Christina Aguilera performing the song. Photo source: buzzfeed.com
“Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?” Do you want to sleep with me tonight? It’s a question that Labelle made famous in the 1970s, and I merely have to hear the words for the famous “Lady Marmalade” classic to start ringing in my head. As the Music Times article linked there explains, the song was inspired by the experiences of songwriter, Bob Crewe, in the red-light district of New Orleans “and the aggressive stance of prostitutes in the area.” His lyrics growled their demand through a mix of disco, R&B, and funk, and the latent sexuality at their heart was rendered overtly raunchy in subsequent musical covers.
Source: Pinterest
Voulez-Vous Coucher Avec Moi, the fragrance, is nothing like the world of Lady Marmalade, and the sheer enormity of the chasm between them made me laugh each time I wore it. Put aside all thoughts of lust, skanky raunch, and ripe, fleshy seduction. Envision instead bridal femininity, floral sweetness, and a fresh, dewy delicacy that practically verges on the innocent.
Yes, I think Kilian’s version of Voulez-Vous Coucher Avec Moi is that much of an olfactory departure from everything implied by its name. But it’s a very lovely scent nonetheless. If it does seduce you, it’s through the refinement of a bridal bouquet where fresh white flowers are laced with greenness, then veiled with the silkiest vanilla cream. So rather than asking you to sleep with it in New Orleans’ red-light district or the Moulin Rouge, I think the real question that Voulez-Vous poses is whether you’ll marry it.
Photo accompanying Voulez-Vous via Kilian FB page.
Voulez-Vous Coucher Avec Moi (hereinafter referred to simply as “Voulez-Vous”) is an eau de parfum created by the legendary perfumer, Alberto Morillas. The way it is listed on the Kilian website, the fragrance seems to be part of a new collection closely related to the earlier “In The Garden of Good and Evil line, but this one is called “A Night in the Garden of Good and Evil.” Kilian markets it through images of sensual nakedness and serpentine temptation, sums it up on his website as a “caressing scent with a unique milky sensuality,” and describes its specific details as follows:
To create VOULEZ-VOUS COUCHER AVEC MOI, perfumer Alberto Morillas recomposed a radiant Gardenia on an exquisite Sandalwood composition.
A sun kissed heart of white flowers: Gardenia, Tuberose, Ylang Ylang.
A silky yet sensual drydown: Vanilla, Sandalwood.
A fragrance whose feigned innocence has the power to enthral [sic].
![Voulez-Vous Coucher Avec Moi perfume with its accompanying clutch bag. Photo source: Fragrantica. [Photo cropped by me.]](https://i0.wp.com/kafkaesqueblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Kilian-Voulez-Vous-clutch-bag-and-perfume-e1444275637100.jpg?ssl=1)
Voulez-Vous Coucher Avec Moi perfume with its accompanying clutch bag. Photo source: Fragrantica. [Photo cropped by me.]
Source: 123rf.com
Voulez-Vous opens on my skin with green, juicy, fresh, and tangy neroli splattered over fresh orange blossoms. (Neither of those things are listed as ingredients, but that is what appeared on my skin each time I wear the scent and also what hits my nose when I smell Voulez-Vous in the vial.) The orange blossom’s soft, velvety petals are slashed with creamy vanilla and a few drops of custardy ylang-ylang. The latter seems to live up to its name as “the poor man’s jasmine,” because wisps of that flower float around, too.
Source: rdvartsculinaires.com
The whole thing is a beautiful blend of juicy, ripe, but also fresh and crisp fruits over the lushest flowers. They waft a sweet and narcotic headiness, but never feel blackened with camphorous or metholated darkness, plasticity, powerful indoles that verge on the point of decay or mothballs, or the bug spray note that plagues so many cheap (and synthetic) white florals. If anything, these flowers are buds that have just opened a little to release a sweeter side amidst the profusion of fresh, youthful greenness.
Photo & source: Petals and Wings WordPress blog. (Direct link embedded within.)
