L’Occitane Miel & Vanille

When I did my post on oddball vanillas recently, a reader in the UK informed me that there was a new scent at L’Occitane – Miel & Vanille (“honey and vanilla,”) not to be confused with their regularly stocked honey-lemon fragrance (Miel & Citron) with which I’m familiar.  A search locally and through the US, including their website, produced absolutely nothing about Miel & Vanille, so I’m assuming it was exclusive either to the UK specifically or to Europe.  Anyway, I managed to get my mitts on some, because I like L’Occitane, and Honey-Vanilla sounded pretty darn perfect to me right now.

The only notes I can find are via Fragrantica: “a sparkling and sweet fragrance that blends fresh and gourmet aromas. Top notes are Italian lemon and cinnamon. The heart of honey from Provence and delicious caramel is placed at the base of vanilla and patchouli. Available as EDT.”

How is it?  Yummy, and not anywhere as sweet as you might think, looking at those notes.  I definitely get the citrus at the top, making it smell for a minute or two sort of like the honey-lemon one; I wouldn’t have identified “cinnamon” but it’s got a nice spiciness to it that stays around through the whole scent and helps keep it from being too cloying.  The thought of caramel makes me queasy, and I’m happy to report that through repeated testings I can’t pick it out at all.

Unsurprisingly, there’s a lot of vanilla, over a base that is spicy-woody (I assume that’s the patchouli.)  It’s clean-smelling but not “fresh” in the sense of some modern-aquatic note.  It has that L’Occitane vibe – not the most complex scent on the market, but really pleasant, and it doesn’t smell like something I’d get hit with by the ladies at Macy’s.  It has average lasting power, about what I’d expect from the notes.  It stays, musky and honeyed and spicy, on the sleeves of my sweater for about a day.  I’m not big on gender-lines in fragrance in the first place, but I think a man could totally get away with this.  It doesn’t smell like cake batter and the woodiness shines through.

So, where can you get it?  Well, as far as I can determine, you can’t.  It must have been available abroad for about two minutes, maybe over the holidays as an LE?, and I’ve been checking periodically and don’t even see it on eBay international.  Googling didn’t come up with anything.  If one of you has a hot source you feel like sharing in comments, feel free to do so.

PS  Real life (work and non-work) has been interfering with my perfumage; no doubt some of you have noticed I’m posting less.  Nothing dire, but for the time being my time online, including blogging, is pretty limited.

  • KeLLStaR says:

    Excellent review! I too love Miel & Vanille & just like you, I found there was hardly anything about it online. I found what info I could & submitted it to Fragrantica.

    I found this gorgeous scent at my local (Sydney, Australia) L’Occitane during the post Christmas sales at half price ($34.95AU). I tried it on & went back 10 minutes later to buy it. A week later I bought another one whilst it was still on sale as I did notice on the UK site that it was LE. So happy I did as it’s disappeared, kind of wish I got a third but it would probably have been overkill. LOL

    • March says:

      Lol, I wonder if the Fragrantica stuff I quoted was therefore from you! Probably. And thanks for that. And as far as I know it’s not available anywhere, so good for you!

  • chrissyinoz says:

    Hiya March,
    I was lucky enough to nab a bottle of this yummy stuff on a recent P&O cruise from Australia. Found it in the L’Occitane store in Noumea. Your review had me spraying it on in this 36degree Celsius we’re sweltering through in good ole Adelaide South Australia. The heat certainly accentuates the vanilla (for me anyways). LOVE it!!

    • March says:

      Glad you got your hands on some! And I’m sorry it wasn’t around longer, and with a wider distribution. I’m not so sure about vanilla in the heat, but maybe I’ll try it! :)>-

  • Victoria says:

    Yay, March! You are back and with such a rare treat. I love Miel et Vanille, even though as you know, I am not a huge fan of vanilla. Still, this one is done nicely.
    I have noticed that some of the best of L’Occitane products do not make it to the US (at least, not in a wide distribution.) Solid home scents, for instance. And Miel et Vanille… Instead, they regale us with Rose 4 Reines, which smells like a cheap Paris knock-off (while it is not that expensive, it is still too expensive for what it is.)

