Daim Blond

I really disliked Daim Blond when I first tried it 3 or 4 years ago, but have gradually come to love it in the intervening time, though it remains a strange and challenging composition to my nose. Daim Blond is a very fruity, dry suede with a dry iris in the mix. When I first tried it, the apricot really got to me and came off sweet but also a little papery, somehow. In many ways it still is, but now it conjures to mind dry fruit wrapped tenderly in leather, like a sort of alien bouquet. The skin of the apricot is peeling away from the desiccated flesh like an ultra-thin parchment; it is crying out for water as it cracks into dust under the midday sun. I maintain that it doesn't smell particularly "natural", it's a strange and jarring scent but also beautiful and serene. A mentholated ghost of either cardamom or hawthorn (or perhaps Lutens' notorious cough medicine note) is swimming around for the first half an hour before finally yielding. I just can't pin down the "mood" of this one - it's giving an emotion but just not one with which I'm familiar. I think one thing I still struggle with in this scent is the seeming lack of "payoff", its unsettling demeanour is simply how it is - it's not taking you on a journey so much as luring you out into the desert to die from thirst. Even now, smelling it on my arm, there's something subtly sinister in it, in its unnatural dryness, the ambiguous fruit, and the suede from an animal not found in any bestiary. It's a love for me, and in my view is actually Lutens' best fruit scent, though Bois et Fruits remains much more approachable for me.

After testing this and a million other Lutens on paper today, I finally settled on spraying this to my wrist. The apricot started strong and dominated the first half hour at least. Then, maybe two hours in, I kept thinking "why does this smell so familiar?" It was driving me nuts, and I wanted to come here and check out the "this perfume reminds me of" to jog my memory, but I had left my phone at home :( It nagged at me for hours, this sweet, earthy smell. Soft, feminine but not girly. Light pink and beige come to mind, and it is rare that scent evokes colours so distinctly for me. I really appreciated that imagery in the scent, given it is called "White Suede." While it did not smell overly leathery, the scent evoked that feeling of soft, worn suede, and light colours. Genius! But still naggingly familiar. I got home and checked the site. Bottega Veneta! Of course! I find the dry down almost identical, but the opening and middle quite different. BV wins in it's mossy, resinous opening. Daim Blond has a beautiful musky-iris dry down. And both fragrances are inspired by soft, luxurious leather. I guess both perfumers were on to the same thing. In all I was disappointed that the fragrance was not unique, but still enjoyed it. Also is is quite long lasting. The dry down is still going strong and it's been 6 hours of sweating, hand washing and cooking. Update: 4 hours later the dry down is still going strong. That puts us at about 10 hours! Not bad. Update the second: I own this now and want to say the dry downs are not as identical as I thought, but still similar.

DB is my most worn perfume, & I must be on 6th or 7th bottle now. I don't think I can write a review that really does it justice though - it's just a gorgeous perfume (imo) that speaks to me more than the rest of my bottles. Suede (especially strong in the opening), the apricot feels dry-ish in texture, not sugary or juicy. I can't pick out iris or heliotrope distinctly (& I love heliotrope) - although I do vaguely sense some purple florals. Anyway, to me they they sit quietly & politely in the background. On my skin the drydown is a warm clean musk. I get no powderiness at any point. DB feels really well balanced. It opens coolish & aloof, & finishes up warm & mellow, like a sunny Autumn day ! It doesn't make a big statement, people will say "you smell lovely", rather than "your perfume smells lovely" A versatile scent that never feels inappropriate - it gives me confidence & always makes me feel better than I know I am. The Jeffwithfrags review (further down) really made me think. The perceived "faults" are probably exactly why I am so fond of DB. Not too fruity/vanillic (I'm tired of vanilla) not loud, & not "too" anything. There are more than enough syrupy fruity vanilla bombs in this world already!. I love this perfume because it is understated & elegant, but contemporary & still unusual. Edit Aug 2017. I'm sure DB has been "watered down". It used to last all day on me, but sadly I can't say that about my more recent bottles. Such a shame, it does smell the same & I do still love it though.

One of my very first niche perfumes and my first Lutens, it's still a favorite after all this time, though unfortunately I don't use it as much as I should. The problem with Daim Blond is that it's too discreet, too "comme-il-faut", too delicate and that makes me forget it's even in my collection. Still, when I open the cap and smell its gorgeous fragrance, I always end up wearing it:) And delicate or not, it's managed to get me a compliment from a male coworker, when I thought it was barely detectable myself. Daim Blond is heavy on the apricot and suede; if you expect a leather fragrance, remember that suede has quite a different smell from leather and the difference is quite obvious here. There's a fruity sweetness in it, that happily does not resemble the sugary confections in the mainstream market, but is a bit sour as well, refined and as elegant as it gets; in fact I can better imagine wearing Daim Blond with a crisp suit and pumps rather than my faded jeans and t-shirt. Still, the projection is low as most people have mentioned and this is mainly a skin scent. However, based on another fragrantica member's suggestion, I wear a bit at the base of my hairline just above the nape, which causes it to drift with the movement of my hair and be noticeable without being 'on-your-face'. Longevity is good though it's not amongst the strongest Lutens, but somewhere between 6-8 hours. If you're not all about dry and spicy scents, give this elegant beauty a chance!

I blind bought Daim Blond 3 years ago based off the reviews and especially the notes, apricot and suede: yum, yes please! Excited, I tried it on and hated it. I was so disappointed and confused. I couldn't smell any of the listed notes, it smelled fussy, very mature, like a vague, dated perfume. Sad because I had spent the money, I put it away and forgot about it. I've been going through my perfume collection and I tried it on today: Wow! So thrilled I kept my bottle. The opening is a bit odd, almost like concentrated PEZ candy with it's plastic PEZ dispenser. And then! It softens into Osmanthus and apricots rolling gently on suede. It's a gorgeous, sensual, delicious creamy cloud and everything I had hoped it would be. It's so delicious I want to eat it (but not really because I envision licking a piece of soft suede covered in mashed apricot, lol) it's more that I want to possess the delicious wafts and stop them from dissipating. Sadly, doesn't seem to last all that long on my skin but it is faintly clinging on my shirt and hair. This is a love for me. Edit: Wore it to bed in my hair and my husband said, 'What is that? It's unlike anything else you have, kind of woodsy, almost masculine, like I would wear that? It smells really good and expensive.' He was a fan for sure. And nicely, a soft wood/suede note still remains in my hair this morning. I also have to say it reminds me of Agar Ebene in the dry down.