JD Duality

Thanks to a very generous Fragrantician, I had the chance to try Duality, which was my introduction to Jeffrey Dame fragrances. I tried it today for the first time, let it evolve on my skin for a few hours, and immediately ordered it. It is warm, resinous, and spicy, and it is blended seamlessly. This is a niche scent, with all that implies, at grey market prices. The prominent ylang note and the vanilla add a creamy sweetness to the composition without being the slightest bit cloying. There are a few others in this particular line that I am now interested in trying, and I will try to get samples. But honestly, from their descriptions and the few reviews they have on Fragrantica, I would even consider a blind buy if I wasn't trying so hard to rein in my "addiction", because for $38, it's a risk worth taking! I've paid more for blind buys in many instances. But I am trying, realllllly trying, to be a responsible perfumista!! EDIT - My bottle arrived today, and I am amazed at how this somehow manages to have presence while maintaining a lightness that works even with the heat and humidity. I am looking forward to the cooler weather to see how it performs then as well. This is a quality perfume at an amazing price! I almost want to keep it a secret, but I couldn't possibly leave my fellow Fragranticians in the dark!!

What a beautiful vanilla scent. I really can't handle the super sweet vanilla scents, but I'm discovering that Jeffrey Dame is one of the best at giving really beautiful, sophisticated, and modern vanilla scents. I received a sample of this from a beloved Fragrantica friend, and while it was not the first JD scent on my radar, it's definitely a love for me now! The only thing keeping me from putting it on my want list is the fact that I want to test the others from this house to find the one (or more) I love MOST. Then again, I might end up with them all! Haha It's a dry, slightly powdery vanilla. The Ylang-Ylang is actually quite dominant throughout, and I would say that's even more a source of the sweetness than the vanilla. But the vanilla is present at the base. As with other Dame scents I've tried, this is fantastic for hot weather, but it's not a fresh summery scent. Perfect for those of us living in hot climates while loving orientals and heavier scents. I highly recommend giving this beauty a try! I just wish the sampling options made more sense. Why do they give oil samples for something available only in alcohol based spray? I don't understand that. FYI, I tested the spray FROM a spray.

I love this. I received it today and am so happy with the scent. It's beautiful, deep, resinous, balsamic and creamy, yet not heavy at all. I love how the vanilla spice compliments the floral notes without overpowering them. So smooth and beautifully blended with just the perfect amount of sweetness that is not cloying and wearable in more than one season. I'm wearing it now in high heat and humidity and it smells great. The presentation of the perfume was great too as is the price, which is so affordable. The bottle was wrapped in black tissue paper, and it was inserted inside a purple velvet drawstring bag. What was even nicer was they included two samples of the fragrances (in oil form and also in tiny black velvet drawstring bags). Such a classy touch. While this is my first purchase from this company, it won't be my last. I've already fallen in love with both samples and will be buying them soon.

Interestingly, Duality smells to me like a floral vanilla sugar cookie dough - and I mean that in the best way possible! There's of course more to this lovely perfume, but that was my first thought when I initially smelled my sample. This is sweet and a little bit foody without being juvenile or toothachingly sugary. The floral notes are gentle and slightly spicy, leaning warm, but not heavy. There's a feeling of "roundness" or "completeness" to the scent; it's very well blended. I detect a hint of powdery peach and a light rose that floats over the creamy vanilla musk base. Overall, Duality gives off a quality that signifies comfort and womanliness - the kind of femininity that is gentle, but not matronly. It's a scent that I find addicting. I can imagine this being a crowd pleaser and appropriate for many occasions. I'm curious to see how it ages as I've read that it becomes more complex over time.

