Neela Vermeire Creations

A collection of fragrance made by Neela Vermeire in co operation with perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour.

Top 7 Must Have Sample Sets

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Discovery sets are an easy way to try new perfume brands especially those hard to find in shops. I have chosen sample sets with 1.5 to 4 ml sprays, which are better for first testing than 7/10 ml sprays. This way you do not end up with larger sprays of fragrances you do not like.  Looking for sample sets, I found these were well worth a try:

  1. Oriza LeGrand Parfums
  2. Tiziana Terenzi
  3. Olfactive Studio
  4. Neela Vermeire Creations
  5. Zoologist Perfumes
  6. Technique Indiscrete
  7. Histoires Des Parfums

1. Oriza L. LeGrand Parfums

The large 18 sample box is an excellent way to explore the complete Oriza LeGrand collection. Oriza L. LeGrand has good quality and (relatively) affordable fragrances. I love their soft frankincense centered fragrance, appealingly called Relique d’amour and the herbal violet creation  Violettes du Tsar.  The exquisite packaging of their perfume bottles is an extra bonus and most of the fragrances have matching soaps.

Why is it a must have? Oriza L. LeGrand has beautiful fragrances with an interesting history for a reasonable price. Their 100 ml bottles are 120 euro online.

Price: 42 euro for 18 samples or 20 euro for 7 samples

The set can be bought here:

2. Tiziana Terenzi

A beautiful and convenient discovery set with all 10 fragrances in 1.5 ml sprays from the Black Line nicely displayed with the following extraits de parfums: Gold Rose Oudh, White Fire, Lillipur, Arethusa, Kirke,  XIX March, Ecstasy, Maremma, Laudano Nero and Al Contrarío.

Why is it a must have?  Before Tiziana Terenzi made perfumes it created beautiful scented candles with wooden wicks which are well worth a try as well.  This exquisite sample set in a beautiful box is an excellent way to try their fragrances.

Price: 39 euro

The set can be bought here:

3. Neela Vermeire Creations

Get to know all Neela Vermeire Creations with this recently introduced sample set including all six fragrances, Trayee, Mohur, Bombay Bling, Ashoka, Pichola and Rahele in 2 ml sprays. If you like one of these you can continue to enjoy this fragrance with their Take Two sets (except Rahele). These sets are 2 x 15 ml sprays of the same fragrance, which are 112 euro.

Why is it a must have?  All fragrances are worth a try as they are probably different from all other fragrances you have tried before, created with eye for detail by Neela Vermeire with perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour. This set is an excellent way to explore the whole collection. My personal favorites are Mohur and Trayee.

Price: 55 euro

The set can be bought here: Neela Vermeire Creations website or at The Perfume Lounge 

4. Olfactive Studio

Explore all 7 fragrances with this discovery set including  Autoportrait, Chambre Noire, Still Life, Flashback, Lumiere Blanche, Ombre Indigo and Selfie in larger 4 ml sprays.

Why is it a must have? Olfactive Studio is a contemporary French perfume house which links fragrance to photography.

Price: 44 euro

The Olfactive Studio set can be bought here: or at The Perfume Lounge

5. Zoologist Perfumes

The complete collection of the Canadian brand Zoologist Perfumes are sold as 2.5 ml single sprays including their newest scent Camel, plus Bat, Beaver (New Formula), Civet, Dragonfly, Elephant, Hummingbird, Macaque, Nightingale, Panda (New Formula) and Rhinoceros. If you like several fragrances after testing: Zoologist Perfumes sells beautiful 11 ml travel spray sets which come in a deluxe box. An excellent way to continue enjoying a fragrance you like.

Price: 49 USD

Why is it a must have? This line has fragrances you probably have not scented before like the earthy Bat and creations of exceptional beauty like Hummingbird. All fragrances are created by different perfumers around the world together with Victor Wong. Camel is his next upcoming release made by Spanish perfumer Christian Carbonnel.

The Zoologist Perfumes set can be bought here.

6. Technique Indiscrete

Explore all 14 eaux de parfums with 1.5 ml samples from Belgian Perfumer Louison Libertin with this box containing: Indiscrete, Veloutine, Paname Paname, Plaisir d’Amour, Santa Subita, Safran Nobile, Délivre Moi, Monarchy, My Burning Secret, Omnipresence, Saint Extaxe, Eau de Bruxelles, Eau d’Anvers and Carmel Snow.

Why is it a must have?  I must admit I haven’t tried this line but some of my Dutch perfume friends whose judgement in perfume I trust love this brand. This set is on my wish list as it is not expensive either.

Price: 15 euro ( if you use the discount code samplekit25 this month, you will get 25 percent discount)

The Technique Indiscrete set can be bought here:

7. Histoires des Parfums

A beautiful set for a reasonable price with their 10 bestsellers: 1804, 1826, 1725, 1828, 1740, 1899, 1969, Ambre 144, Noir Patchouli and This is Not a Blue Bottle presented in 2 ml sprays.

Why is it a must have? Histoires de Parfums tells interesting stories of famous characters in history like Jules Verne and George Sand, raw materials like patchouli and mythical years (1969!). This set is an excellent way to explore them.

Price: 20 euro (online) or 20 USD at Luckyscent.

The set is available here and at Luckyscent as well.

