Vétiver Fauve
Eau de Parfum, Guerlain (2025)

This perfume is such a departure from the others in this line, or any I have come across. This is polarizing. This is niche. I was shocked.

Smells like unripe, green mangoes, humid but green fig, and a delightfully mentholated cypriol mimicking some facets of vetiver. The subtle tonka mellows and anchors it beautifully, along with the vetiver, which I do detect. This one is not nuclear, but quite strong and long lasting.

However, this is a fruit perfume, first. Green fruit! It is so different and weird, I’ve not smelled anything like it. (Maybe the top of Mugler Aura, in the sense that it is humid and green, but no vanilla or white flowers.)

It’s so wild, I had to get a 50ml. I can see the Guerlain community arm wrestling over whether this is great or terrible. Not a safe blind buy. Also, my shirt smelled like pickles the next day. I’m not sure where I’ll wear this, but I will find an occasion.

I feel the same way about this as I do about pineapple on pizza: OK, but why? Not that I’ve spent much (read: any) time in the jungle, but does it really smell like sweetened vetiver?

Anyway, the pineapple and “tropical green accord” don’t hold the spotlight all that long, and the fig is thankfully in the background, as is the tonka. Which leaves a slightly fattened vetiver. That’s fine as far as it goes, but with all the other vetivers in the world (and in my wardrobe), including Guerlain’s classic essay, I don’t need to buy this one. However, if your wardrobe is vetiver-impoverished and you’re into the whole post-Aventus pineapple trend, Vétiver Fauve might float your boat.