I recently got this as a sample when I ordered something else from Jeffrey Dame, and I immediately fell in love with it. His perfumes are, somehow, vintage-smelling yet at the same time, modern. Duality is deep, rich, resinous, warm, and beautiful. The benzoin and labdanum are blended perfectly with the cinnamon, carnation, and other flowers so that no single note overpowers any other. They all just work perfectly together. I think this could be worn by either men or women. It is excellent quality, beautiful, very reasonably priced, and Mr. Dame is outstandingly generous with samples and gifts. Of all the JD samples I've tried so far, I like them all and have ordered several full bottles with plans to order more. 10/10

I find it interesting how some perfumes seem to behave like bottles of fine wine. They are nice when you first receive them, but over time, they deepen and their complexity more obvious. This is one such fragrance. I enjoyed it when I first purchased it, but forgot about it as I purchased others. I came upon my bottle today and I'm captivated by its beauty! Everything I previously said remains true, only richer, and I am especially loving the benzoin and the incense-like note it maintains throughout the duration of wearing. Jeffrey Dame deserves much credit and has my deep appreciation for providing the world with a niche scent at bargain prices. Tom Ford could learn a thing or two from him!

Sweet, spicy, powdery and slightly woody. Has a retro vibe (maybe due to the carnation?) but much less aggressive and invasive then typical perfumes from the 80's. On JD Dame website you can read that he wants to create perfumes such that people will tell you that you smell good at the grocery store. Its nails it. I don't know how someone could dislike that perfume or find it synthetic, fake, annoying. It's just lovely and feminine. It's comforting. It could even be unisex to be honest. Beat (by far) most of the recent designer perfumes releases at 75% of the price ... And this a beast. I bought the oil roller and it stays on me forever. Even after a shower.

I received a sample in a trade. This is my new favorite perfume, and thankfully it is affordable, so I will get a bottle. It is like a modern Chanel no. 5 without the stinky parts. Heavenly! Edit: I wanted to add that I have worn this for several days now, and I realized one of the reasons this is such a wonderful perfume is that it does not have any trace of a chemical smell. For example, I just got a little bottle of Chanel no. 19, and it smells like oakmoss.....and chemicals. Chemically oakmoss. The Dame perfume smells full, genuine. It smells like genuine good smells, like flowers, vanilla. It just gets better every day. I will get the rollerball soon.

Warm, womanly, wonderful, well crafted! What more is there to say? If you've ever thought Jeffrey Dame had only soliflores on offer, think again! Not as strong, perhaps, as Black Flower and Dark Horse, but infinitely complex and sophisticated. On my skin Duality is floral in the opening, floriental in the heart, and Oriental in the base notes. The progression lifts my spirits and has the elegance of a previous era. If you enjoy classic florientals, you cannot do better than this new classic. Charming, seductive, happy, and cozy all at once. This is the type of new release that makes my heart rejoice. ENJOY! Five stars <3

A beautiful friend gifted a bottle of Vanille Farfuele (sp) and Duality was included in a sample spray! yay Dame now offers spray samples. Also got a sample of Musc Neutre. The generosity of Dame is very kind. Duality edp smells ahhhmazing. It’s deep, resinous, some powder, vanilla, amber...yes smells vintage and nostalgic but also modern. Wearing Duality during heat and humidity, it blooms beautifully and doesn’t become cloying or heavy. I can see the similarity between this and Shalimar, but Duality easily surpasses Shalimar. Love it!!

Beautiful @Joani_Cheddar here has sent me a sample of this after having learned that I'm all about powdery scents. Now what a pleasant surprise and revelation! Great, classical, feminine beauty and none of those stinky unbearable to my nose artificial mineral notes which are overused in the overpriced niche today. At this price point - I'm ordering 3 fragrances from their website right now.

To my nose, this is a lightly vanilla-gourmand flanker to Dame’s Earth Mother, so if you like that fragrance, you will probably enjoy Duality. A vanilla musk with bright notes of ylang and lemon, and the distant whiff of spice from artemsia, cinnamon, coriander, and carnation. Light, pretty, and very easy to wear. An all-occasion fragrance.

