Shadescents : Velvet Teddy
M.A.C (2016)

It's unfortunate that this fragrance has been discontinued. It's been said that it was originally formulated for Tom Ford's Private Blend line. Despite its discontinuation, the scent is of impressive quality. It's quite similar to Tobacco Vanille, a popular fragrance from the same line, but personally, I find Velvet Teddy smoother and more refined. While Tobacco Vanille has a strong opening, Velvet Teddy is more subdued, yet still retains its luxurious and velvety feel. In fact, I would recommend Velvet Teddy over Tobacco Vanille for those who prefer a smoother and more velvety scent.

It would be great if another company could pick up this formula and offer a budget-friendly alternative to Tobacco Vanille.

A beautiful tobacco and honey gourmand! Maybe a touch too sweet for me, but very nice overall.
People do compare it to Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille and say it's a budget alternative to it. Alternative or not, I prefer it to Tobacco Vanille as I find that one very cloying.
I think it's not available anymore anyway, but it's not the only one in this sweetened honey tobacco scent profile.

When I was a kid I worked in a produce department. We would throw all of our bad fruit and vegetables in a giant plastic garbage bin that would get picked up by a farmer for his pigs. The smell of that bin is the smell of this fragrance if you were holding a cigar in between you and the slop. An easier way to describe it would be overripe raspberries, which isn't quite right but will get you most of the way there. As it dries, in the mid the sharp edges are sanded off of this jammy red smell.

It is a little overly pungent for my tastes.

As a Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille clone:

It has a Tobacco Vanille vibe.

Side by side with current Tobacco Vanille the MAC is fruitier and sharper. More siblings than twins. The MAC seems more complex, and has more going on. They seem to be roughly equivelant in density and texture. The drydowns felt closer than the opening. While I would consider both to be unisex, I would say TV is more of a true unisex, with VT leaning feminine. I prefer Tobacco Vanille.


I'm going with a neutral here. Closer to up than down. I can't put my finger on it, but something just feels off. Something about how the red wine smooth texture of the fruit (which reminds me of Black Oud) with the rugged tobacco doesn't work. It is definitely not boring or generic. They went for it. Price is super reasonable. Value is good.

Let's get the obvious out of the way: Velvet Teddy is indisputably a Tobacco Vanille descendant.

Nevertheless, Velvet Teddy is no "poor man's" imitation or "good for the money" budget fragrance. Velvet Teddy offers a thoughtfully executed reinterpretation of the TV fragrance DNA that feels uncompromised and complete on its own terms, without any evident cost-cutting, and joins Phaedon Tabac Rouge and Boclet Tobacco as Tobacco Vanille successors that improve upon it by recalibrating it.

Tabac Rouge took the Tobacco Vanille DNA in a more "damp, juicy shisha"-style direction, while the Boclet emphasized the opulent, dried fruit elements. Velvet Teddy goes a different route altogether and dials back the spiced "holiday" aspects, opting for a more floral, natural ambiance. The thick, almost waxy "Christmas candle" vibes Tobacco Vanille gives off are thankfully absent here.

Velvet Teddy scales back Tobacco Vanille's spices and thick vanilla, adding in a little iris and a heavy dose of dirty, natural honey. These are subtle changes, but they do shift the ambiance of the scent; it's still quite sweet and pungent and long-lasting, but it feels a bit more open--less plasticky--than its predecessor.

The quality is astonishing given the prices it's going for online; the only thing distinguishing Velvet Teddy in quality from Tom Ford Private Blend releases is branding. There are reports that the entire Shadescents line has been discontinued, a failed experiment in marketing more oddball, masculine-leaning scent profiles to women in a mass-market space. Get 'em while you can.

Tobacco Vanille on a budget. $60 for 1.7 oz. Estée Lauder is the parent company to both MAC & Tom Ford, so it's not unthinkable they've taken the same formula as TV and toned it down slightly. Projection & longevity are quite nice for Velvet Teddy.

Velvet Teddy = Tobacco Vanille.
VT = TV. Even the initials are the same.
Just saying.