Named after the masterpiece by German writer Herman Hesse, Narziss and Goldmund are a pair of fragrances for men and women, respectively, from the Dorissima line of Doris Brugger. Brugger has an impressive resume — she was mentored by Gianni Versace and later consulted with Lorenzo Villoresi about the creation of her products. The fragrances were inspired by her travels to India and Sri Lanka and combine natural essences of the Far East to create captivating fragrances for both men and women.
Goldmund Eau de Parfum is a blend of tonka beans, vanilla, iris root, rose, powdery carnation, benzoin, sandalwood, soft musk, balsam notes, Peru balsam, and allspice. A warm, sweet and spicy fragrance, Goldmund calls to mind a gentler Aqaba, with an accent on the sandalwood. Seemlessly blended, the scent opens with a spicy floral zest and then relaxes into a creamy semi-floral oriental. Never quite relinquishing the accents of rose and carnation, the fragrance ultimately dries to a rich powder of balsam, vanilla and sandalwood. Overall, a nicely crafted fragrance, but my enthusiasm is mainly for Narziss.
Narziss Eau de Toilette is a blend of tarragon, royal sage, rose, atlas cedar, vetiver, tonka, fig leaves and sandalwood. By far my favorite fragrance find of the year, this is one of the most striking and magnificent sandalwood fragrances I have ever come across. Immediately captivated by the combination of rose, tarragon and sage, I was even more surprised to find that the fragrance developed to reveal a rich and longlasting cedar and sandalwood dry down. Like Goldmund, Narziss is well-blended so that no one note really sticks out.
Rarely have I ever been so smitten with a fragrance so quickly, and considering the number of fragrances I test on a weekly basis, that’s saying a lot. Narziss is one of those scents where 8 hours after application I find myself sniffing my shirt sleeves and wrists, and having sprayed a small amount onto my nightshade, I can sit in bed and periodically enjoy wafts rich sweet sandalwood. Though my current fragrance wardrobe boasts well over 400 scents, I recently find myself guiltily wishing to wear Narziss more often than not. Bewitching. Period.
Both scents share the rose and sandalwood notes and echo each other as they develop. But whereas Goldmund is the richer and sweeter of the two, Narziss is somewhat drier and more aromatic. The price tags are a bit high, so a sample is definitely recommended.
Dorissima Goldmund and Narziss are available at luckyscent for $130 for 60 ml. In Germany, they can be purchased directly from Dorissima.
Great reviews. Like you, Narziss was the first one of the two I *had* to have. Still totally adore it, but I've fallen very hard for Goldmund as well. The Peru Balsam in it makes it one of my favorite scents of all time and it is wonderful layered w/ woody scents like Bois de Paradis which cut some of the sweetness.
I've become so jaded that rarely does a review prompt me to seek anything out any more. But your review of Narziss has certainly gotten my attention. I'd never heard of it before and must now seek it out. Is there no brick and mortar store where it's sold in NYC?
T, butting in because I don't know if Marlen will know the answer to that. I've never seen them in NY, but they are the sort of line you would expect Takashimaya to have.
I've been looking for months at both perfumes from luckyscent and never was interested untill your article, Rob. Thanks for sparking my nose.
and oh yes, can Narziss be worn by women?
T, the article is by Marlen, although I can vouch for the fact that these are well worth trying 🙂
Great review R and I cannot wait to sample these one day. Hope you are well. 🙂
Hugs!
well I have done it AGAIN! Great review Marlen.
I do need to wear my glasses.
LOL — N, I did make the print on the author name a little bigger, but perhaps it needs to be even more so…
forgive me Marlen, It's the change thang!
Goldmund is on my next purchase list. I'm surviving on a decant sent by a friend, after I flipped over the sample. Sexy, softly spicy with a sweet powdery drydown.
I would love to see how Narziss smells on a man, too bad my hubby won't oblige.
Victoria O
Marlen, well, I just have to go find these (glad I live in Germany). They both sounds wonderful, especially the Narcziss. And I just sat through my husbands synopsis of the book about Goldmund and Narcziss.
Great review, Marls! I tried Dorissima, which was lovely, albeit on a sweet side for me. Narziss is the one I keep meaning to try, but I keep misplacing my sample. Organization is what I need. 🙂
I have a sample of Goldmund, but I'm weirdly terrified to try it. Narcissus and Goldmund is one of my favorite books ever, and certainly my favorite by Hesse. I always saw Narcissus as such a austere remote figure, and rather a cold fish: I'm not sure I would want to smell like that, but at the same time I don't know I'd want a scented tribute to the character to not smell like that. I will have to work up the nerve to try my Goldmund sample, though: I just don't wish to be disappointed, and with him Hesse used such rich imagery with him, so many allegories with woody and animally things, so I fret the scented ode to him will only let me down.
Well, I'm late to the party as usual…
Ok – let's get some of these questions answered!
1) In my opinion, both fragrances can be shared, though Goldmund will no doubt be a bit sweet for men.
2) There is no Dorissima shop in NYC, but a company by the name of Cittadini is listed as the New York/ Palm Beach perfumerie that carries the produts, and of course Luckyscent in LA. For more info, visit http://www.dorissima.de, click partners, and scroll to the bottom of the page.
3) The Goldmund is slowly growing on me as well, and this week I find that I must smell it every day so I keep a decant (thanks D!) on the night table, next to the decants of the sacred Lutens MKK (thanks A!), Narziss (thanks B & G!) and new discovery L'Artisan Piment Brulant (thanks J!).
4) I'm so happy that my enthusiasm has piqued some interests. But just one question, when you breakdown and exercise your credit card, will you then hate me?
5) I know what you mean about the relation to the characters in a book – Brugger's 3rd scent is actually named “Siddhartha” and is a scented oil spray for the body. The urge to order is nearly overwhelming…But I wonder if my expectation is dangerously high?
Just wanted to say that SAMPLES are available for purchase at LUCKYSCENT.COM
(hint, hint, hint)
These both sound gorgeous, however – I don't get the “pair of fragrances for men and women, respectively” as Narziss and Godmund were both men. The first was an artist and the other a hermit in Herman Hesse's famous novel.
Ayala – agreed…I didn't quite get that either, but I feel that both scents could be easily unisex…actually, the scent of Goldmund is the original scent of the Dorissima line's body products…
I yet have to come across a sandalwood fragrance that can beat Narziß, at least when it comes to a true replica of the smell. I have a small sample I treasure highly, but I really do need the real thing. How that is supposed to happen sometime soon (looking at my have to buy-list) just seems like something impossible.
I'm glad you wrote about this one Marlen.
Marls, why do you have to do this to me. I am having a bad enough time deciding what scents to have for Christmas and then you throw another one at me that I now want to try.
Excellent reviews as usual.
Barry
Martin, Barry – I didn't mean to torutre you, really I didn't….but this Narziss is so darn good! Finally a sandalwood that doesn't smell like pencil shavings or incense, or in a number of cases, “not sandalwood”….and it lasts!
Hmm, must retest Narcisse. I love love Goldmund, but found Narcisse too masculine for me.
What sort of crimes would I have to commit, do you think, to get a sample of this?
You can get a sample of Goldmund from Luckyscent for $4. They seem to be out of Narziss at the moment, unfortunately, but it might be worth emailing them to ask if they'll have them in the future. Otherwise, it might require some sort of crime — I don't know of anyone else carrying these in the US.