    • March says:

      Look, here I am, finally. I loved your review of Mimosa. I don’t know why they do those limited-distribution releases, you’d think those scents would sell just fine in the US.

  • minette says:

    yes, i’ve noticed. come back, little sheba. i miss your POV on stuff.

  • maggiecat says:

    Yes, sometimes “real” life just smacks you one, doesn’t it? Thanks for the lovely post. I love L’Occitane products and hope that maybe we’ll see this in the US at some point. In the meantime, AG’s vanilla exquise is helping me get through yet another snow day…

    • March says:

      WHAT IS IT WITH THIS WEATHER?! It’s been cold enough here for so long that I’m just beginning to get glimpses of the ground out front (as opposed to snow.) For this area, that’s pretty unusual. I’ve been told it’s supposed to snow again, maybe that’s why the grocery was such a nightmare.

  • Nina Z says:

    Tokyo Milk Honey and the Moon is one of my guilty pleasures (wear it only in the house). It’s a honey & sugar fragrance, with jasmine and sandalwood. My daughter got me the perfume and the hand cream for Christmas. Yummy.

    • March says:

      I should have mentioned that. Louise wears it and it smells delicious on her! I’ve not smelled the hand cream, either.

  • bloody frida says:

    I just gave my “gold” bottle (the version w/little dazzle-ys) to my sister as I did not like this fragrance at all. Sorry folks!

  • maidenbliss says:

    Good to see you back, March. A honey of a post, and not usually my favorite notes, but you do it
    justice with your words. A shame it can’t be had for those who want.
    Peace to you with all you’re accomplishing offline.

  • sweetlife says:

    Adding my voice to Shelley’s. I’ve had to take regular breaks myself this year and enjoy it all the more when I return.

  • Shelley says:

    Who said smokey honey? Hmmm… As for this Miel and Vanilla, I am glad you got your mitts on some, particularly since it plays so nicely with you. Enjoy. (Have taken note that you say it is not too sweet, but I don’t anticipate running across it.)

    Wishing you well with your time offline. Kind of nice to hear about people living in that realm. :)

  • Louise says:

    Hey, Honey! I mean you, March sweetie!

    This sounds yummy. Another unobtainable lovely ; (

    For honey, I can do the heavy-hitters-Miel de Bois, Tokyo Milk, and my honey-oud blends. Or at least I think I can…

  • donanicola says:

    Hope you and yours are well, March, and good to see you whenever. Thanks for reviewing this. The list of notes worried me at first – patchouli and caramel could be a hot mess but I love it’s smokiness which I’m guessing is part of the honey aspect. It reminds me of Micallef’s Gaiac and an aspect of L’AP T42

    • March says:

      It is smoky, isn’t it? I ran it up against gaiac — gaiac’s just so much more on me — lots bigger. I keep trying to come up with something else to compare it to and failing. (t42 is way smokier on me). And @};-

  • Marsi says:

    Always glad when you pop your head up, March. We’ll be here when your time allows.

  • karin says:

    March! We’ve missed you! Don’t worry about us, though. We’re not going anywhere. Hope all’s well, and come back when you can.

    Don’t have a comment on the L’Occitane. I used to love L’Occitane products – haven’t used them in years! I should check them out again…but sounds like not Miel Vanille. ;-)

  • Susan Nygren says:

    Hi March,
    I am a first time commenter here, but I have been an avid reader for the past three years… Talk about coming out of the closet…! :-)

    Oh yes, Miel et Vanille is absolutely DELICIOUS!
    A perfume friend managed to snag (maybe the last one on earth?)a bottle at a L´Occitane sale in London and she very generously shared it with a bunch of other perfume friends. I am very grateful to her for my decant. Love at first sniff it was. If I recall it right, it was a limited edition and ain´t that a shame…?
    Susan, aka “Labben”

  • marina says:

    Well now you that you said that it cannot be bought, I must have it :) Love the smell of honey in perfume, when it is done right. Which, for me, is either very gentle, baby-honey. Or very smoky.

    • March says:

      Yeah, back at you. Remember Juozus Statkevicius or whatever? lol I bet you do. :d Baby-honey or smoky, both work for me.

