Velvet Desire

Velvet Desire really feels like a white-floral festival. Anyone who loves white florals would probably get excited just looking at the note list: Indian tuberose, gardenia, frangipani, orange blossom, jasmine—pretty much every white flower you can think of. But it isn’t an aggressive white floral. It doesn’t hit you with that dizzying intensity, and it’s not the overly powdery, syrupy kind either. The structure is very steady. Right after spraying, the gardenia is very prominent. It smells moist and full, like a freshly cut bouquet of gardenias held right up to your nose. It’s not airy or delicate—it’s dense and substantial, as if the air is suddenly filled with white flowers. You can already notice the frangipani at this stage as well, adding a slight sweetness and a creamy touch that softens the sharper edge of the gardenia. After a few minutes, the Indian tuberose starts to appear. Compared with the very sweet, almost piercing synthetic tuberose you sometimes encounter, the one here has a light creaminess and feels clean rather than oily. Together with the gardenia, it forms the main structure of the scent. Jasmine, orange blossom, and magnolia sit more in the background. None of them stand out sharply, but they make the overall scent feel softer and add a subtle impression similar to soap or skincare—not a harsh detergent smell, but the gentle scent of skin just after applying lotion. The fragrance doesn’t change dramatically; the structure stays quite stable. Later on, vanilla and resins slowly come through. The sweetness remains low, more like a soft warmth from a light vanilla base rather than anything sugary. Projection stays fairly close to the skin, with moderate diffusion. On clothes it lasts all day; on my skin, about five hours. The overall scent makes me think of Southern European cities and islands. The streets of Milan at noon, stone pavements heated by the sun, shallow shadows from the trees, and the smell of warm dust and old walls in the air. Hillsides in Corsica, where the wind carries heat and the scent of sun-dried plants. Flowers in Roussillon blooming under strong sunlight, their colors deep, their fragrance thickened by the heat, almost heavy—as if the whole air has been pressed down slightly by the scent. Personally, I think this fragrance works especially well in summer, particularly in strong heat and bright sunlight, when the density of the floral notes feels just right. I haven’t worn it in autumn or winter, so I’m not sure how it would behave in colder weather.

Quite possibly the most beautiful tuberose I've ever smelled in a perfume, with a bit of champaca. If it had any green notes, I would have said it is the closest to the real flower, but it doesn't have anything green. It is intoxicating, narcotic, rich and unctuous. Creamy and warm, elegant and feminine to the max. It was expensive, and a blind buy for me, now in 2025. I was afraid it would smell dated, since this was created 14 years ago, but no, it's simply timeless. I can see the similarities with Fracas, but this is much more refined, warm, smooth. It smells like gold, timeless, precious, expensive. The bottle is elegant and simple, very heavy glass, square, with red velvet on the gold cap. The box and overall presentation are superb too. The juice in the bottle is yellow, like a golden hue. Generally speaking prefer jasmine and lilies when it comes to white flowers, but this is a true stunner. For many years I wrote off tuberose in fragrances, as I've had many over the years, and none made me jump for joy. It is slightly camphorated in the beginning, but it becomes creamier as the time passes. In the dry down it is a little soapy, but not enough to bother me.I don't smell any cinnamon or oriental notes. It reminds me a bit of Tom Ford Champaca. Very pleased, also if you are looking for modern, this is not. It's a perfume for a classy lady, grown up, beautiful and confident in her femininity. Silage and lasting power are good too. For me, it's a love. I've had Fracas and multiple other tuberose centred scents, they don't hold a candle to this one.

Velvet Desire really reminds me of EL Tuberose and Gardenia so for those who are upset with the discontinuing of that perfume this is a great substitute. This would be redundant for my collection since I have so many tuberose perfumes in my collection. And it really reminds me of EL Tuberose and Gardenia which I own and own a couple of backups. Very creamy tuberose and gardenia dominant perfume with soft balsamic and woody base base and fresher/fresh spicy florals humming in the background just like EL Tuberose and Gardenia. In EL Tuberose and Gardenia it is lilac and carnation here it's magnolia and plumeria. If I didn't own so many EL Tuberose and Gardenia (which I'm glad I bought because I got them for a steal) I would buy D&G VD. If you loved EL Tuberose and Gardenia and can't get it now try D&G VD. There are samples on eBay, easy to get. I will enjoy wearing my sample but I don't need a FB. This Velvet line from D&G is gorgeous. I'm very happy I have Velvet Love, and Velvet Sicily. My husband has Velvet Blue Musk. I am thinking of blind buying Velvet Rose. I wear rose perfumes more often than my white floral perfumes because my husband is a rose fanatic. He's always disappointed when I wear a white floral for the day lol. Rose is his Queen. I love all floral perfumes so I am happy wearing any floral. Lol.

