla scent. Thankfully, Vanilla Virtu is not that. It is a sexy, cool, and nuanced woody vanilla scent. This is promoted as a ‘medieval vanilla’. It makes me think specifically of that Heath Ledger classic ‘A Knight’s Tale’ 😜 and the most recent Game of Thrones series ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’. You’re sitting next to a beautiful rebellious princess or the daughter of a duke, and the first joust just commenced. The lances just split into a thousand pieces and you can smell the freshly splintered wood. There’s a waft of vanilla emanating off the princess nearby, and fresh loaves of bread and cups of beer and mead are being sold to the attendees. That’s the vibe!

Also before we start splitting hairs about how vanilla wasn’t available in Medieval Europe - it came much later after Mexican colonization - let’s remember, this is a fantasy scenario. Much like A Knight’s Tale and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. It’s olfactive fiction, yall!

The most unique vanilla in my collection
It sexy, cozy and dusty but in the best way!! Reminds me of a vanilla scented candle in a library

The sluttiest vanilla in my collection! Josh’s finest work imo. I made the mistake of getting a travel size, I need the full size immediately ❤️

Makes me feel whimsical. Like I’m haunting the hallways of a castle. I love it. It’s lasts really well, and isn’t too sweet like some other vanilla scents.

I wasn't sure what to expect with the visuals of medieval armour and chain mail - thoughts of hard, cold metal came to mind. Instead, I find it soft, warm, and cozy with the bran and molasses adding sweetness. I love that it's a unique approach to vanilla.

An amazing vanilla scent! Spiced bread in the best way, and has great longevity!

I am a vanilla lover but I curate my fragrances to avoid redundancy and I don’t have anything else in my collection like this.
It’s comforting, warm and cozy. It brings to mind homemade breads & lively celebrations in a rustic, wholesome setting. This has good longevity and projects moderately for a couple of hours, then wears closer to the skin for a lot longer. If I wear it to bed, I still smell it on skin and clothing in the morning. It’s not smoky, I get warm spices and incense and the vanilla has a sweetness akin to molasses but by no means is it sugary or cloying.
Smells like a rich, complex vanilla after it’s been worn on the skin for a while, except that you get that right from the first spray. So it smells like a gorgeous layered vanilla + my skin but in a bottle 🤯 It is this quality that I think makes this a perfect unisex fragrance. I feel like the individual’s skin chemistry becomes an ingredient to this mix.
This is perfumery magic!

Smells exactly as described. Warm, spiced bread pudding & mulled wine at a holiday market (without the alcohol).

my favorite perfume ever!

Love this, it also layer very nicely with others in my rotation. I'm super picky about my gourmands and vanillas. I generally don't like smelling like food, but the addition of bready bran, spices, and rum raisin makes me just want to swim in this. I've been diagnosed celiac for more than a decade, and wearing this makes me feel a bit cheeky. If I can't eat bread, I may as well indulge in this scent. Thanks Paraphrase!

I wanted to love this scent but it was too cloying and sweet for me. It had a really lovely presence and is long lasting, so hopefully it will find an owner better suited for it.

my favorite one so far. I even bought a full size!

I love this new Paraphrase sent. The vanilla blends beautifully with the other scents so the perfume is smokier rather than sweet. It feels like a grown up vanilla!

This is a very unique, complex vanilla, it feels simultaneously sacred and irreverent… in all the best ways. On initial spray the cumin note was off-putting but that got progressively less prominent after the first few sprays. By the third use I no longer smell it, at least not in a way that would offend.
There is a sweet, slightly earthy incense to this, luckily i don’t get any smokiness. I think this is truly unisex, though I love the way it wears on my skin. I look forward to trying it on my husband too.
I bought a full bottle.

Triggers a migraine for me. I had to give it away.

Purchased with a discount code from the sample set (thanks to which I was able to discover and confirm my love of this fragrance before committing to a full bottle), my perfume arrived in packaging as thoughtful as the scent itself.

My new favourite perfume, and I have a sizable collection. I don’t want to wear anything else. This smells like a delicious warm butter tart (or something else with a lot of brown sugar) in a spice market in a walled medieval city.

Spicy, leather, incense, patuchli, warm, cozy.
I bought it for my husband, but I also like wearing it. So we might have to share.

Great projection, not an overpowering smell but it lasts and drys down with a background vanilla essence. Not a vanilla forward smell.

Bottles are beautiful design.

Also shipped super fast. Thank you!

Now I wanna try more from Paraphrase...

Spiced raisin bread in a candlelit tavern. It's incredibly deep and transportive.

Amazing lasting scent, it smells like the perfect end of summer early fall perfume. The scent has so much depth, and I love every note. Sometimes I can even smell it the next day

Definitely a winner for both me and my partner.

On me the scent shows more of the sweet (tonka bean, vanilla) along with the cumin.

On him, vanilla notes are still present but the leather is much more expressive.

I would love it if they released an oil version too so I can add it to my hair throughout the day.

I think this is genuinely one of my favourites. On me it starts of Spicy, almost peppery. Then it matures into a bready vanilla, then into a mature deep vanilla. It’s exactly what it reminds me of. Medieval vanilla, old time world. A rich bakery from the 1600s. Absolutely beautiful and deep. Plus I love supporting Canadian businesses, so I will definitely try out more scents in the future.

I love this scent. It is beautiful and interesting. When i first spray it, I get a warm leather that settles into a sweet (not cloying) vanilla. This is not your basic vanilla, it is complex. I also appreciate the simple bottle. I will definitely need to reorder because this jas become my go to scent.

I am loving this fragrance more and more every day. Its deep vanilla and spice combine perfectly with this humans skin. Its more nuanced as the day progresses! Love all your scents. Thankyou. So proud you’re Canadian!

Really nice scent. Not overly food-like. Good staying power. Very warm and inviting.

The bottle itself s good quality and it looks good on the shelf.

Ordering and delivery were hassle free and prompt.

Quite pleased overall.

Just received my 50ml bottle. I have never bought scent online so wasn't sure what to expect.

First impression: I don't know much about perfume beyond "Hey I like that" so I will simply say it's it is warm and invites intimacy. The bottle is also quite nice. One never knows from just a photo.

Nitpick/suggestion. If at some future date you could convert to refillable bottles, that would be awesome.

Let me start of by saying I LOVE vanilla perfume. I have a ever growing collections and I was excited to have this one. So I bought this knowing I’d like it. Paraphrase has literally outdone itself. Vanilla virtue envelops you in a spicy warm vanilla. I feel like a witch walking into a 1000 year old church that’s been left to ruin when i wear this. It smells like ancient burnt out incense, sweet breads, worn in leather, and sticky vanilla bean. Not vanilla flavour but the bean itself. It’s earthy and old. There’s is nothing like this fragrance in my collection and I don’t know if anything could exist like this. It’s truly transformative and it makes me nostalgic for something I’ve never known. Its magic in a bottle.

I'm not a perfume person – or, rather, I don't have perfumery language. I know I rarely like gourmand or vanilla scents, but this one's redeeming vanilla for me. It's toasted, cozy. The "lusty peasant" cumin and saffron doesn't tip full sweat accord (at least on my skin); instead, it makes the perfume smell tangibly warm. I jokingly called it "trustworthy" to a friend but I stand by that. If someone smelled like this perfume naturally, I'd expect excellent hugs and nonjudgmental warmth.
Translated to literal smell: bran loaf, toasted spices, vanilla from a spice cabinet instead of a dessert.