  • FragrantWitch says:

    Lovely to see you again March- your unique voice is missed but always welcomed! :)
    I just phoned my local L’Occitane shop here in the UK and word is that the whole Honey range is discontinued. She was definite on Miel et Vanille and 99% on the range, including Honey and Lemon. Sad face :(

  • Francesca says:

    Missed you like crazy!
    I’m kind of surprised L’O would have a European exclusive–they just don’t seem like that kind of place to me.
    Much as I love all kinds of honey in tea and on toast, honey note in fragrance just doesn’t do it for me.

    • March says:

      I luuuuurve honey in fragrance, except when it does that icky, uh, other smell I’m not going to type here. And I miss you too.

      Ps I know about the exclusives – I was sure there was a mistake, i kept asking, are you sure it’s honey and vanilla?

  • tammy says:

    I was beginning to fear you were out hiding bodies, so I am delighted to see you posting again! Be good to yourself….

    • Musette says:

      Noooo! The ‘bodies’ one is me! LOL! I think March would have to ramp up her hole-digging skills. There’s another on here, though, who’s got mad digging skilz – if i need body-hidin’ help….she’s my go-to gal.

      xo >-0

    • March says:

      Nope, just dealing with other issues. I’d rather be here! :)>-

  • taffynfontana says:

    Hi March,

    Sometimes life gets complicated nice to see you are doing well despite your hectic schedule

  • Ann says:

    Hi March, so lovely to “see” your smiling face again. Thanks for giving us something new to dream of, and hang in there! We’re happy for you to stop by whenever you can.

  • Musette says:

    For a hot minute I thought this was going to veer into Perlier honeyland. I used to wear that body lotion and man, you wanna talk man-magnet? 8-| But this sounds more like a honey-chai-woody thing, which could be good. Perlier veers towards cake batter just a tad, if I recall. I wonder if I still have any of that body lotion around….. 😕 that might be a great winter warmup. It’s 3F here – even I, hater of warm comfort scents, am ready to snuggle!

    I am glad to see your weather isn’t totally horrible.

    xoxoxo >-)

    • Ann says:

      Hey lady, glad to see you’re “coming around” a little to the joys of comfort scents. Hang in there and try to stay warm, sweetie!!

    • March says:

      Boy, as gray and craptastic as our weather has been recently, I am not complaining, because it’s nothing compared to you guys.

      • Musette says:

        but hey!!! it’s supposed to be (gasp!) FIFTY DEGREES this weekend. Sunday, I think.

        Can you believe it? Right now, it’s 10F. And that’s pushing it…three days from now it’ll be Spring!

        yeah, right.

        xo >-)

        • SaraK says:

          It was about 70F here today – though we did actually have some cold “winter” weather here a little while ago! There was one day when it never went above 25F, which for us in NorCal is just like below 0. \:d/

  • rosarita says:

    Always love to read what you have to say, whenever you show up :x
    I like L’Occitane fragrances and this sounds very nice but not one I would jump through hoops to find.

  • Tiara says:

    Have missed reading your posts but after teasing me with this lovely, maybe I didn’t miss you as much as I thought!

    I like a good vanilla but sounds like I should pretend I never heard of this. Bummer.

  • SaraK says:

    If anyone finds out, I’d love to know! I used to like their Miel et Citron, which is no longer sold (that’s what I’ve been told anyway).

    • Tommasina says:

      Sara, if you’re who I think you are (which sounds horribly stalker-ish) I can send you some. I could even send some if you’re not!

      • SaraK says:

        I don’t think I’m who you think I am (not sure if that makes sense anymore!)…. I still have a partial bottle, and have the hand-cream still – but I might be looking for more in a couple of months!

      • Wendy says:

        Hi Tommasina. I have also been despertely searching for the Honey & Vanilla, all over the world but to no avail. I would be happy to buy some off you if you still have it and wouldn’t mind posting it to Australia??:)

    • Rappleyea says:

      Sara – QVC still has the Miel et Citron on their website.

    • March says:

      I didn’t know the whole “honey” line has been discontinued (it says so below). I do see the miel/citron ones on eBay, and apparently they’re on QVC.