Within minutes, a different sort of floralcy appears at the furthest edges. It’s green tuberose trailed by the merest whisper of creamy, dewy gardenia, but the latter is minor to the point of being ghostly on my skin for most of the first hour. Like the orange blossoms, the tuberose also evokes tightly closed buds on a new shoot, but it bears traces of that beautiful liquidity that so characterizes the fresh flower starting to bloom. It’s such a lovely dewy note, though there is a subtle undertone of creaminess as well, either as an indirect effect of the lush ylang-ylang or the breathy gardenia.
Source: depositphotos.com
Each and every one of these flowers is coated with swathes of vanilla. It’s creamy and smooth, with an airy lightness that belies its richness. It is never as heavy as custard, nor as sugary as caramelized crème brulée vanilla, or cloying like the ghastly Pink Sugar variety. Yet, it’s also not the eggy crème anglaise sort or the floury Tihota variety. It’s just an ineffably smooth vanilla with a creaminess that feels like silk. I’m not particularly a gourmand lover and I prefer chocolate to vanilla, but what Kilian presents here is truly refined and appealing.
For most part, though, Voulez-Vous’ bouquet in the first 30 minutes is primarily a lush but green, heady but crisply fresh, fruity floral centered on tangy, juicy neroli drizzled on orange blossoms laced with custardy ylang-ylang, both of which have been slathered with silky vanilla. The tuberose and gardenia are more like floral dew on the petals of the main notes, but that changes later on to a small extent.
Source: 123rf.com
There are a few other things that happen first. The first hint of white musk appears in the background after 15 minutes, while the sandalwood awakens in the base 20 minutes after that. The musk creates a veil of clean soapiness over the flowers, though orange blossoms can turn soapy all by themselves as well. Whatever the trigger, 30 minutes into Voulez-Vous’ development, the white musk overwhelms the ylang-ylang, not to mention the tuberose dewdrops, resulting in a bouquet that is mainly orange blossoms layered with vanilla and neroli, then coated in clean white musk. Yet, the tuberose clings on tenaciously at the edges. As the first hour draws to a close and the second begins, it starts to send out small ripples over the main notes with levels that fluctuate in power and visibility.
Photo “Dancing Light” by Mark Engelbrecht on Flickr. (Direct website link embedded within.)
All the flowers emerge after 2.5 hours, though not in equal degrees or strength. The central chord is a duet between the ylang-ylang and the orange blossom. The former continues to waft little puffs that resemble jasmine, but its innate custardy, quietly spiced, velvety sweetness is now out in force. The orange blossom retains only the merest vestige of neroli or fruitiness now, and is mostly floral in nature. Both are suffused with the silky vanilla. The rest of the notes are oddly blurry, like an out-of-focus picture or abstraction. The tuberose is almost indistinct on my skin, but the gardenia is better defined, at least close up. Even so, it’s more like a nebulous approximation of “gardenia.” The sandalwood in the base generally smells of soft, beige woods, though it occasionally wafts a synthetic nuance that hints at something a wee bit smokier. For the most part, it’s a merely ghostly touch that pops up only once in a while in a noticeable way.
Source: depositphotos.com
From the middle of the 3rd hour until its final hours, Voulez-Vous is an increasingly hazy composite of white florals that skew freshly greenish in nature and that are suffused with silky creaminess. The veil behind which they hide has turned into soft powderiness that smells simultaneously clean and somewhat sweetened. It’s not like make-up, talc, or tonka powder, but white musk that has absorbed some of the vanilla’s sweetness. The vanilla itself feels rather amorphous. It’s somewhat clear and (relatively) distinct from a distance, but it’s not a strong presence up close at all. By the start of the 4th hour, it’s merely a soft, sweetened plushness that cushions the increasingly delicate flowers. They are rapidly becoming faceless, and soon turn into a simple gossamer floralcy that flutters in a creamy, vanillic breeze. In its final hours, all that’s left of Voulez-Vous is a soft silkiness that bears the last vestige of something vaguely creamy and sweet.
