Rummaging through my disorganized samples last night, I noticed that a crop of white floral samples had been growing without my really noticing. I decided to pull them out and give them a shot, as they might lend a little loveliness to the dog days of summer. (And wow, do I have a lot of incense and woods based samples for the fall!) To make a short story unnecessarily long--or at least less short--I was going through the basket in my dressing area where I put samples I want to try for the week, clearing the way for these lovely white beauties, when I found underneath some other vials and papers my sample of Do Son. I had pulled it out to try over a month ago, and it somehow worked its way down to the bottom of the basket. I have so many samples that I can't remember, with some of them, what the basic gist of the scent is or even why I chose it. Fortune must have been smiling on me just a tiny bit today (new country music hit: "Mercury Retrograde in My Rearview Mirror"), because I thought to look up Do Son and found, lo and behold, that it's a white floral! I got this vial in my very first sample pack order from Aedes, back in April or May.
The notes in Do Son are tuberose, orange tree leaves, rose, benzoin, iris, and white musk. Oh, what a beauty this fragrance is. I love the scent of tuberose. It reminds me of my grandmother. In fact, it reminds me of her so much that in certain concentrations or mixtures, I almost can't wear it. It makes me a bit sad, and also makes me feel like I've tried on someone else's personality, as in the case of Frederic Malle's Carnal Flower, which was the first tuberose fragrance I sampled here. According to Now Smell This: "Carnal Flower has the highest concentration of tuberose of any perfume on the market." This beautiful scent is enhanced by jasmine and coconut, two other scents I associate with my grandmother, so it all makes sense.
Carnal Flower is gorgeous, and in fact it's probably been Bob's favorite. (We play the Chocolat game, with me always trying to guess his favorite...) But I simply cannot wear it. He loves white florals in general, though, and so he also has complimented me extensively on Do Son. This makes me happy because it's a tuberose I feel I could call my own, or wear without feeling melancholy.
The headiness of the tuberose is made so much lighter by the orange tree flower and iris. The rose gives it the slightest bit of powder, but does not overwhelm, and the musk makes it a little sensual. As florals go, I don't think this would be too light for winter. As with Calypso Chevrefeuille, there's something to this scent that makes it feel as though it might warm me up on a winter's day, the sort where the sky is blue and high, sparse, icy clouds race through the sky, a day where it's so cold but you still feel like you have to get outdoors and do something. Although this is perfect in the heat--just floral enough, with just a hint of green--I wonder if it might actually be even more enhanced in chilly weather. I'll have to try it and see! I've used up most of the sample, but I think this might be bottle-worthy.
Ah, in this heat, cold weather feels so far away, no? Especially for those of you out west...Stay cool, friends!
*photo from Aedes