How does this have no love? ?? I got a free sample with a Dame Perfumery order. In a word, lovely. If you like complicated vintage fragrances that aren't sweet sugar bombs I suggest checking it out. And the prices are stupidly cheap. It is warm, a little spicy, feminine, and straight up delicious.

@ptilda JD Duality Perfume Oil Rollerball 10 ml is indeed offered in the JD JEFFREY DAME collection.

Duality is a warm spicy, balsamic floral oriental and woody perfume. I get a lot of carnations w/ this one, they are deepened w/ warm balsamic resins sweetened by vanilla and ylang. This is very classic perfume, the type of fragrances I really love for fall and winter. Warm, softly powdery, slightly floral, resinous slightly sweet, slightly green, slightly woody. Just a deeply rich and beautiful perfume. Edit 8/3/22 I've been comparing this to my bottle of Patou Sublime, and I find a lot of similarities. The same citrus, carnation, deep resins, same woodiness, and lots of ylang. They differ in some respects but not enough for me to pull the trigger and buy this. Sublime is much sweeter, and Duality is a bit more unisex in my opinion. If I didn't already have Sublime, I would buy this one. It is very, very good. I have tried several from this house, but it was a different line. The Black Vanilla, Dark Horse etc.. line. Completely different bottles and vibe. I didn't care for those. I am more impressed w/ the fragrances I've tried from this line. I've only tried 2 so far Duality and Singularity and I bought Singularity. Hopefully they send me some free samples in my order from this same line, I want to try more. Edit: 9/26/22 I wore this yesterday and my husband really hated it. So, no full bottle. I do like it, but I have so many perfumes he dislikes LOL that I promised that we both had to turn the key for me to buy full bottles of perfumes over $30. Duality is a drier cinnamon version of JP Sublime. I actually do love Sublime more but Duality is a really good perfume. If you are a chypre lover check it out.

I got a 2 ml sample of the oil as a very happy surprise when I ordered the 2 ml oil sample of his Singularity. I had been intimidated by the notes list, but when I put it on, I was taken right back to being a little kid in the late 1970s, with parents who hung out on the fringes of a bohemian-lite community. It made me remember my mom's long straight hair and the dark liquid eyeliner she wore, and her smell, which smelled just list this. Duality is the smell of an elegant, competent, and glamorous woman. On me it's so well-blended I don't pick out a lot of single notes, but it first smelled a little aldehydic on me in the way of great French perfumery, then dries down to something dark green and rich with a little wood and smoke on the edges. The patchouli in this is a warm, sexy, understated one, and it is one of my mom's favorite perfume notes. This is one of the best uses of it I've smelled. When my company is back to hosting night-time events, this will be what I will wear. It's so incredibly well made and so reasonably priced. What an amazing introduction to this perfume house!

I like it but do I love it? This has a vintage feel to it (which I am not a fan of generally)- old lipstick, vanilla, thick, slightly spicy with a creamy floral zap. I continue to put it on because it intrigues me - perhaps this will be a love. Projects swell, lasts moderate. I enjoy this house. CONCLUSION: I am truly addicted to this scent. In addition, this smells even better in the heat

Creamy, almost honey like, warm, enveloping, the slightest bit of spice and sharpness. This is really lovely, cozy, comfortable, soft and vanillic. Very enjoyable. And a great price. 6.5-7/10

This is so warm and cozy. A beautiful combination of spices, rich vanilla, leathery labdanum, and exotic ylang ylang. Very nice with a super low price!

347 Powdery, fruity, floral, touch soapy, lightly sweet and tart and old fashioned smelling. I would have enjoyed this if not for the surprise medicinal note that popped up when it settled(oakmoss?), which ruined the composition for me. 6/10 would have been fine without that surprise medicinal note...Please stop using that medicinal note perfumers, whatever it is! So many beauties are a NO for me because that bandaid/ medicinal/antiseptic/iodine note is so nauseating, strong, and overwhelms, it ruins the rest of the scent which would be otherwise delightful!