Voulez-Vous has very good longevity on my skin, along with generally soft projection, and initially good sillage that also turns soft. Using 2 big smears approximately equal to 2 good sprays from an actual bottle, the fragrance opened with roughly 4 inches of projection and wafted a scent trail somewhere between 6-7 inches. After 75 minutes, the projection dropped to about 2 inches, while the sillage softened as well. Voulez-Vous hovered above the skin during the 3rd hour, but didn’t turn into a true skin scent until 4.25 hours into its development. It was still easy to detect if I brought my nose to my arm until the start of the 8th hour when I was certain it was dying away. I kept checking every 15 to 20 minutes, convinced that Voulez-Vous had finally drawn its last breath but, to my astonishment, a thin veneer coated my skin until well into the 12th hour. My skin eats through pure florals more rapidly than any other group, many lasting an average of 4-5 hours, so 12.5 hours in total is enormous for me. However, I must stress that the fragrance is so demure and intimate after the 8th hour that it might as well be gone to all practical effects and purposes.
I haven’t found detailed reviews or discussion of Voulez-Vous for me to provide you with much comparative analysis, but there are a handful of things out there at this time. On Fragrantica, only one person has tried and describes the scent, and it’s a man who thought Voulez-Vous was amazing but completely feminine in nature. “Sinan.al-nasiry” writes in full:
Amazing scent for women ( how i see it ) [.] dont think A guy can pull this off unless he is so into floral scents [.] not that much unique but definitely smells nice[.]
Longevity is excellent when i try it on my skin
At least 8 hours
Projection is moderate [Punctuation added by me.]
Source: brides.com
Patty at The Perfume Posse loved Voulez-Vous, calling it “an elegant floral with some opulent tuberose and ylang.” On her, the gardenia was more distinct than it was on me, but it was still mostly just “a bit of gardenia tang on a longer open that never fully resolves.” She doesn’t mention anything resembling neroli or orange blossom, nor the sandalwood and vanilla, but she detected cedar, writing that it was used judiciously with the gardenia and tuberose to give Voulez-Vous “a subtle undercurrent of darkness.” She also added: “I think a guy could wear it and smell amazing, but I think it’s a tough sell as unisex.”
I agree with Patty and the Fragrantica commentator that Voulez-Vous is completely feminine in profile. I don’t know many men who would feel comfortable in it, but I know a handful with the panache and aplomb to pull it off. As a whole, I think Voulez-Vous will appeal to many white floral lovers but particularly those in a few groups: 1) women of all ages who want a non-indolic, fresh, green, white floral bouquet that is infused with a lot of creamy sweetness so that it’s never too crisp; 2) young women who want a grown-up, refined, and luxurious treatment of white florals; 3) brides; and 4) those who want a very feminine, uncomplicated, largely traditional floral scent that has some presence but also, later on, discreet intimacy.
As a side note, Voulez-Vous comes in three sizes, but not all of them are available at the time of this review. The full bottle is 50 ml, refillable, and accompanied by a black clutch bag decorated with a slithering gold serpent for a total price of $285 or €225. In Europe, Kilian already offers the much cheaper travel set and refill options, but they haven’t been released in America yet and may not be for a few more months. Speaking of American retailers, Franco at Luckyscent told me that Voulez-Vous should arrive on Wednesday, so it will probably be up on the website by early Friday.
All in all, I liked Voulez-Vous far more than I thought I would. Actually, I found it more appealing than everything he’s put out since Apple Brandy (which I can’t wear because it’s too powerfully alcoholic on my skin to make it a practical purchase). Voulez-Vous may not be seductive in the usual or lusty sense, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. Granted, tuberose is my favorite flower in nature and in perfumery, but that’s not the reason why since it wasn’t a huge or driving presence on my skin. What I appreciated was the well-executed balance between headiness, fresh greenness, and vanillic creaminess. (I could have done without the clean white musk, though.) So, if you love white florals, I recommend that you give Voulez-Vous a sniff.
Voulez-Vous sounds divine and right in my sweet spot, well balanced non-indolic fresh, vanillic white floral. Hollah! That’s what I love! I think I have a sample of this one the way from Surrender to Chance. Can’t wait to try it. As always, beautiful review. You realize, dear Kafkaesque, that you are totally spoiling us with all these fantastic, detailed reviews. Love, love them <3 <3 Merci beaucoup!
You’re very welcome, my dear. By the way, you were amongst the handful of people that I thought of in particular when wearing this scent. It is absolutely your favourite style, and would suit you well.
