For me this will be the winter of Comme des Garçons Daphne Eau de Parfum. Within half an hour of a dab from a sample tube, I was at my computer ordering a bottle, budget be damned. Its warmth, complexity, and femme fatale vibe were irresistible. At the same time, I think hordes of perfume enthusiasts will detest Daphne. Its sweet thickness might drive comparisons to marshmallow fluff and talcum powder. But I'm smitten.
Perfumer Antoine Lie created Daphne using notes of bitter orange, incense, saffron, rose centifolia, Tunisian jasmine, tuberose, iris, patchouli, oud, amber, and vanilla. Essentially, Daphne is an oriental scent featuring tuberose with all the baroque fixings. It's named for Daphne Guinness, a British celebrity who seems to have earned her fame mainly through eccentric chic and a prominent family.
Daphne opens with bitter orange and tuberose. The orange isn't a fleeting top note — it wears into the perfume for a few hours. Just as the bitter orange starts to fade, incense slightly soured by oud takes over orange's role balancing the tuberose and jasmine. Soft amber and vanilla soften the perfume's edges from first spray to deep dry down, but the vanilla and orange avoid the dreaded "Orange Julius" effect, probably because of the tuberose's intensity. No one will smell Daphne and say "saffron!" although knowing it's there I can pick it out. Patchouli-phobes don't have to worry: Daphne's patchouli doesn't stand out until the scent's very last gasps, some time the next day. The whole effect is velvety warmth, slightly powdery, tingling with white flowers in a box of incense and orange peel.
Daphne's tuberose and jasmine especially attract me. Often tuberose — like diamonds — comes off as too cold on my skin. Jasmine, as much as I love it, can feel barely grounded. In Daphne, the tuberose is as warm and earthy as silk velvet, and jasmine lifts it up. It's a combination that in Daphne plays as more Sophia Loren than Elizabeth Taylor.
I'm raving on and on about Daphne, but I highly recommend sampling this one before deciding whether to buy it. It's a big, crowded, and potentially smothering fragrance. If you long to live in a condo featured in Dwell, have nothing on your mantel but one vintage Blenko vase, and you like your perfume lean and airy, go elsewhere. If your dream home is something you saw once in a 1930s fashion magazine, and your mantel is loaded with your nephew's parrot sculpture, a chalkware lamp shaped like a Turkish boy, and a mishmash of flowers in varying stages of decline in a variety of flea market vases, step right up. I especially think you should try Daphne if you've ever been tempted to layer Comme des Garçons Avignon with Rochas Femme.
Daphne comes in a red velvet pouch in a box that feels like it's made of linen cardboard and is textured white on the outside but satin black on the inside. The bottle is of thick glass in an elegant but modern shape. "Daphne" is etched into its belly. Daphne only comes in one size, 50 ml, and one strength, Eau de Parfum. (Attention Comme des Garçons executives, this one would make a killer candle). For information on where to buy Daphne, see Comme des Garçons under Perfume Houses.
Great review! I just sampled this, and I liked it but for me the tuberose was a little bit too much… I loved the warm, creamy incense-y feel of it, though. I will definitely try it again.
I can definitely see where it could be overwhelming! (What a sweet kitten you have as your gravatar. That one looks born to attack feet moving under sheets.)
I agree–that kitty has the look of a toe-nibbler about him.
It’s true! And now no longer a kitten… a nearly four-year-old 14-pounder. But amazingly tolerant of perfume samples, fortunately.
Avignon with Rochas Femme…whew! Your review describes a perfume to fear, Angela. Your descriptions always get me. I’ll have to try this one, if only out of burning curiousity.
wonder how they settled on Daphne Guinness, of all people.
It doesn’t smell anything like I imagine Femme plus Avignon would smell (that would be quite the blockbuster!) but there’s some conceptual link, I think. Let me know what you think if you do try it.
Not sure I’m brave enough
It’s not that scary!
Oh dear, now I’m more curious than ever. It’s finally gotten chilly enough here for me to bust out the Timbuktu and start looking at my other fall scents. I’m dying to smell this and may just place a LuckyScent order today and if I love it I’ll be hankering for a split. I fear this may be a tad sweet for me, but I still have my standby cool-weather tuberose: the brilliant Cèdre.
Angela, I’m in awe of your “budget be damned” attitude!
