Volutes Eau de Toilette

My best buddy and I went to the Diptyque premier of their new fragrance Volutes at the boutique here in San Francisco. Upon entering Diptyque we found the boutique alight with many of their famous fragrant candles which added to the wonderful unique scent of the store. So unique is the smell that they bottle it as “34” or by its formal name of 34 Boulevard Saint Germain (the address of the original Paris boutique). In the center of the lower level of the boutique was the star of the evening, a beautifully designed table where the new fragrance Volutes stood center stage in its classic clear oval Diptyque bottle. It was surrounded by bowls filled each with a raw sample of the ingredients that go into making the juice. Tobacco leaves, iris, frankincense, pink and black pepper, saffron, hay, immortelle, myrrh, opopanax and some others I am sure I missed. What a clever and great presentation. At the Volutes presentation table where learned the history of Volutes. The fragrance was inspired by the childhood memory of one of the original founders of Diptyque. Who in fact at 95 still lives in an apartment on the third floor above the boutique at 34 Boulevard Saint Germain. The inspiration was a trip he took with his parents by ship from France to Indochine. He was fascinated by the ship with its swirls of smoke from its toweling smokestacks and the glamorous women who came on deck each evening to smoke their exotic Khedive cigarettes, the blue smoke swirling about them like exotic veils. Add to that memory the smells of the spices of the ports of Alexandria, and Bombay, Colombo, Bangkok, and finally Saigon. Decades later the journey became Volutes. It opened like a box of aromatic Egyptian cigarettes and then began to unfold like a Scheherazadian tale of the orient, smoky mystery layered with danger and romance. Volutes means swirls and it does exactly that! Over the evening it bloomed and created a wonderfully rich vale of incense. My friend tried it too. That is when we discovered that it smells different on different skins. At this point we found ourselves huddled over the table in exclamatory delight which caught the ear of two other guests at the event. And so Volutes introduced us to Hillary and her friend from South Africa. The four of us set off on a conversation of what we found delightful and interesting in this new fragrance. We all agreed that Volutes is perhaps the most complex and exotic of the line. As for me, I have to say that I enjoy Diptyque and I am still exploring their line but when I smelled Volutes I flipped! Sold to the tall guy with the red shirt! My friend noticed that on my skin it smelled very masculine yet on Hillary it was wonderfully feminine. This amazing transformative aspect of the scent by this point in the evening did not surprise me. I bought Volutes and the next day tried it out in the real world. As I walked to work I noticed that I was enveloped in a cloud of tobacco and incense. It was wonderful but the thought struck me that I have never smelled my fragrance in the wild outdoors with the wind blowing in my face before. Oh oh... maybe I put on too much. Sure enough I had, one of the guys at work was completely gassed out. He hates any kind of perfume and when he mentioned to me that he was having issues I knew that I most defiantly had over spayed. One or at most two sprays are all you need. It projects out a good five feet and it lasts and lasts. I applied it at 6:30 in the morning and at 5:00 in the evening it was still center stage with a spotlight on it. Volutes is listed here as Aromatic but I would classify it more as an Oriental Aromatic. It is a unisex scent that works well on both men and women. The journey you embark on with Volutes is sure to be a memorable one of exotic adventure and unexpected delights. FIVE PLATIUMS STARS ***** UPDATE: Thanks for the reminder Lobster! I bought the EDT and it really lasts.