Bottom line: these 7 sets from Oriza LeGrand Parfums, Tiziana Terenzi, Olfactive Studio, Neela Vermeire Creations, Zoologist Perfumes, Technique Indiscrete and Histoires Des Parfums are all well worth a try and will make excellent (holiday) gifts as well. Some sets are presented in exquisite boxes. All sets contain smaller samples varying from 1.5 to 4 ml, an excellent way to explore a new brand without having to end up with larger sprays of fragrances you do not like.

All these sets are excellent gifts as well. You could give the sample sets with a bottle of their choice for special occasions as well. Go to my article to read more here.

In case 7 discovery sets were not enough: you can find more choices for gift sets here . 

Disclosure: all photographs except the Olfactive Studio Discovery Set were taken from the official websites.

Neela Vermeire Mohur eau de parfum

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NV1Neela Vermeire, a perfume lover herself, started her  perfume house in 2011 in France. All her five perfumes are created and produced in France and have received very positive online reviews. The three first creations were Trayee, Mohur and Bombay Bling . They were made as a tribute to a different era in Indian history, the Vedic period, the Moghul British Raj period and modern India. Neela Vermeire perfumes were developed in cooperation with the perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour. Being honest, I have no connection to India, Indian food or Indian scents and was not interested at first. But as the positive reviews continued, I wanted to try the perfumes for myself. At this moment I am very glad I did.

Three samples were sent to me by Neela Vermeire with a personal hand written note which was very thoughtful. The three perfumes were Bombay Bing, Trayee and Mohur. Mohur got most of my attention as it is a rose perfume. Rose perfumes are one of my favorites but many times they are not intriguing enough. Some rose perfumes can be a bit boring if they are very linear and only smell like light  roses as Jo Malone Red Roses. But Mohur is a very interesting oriental multifaceted rose perfume. My first impresion was of a very sophisticated, refined and feminine perfume.image These notes are listed on the official website: cardamom, coriander, ambrette, carrot, black pepper, elemi, rose, jasmine, orris, aubepin flower, almond milk, violet, orris, leather, sandalwood, amber, white woods, patchouli, oudh, benzoin, vanilla and tonka bean. Personally I smell saffron as well but this is not mentioned.

Oudh was quite in fashion several years ago in perfumes as you might know and many perfume houses came up with their own oudh versions. You have to get used to the note of oudh as it can be quite harsh at times. Mohur is a very good start if you want to start appreciating oudh. The oudh note is not harsh or dominant but refined, soft and well blended into the perfume. 

Oudh was used in Mohur because it was a key ingredient in perfumes in the Moghul British Raj era. Mohur was created as a tribute to the empress and perfumer Noor Jahan and to the Mohur coin under British rule, the Moghul and British Raj period. Personally I thought this to be a bit confusing, a tribute to different periods. Noor Jahan was one of the most influential women of her time living from 1577 to 1645. She was the favorite wife of Moghul emperor Jahangir. He gave her the title of Noor Jahan, which means Light of the world. During the emperors reign Noor Jahan had the true power behind her husband as he often was not able to reign due to substance addiction. After his death Noor Jahan was confined comfortably where she spent her time making perfume.

I compared Mohur to other perfumes with the rose, oudh and saffron notes such as By Kilian Rose Oud and Armani Prive Rose Orient. Both start as an eastern perfume but after a while they turn more western. Mohur does the opposite though.  At first it does smell more western, but after a while the more spicy notes start kicking in which you would normally relate to India.

Mohur Rose Mohur has many facets and changes continuously like a DNA strand which is moving and showing another aspects, moving upwards. Everytime I wear Mohur I smell different aspects, saffron, powdery rose, oudh, sandalwood. Probably more will come up during time while wearing it more often. The powdery rose note stays with you during most of the time. Others commented on the multifacets of Mohur as well. Wearing it makes me feel like standing on a mezzanine level in a house and seeing different aspects inside the house everyway I look. Surprisingly after applying it smelled very lightly on my skin. A few hours later though it smelled at its best and was quite prominent. Normally you smell a perfume best at first when you spray it on your skin and if you are lucky after a few hours but this is exactly the opposite. Just when you almost forgot you sprayed Mohur on, you are taken by surprise as you smell a wonderfull perfume ! Of all the rose, oudh, saffron perfumes I have tried, Mohur is my favorite. Not only is it more subtle but it is without edges as well, as if all notes have been rounded and all edges have been taken away. Its staying power is very good: about eight hours.  

Try Mohur if you like Rose Oud By Kilian, Rose D´Arabie  Armani Prive, Aoud Red Flowers Montale or if you are lover of rose perfumes in general.

Everything in the line of Neela Vermeire has been carefully been thought through. There is a sample set available with 2 ml samples to try the whole line out. She sells a Discovery Set for quite a reasonable price at 110 euro for 4 sprays of 8 ml. You cannot stop but notice Neela Vermeire´s passion for her own perfumes and the art of making perfume. An extrait version of Mohur was introduced as well two years ago, an even more glorious perfume.  

Neela Vermeire fragrances can be bought at: Neela Vermeire Creations and The Perfume Lounge Amsterdam

Disclosure: I have my own bottle of the eau de parfum 

Photographs of Neela Vermeire perfume: courtesy of Neela Vermeire Creations

Photograph with rose by L’Esperessence

Read more about Neela Vermeire and her perfume line in this interesting article in The Perfume Magazine.

Published: August 1st, 2012

Updated and re edited:  April 26, 2015

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