You know I still owe you some Diorling, and I’d be happy to tuck in a sample of Daphne. It’s nothing like Cedre (which is such a terrific scent), but I like it!
When I saw the name Daphne, I thought of my mom. She has daphne shrubs planted in front of the house where she lives now and she raves about their heavenly scent. Unfortunately, I haven’t been there during their blooming, so I’ve yet to experience the fragrance. Anyway, turns out this perfume doesn’t have anything to do with the flower, so my comment is really apropos of nothing. LOL [BTW -I think we just got a ‘glimpse’ of Angela’s mantel and isn’t it fun, quirky and full of personality?! Love it.]
Daphne, the shrub, is wonderful. It spells spring to me.
My mantel actually has two Turkish boy lamps! And a brilliant clock shaped like something from the 18th century, but made of resin filled with shells and colorful rocks. And a ceramic panther from the 1940s with a chain leash and jeweled collar. It’s crowded up there.
Your mantel sounds totally cool.
I enjoy creating understated, clean rooms for any clients that are into that sort of thing , as I admire the look, but I just could never live with it. I love to collect things and mix too many colors, patterns, textures and styles for my own home. I always say that my home is my canvas and it truly is. I’m fortunate to have a couple of mantels to decorate, and I do change them up from time to time. The one I’m looking at right now is very rustic and Fall looking – a vase with assorted feathers and dried flowers, seeds and pods from my yard and garden, some hand painted ceramic sparrows, and iron sparrow and a big distressed wood candlestick holding a sandlewood scented pillar. Oh, and back to Daphne – I definitely plan to sample this one. The notes sound like my home – an eclectic mix of wonderful things!
I love the idea of having a rotating display on the mantel, depending on what you find in the garden, where you go on vacation, what orphaned earring you find on the street–whatever. Your mantel sounds terrific.
Mantels, tabletops, shelves, etc – all good locations for personalized vignettes of special items.
I placed a Luckyscent sample order today, including – Daphne, of course. [Now, I only need to recuperate from this crummy flu I’ve been dealing with so I can get my sense of smell back! It’s been hell, on SO many levels. ugh]
I hope you’re feeling better soon!
Yeah, sorry you haven’t been feeling well.
ugh, yucky flu. Hope you feel better.
Thank you for the well-wishes ladies – I could use ’em!
You’re killing me (and my budget), Angela. I’ll definitely sample first though – the powder scares me a bit. I don’t mind powder-y (I wear Youth Dew and Habit Rouge), but I don’t want it to be overwhelming and talcum-y.
It’s a lot less powdery than Habanita, if that helps. If you do try it, please let me know what you think!
I am eagerly awaiting the sample I ordered from Luckyscent to arrive as my name is Daphne, and I’ve always wanted to find a frag with my name on it! I love tuberose and incense (recovering old-fashioned Catholics never lose that incense sense memory. Hope it works on me.
It would be great to find a fragrance named after you that you loved! I hope it works for you. I have a feeling that any perfume named “Angela” would smell prissy.
Lol! Your reviews are so lovely, I’m sure a fragrance named Angela would be, too. An aside: I was named “Daphne” when I was born but having married someone with the last name “Duck,” for obvious reasons I changed my first name to Katherine (a family name) and Daphne is now my middle name.
Good move!
What’s wrong with being Daphne Duck?
And when you wrote that you didn’t have a little snicker going?
I suppose this exposes more of my brains inner workings than any of you truly wanted to see….but I think I would have reveled in being Daphne Duck. oh just so you all know, I barely missed getting named Susie Swan. really.
My brother had a friend whose last name was pronounced “psycho.” (I’m not kidding–and he would correct people who mispronounced it.) He married a woman named Susie. You put it together.
Oh no … I fear I must sample this immediately! I also find tuberose too “cold” sometimes so I’ve glad it doesn’t come off that way here. I saw Daphne Guinness recently in some kind of documentary about couture … otherwise I’d have no idea who she is! Thanks for the review.
It’s too bad about tuberose being cold on you–I know exactly how you feel. I love it, I want to wear it, and it just doesn’t “go” with me. It works really well in Daphne, though.
Sounds deelish, Angela. Vanilla and Orange minus the Orange Julius – good! It is anything like Anna Pliska, though? That one scares me…
It’s not like Anna Pliska, although it is warm. Lots more tuberose. Great for cold weather.