~*Review of the Eau de Toilette*~ Volutes is quite amazing. It smoky, sweet, powdery and engaging. I had a feeling that this might turn out to be an immediate love for me seeing that it had tobacco and honey which are some of my favorite notes. This definitely has a strong sweet dose of honey, slightly fresh but has a slightly sticky quality to it. Not as much as you would find in L'occitane Immortelle de Corse. Knowing how the Immortelle de Corse smells helped me pick out the immortelle in Volutes which is definitely lighter but still present giving it a herbal quality. To me the main show in Volutes is the powdery iris which I'm in love with, but once the iris fades the honey becomes the the most prominent. Its supported by a sweet tobacco, which I was hoping would be a little more pronounced in this fragrance. Oh well can't have everything all the time. The benzoin, opoponax, and myrrh give Volutes its smoky quality that it is named after. I thought I was the only one getting some Shalimar vibes from this, until I read Museumgal's review. It has a similar feeling to it though they are not identical maybe 2nd cousin's or something like that. Volutes is definitely younger feeling, sophisticated but edgy. The EDT has great lasting power but does not project that much after the first hour or so. Which I don't mind and makes it easier to wear more often. It blooms in the heat I thought this might be a winter only fragrance for me but it was toasty today and it held up really well, so I'm thinking this might be a great year around fragrance for me. I might have to review this again when the weather gets cold where I live depending on how different my reaction is. I I think this works for most ages early 20s and beyond. Though I think you have to be a fan of honey to actually enjoy it. I'm curious how the EDP smells but for now the EDT will keep me satisfied...Considering how complex it is. I feel like I haven't figured it out completely which keeps my nose entertained.

***Eau De Parfum*** (The all black label and smoke colored bottle) I'm kicking myself. I should have bought this when I found a bottle for super cheap. I have a decant now and here are my thoughts as succinctly as possible. This does not smell like Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille-to me. On my skin it leans toward Tobacco Oud if anything thanks to the resinous notes. It has some spices and LIKE TF's Tobacco Vanille, the tobacco note is very well blended and smooth with the dried fruits and a touch of vanilla in there somewhere but it is a bitter, very realistic vanilla. It does not project much for me, and leaves little sillage so in that regard it is a poor replacement for TVanille or TOud. However the scent is divine and has touches of leather and Irish butter (to my nose) that are mouthwatering. I only get honey in any notable concentration around the 4 hour mark and it has already been a skin scent for an hour by then. I expected better from an EDP. It's warm and inviting and while it feels like a spring/fall evening scent to me, I can see myself wearing it all year when I want a hit of that sweet dark dried fruit and light tobacco goodness. Scent: 7/10 it does not stand up to my favorite tobacco of all time, Tom Ford's Tobacco Oud, but damn it foes a good job of making me look past it's shortcomings. It has character. Projection: 7/10 for the first 30 min, 5/10 past hour 1, and 3/10 by hour two-on my skin. Sillage: 4/10 hour 1, 3/10 hour two, and 1/10 past hour 3.5. Longevity: I am still able to smell it as a very natural skin scent 6 hours in, and at about 8 hours it's totally gone. Worth it for an evening out, otherwise you will have to reapply. Would I buy a full bottle? Hell yes. I am also testing the EDT because they do smell different and I will see once Ive had some time with that, which is better but I'm already leading EDP.

I am enjoying Volutes edt like never before on a cool morning in early April. I have 11 Dyptique fragrances. I would say this and Oud Palao, are two of their fragrances I would call masterpiece. I enjoy Benjoin Bohemme and Tempo equally, but they may not be masterpieces of perfumery composition. I'm over 60 years old, and my taste is mature. I like the realistic severe Dyptiques like Tam Dao, but Volutes is so much fun, and is exciting. I normally don't like sweet frags, nor Iris note, but they are so balanced and we'll blended here. Let me try to describe it. There's the sweet dried fruit and honey accord, the honey brings out the sweetness of the fried fruit. The fruit smells like dried apricots, figs, maybe some rasberry. Then a beautiful tobacco note comes in giving the honeyed fruit a soft tobacco spiciness . The hay and immortelle are soft earthy, herbal notes that balance the sweet dried fruit. A soft pink pepper note, ads just a bit of spiciness, just enough to nicely balance the fruit, and keep it grounded. There is a floral element, not much. The Iris blends with the tobacco for me, and just makes the tobacco have an aromatic floral, powdery nuance; like a tobacco blosom note. It stays slightly masculine leaning. The great balsamic resins of Benzoin and myrrh, are not very strong, just adding some beautiful depth and richness in the base. The fragrance stays somewhat fresh, because of the fresh spices, fruits and floral notes. The immortelle which is like toasted bread, with the fruited honey, gives it a delicious gourmand aspect. I love the hay note, it reminds me of country smells, when the ground begins to warm in the Spring, making this a Spring fragrance for me. The EDP is heavier, with less tobacco, and is best for Fall and Winter perhaps. Rating: 8.75/10 edt. 8.25/10 edp. God loves you. John 3:16

