Da Lat

Da Lat is my first try of my newly-received Discovery set of Chapter 1 from d’Annam, a fragrance house from Vietnam that is both celebrating Asia and inspiring calmness, per their literature. Da Lat is an homage to the city of the same name and is a fresh blend of juniper berry, rose, red wine, and pine, fresh and green and a touch sweet, and not quite smelling like a perfume I’ve tried before despite having a fairly calming general familiarity and, perhaps most importantly, harmony among the notes. It has a floral, fruity opening that dries down into a more calming, green blend with the wine/pine/juniper trio taking center stage. It stands out positively, a pick-me-up that’s nevertheless also calming, smooth, easygoing. It’s an instant winner for me. d’Annam’s fragrances are EDP concentration and priced at $120 for 50ml, sold in the US via both their house website and Luckyscent, which currently carries 5 of the 9 scents. It’s reasonable pricing in the current market, in my opinion, and look forward to trying the rest of the line. 8 out of 10

This perfume is spectacular. I didn't know how I would like wine notes in a perfume but this has thoroughly convinced me. At first spray, it's refreshing and intoxicating with the rose, crisp juniper and sumptuous wine. Floral, coniferous and ever so slightly powdery. It's like rose petals dipped in wine around Christmastime. After the first hour, the wine and evergreen notes fade a bit, and the magnolia and peony emerge to bolster the rose. It's dewy, light and somewhat titillating—just so lovely. It remains a floral wonderland for a few hours before the musk comes out adding body and some softness to the scent. From here on, it smells like pure rose water to me. Overall, this is easily one of my favorites. The longevity is great too, lasting about 10 or 11 hours on me. d'Annam is easily becoming my new favorite perfume house as everything I try from them is a home run.

Woahhhh I did not expect to love this as much as I do. I never reach for rose or floral scents. When smelling the bottle I was a little worried, it smelled very similar to spray tans like Saint Moriz. But when sprayed on the skin 😍. In the opening you get a bright almost citrusy blast of cypress and it almost reminds me of litchi! This makes this scent so unique and captivating. I also see the comparisons to Delina so if you are a fan I highly recommend Da Lat. The dry down is shampooy- boozy- rosewater, very sophisticated. I can see this as a date-night or girls night fragrance. A definite compliment getter. Just be wary if you strongly dislike rose or find it headache inducing this may not be for you.

You really gotta search for the wine all the way to the back of the cellar with this one. I can sort of read the jammy feeling some people are describing, but my initial impression of this is a very fresh rose. It has generic DNA, nothing crazy, but it is a fun take on an otherwise overused formula. I can't say I'm blown away, it's relatively unoriginal for this brand, but it is pleasing, and I'm enjoying wearing it a lot more than I thought I would. Edit: I still stand on my review, that this isn't a mind-blowing scent. But it just does what it aims to do so well that I can't stop reaching for it. I think this might be my favourite from the sample set, and overall I am very impressed with the brand.

I love the adventure this one has taken me on! The opening for me was a deliciously sweet, jammy rose - maybe fruity? Warm, juicy, red and orange comes to mind. It sharpens a bit to present the cypress and cedar more prominently. But the sweetness remains? It's confusing me in the most delightful way. If I smell it close up, it's woody and sultry, but if I don't pay too much attention a juicy sweetness comes forward that I want to chase. I don't know that I experience red wine for this one, but I am falling in love with the fruity-ness. I love that it feels naturally sweet, not candy-sweet? It's not the sweetness of sugar or honey but of fleshy summer fruits and sun-warm roses.