This is one of the new releases that I was really curious about and I’m even more so after reading this. It sounds quirky and slightly over the top, in keeping with her usual style.
I just hope it makes it to the stores in the area as I’m not planning on going to London any time soon and I’m reluctant to pay for samples. I emailed Dover Street Market but they said they never got any samples and suggested that I contact the C d G store it Paris. We’ll see.
Btw, unless I’m getting confused, I think this is not the first Guinness/CdG collaboration, I seem to recall past projects involving clothes (shirts?).
I’m pretty sure it’s the first scent collaboration, and I don’t know anything about clothing work together. Too bad the Dover St Market store can’t simply make you a sample! Frustrating.
Cr*p… that To Sample list keeps getting longer. Especially when Angela reviews something she likes!
I am such a sucker for Tuberose+Something scents! Fracas can be a little demanding, especially for my twill pants and minivan lifestyle, but I sure love big loud tuberose. Incidentally, I’m not among those that perceive it as a cold note, except in Tubereuse Criminelle – it always seems rather voluptuous to me. Funny how our brains work!
Off topic note: I am now TOTALLY TICKED OFF at myself for not having ordered a backup bottle of Shalimar Light when it was available. Triple curses! No longer findable anywhere but ebay at ridiculous prices. (And no, Eau de Shalimar Will Not Do.)
Hey, come to think of it–Daphne and Shalimar Light could be cousins, although Daphne is definitely heavier, thicker, less sunny. I hope you get to try it!
Aargh … missing the boat on Shalimar Light makes me want to cry every time I think about it.
Don’t cry! Hopefully something just as good is around the corner….(the standard Pollyanna blah blah blah)
What I don’t understand is why they stopped making it? Why must they torment us by discontinuing the good stuff?
It truly is torture!
hey, that standard Pollyanna routine is sometimes all we’ve got to hang on to as we scour the internet for that one very last bottle of a discontinued fragrance…only to find that some silly stores will not ship to the USA….arrrrgggg!
Hey Mals –
I was just shopping over at beautyencounter.com and they had Shalimar Light for $59. I don’t know if that’s a good price or not, but thought I’d give you the heads up.
Well, I was hoping to pay less (I got my first bottle for $45) – but it’s a heck of a lot better than the $120 one on ebay! Ordering one NOW. Bless your heart – thanks! I had looked there last week, and they didn’t seem to have it then.
You know there are 2 Shalimar Lights? One (earlier) straw-colored juice & one (later) blue juice. Be sure to get the one you really want — they smell slightly different from each other.
Just when I thought I was (nearly) lemming free, I had to read this! You make it sound really good–will have to get a sample after all.
I think it’s definitely worth trying if you can get a sample.
Ooooh, this one got me, too. I went from ‘oh, this is nice’ to ‘wow, this is REALLY nice’ to ‘gotta have it’ in the space of about 15 minutes. This fragrance is the olfactory equivalent of a BLT — it’s got all the ‘flavors’ I like all together in one highly satisfactory sandwich. In fact, I like this so much that if I had set out to design a fragrance, this might have been it.
Glad I’m not alone in my Daphne love
I’ve never thought to compare perfume to a BLT, but it works! It sounds like we had the same reaction to it. Do you have a bottle yet?
No bottle quite yet, but as soon as my next payday rolls around, one shall be mine. It is, after all, officially the 4th fiscal Qtr, so all purchases made prior to Oct. 1st don’t count, right?
It may have been because I posted just prior to lunch, but for some reason, the sweet-savory-crunchy-green-smooth etc. conglomeration known as a BLT just seemed to fit.
This is probably the last week of BLT season here, before the T is just too depressing.
Me three, Teri and Angela – Daphne was a “squirt-sniff-swoon” perfume for me. I was all ready to order the BLT to go, but about 40 minutes in, Daphne went from “oooh!” to “hmmmm”. The lush incense/tuberose that had me at “hello” started to get a little mushy and musty. It went from “vintage-inspired” to “old-fashioned”, and I found myself backing away from the credit card. For now, I’m just dating my sample and holding off on commitment. But in the course of writing this, I applied some more Daphne, and am swooning all over again. I am intrigued…
Maybe a decant would be an option for you to see if you truly do like it without plunking down the major $$.
Never a bad idea, although I sure didn’t follow that good advice.
