Do Son Eau de Parfum

If perfumery is the art of bottling memories, Diptyque with Do Son Eau de Parfum has created one of its most fascinating time machines. Launched in 2013 and signed by the nose Fabrice Pellegrin, this unisex fragrance is a tribute to the childhood memories of Yves Coueslant (one of the founders of the maison) in the seaside resort of Do Son, in the bay of the same name in Vietnam. Do Son is, in no uncertain terms, a triumph of tuberose, but forget the shouty, opulent or "strong" declinations that this flower often dresses us in. Here the tuberose is fresh, bathed in dew and caressed by the sea breeze. The scent is revealed with the green and slightly bitter freshness of orange leaf, immediately enlivened by a sparkling touch of pink pepper. It is the moment when the sea air collides with the coastal vegetation. Tuberose emerges in all its purity. It's not dramatic, but hypnotic, sunny and incredibly natural. It has a clean, almost poetic creaminess. The musk seals the fragrance, giving it a soft, velvety persistence and a "second skin" effect that blends beautifully with the heat of the body. Being the Eau de Parfum version, Do Son has excellent longevity on the skin and fabrics, superior to its Eau de Toilette counterpart. The sillage is elegant: it stands out without ever being intrusive or suffocating. Although tuberose is historically associated with women's perfumery, Pellegrin's mastery lies in having created an absolutely unisex perfume. The green and musky notes also make it perfect on male skin that seeks dandy and unconventional elegance. It is ideal for spring and summer evenings, but can provide a veil of warm nostalgia even in the cold months. Do Son Eau de Parfum is a masterpiece of balance. It is a bright, clean perfume, at times nostalgic but tremendously modern. If you love white florals that smell of cleanliness, wind and whispered luxury, Do Son absolutely deserves a place of honor in your collection. A fragrance that not only dresses the body, but dresses the soul.

This is from a recent repurchase as I'd been out of it for a few years. I questioned the purchase as there's so much new to try, only so much money available, and though I'd loved it before, I wondered would it be as interesting or appealing or would it feel like just revisiting old ground. I also bought it in packaging Diptyque hasn't used in a few years and wondered about its age and integrity. Happily it's the same beau airy tuberose as ever. Heavenly. It presents the delightful natural sweetness of the flower in a fresh airy manner while still being noticeable and unmistakable. A green and vital tuberose. It is the nectarous release of spring’s first blooms. It is the smell of summer, particularly evenings, when only then does the shy tuberose favor to releases its essence. Cool and refreshing without mints, camphors. Delicate yet deliberate. It is all the delights the Northern hemisphere has to offer in her warmer months. It is April May June and July. Wearing this elevates everything. It will lighten your step, change your perspective. On the surface it may seem a scent for the breezier events of spring's and summer's days: luncheons and showers for babies and brides. But it is also the scent of balmy summer nights, the perfect osmotic backdrop for the shy and playful fumblings that precede so many romantic encounters. And in what may seem an about face, I suggest it as a pairing for some of our darker moments as well. Wear it in grief. Wear it to a funeral. We attend these pageants in search of relief, to find sense in the senseless, order in the chaos. Even crowding the events with live floral displays. Do Son, in its sweet cool serenity, is perfectly at home at such events. Let it lighten your day as you seek peace this scent so adeptly captures as it reminds us so much of the lightness and brightness of life.

Bright, verdant, elegant, balanced with poise between utter sophistication & uncomplicated innocence—both lady & ingenue, with a delightfully teasing awareness of its duality; this being one of the main allures of white florals, especially tuberose: that delicate ability to toe the line between fresh faced simplicity & lush glamour. Do Son’s bouquet rests, to my nose, closer to the side of simplicity, but with an undeniable refinement that makes one think of knowing glances beneath long lashes, cheeks flushed with sun, hair lifting from bare shoulders on a passing breeze. Its attitude is infectiously self-assured but delightfully unfussy, straightforward & unabashed, with none of the heavy powder or butteriness that some white florals are burdened with; Do Son floats & dances, swells & cocoons, like the seaside breezes that swathe its namesake. There was a time when this perfume intimidated me with its straightforwardness & I shied from its bright conviction, but came to sniff the brilliant spirit that emanated from the bottle with hope for my future courage. I now find this scent utterly easy, comforting, encouraging with its green mantle of unflinching sunshine; I smell its vivid radiance shimmer from a scarf or the collar of a shirt & feel a bright shield of beauty close over me in benediction, warding off all frost on heart or heath. In the cold, Do Son radiates with summer’s inevitable resplendence, & in the heat, it blooms unfettered wreathing the wearer in green & white sweetness. There is something hopeful in this fragrance, something dogged & addictive in its simple insistence on beauty, living in the folds of clothing & the creases of skin & the heavy loops of hair like an echo of summer, a living promise of light & greenness & goodness yet to come.

my friend spent her birthday in qatar and was given a tester of do son. she didn't like it, but felt like it would be something up my alley. over a lovely meal of sushi and mocktails, she handed me the most life-changing perfume i'd ever be gifted. instantly upon spraying it on my wrist, i was transported to somewhere familiar. like i know this smell, i've smelled it before. it was almost nostalgic. but i couldn't remember the scent, it was on the tip of my tongue. i spent the whole weekend wondering where i recognize this scent from, and still to this day i haven't figured out how awfully familiar this feels. do son is, to me, the best oriental floral i've ever experienced. its fresh but warm, a beautiful floral musk to add to my collection. but she stands out. she is an incredibly lofty white floral with this serene energy. i purchased the full size bottle and found myself spraying it everywhere, perhaps trying to chase that nostalgia. it's a hug in a bottle and i adore it endlessly. so proud to call this my signature scent. i love do son, im crazy about her. olene by diptyque is another fragrance i tried with do son that pairs so nicely and adds more of a femme touch to do son, which is to me a very safe unisex. one word: heavenly. i love getting complimented on do son, it doesn't feel like a grandma white floral at all. but it is not a girly floral whatsoever but thats what i like about it. feminine with pink pepper but standing a ground with the musk and orange flower accords. 46/10 for me. i can't even begin to tell you how gobsmacked i am by do son. it is worth every penny for the full size. make sure to compare the EDT and EDP before purchasing since the notes differ.

coming from a Vietnamese family, it was always written in the stars of my upbringing that particular scents will come to initiate particular memories of youth. however, Do Son brings me into versions of my past with which i was hitherto unfamiliar: the motherland of my bloodline itself. ostensibly, this scent is simple: tuberose and jasmine flowers with a touch of all things that make such floral bouquets complicated, including a hidden animalic nature, a green quality, an incense-like smokiness, and an indolic creaminess. however, unlike other fragrances–which seek to add complexity to these florals–Do Son presents them in their naturalistic reality in a way that transports its benefactor into its gardens of origin. this is among the first floral perfumes i have ever experienced that, without reservation, wears its relation to mother nature herself on its sleeve with pride. and, in the best of ways, this is what makes it so accessible to myself and everyone around me who loves it. by wearing it, i have effectively adorned myself not with a synthetic fragrance which seeks to substitute the sensations of the flower–even though that is exactly what i am doing–but with the flower itself. with Do Son on, i am in a vintage ensemble with a gardenia pinned into my lapel. the smell of a flower may be singular, but it is also a source of memory. such sentimentality–it is the best bad habit i've ever inherited.