Ah, you know me well. I just bought Isabey’s Fleur Nocturne which may be somewhat similar to this Kilian but one can never have too many fabulous florals, can one? Not I, anyway!
Haha! I never ever expected Killian to capture the debauchery and sexuality of Labelle. In another time, Opium did it wayyy better. Today? Maybe Liz Moore or Vero Kern! Glad to be back commenting after a hectic month! xx
Heh, sexual debauchery is definitely not Kilian’s style, but I never expected the fragrance to be practically bridal!! By the way, you were very missed, I thought of you quite a few times, and I’m so glad to see your sunny face. 🙂
Glad to be back 🙂 I’ll give it a try though, next week were getting it here, and who knows, a pretty floral might be a good thing, even though I’m not in the market for one!
Tried! Nice sweet creamy floral. Not for me though, it hits a similar spot to Isabey Gardenia, and I actually prefer that one. But not so disappointing!
It’s definitely one of the better Kilians in a while. That London one… gah.
It sounds beautiful. When I saw the pre-realese ad, I thought, “uh, oh” and expected a disaster of a mainstream wannabe-sexy “noir” scent. I’m glad it isn’t a mess, even if it is misnamed.
I haven’t been a huge by Killian fan, although I do own a lovely painted bottle that was a gift from my Mom, but I think they have the talent to do a really pretty floral, which is the kind I prefer to wear. I may have tons of loud, brash, sexy, powerful florals but the pretty stuff gets more skin time. I expect it’s to balance out my heavy use of filthy leathers and musks.
I’m not a huge, adoring Kilian fan either, but this one was beautifully done. It bore a master’s hand, and had a very high quality without the noticeable synthetics that some of the other Kilian’s have displayed. (Sacred Wood, Apple Brandy, and some of the other city exclusive drink scents, I’m looking at you!) Even if we ignore those ones, Voulez-Vous feels remarkably smooth and is a very approachable, almost demure white floral, imo. As you know full well, that isn’t always the case. So, I hope you have a similar experience, particularly given how well it would counterbalance your other florals. Let me know how it works out for you.
I am LUSTING over the black snake clutch – I’m glad I waited as the white one was nice but the black one is so IT. Did you say it comes with a bottle of perfume??? ROTFLMAO
P.S. The juice sounds nice. I am looking forward to trying it at Sniffapalooza. I may also cash in my Amex points for Bergdorf gift cards so I cn buy it for “free”. I’m feeling a strong pull.
I *knew* you’d be all about the bag, and way more than the fragrance! I was so certain it would be the first thing you’d mention that I actually snorted out loud when I read your comment, and am grinning as we speak. Go buy the bag, and hopefully you’ll also enjoy the thing that happens to come with it…. :p 😉 lol
Haha, you know me well 🙂
Too good: my first thought was the same!! I was very taken with the clutches at Les Senteurs over the summer, but wasn’t blown away by any of the offerings that came with them sadly… ;P.
I just ordered a little decant of this one last night, largely because I will buy anything that purports to have gardenia notes. Now i am genuinely excited about trying it. A silky veiled vanilla is up my alley too, and with good white floral notes it becomes something that I would love to wear. I’ll report back.
Oh, and then there’s the snake clutch. Did I tell you that I’m a fool for anything with snakes on it?
I knew about the wolves, but not the snakes. Snakes as a decorative motif can be nice but, real-life snakes…. *shudder* I hope you limit your love to the decorative kind, my dear. 😉
I would be surprised if the gardenia note factored prominently on your skin but, so long as you don’t expect it, I think you’ll enjoy Voulez-Vous for the other reasons you mentioned. The ylang is lovely, and the general floral-vanilla bouquet is very wearable. Precisely the sort of thing that you could wear to work without issues. I just don’t know how long Voulez-Vous would last on you, given the intense voraciousness of your skin. BTW, do let me know if you detect orange blossoms on you, because I feel like a crazy person for finding such a prominent whiff of it on me given that the note list doesn’t include it.
Such a beautiful review Kafka, thank you for all the care you put into it. It is tempting me to buy a sample. I don’t think I have a very feminine (white) floral in my collection and reading about it made me aware I have been looking for one. Hugs.