Round and round the sample vial goes…who knows where it might land? Maybe it was the powder that got you.
Oh, no, this sounds really good… I may need to add it to the ever-growing list of samples of the month I need. Angela, how about a woman who has a painting of Socrates done by her mother in the 60’s, a vintage clock that doesn’t work and perpetually throws people off with the wrong time, and two urns holding her cats ashes on the mantle? Would it be my kind of fragrance?
(And what *would* a perfume in our name smell like? I think the closest we may come is something called Angelique or, god forbid, Angel.)
Your mantel sounds like a shoo-in for Daphne!
The Angela perfume that reflected me would probably have a hint of gin in it somewhere, alas. Yours would likely be classier.
If by classier you mean mine would have vodka instead of gin, then yes…
We’ll have to balance it with some kind of drinking snack smell. Pretzels, say. Or nuts. Maybe a beer nut accord.
I’m liking the beer nut accord. Go on…
Sounds like a ‘Daphne’ mantel to me.
I have a lovely potential fragrance name that would be purrrrfect for you two ladies. The tough part would be agreeing on the scent.
Entre Les Anges (among the angels)
What do you think?
That hasn’t been taken over as an Angel flanker yet? No wait–that was La Part des Anges.
Ooh, I like that. Since vodka doesn’t really have a smell (beyond smelling like, well, alcohol), we can at least agree on a gin accord. I don’t know where we go from there. We’ll have to work out the particulars.
Sounds like a good project! In the meantime, I’ll wear Daphne.
I love tuberose, love orange and love incense. This sounds amazing! I don’t mind the scent of an Orange Julius (apparently Nikki Hilton’s Begin has that going on as does VS’s Heavenly Wish which isn’t bad), and just love the big pink powder puff that’s Fracas. Toss in some bitter orange, incense and vanilla? Stick a fork in me. I’m totally done.
Time to add this to the must sample list.
On the Shalimar Light.. How do I know which I have? I bought a Shalimar Light gift set with 1.7 edt, body lotion and shower gel, and I’m in love with the bit I have left. But given I only have an idea of what the bottle looks like, not the standard box, how can I find a bottle of the right frag instead of the Eau de Shalimar or whatever variation that’s inferior to the perfection of SL? I know Beauty Encounter and 99 Perfume or Fragrance X seemed to have some in stock, but I’m not sure which one they have.
Oh man, you’ll have to ask someone else. I know the names are different–Shalimar Light v. Eau de Shalimar–but I believe there’s an early Shalimar Light and a late one. The earlier one is supposed to be better. Maybe it’s blue liquid? I can’t remember.
AS, I’ll share what I found out, desperately searching for some of the first incarnation:
a) the original stuff is Just Not Available. Period.
b) the first version was straw-colored liquid in a pale, pale blue bottle; the second is pale blue liquid in a slightly darker bottle. The second version is what I have and love anyway (I don’t even want to think about how much I would have loved the first). To see the picture, go to beautyencounter.com (not affiliated) and search for Shalimar Light. I recently saw on ebay a gift set of 1.7 oz bottle with shower gel and lotion – that’s the stuff I have – but did not manage to get a bid in on it; if that’s what you have, it’s probably the 2nd (blue) juice. Beautyencounter apparently has it right now, although they didn’t last week when I was looking and tearing my hair out.
c) Eau de Shalimar is apparently clear liquid in a clear bottle with dark blue trim. To see a picture, search for it at fragrancenet.com (it’s out of stock, but I think the picture is accurate). I only smelled it on a paper strip someone sent to me, so I don’t know for sure whether it’s really translucent, or just very, very, very pale blue. I can only describe it as Shalimar Light after a long illness – thin, pale, lackluster, and terribly wasted.
(Plug the kids’ ears, and I’ll tell you what I REALLY think of Eau de Shalimar!)
Shalimar Light deeply researched, reply prepared…
Original frag composed by Mathilde Laurent, straw-colored juice. (Both versions also called Shalimar Eau Legere Parfumee.) Second version tweaked by J-P Guerlain, pale blue juice in pale blue bottle. (This is the one I have, and never mind that the first was by all accounts slightly better, particularly in the top notes, which can be a little bit Lemon Pledge on occasion. I love my blue juice.) Here’s a pic of what my bottle looks like:
http://www.beautyencounter.com/3346470109971.html?synertech
(not affiliated with beautyencounter – I just have a bottle in my cart there waiting for me to finish commenting here.)