I love the scent of this perfume... though really it should be called Tropical "Desire" instead of "Velvet Desire." It's equally tuberose and frangipani to my nose. I don't smell any gardenia in this perfume though. But gardenia can be a tropical note, so I am guessing that that is lending itself to this perfume's tropical qualities? Dolce & Gabbana's Velvet Desire has moderate projection and moderate lasting power, but only just. It lasted 3 hours on my skin and this is the only part of this fragrance that I find at all disappointing. It also smells very similar to Radiant Tuberose by Jimmy Choo to me, thus making me wonder whether or not to repurchase this again at the Dolce & Gabbana boutique while I'm also buying their shoes and ready to wear. I'm glad to have found a perfume that I love from Dolce & Gabbana that's beautiful and feminine though, since everything else made by this primarily fashion house smells pretty bad to me, like The One, Light Blue, L'imperatrice, that mimosa scent of theirs, that perfume with the purple flower on it and that perfume with the yellow flower on it. As I said, I do love their ready to wear. So now I have a perfume I love as much as their clothes! 8/10

I was in NY at the Saks flagship location on 5th Ave. The fragrance associate asked me if I wanted to smell like the queen I am. Of course, I had to smell whatever that was. Lol! He directed me over to the D&G fragrances. I’m a niche fragrance collector and did not realize D&G had anything beyond the status quo scents at Sephora. From the moment this juice hit my wrist it was love at first sniff. The gardenia and rose are so beautifully balanced with hints of vanilla and cinnamon. The result is pure luxury and class beyond compare. I walked away because I knew I would buy that bottle right on the spot and then would have to guard it with my life on the plane ride home. The moment I landed I pulled up my beloved Nordstrom app and lo and behold there she was. The nectar of the goddess scent. This is what a queen would bathe in, and what a roman goddess must smell like when she enters the planet from above. I don’t care how long it lasts, because I guarantee whatever it is will never be long enough.

I smelt this fleetingly in an Airport and instantly it reminded me of Vivienne Westwood Boudoir, one of my favourite scents. It was like it had all the good bits of Boudoir and none of the naughty bits and allure but still smelt pretty damn good. It started off Tuberose, Rose and warm and then dried down slighty smokey, and patchouli. This is one that I would never pay the price for but it is interesting to me as one of the closest smells from another big name brand to Boudoir that I have come across. If you like everything else but the skanky aspect of Boudoir this may be for you.

Happyme2009 below nailed the description of this beauty. I wanted to get a bottle of discontinued Tom Ford Champaca Absolute after falling for a sample, but the prices online at Mercari etc. are outrageous so I ordered D&G Velvet Desire instead since some found it similar. And honestly, I think Velvet Desire might be the better perfume. This is a big lush white floral, ever so slightly indolic and spiced, with excellent projection, sillage, and longevity. Not too much, not too little. Every phase of the development is beautiful. A big love for me.

Love it so much! I was fortuned to buy this marvellous perfume for just 10 euro from internet for 100ML, my best buy in a very long time. This is a very expensive smelling perfume. It reminds me much of the also beloved Sicily from Dolce & Gabanna. This perfume smell a lot softer and more luxureus than Sicily. It's warm, deep, sensuel and sexy and a bit mysterious and oriental. I constantly smell my wrist because i want to drown in it LOL. just love, love, love!!! D&B exactly knows how a sexy woman needs to smell.

Another perfect floral composition by Rodrigo Flores-Roux. I feel like his floral pieces are deceptively simple, so much so that if you’re not careful you can dismiss them. This is predominantly tuberose and frangipani, but there’s a creamy, citrusy magnolia that brightens it and dials up the tropical aspects. Beautiful.

Lovely lovely creamy sweet white floral - one of the best I've smelled. There's nothing complicated or difficult about it. It's not too sharp, it's not too sweet, it doesn't smell like it belongs in 1925...it's just perfect.

This was one of first white florals i fell in love with in Milan, very rich, very italian, real Donna smell

beautiful white yellow flower combination, very classy and luxurious it is also very sensual. Love

Gorgeous combination of white flowers..especially the tuberose. A little goes a LONG way..

Declutter. 135 GBP (uk only) offer available

Very classy & feminine, yet very expensive

The perfect white floral. Truly a creamy, soft but still punchy white floral fragrance. I really liked it but for $400 CAD I think there are other perfumes I'd be more inclined to spend that money on. If it were a gift from someone, I'd gladly add it to my collection but to spend the money myself....I'll admire from afar :)

Very pretty and well-balanced tuberose bomb held in check by the other florals. Has a slight Pixy Stix candy vibe similar to Fracas. Does not have the overripe banana vibe of Narcotic Venus nor the touch of citrus of La Chasse. To me is probably more similar to Do Son EDP. Nice!

Reminds me alot of Piguet Fracas, but Velvet Desire is more Creamy and gentle on my skin. Good projection and stays many hours on my skin and with a softer spirit than Fracas. The Tuberose and Gardenia is a great mix and I think this scent works best in cold weather.

More lovely than I thought it would be. But still just a nice white floral scent that leans tropical. -

I tested this on skin on a mild fall day (~23C). Right out of the gates, I get a unidimensional, sweet and creamy tuberose. This is tuberose without any greenness, no dew drops nor sunlight. It's a tuberose flower inside a museum glass box. The tuberose dominates for an hour, then I detect a softer, more buttery note from the gardenia as well as a fruity frangipani. Quite an unemotional floral for me, but if you add spotlights and a jewel-tone velvet backdrop to this museum glass case, it's possible to create another perspective on this.