I think you might enjoy its beautiful femininity, Hamamelis, and the vanilla makes it quietly comforting at the same time. It’s the sort of thing that a man would really love on a woman, I think. I hope it works for you, my dear.
I’ll let you know. Skins doesn’t have it yet but I am sure they will.
Lovely review Kafka! Any ideas about stockists in Istanbul? Thanks
Alas, no, I’m afraid I know nothing about Istanbul retailers — for Kilian or in general. Is there a Harvey Nichols in Istanbul? If not, a super-expensive department store of that genre might have it. Otherwise, your best bet would be ordering from Kilian online or, if you want a sample, using Luckyscent. They ship their samples (and bottles) world-wide.
Hmm Turkish food..had to throw that in, sorry. I have an ex from Izmir.
Sounds like a lemming to me!
You’re one of the guys who could totally pull this off with flair and panache, my dear. I think it would smell great on you.
This sounds right up my girlfriend’s alley. Probably not enough tuberose, as it is her favorite note, but it does sound good.
As I wrote to someone else, I think this is the sort of scent that guys would love on their GFs or wives. But we have to talk about tuberose if that’s your GF’s favorite note. Seb, you HAVE to get her a sample of Hiram Green’s Moon Bloom!!!!! Tell her the blogger you read demanded it of you, as one hardcore tuberose obsessive to another. 😉 It’s stunning, narcotic, mesmerizing, rich, and romantic — the scent of tuberose wafting off the stalk in nature, and one of the very best tuberose fragrances ever made. There aren’t a lot of good tuberose scents out there, even fewer soliflores, and fewer still fragrances that capture the scent of the flower in such a naturalistic, lush way. Moon Bloom does it. (Plus, the bottle comes with an old-fashioned, little poofer bulb squeezer that is very romantic and appealing, and the fragrance is an all-natural scent that is surprisingly strong for the genre.) Hardcore tuberose lovers go crazy about it, but it’s so well-done that even people who usually struggle with tuberose like it a lot. I think it will blow your GF’s socks off.
In the UK, Roullier-White stocks the Hiram Green line and sells samples. I hope you’ll get her one. Have her read my review and see what she thinks. Or if you ever surprise her with fragrance as a gift, this might be one to consider, though I generally think fragrance is a risky thing to buy someone else unless you already know that they love the fragrance in question.
I hope you don’t mind me jumping in all over these comments but I had to tell you that when I was a kid, I was obsessed with playing with my mother’s old, perfume atomizers that had squeeze bulbs. Gifts from her old aunt I think I mentioned a few times. They *did* smell “old ladyish” to me. Guess my mom figured one day I would be perfume ocd.
Kafka, thanks for the suggestion. I will have to look into it. She only owns Carolina Herrera and Dior J’adore l’absolu which are tuberose based (The Dior does not center on it, however). I have given her samples of Carnal Flower, Scandal, Fracas, Narcotic Venus, Tuberose 2 Virginale, Tubereuse 40, Beyond Love, Moon Dance, Nuit de Tubereuse and there might be a few I don’t remember now. She loves Carnal Flower, Scandal and Moon Dance the most and she thinks that Carnal Flower is the best perfume she has ever smelled.
What’s your opinion regarding Moon Bloom vs Carnal Flower?
I’ve never been impressed much by Carnal Flower. I think Moon Bloom blows Carnal Flower out of the water. The Carolina Herrera one was lovely in vintage form, though it had other stuff in there like jasmine. That was a lovely scent, though. The 70s Fracas was always my favorite/ultimate tuberose, but the modern, reformulated version isn’t great. Moon Bloom is the best current version of a tuberose soliflore on the market, imo. A true, real, deep, robust, milky, heady, narcotic tuberose like that in nature. (A soliflore is a fragrance showcasing only one note). Carnal Flower… bah.
In the meantime, I’ve read you’re full review on Moon Bloom that was great! I didn’t know it’s a natural perfume. I’ll think about getting a bottle as a present. Have you bought a bottle yourself in the meantime? I understood that the longevity is good and the projection/sillage is low-moderate?