Eau de Shalimar is light-colored stuff in a clear bottle with blue trim. Here’s a pic of it:
http://www.fragrancenet.com/eau-de-shalimar-perfume/guerlain/womens-fragrances/wf/en_US/20250
In my opinion, it’s a sad, thin travesty of Shalimar Light: thin and pale and wasted after some dreadful illness. And if you plug the kids’ ears, I’ll tell you what I REALLY think of it.
Sorry for the long-windedness; hope it was helpful.
Oh, and 99perfume.com will let you put it in the cart, and then tell you that it’s out of stock. B*st*rds.
Wow, I’ll bet my comments are winding up in the spam filter. I’ve tried to describe the difference twice, with mention of b encounter and fragrance net (SL is allegedly in stock at BE, and EdS is pictured at FN).
I’ll try again.
First version composed by Mathilde Laurent is straw-colored liquid in either very pale blue or clear bottle. I haven’t smelled it, but it doesn’t matter because it’s just unavailable.
Second version tweaked by Jean-Paul Guerlain, the one that I have and love and want more of!, is pale blue liquid in pale blue bottle. This is probably what you have in that gift set, since I’ve seen that set on ebay (and FAILED TO GET IN A BID, how stupid can I be?).
Eau de Shalimar appears to be clear juice in clear bottle, judging by the picture at fragrance net. I only smelled it on a paper strip sent to me by a friend, and it is Shalimar Light after the third relapse of mononucleosis: pale and skeletal.
The first incarnation
Oops, typo. And I’ll shut up now, since this is a review of Daphne and I seem to have hijacked it… sorry.
They did end up in the spam filter, sorry! I just found them there & approved them. Hope that didn’t make this even more confusing!
Sometimes ignorance is bliss :), here in Sweden we only find Eau de Shalimar and I fell for it headlong first time I sniffed it. On me it’s a happy, carefree, dusty non-calorie lemon-meringue pie of a scent (if that makes any sense :p). So now I have to find a way of trying Shalimar Light to try to understand Mals’ opinion :).
I agree with the “sometimes ignorance is bliss” comment. I can’t think of how many times I’ve been soured on wonderful scents because I once smelled their even better ancestors. *big sigh*
Lovely review Angela – as always! I’ve found that for the most part, I love the smell of tuberose scents, but can’t really wear them. After about five minutes I want to walk away. Alas, I’m a true chypre girl – what am I gonna do?
I’m a dedicated chypre fan, too–Daphne could be worth a try for you.
Strangely enough, this sounds really good to me. Tuberose usually smells like shampoo on me. May have to sample.
I don’t get shampoo in this one, but I’d love to know what you think of it.
That’s it, woman — no more blogging from you!!! It’s your fault I bought a bottle of the Laura Mercier today (yes, I liked it that much). Now I have to try this one… tuberose can be tough for me, but I like your layering idea of Femme + Avignon so much I feel I have to try it. Well, the layering
but Daphne too.
Ha, just the person that I’m saving my sample for! (See comment below!) And I can’t quite wear the Laura Mercier. It nearly killed my father. Who never keeps his opinion to himself.
Perfect! If the Mercier is too much for you, the Daphne might do you in completely.
Isn’t that Mercier nice? And really not a bad deal when you consider its potency. I thought it was my score of the season until I tried Daphne. Just saying.
Well, I love Femme, and Avignon is perfect on certain days, but I’m not sure that I could quite stomach the two together. I do have a sample of Daphne sitting at home, daring me to wear it. One tiny dab of it the day it arrived convinced me that I have to wait to share it with a friend. It seemed too thick for my taste. Not that I can’t do bold, but the sheer volume of BIG NOTES, made me hesitate.
Speaking of which, I sampled Minuit Enchante and was, for one of the first times, still smelling it over 12 hours later. Which would have been a good thing, (scent-eating skin) except that I found that it too overwhelmed me. It even elicited a negative comment from a family member! I do like my orientals, but I suppose that I like them to be a bit more refined?
Have you tried Natori? It’s has a much more delicate feel. I can definitely see how both the Mercier and Daphne could overwhelm some skin.
