Notes: lilac, green leaves, green apple, turmeric, black pepper, narcissus, mahogany, agarwood, black currant, cumin, coffee, sandalwood, and ambergris.
Vaporocindro was the first scent I sniffed out of the January Scent Project discovery set and it’s the one I personally connect with the most. I’ve waited to write about it because I want to do right by this scent. The word “vapor” is in the title and this scent is fittingly airy and fleeting. It can smell a bit amorphous at times, hard to pin down. Other times, the notes come through stark and clear: green leaves and black pepper. Like the other JSP compositions from John Biebel, Vaporocindro is a bit of an oddity, but lovely in its uniqueness.
Vaporocindro opens with a crisp and stark green leaf note. This opening reminds me of two compositions by Olivia Giacobetti: the green fig leaves of Philosykos and the herbaceous green of En Passant. I don’t get a fruity fig from Vaporocindro, but there is a tart fruity note. I wouldn’t have identified it specifically as green apple without looking at the notes, but it’s a pleasant tart accord that rounds out the vibrant green opening.
Then the lilac comes in and brings with it both a heady floral aspect and a black pepper spiced facet. I have not smelled a floral accord done quite like this one. It’s substantial — you can clearly sense it. And yet, it’s fleeting, hard to catch hold of, and hard to define. The sillage at this point is a pleasant cloud, and it seems to reinforce Vaporocindro’s airy-fairy nature.
The base notes soon become apparent to help anchor the composition. The ambergris is subdued on my skin, but it does its job as a fixative to keep the composition going. I sense the mahogany note as a deep woody note, close to cedar. I also get incense-like wisps of a black pepper-spiced smoke. I wish I got the coffee note, but I can’t sense it anywhere on my skin. The sandalwood is truly the dry down and the final traces of Vaporocindro on my skin.
If this is all sounding quite floral and girly, it’s really not. I think Vaporocindro would smell very compelling on a man. (And, remember, fragrance has no gender!) However, there is something fairy tale-esque about it. Maybe it’s the “cindro” in the name that makes me think of Cinderella. And the overall airy quality makes the composition feel quite dreamy. I love to wear Vaporocindro in the evenings, when I’m winding down from the day, and I have the free time to sit down with a book and use my imagination.
Thus far, Vaporocindro is the fragrance from January Scent Project where I can see myself springing for a full bottle. (Although I am on my full bottle low buy!) It’s the one I can see myself wearing often and truly being in the mood for it every single wearing.
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I ordered the JSP discovery kit directly from the brand’s website. Nothing in this post was gifted or sponsored.
The list of notes is via Fragrantica.
The photo of my sample and mini Vaporocindro retro artwork was taken by me.
This Side of Perfume 