Volutes is defined as "a spiral of twisted formation or object". Yves Coueslant, a founder of Diptyque, was a boy of an impressionable age when he made an oceanic trip from Paris to Asia. While he was on the ship he saw beautiful and elegant women smoking their Khedive cigarettes (oriental tobacco cigarettes). The boy saw the soothing, curling swirls of smoke twirling surrounding the women. The boy was captivated, he could smell the scent of the women's perfumes blending with the strong and distinctive aromas of the cigarettes in the air. This imagery made an everlasting lasting impression on Coueslant because years later as an adult he created Volutes as an tribute to that journey he made as a boy. Volutes is a sweet, sensual smoky vanilla scent that surrounds you. It is a beautiful fragrance. I adore it. The first spray is the lovely blend of sweet honey, iris and tobacco. The tobacco has a tiny hint of cherry scent to it. The tobacco is softened and the honeyed iris comes through more enveloping the tobacco. I recognize the immortable and the soft saffron here, but the blend of the hay, black pepper are so smooth, it is not easy to identify a specific note. The scent is deepened by the exotic sensual base of myrrh, benzoin, strax and opoponax, I sense more of a blend of myrrh/amber base. The drydown is a soft cherried tobacco scent. Volutes is more of a versatile scent, sweet not cloying, it is more approachable (with a strong character) compared to my other tobacco scents in my collection, its not as heavy as Tabac Aurea, Tobacco Vanille, or as powdery as Chergui. The review is based on the EDP, the longevity is about 6 hours and the sillage is medium. If you are a lover of tobacco like me, try this!

Volutes is the fragrance that began my "scentual" awakening. It's the first bottle that made me hear Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Overture thunder in my head, that made the wood-panelled Diptyque boutique dissolve into swirls and tendrils of smoke, creating an intimacy with a scent I'd never had before. Basically, I realized from that moment forward that perfumes can do much more than (hopefully) mask any BO antiperspirants fail to, and elicit the odd compliment. They can set a mood, they can thrill, they can seduce. Volutes does all that and more. It's supposed to recall the decks of a Saigon-bound steamship and the honeyed Egyptian cigarettes smoked there by beautiful women. And it does - but not in an overt manner. Volutes is an Oriental perfume that whispers, that beguiles. If anything, it doesn't make the promise of a tryst, but coyly hints at the memory of one. Volutes smells how I'd imagine the inside of an antique steam trunk should, filled with tobacco and books with irises pressed between their pages, and maybe even a fraying postcard from a foreign lover with private sentiments written in passionate longhand. It's astounding. On men, Volutes projects tobacco, honey, and spice, and keeps a refreshing powdery iris close to the skin that prevents it from smelling like a syrupy handful of North African hookah tobacco. Over time the spice fades a bit and the iris projects just a little further from the skin. Something in it, I'm not sophisticated enough to pinpoint, every now and then brings to mind glimmers of dried black cherries. It could just be me, I really don't know. This scent is AMAZING. Must own for a man, and probably enchanting on a woman as well. 5/5!

I wrote a few reviews a while back based on samples that Diptyque very kindly sent me. They were rambling and incoherent! The thing is, it is hard to tell much from those tiny little spray bottles. I thought Volutes opened beautifully and dried down to nothing much....a bit candy sweet. However I was intrigued enough to buy proper bottles of both edt and edp because all the info said the two were slightly different. I was drawn to the sweet tobacco - not smoke, we are talking unlit leaves - and the powdery elements. I can honestly say that blasting with a full size bottle makes all the difference and highlights the subtle differences between the different strengths. For a start, both last a lot longer. They open up with almost undetectable differences perhaps the Edt is slightly fresher smelling, more of the tobacco. The Edp is drier with more saffron. Later the lingering note with the Edt is cherry tobacco. Definitely cherries and hay, just like cherry pipe tobacco, truly gorgeous. The Edp is more peppery, woody, powdery and just a touch more masculine. Of the two I would say the Edp lasts longer but the Edt will not disappoint. Strangely, I get a much more layered effect from both of them if I spray into the crook of my arm; into the cleavage and mostly what I get is the saccharin element and honey, too much honey...... I love this perfume. It is full bodied without being overpowering and there isn't anything risque about it. No one will make assumptions as they might do about Shalimar, another favourite of mine, but equally it is not for young gals. This a woman's perfume.