Natori is definitely less thick and I found it to be much nicer than Minuit. Unfortunately , I kept smelling something synthetic in it that bothered me. I really wanted to like it. The body cream was a bit easier on my nose.
Sounds like it wasn’t love, though. Well, so much the better for the pocketbook, I suppose.
I just LOVED the “budget be damned” comment! I hate budgeting, its the most boring thing in the world.
Budgeting is boring, I agree. But being broke is worse! Sometimes, though, you’ve got to take a leap of faith that a check due will come in or another freelance gig will rear its head….
No no no no. I really wanted this review to say “This is the most horrible thing I’ve smelled in ages, what fools CdG must think we are, run in the other direction and use your perfume budget on Kenzo’s UFO.”…. so that all the bottles of Daphne would be left for me. (Because I also fell for it at first sniff.)
Oh! I should have talked to you first! Is it too late to recant this review?
In the meantime, have you ordered a bottle?
Recant, decant, declare, I’m there….
It will be my next FB. Haven’t ordered it yet – it will be my ‘one month at new job’ present to myself.
Then we’ll have to hit the town together. We’ll smell so good!
I was just looking at all the little bowls of samples in my perfume cabinet and thinking “I sure have slowed down on the testing mania lately…”. A few hours later, I read this post and find myself getting out the cc to buy a sample, which turns into four. Oh, well.
It’s crazy how that happens….let me know how you like it, though!
” If your dream home is something you saw once in a 1930s fashion magazine, and your mantel is loaded with your nephew’s parrot sculpture, a chalkware lamp shaped like a Turkish boy, and a mishmash of flowers in varying stages of decline in a variety of flea market vases, step right up.”
Yesssssssssssssssss, that is so me. I’m ordering it. Eff the budget.
Sounds like we’d make good roommates! Or at least enjoy sharing a fireplace. I hope you enjoy Daphne! Make sure to get a sample first, just in case.
Happy dance! Sample of this is on the way and it sounds delightful! I had a bit of an MPG binge because someone on the Basenotes page on facebook said something about them going under. Luckyscent had some on sale and I bought Rose Muskissime unsniffed (yipes) so ordered a sample of this. Looking forward to it!
(also got a bottle of my beloved Secrete Datura – so glad I found out about this before it was all gone)
It seems like the MPGs are discounted all over the place. That must be why.
Let me know what you think of Daphne. It isn’t much like Secrete Datura, but it’s nice!
Better if it isn’t like SD! I want lots of variety.
Perfect!
Hi Angela! I’m a newbie perfumista, so first off I just want to say, thanks for all of your wonderful posts!
Tragically this is going on my ‘to try’ list…my shopping cart on luckyscent is currently this awful living document that keeps growing; I can’t bring myself to click the ‘buy’ button because what if there’s something else I just have to sample tomorrow? Budget be damned is right!
I’m excited for this one because I’ve yet to make any kind of peace with tuberose. Tubereuse Criminelle and Fracas both terrified me! The other notes in this one look gorgeous, so I’m hoping it’ll be a gentler introduction to tuberose. Think I’ll have better luck?
I can’t comment on Daphne because I haven’t tried it yet, but if you are looking for a beautiful non-scary intro to tuberose – have you tried Estee Lauder’s Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia? It’s not a complicated scent, but it is very pretty and non-scary.
I agree. It’s not as “out there” as Fracas and Tub Crim (that sounds funny) but “juicier”. Even still, the EL Private Collection still is pretty different than Daphne.
I’ve never even heard of the EL! My main experience with Gardenia is my grandmother’s Chanel Gardenia (and I’m not someone who thinks smelling like my grandma is a bad thing!) and that was delicious so this one will go right on my to try list
Thanks for the rec!
You’re welcome!
I’m so glad you enjoy the reviews!
Daphne’s tuberose is worlds away from Tuberose Criminelle and Fracas. The whole feel of Daphne is. It’s much warmer, thicker, more oriental. Please let me know what you think of it when you try it!
I loooove the reviews :-D!
Ouuu, now I absolutely have to try it! It sounds completely scrumptuous. I’ll absolutely report back!
I’ll look forward to it!
It is so… à point nommé!
I posted on blogs (grain de musc, bois de jasmin) and privately wrote to my favorite bloggers, about how much I would love to find and orange + tuberose + incense fragrance… Well, apparently no clues…
Searching databases I found “my pyramid” in an impossible-for-me-to-find rochas byzance. The name “Rochas” was enough for me to stop my efforts: it won’t probably be my kind of perfume anyway.
