On my skin, Dzongkha starts out strong on cardamom and incense. But it's also oddly wet, as if I'm sitting outside, in the rain and among wet leaves, with the incense smoke drifting out to me. I like the effect. But there's nothing blooming in those leaves - I don't get the floral or fruity notes that the notes list (lychee, cardamom, tea with milk, vetiver, cypriol, cedar, leather, peony, iris, and incense) would predict.
As it dries, it gets weirder. The rain and incense are joined by saffron and celery seed - a lot of celery seed. A couple of hours in, the celery vanishes and the mix starts to transform. It's dryer at this point, with the leather dominating. It's still light, but powdery - the iris, I suspect - rather than wet. Some reviews refer to the iris as cold, but to my nose, it's a warm, satisfying base.
I like it. It's on the List. And it's very nicely weird.
Review Roundup: Now Smell This and Perfume-Smellin' Things and Aromascope and Perfume Posse and Victoria's Own and Basenotes and Sweet Diva and The Scented Salamander and Fragrantica and Polish, Platforms, Perfume and MakeupAlley and Feminine Things and NotesFromJosephine.
Photo: By Lourie Pieterse. Wikimedia Commons.
Interesting that you like this one. I must go and try it again. When I was in L'Artisan Parfumeur shop at the weekend I tried out Piment Brulant for the first time. I loved it, although I don't know how easy it would be to wear. Have you tried that one?
ReplyDeleteI can't smell Piment Brulant. :( This is sad, because it sounds lovely. But I get a brief whiff of wet vegetables, and sometimes a faint ghost of a note that reminds me of the main note in Douce Amere, and then it's gone as if it had never been.
ReplyDeleteI seem to have a slightly mis-tuned nose this way - I can't smell Poivre Piquant either, and the same for three or four other L'Artisans whose names I can't bring to mind just now. There are one or two other notes that I think I don't just dislike - I think my nose actually reads them wrong. (A colorblind nose?)
I was surprised that I like the (unlisted) celery seed in Dzongkha - I hate celery in food, but I seem to be Ok with the dryer, more resinous version of the scent in celery seed.
There's a rancid note in Dzongkha that I cannot handle. I wonder if it's my skin that does that...I really must try it on someone else's skin.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Signature Scent is right, Piment Brulant is wonderful. I get lots of chilli and not much veg soup in there.
Oh, that's odd. There are a lot of odd notes, but I don't get rancid. Maybe the celery turns weird on you? (Of course, the celery isn't listed, itself.)
ReplyDeleteI wish I knew what chemicals were dominant in Piment Brulant - I want to know what it is that I can't smell. :)