FRAGRANCE | 7 Virtues Vanilla Woods and Cherry Ambition #CanadianJuly

Press samples

As a big Dragon's Den fan, I tend to bingewatch the episodes whenever they are available on Netflix and I am amazed at how many of the products I use that have appeared on the show! I use makeup brand Youthforia, the Scrub Daddy, Blume, Cheekbone Beauty, Elate Cosmetics and now 7 Virtues!  

 

I honestly do not know of any well-known Canadian fragrance brands, let alone one that is in Sephora! Haling from Halifax, Nova Scotia, I remember seeing founder Barb Stegemann on Dragons' Den years ago and back then I wasn't as into fragrance as I am now so I kind of lost track of 7 Virtues and now it's huge! The story behind 7 Virtues is kind of an amazing one as its roots lie in "making perfume not war". When Barb's best friend, Captain Trevor Greene was horrifically wounded on a mission in Afghanistan, she decided to take on a mission of peace by sourcing ingredients like orange blossom and rose essential oils from Afghanistan, Rwanda, Haiti and Madagascar and empowering the people there by paying a fair wage and helping their economy. For example, in Afghanistan, she paid competitive wages to farmers who grew orange blossom to discourage growing poppies which were responsible for the global heroin supply. I am horrifically simplifying her story, but if you can watch Perfume War, I'm sure this will all make much more sense!

Cherry Ambition

Made with sustainably sourced sandalwood from Australia and upcycled green cognac, Cherry Ambition, would not have been a scent I would have picked up on my own, but it has surprised me! The top notes are Cherry (though I find it more subtle than expected), pink pepper, mandarin and marshmallow, heart notes are cherry blossom, osmanthus, orris and saffron and base notes are vanilla, amber, musk, frankincense and guaiacwood. I had to Google a few of those notes and learned some new fragrances!

I am not normally a big cherry fan so I was quite hesitant to spritz this on, but it was much cozier and warmer than I was expecting and felt like a more confident "upgrade" to my usual vanilla base. I feel like having a 50mL of this is maybe overkill as I don't know how often I would wear this compared to Vanilla Woods, but it is a lovely option if you are looking for a boost of confidence and something that doesn't smell like a young teenager. 

As this is my first time experiencing 7 Virtues, I have to comment on the packaging as what stood out to me on the 50mL bottle was the cap which was weighted and stamped with the phrase "Make perfume not war" in addition to the 7 Virtues logo. 

Vanilla Woods

Vanilla lovers THIS is your fragrance! With a top note of pear, heart note of rose and base notes of vanilla, amber and caramel, Vanilla Woods is a dream! It's sweet, but not in a childish way, it's creamy, you can smell the pear and the warmth of the vanilla and caramel. It makes me feel relaxed, comforted and instantly soothed. 

This 10mL travel size is perfect for someone like me who likes to mix up their fragrances quite a bit although I actually might get the full size of this as I have been wearing this to bed, to work and just around the house to feel happy. I totally get why this fragrance has been so talked about online!

While 7 Virtues is available at Sephora, I would prefer to buy from the actual 7 Virtues website as they have a really great "Fragrance Try" policy where all full sized fragrances come with a sample size of the same fragrance. You are meant to use the sample size and if you like the fragrance, then great, you keep the full size, but if you decide that it's not for you, just return it for free within 30 days! They also do sales just like Sephora and I would rather my money go straight to 7 Virtues.

Give 7 Virtues a try! Especially Vanilla Woods! I am going to pick up the Discovery Set so I can try the other vanilla-based scents!