As soon as you spray Volutes, you instantly get this hit of waxy floral with an underlining Middle Eastern vibe. When I wear this I imagine I'm weaving through a hot market in the Far East holding a bouquet of Iris, there's a pot of simmering honey with vanilla and dry fruits bubbling away while the next stall along is the more prominent burning of frankincense and Myrrh trying to entice you in closer. The man who's stirring the pot of honey smokes a vanilla cherry tobacco in his pipe and welcomes you. His pipe is a dark wood which gives off a warm smell and behind him is the leather stall, with an array of old weathered leather bags kept in old cupboards centuries old. Volutes starts off very honey-waxy with a strong iris. This is all balanced by the warm incense and dry fruit. The iris lifts this fragrance perfectly. Normally I dislike iris as it reminds me of grandmothers, however in this it is blended so well you end up enjoying it. As it dries down the waxiness weakens to leave a stronger honey element. Finally you're left with an ever changing playful exchange of the benzoin and incense smells. The vanilla note becomes more prominent later on. Compared to Tom Ford TV, it takes longer for the vanilla to reach anywhere near the prominence it has in TV, however when it does it isn't cloying. It also seems more complex, more warm and more interesting than, to me, the linear TV. I was going to buy TV, but then smelled this. So it's worth comparing first to see what suits you.

I bought this today (EDP) and i like it so much that i can hardly describe it Can only say that it has a sweet woody base, not overly sweet, somehow peppery, spicy, with fruity hints of old liquor, maybe apricot, but like heavier and smokey I would say that it is heavy (for fans of aquatic or fresh smells), for me it is a "medium weight" woody one It makes me feel very comfortable and triggers my imagination a lot, like recalling nice memories from a very long and special journey with special people A classic type of smell, it has some 'granpa' quality, but the type of granpa that maybe knows how to play the guitar for his grandchildren and their friends, and they love it! Right now i am getting a softer powdery type of smell, (i sprayed on my chest and under my shirt before i started writing this) If it was music it would, for me, be a sweet note on the piano accompanied by some very heavy electric guitar played very low in the background, along with some violin, again in the distant background, small bells, and a nice erotic female voice feeling somehow jazzy and laid back I think it leans towards more on the masculine side than the feminine Cannot say anything about projection and sillage but tbh i dont care at all, as long as i can smell it myself it is perfect If you like woody fragrances then you have to try this one, it is fantastic! Update I sprayed my brother and he said that it reminds him a lot of Gucci Pour Homme II

You wake as the sun kisses your face - dew soaks through your clothes as the crisp morning air lifts you up. Surrounding you is a magical field of airy irises and lush green grasses - peace finds you in this brief moment. Your skin begins to dry to reveal a smooth pink pepper and saffron - the honeyed warmth of the sun evokes the comforts of fresh hay and rich tobacco. You feel loved, safe. You begin to wander - you traverse many mysteries as you pass through groves of plum trees and banana plants, all baking in the heat of the sun. You arrive in another field, this one full of syrupy immortelle - you lie down for just a moment. The circling trees weep their resinous tears - the sun and the wind unite this strange and comforting new world. You ooze the most beautiful powdery iris and tobacco, gripped in the syrupy warmth of immortelle and bathed in the richness of myrrh and ambery resins. You are weightless, you are at peace. Moments later, it feels as if a lifetime has been shed from you...you wake, back in reality - with only the softest trace of powdered tobacco and crisp, green vanilla still lingering. Whether that moment was dream or reality matters not - it changed you forever. May there be room in this world for all our dreams to come true. Day 49 - When hope is lost Listening to: Anathema - Internal Landscapes

