Voluspa Black Figue & Chypre Diffuser

I smelled Voluspa Voluspa Black Figue & Chypre Diffuser at Bloomingdale's and fell in love. A green, woody, sweet fig- what's not to like? I know better than to buy the full-size big reed diffusers, though, since I don't need the bottles (I prefer to find my own decorative bottles) or reeds (reeddiffusers.org). A quick online search found Voluspa's large refill bottles and I ordered a few.

The "chypre" in Black Figue & Chypre from Voluspa Maison Noir collection is dark green and woody. More the actual cypress tree than the oakmossy perfume accord. It's elegant and charming, and most important- works beautifully with the fruity ripe fig. If it came in a perfume and/or body butter I'd have bought it right there at Bloomie's (there's a room and body spray, but that doesn't cut it for me).

The refills come with Voluspa signature black reeds, so that's what I used at first. After a couple of days it was clear that even the small space the diffuser was supposed to scent was too much for it. There was absolutely no throw unless I was hovering right above it. I replaced the pretty but dainty reeds with a bunch of 3.25mm ones and that made a big difference. It's still not at the level of of L'Occitane diffusers or even some Voluspa scents (the Blatic Amber is amazing in this regard), but now I can actually smell it from a few steps away.

Bottom Line: Preety, but not good enough.

Voluspa Black Figue & Chypre Diffuser ($60 for the full kit, $35 for a mini kit and about half of that for the refills) is available from most department stores and other home decor boutiques as well as online.

Photo: spoonfulblog.com