Vilhelm Parfumerie
Vilhelm Parfumerie
80 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The burst of mandarin and blackcurrant with black pepper creates an almost citric sharpness, nearly peppery enough to sting. It's immediately arresting, with none of the typical fruity softness—these notes feel extracted rather than natural, almost synthetic in their clarity.
As the citrus recedes, saffron and carrot seed emerge to transform the fragrance into something earthier and more mysterious. The leather accord rises quietly beneath, whilst the spice settles into a warm, almost savoury middle phase where wood smoke begins ghosting through the composition.
What remains is primarily leather and wood smoke with tonka bean's vanilla sweetness providing a subtle counterpoint. The fragrance becomes drier, more abstract, with that burnt-wood quality dominating—it's simultaneously smoky and clean, more atmospheric than traditionally pleasant.
Darling Nikki arrives as a thoroughly modern leather fragrance that refuses sentimentality. The Sicilian mandarin and blackcurrant create an almost tart opening that feels more street than salon—there's a tartness to it, an edge that the black pepper sharpens into something almost confrontational. This is where Vilhelm's vision crystallises: rather than allowing the citrus and dark berries to play sweet, they're caught between spice and leather like a contradiction deliberately left unresolved.
The heart reveals carrot seed and saffron, an unusual pairing that transforms the composition from fruity aggression into something more contemplative. Carrot seed brings an earthy, slightly green undertone—think soil after rain—whilst saffron adds an almost metallic spiciness that sits uncomfortably close to the leather accord emerging beneath. This is not a fragrance that flatters; it observes.
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3.7/5 (474)