I just put this as my signature for Fall, from a large collection. It's in the catagory of Hermes Ambre Nargile, but not as gourmand or sweet, or it is like Lutens Chergui, but not as spicy. Volutes is in-between those two... This is the most "wearable" tobacco fragrance I have. Tom Ford Tobacco Vanilla is a great smell, but too opulent to wear casually... I think Volutes is top 3 of Diptyque fragrances. It is very well blended, understated beauty. The balsamic base notes of styrax, benzoin and myrrh are clean, and woody. The dried fruit and honey combo are the best, not too sweet. The hay note and imortelle note are soft Diptyque earthy notes. They give this a very natural outdoorsy vib, which is why I respect Diptyque style of fragrances. Now for the tobacco note, as many of us love tobacco. It is a great authentic tobacco note, better than in Chergui or Ambre Narguile. It's not very strong. I notice it most in the open, then later it's in an accord with other stronger notes, but still plays a part throughout the life of the fragrance. The tobacco note is stronger in the edt, rather than Volutes edp.

Volutes EDP: I will agree with the few reviewers who said that this one has medicinal notes in it. To me it smells like a mix of cherry cough syrup, tobacco and men's after shave. Surprisingly enough, I do like it a lot and so do my kids, who are generally averse to orientals or spicy perfumes; To be honest though, I don't find this spicy either and comparisons to Tobacco Vanille or Chergui leave me flabbergasted. It's comforting, classy (despite the after shave element), smooth and cozy. What it isn't, is sexy or spicy or bold. Lasting power on me is 6 to 8 hours, but it stays very close to skin from the start and is detectable only if I bring my wrist to my nose after the first hour. Unfortunately, I find the EDP leaning closer to masculine territory, especially compared to the EDT which was softer and mellower, and though I do wear unisex perfumes (Tobacco Vanille and Ambre Precieux are two of my favorite and most worn fragrances), I just can't get over the after shave vibe in this one. I think I'll have to disappoint my kids and buy Eau Duelle instead, as it lasts quite a bit longer on me.

This is for Volutes EDT. Considering that I don't like tobacco or vanilla scents, I was pleasantly surprised by Volutes. It starts sharp, crisp citrus, then it turns into milky vanilla mixed with some quality tobacco and a touch of powdery iris. No smoke here, just a sniff of flavored tobacco. Vanilla in Volutes definitely reminds me of Shalimar, tobacco brings to mind YSL Cinema minus that nightclub smoke that I disliked in Cinema. Six hours after spraying it, it's still there as lovely as ever. Vanilla is so creamy and milky with a touch of honey and saffron it smells almost like an exotic custard. Yet it's never cloyingly sweet, but just beautiful and elegant. Definitely quality fragrance and worth the price tag. Must have for winter. I consider Volutes feminine, but I believe it has ability to change on a man's skin. I'd love to smell it on a man. I'm so happy I got to sample Volutes, I've always been curious about Diptyque personal fragrances and I must say Volutes opened the road to other Diptyque products for me.

You know you're little obsessed with a perfume when you keep going into John Lewis and Liberty just to try it on. Obviously I couldn't keep doing that, so after a very honest friend smelt this on me and said it was "enticing" I decided to get it, and I have never looked back. Very grown and sexy womanly scent on me, the warmth, flowers and spice prevent this fragrance from being cloyingly sweet, and I tend to avoid sweet smells like the plague. This is the only perfume I have where the dry down, is not a shadow but just as complex and enjoyable as the initial spray. The iris is the most powerful scent when I first spray which then opens up to the smoky tobacco, and spices. The dry down for me is the opoponax, soft sweetness with a hint of pepper I've had this fragrance 4 months and have been wearing it mainly in the evenings as it is a great "summer nights" fragrance and one spray in the day if I'm feeling adventurous, but now autumn is here the warmth of this fragrance will be much appreciated.