And then, out of the blue, I find “my pyramid” in the new Daphne! Well, the mention of powdery is enough to cool down my excitement. And I just bought a new wonderful tubey anyway… But I smile at the coincidence! And it will be my duty to check this out!
P.S. Great review, as always. Your mantel description reminds me of l’amoureuse. I don’t know why. But I love that perfume.
Well, imagine your pyramid with amber and vanilla, and it really is Daphne! Maybe it will be too thick for your taste, but I’m glad you’ll get to try it in some form.
Amoureuse is some kind of magic elixir, I swear. It’s too much for me to wear, but I admire it a lot.
My nose is practically dancing on my face in anticipation. Sample is on the way…Thanks Angela!
I hope you like it!
Is this anything like the Laura Mercier, is it a little gourmand? Is it feminine and sweet? The inscense, is it heavy?
I would say that it isn’t much like the new Laura Mercier at all; I wouldn’t call it gourmand, although it is kind of “mouth watering”; it is feminine and somewhat sweet; and the incense is very subdued.
I’m wearing my sample of Daphne today and I wanted to share my thoughts. I don’t detect tuberose at all [at least not yet, I’ve had it on close to an hour now]. I love the bitter orange, jasmine, rose and incense I’m getting. But, here’s the funny part. Almost from the start, there was something reminiscent of Dzing! for me. Scratching my head, I looked up the notes and sure enough, they both have saffron. I know you mentioned that it’s hardly noticeable, but I must have ‘radar’ for that note. It has subsided a bit now, but still present. I really got a blast of it with the top notes. Body chemistry + perfume = wonderful diversity. I love this fragrance and I’m thinking about purchasing it.
Thanks for reporting back with your thoughts! It’s so interesting that you compare it to Dzing!. I’m wearing an armful of Ylang Sutra right now, but next bare skin chance I get I’ll try them together to see if I get the saffron link, too.
Well, the similarity to Dzing! faded as I got deeper into the middle notes, but for the first hour or so, the saffron was very up front for me. I never did notice the tuberose! The dry down was so warm & cozy. I love how the bitter orange would wane and then reassert itself. What a nicely done fragrance.
Finally got around to trying this today. I’m surprised that I’ll be the first to mention Daphne’s striking resemblance to tuberose-happy Bond No 9 Chinatown — Chinatown mixed with a big dash of Amouage Lyric.
And no wonder I love it.
I never thought of that comparison! Lots of people seem to hate Daphne, though. I’m still a fan.
i love daphne guinness and was expecting a lush dark tuberose-and-incense masterpiece. i got a sweet, dry, candied, indian restaurant smell, like a saffron and rosewater dessert only not mild or soothing, just dusty and cloying. sort of like an ethnic gourmand scent. no thanks.
Too bad! Well, I guess you saved yourself some money for another bottle of perfume.
exactly!
Hi Angela, I not only found Daphne in a shop here but ALSO found a tester. AND it was on sale. Still costly at R850 but digestable! Anyway, I’v been looking for the right scent for a metal concert coming up – and this just seemed perfect. Its interesting because I dont think I’m a tuberose fan – fracas is just too much for me and I didn’t love poison. Anyway, I cant stop smelling this. I think I still have some ambivalence about that lush (high sexed?) tuberose smell but for some reason that leaves me even more intrigued with this one. Avignon was on special too and now (cos I had to have it of course) I am totally over budget and am well into in the my-perfume-will-outlive-me-predicament. So – unless I know someone going overseas (in which case I MAY order ONE of the artisans I love, either dzing or traversee bosphore) – definitely no perfume for me until July.
You join a select group of Daphne fans (including me)! It’s a fragrance with an assertive personality, but one I adore. Good work on finding it on sale, too!
Yay! I finally made it into a small exclusive group ( :
Some bloggists like March seem to have been revolted by It but I think it may, like many other scents, be very affected by the individuals skin chemistry.
I also love the luxury of that thick glass and the velvet pouch…
HI
i just want to ask if a guy could get away with wearing it lightly ? and is it long lasting? thank you.
I do think a man could wear a few drops–it’s a potent fragrance–of it well, especially if you like incense. It lasts a very long time.