Yes, I bought myself a bottle. It’s surprisingly big for an all-natural perfume. I’ve tried many niche, mixed/semi-synthetic EDPs that are quieter and softer, not to mention thinner. It’s far richer on me than Carnal Flower, without any of the chilly or excessively clean/fresh/green aspects of that one. A few readers who are also fellow tuberose snobs fell hard for Moon Bloom, bought bottles, and think it’s the best true tuberose scent out there. Get your GF a sample. She’ll thank you for it. (I generally never advise blind buys as gifts, as you don’t know what will appear on the other person’s skin.) Hiram Green is a genius with naturals, but that fragrance is extra special, so order a sample from him or from Roullier White.
I enjoyed your review and obviously this is not something I would ever wear, but you mentioned women of all ages being able to wear this; I actually think my 96 year old grandmother would love this, but she’s been wearing White Linen for years and I don’t know how I would convince her this is better. :/
I doubt you’d manage to sway someone who has worn the same fragrance for decades. It simply becomes too much a part of them and who they are for them to feel any interest in trying something new. As long as your grandmother loves her fragrance passionately, that’s all that really matters. 🙂
Very true since she’s been wearing that one for at least 27 years. lol
How about enticing her with the black snake clutch???
You made me burst out laughing hajusuuri!! Cuz you’re really lusting for the black one. Hmmm. Though my gram would prefer white but not for winter. I’d say let’s go halves on the perfume, which we’d go 50/50, and you keep the clutch?
woo! Don, are you in the U.S. and are you serious about splitting? TWe can work out a fair price for the juice split. If interested, please email me (click on my username).
Got my sample, and I really like this one. It’s pretty much my ideal daytime-wear white floral. I don’t think I’ll go full-bottle at that price, even to lay my greedy hands on the snake clutch, but I might spring for the refill when it comes out. This scent is purely pretty and a pleasure to wear.
I knew you’d love it! But I’m still happy to hear it, since one never knows with individual skin chemistry. What flowers do you detect on your skin, and how long does it last on you? I know longevity is a serious problem for you in general.
It lasts 3-4 hours on me, which is pretty damn good relative to other scents. The prominent flower is what I think of as “soft gardenia,” i.e. not by a long shot the unbelievably carnal gardenia of my Louisiana youth but the mannerly gardenia favored by somebody who brought a New Orleans Creole call girl home to stay and made her behave.
I got my sample and I love the Voulez Vous. Very nice! I ordered the travel bottle set. Could not resist!!
This had your name all over it, Ricky! And Congrats on the Travel Set. I think it’s very chic with those black crystals. How was shipping to the US, or has Kilian’s US website gotten the travel set now?
Luckyscent has it now for pre-order so hopefully I’ll have it before too long. My fave Kilian up to now had been Flower of immortality, beautiful fresh peach note in that one that I love. It came in the pretty scrolled silver container. Those snake purses scared me!! I like snakes fine in their own habitat but I don’t want them that close to me, even if they are fakey snakies!
Luckyscent already has the travel trio for pre-order in addition to the regular bottle/clutch??! That’s great to know. Last time I looked, it was just the regular bottle. I should probably check to see if they have the refill bottle available for pre-order, too, since another reader wants that one. Regardless, thank for letting me know, my dear!
How do you find this would smell on a man?
I absolutely love this, and I find that the scent is a bit woody on my skin (in addition to creamy), but I feel like it may come off a bit feminine. 🙁
I will probably buy it eventually, no matter what feedback I get, since I wear perfume for me and me only. 🙂
My philosophy is exactly the same as your own and what you wrote in your last sentence, so I’m really not a good person to ask about gender stuff when it comes to perfume choices. I think if a man or woman is comfortable in their own skin wearing something, really loves it, and it makes them happy, then they should wear that fragrance no matter what anyone else says. The love, happiness and self-confidence are key. Anyone can pull off anything with panache if they’re really confident about it. Ultimately, if you really think about it, it’s the CONFIDENCE that makes something sexy. 🙂
In your case, if Voulez-Vous skews a little woody on your skin, all the better — but I think you should wear it regardless if you love it so much. Isn’t that what fragrance is really about at the end of the day? To give you joy? 🙂