I didn't have any experience of Diptyque fragrances before I tried Volutes so I had no expectations either. Volutes seems like a rather simple composition but I was delighted to find some new tones from it even months after the first sniff. The fragrance opens with the waxy notes of dried fruits. After a while it softens into the vanilly scent of tonka bean that lingers pleasantly around the wearer. I could not detect honey for many weeks even when I had been wearing Volutes quite often. Then, one day, hours after I had sprayed the perfume on my wrist, I pushed my nose against it and all I got was honey. Of course it had been there all the time but I hadn't been able to recognize it. For me, Volutes is completely feminine. It's extremely sweet, but of course not in a sugar candy way but more like dried figs and plums. Needless to say, nowadays I'm in love with Diptyque.

This is the fragrance that really turned me on to tobacco fragrances. I also love pure havane, but this feels even more like me and is my favorite tobacco. I love how the smokey notes are sweetened with honey and the smell of resinous dark woods. It makes me think of an old wooden library, pipe tobacco, leather jackets, still air, sunlight pooling on the floor on a Sunday in an old building on a very quiet day. I tend to dislike hay notes but this gives me hopes I'll change my mind because I do like the way hay smells in real life. I like spraying the back of my hands just to sniff it. Perfect for cold, gray days, or moody stormy summer afternoons. Lot's of personality. The powdery iris makes a dusty finish. Just love this! Can't get enough sniffs, been testing it over a year pretty shamelessly at the mall and my vial just to get my fix.

Review of Edt. This is such a smooth fragrance! Like Sade singing "Sweetest Taboo" smooth.. This is sweet tobacco no doubt. I am not a professional when it comes to pin pointing out different notes, however, I do know iris! Iris is here and she makes her presence known from the jump. This is powdery sweet yes. Grown lady sweet. This is never childish. Oh no! And the dry down is soo goood. The iris is tired by then because she had been showing her ass for hours lol. I love how tamed it is in the dry down. Honey sweet! This frangrance is thick but not suffocating thick. No no I meant Rich!! Longevity on my skin is 10+ hours, and this is edt I remind you. I scored a 100 ml tester from ebay for $80! Ooooh Yeeeeah! P.S. Let's have a moment of silence for the discontinuation of this sweet thang

Volutes EDT doesn't quite captivate me as a tobacco scent. I find that it is a beautiful iris perfume with a unique presence. Tobacco is prominent, however the iris always finds it's way centerstage. I feel like the two are constantly competing and iris always comes out the victor. It's a little discordant to me with the two never really complementing each other. Iris is sweet and candied in an elegant way and rather showy. I'm constantly waiting for the honeyed tobacco and balsamic spices to seduce me but they're barely out of reach. The accords run parallel to each other and never quite touch, like two concentric circles where the iris is the outer ring. Beautiful, a little disturbing, I can't quite connect but can appreciate its symmetry.

Gorgeous and poetic. If you love catching a whiff of cigar smoke on the air, you will probably enjoy Volutes.I do prefer the EDP to the EDT; I find it to be a bit sweeter. What sets this scent apart from SDV and TF Tobacco Vanille is the inclusion of honeycomb. It melts beautifully into the the tobacco and benzoin and makes for a sultry, exotic scent that is cozy, but still appropriate for day. The hay note is subtle and warmed considerably by the saffron and myrhh. The drydown is spiced honey perfection. It lasts 6+ hours so you only need to spritz the back of the neck and the inner arms. This is one of the few scents I own that is sweet without being gourmand. It is mellow and exotic, a staple in my collection.

I got a 12 mL travel size of Volutes EDT for free from the Diptyque SA. I went to test it out, and dropped the bottle on stone floor. The bottle shattered and Volutes all over -- seeping into the stone. The stone smells nice as did my fingers. Really nice! Volutes is a yummy warm smoky honey. It is has some serious lasting power too. I washed my hands to get rid of glass shards - and they still smelled GREAT. I washed my hands several more times -- you could still smell Volutes. Sweet, honey with a subtle smoky feel, and light powdery notes. I am going to need a FULL bottle of this! This is a great FALL scent!