Floral frech. Not long lasting.

This is a very soapy gardenia on me. Like if I closed my eyes and smelled this, I would imagine one of those pretty carved decorative soaps made of gardenia essence and maybe a little bit of jasmine, but the fancy expensive kind with real flower extracts made by hand by like French nuns in a mysterious convent on top of a hill in the middle of the woods on a full moon night. The smell is more the moment when you've wet the soap and are lathering your hands with it and the intoxicating scent of cleanliness and beauty is just wafting up. It opens kind of blah, and smells cheap (I think this is the tuberose being hasty and rushing forward to grab all the attention) but if you let it develop for a few minutes, then it really balances itself and shows you its' beauty. I usually do two sprays and gently press my wrists on my hands but in this case I had to do 4 sprays to really get the full effect. I tried it in the summer and it felt more like a winter scent, now I'm trying it in October and I'm feeling like maybe it's more of a spring scent. I don't know... Normally I can imagine a time and place for a scent immediately, my mind just creates a story but in this case, my mind is just stuck in the bathroom washing my hands. It's a very lovely smell but I kind of don't know what to do with it (except to put it on while surfing the internet and writing Fragrantica reviews?) I think this will need a few more re-trys before I can truly figure it out. DO NOT BLIND BUY - this really shouldn't be something you're buying unless you totally fall in love with it or have money to burn. The tuberose can be soapy and cloying for some people so it's not a safe blind-buy.

It's January and I'm doing another review. I only needed two sprays this time, gently patting back of hand to wrist. It still smells soapy but also very perfumey this time around with prominent tuberose notes (I'm also getting freesia vibes) and frangipani. I'm missing the gardenia in the mix. This is basically feeling like a fantasy-world version of a tropical garden filled with white flowers, both real and imaginary flowers, not quite indolic, more boozy and intoxicating with their white flower-ness with a hint of mint-like notes (fresh and clean feeling.) Another reviewer mentioned the Titanic era and I agree, but this fragrance feels like a modern re-interpretation of a bad-ass white floral frag. Just like last time, it's very linear, once you get over the initial 30 seconds it settles in for the ride and doesn't change beyond slowly fading as all frags do. I still say try before you buy I just thought it would be fair to do another review since my nose is picking up different things this time. Still have no clue where I would wear this scent, it's very heady, it almost reminds me of funeral parlor lilies with it's strength.

I can just imagine the young rich beautiful ladies of the Titanic era wearing this perfum. It is intoxicating. Close your eyes and take a sniff of it....whew! I can just sense the excitement...they're all decked out in those long velvet, lace and organza gowns....hair curled up...sexy hat tilted just so with a pearl hat pin to hold it in place....walking into the fancy dining room on the Titanic. The women look with jealousy as she glides across the room...the men try not to look but can't help themselves....then the intoxicating odor of Velvet Desire hits their nostrils! And all are mesmerized.... Sniff this...get a people mag--sample is in it.... See if you don't feel the same!

I recieved this one today. At the first spray,it exudes shining splendours with white flowers.I can feel clearly the momentum about a luxurious lady coming up.Tuberose and gardenia are dominant elements in the openning. As time goes by,I can feel jasmin which is not listed in the notes.Little sweeet,I mean flower sweet(not candy things).I think this "jasmin feeling" is about the other element listed above--frangipani.It's a tropical flower with sweet、elegant smell blooming in summer.Before fading out,I doudt that I sense vanilla in the base.It lasts 3-4hours on my wrist. ATTENTION:This is not for girls.

This is basically a tuberose scent, but a nice tuberose. not too heavy, or rich really..Nicely done, pretty. Stylish, refined, and fresh also, I like it, as I like white florals, this is smooth, creamy. Lovely..not sure it is worth so much money really. But mine was a great 45% off, so worth it... I am a big fan of Dolce Gabbana, they do not disappoint me.. Still you have to like tuberose I think to enjoy that one..

I first smelled this perfume on an add in people mag. Luv, luv, Luv It! I founf it onlined at Saks Fifth Ave but add doesn't state whether it is eau de parfum or eau de toilette....Have contacted Saks, but so far after two inquiries no one there can give me an answer. Don't want to pay $195 for eau de toilette! Does anyone know answer?

I just heard back from Saks and what they are selling is eau de Parfum...$195 for 1.6 oz., while Amazon is selling same thing for $475....What gives? I thought Amazon was supose to be the place to buy things cheap! It is actually another vendor who is selling it thru Amazon...but still....

Imo very similar vibes to the original Gucci Bloom. Where that one is centered on jasmine & backed by tuberose though, this one is centered on tuberose & backed by jasmine. Unlike Gucci Bloom, this does also have a bit more depth & sweetness

If you are a fan of Tuberose/Gardenia, then this is your scent. To me it smells just like Estee Lauder's Tuberose Gardenia. I like this scent on my Mom, but the Tuberose/Gardenia is too strong a floral for me.

This is a lovely floral, even though I think it's an Eau de Toilette, it is full bodied and long lasting. It's not headachey or nasty cheap floral, but a lovely classic white.