Dovana

It does indeed start to smell like Dove soap after a few seconds upon application. But not in a cheap way. In an olfactory homage kind of way. One expects to smell a resemblance and Dovana delivers in a playful experimental manner. An interesting aspect of this fragrance is that the smell of Dove slowly takes shape. It does not come out that way. And you only get to enjoy this brief homage for a while before it morphs into a different fragrance altogether. For the rest of its life, Dovana becomes a heliotrope-Iris scent, underlain by creamy-coconutty pairing of sandalwood and white musk. What a spectacular performance! Even under such high expectations, Sylvaine Delacourte proves herself a cool virtuoso.

I have received the sample pack La Collection Muscs by Sylvaine Delacourte, so let's review them one by one. Dovana is very beautiful and feminine; as other reviewers have stated, it is perhaps a tad too sweet to be worn by men, and a tad too mature to be appreciated by very young girls, but I don't think that they were SD's intended target group anyway. Dovana is not your typical musk bomb and, aside from musk, it features several other protagonists, namely vanilla, heliotrope, iris and mandarin orange, that give it its sweetish-talcum vibe. So, this is firmly aimed at lovers of lipsticky, powdery, make-up scents. I imagine that this is what a geisha would smell like.

Another beautiful fragrance by this line, though this one truly doesn't smell like the listed notes to me. On me, it's a musky and clean aquatic floral in the mode of Mimosa pour Moi and En Passant. The latter especially feels like its scent-sister. I get virtually no iris (and I'm a huge iris fan, so am used to detecting it in all kinds of fragrances), but I can detect a wet heliotrope accord and faint neroli. It does dry down to be sweetly soapy but in such a nice way. My boyfriend really approves of this one too. Poetic and kind. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

This is a dry powdery, vanillic musk w/ violet, iris and almond. A touch of neroli keeps it from becoming too old fashioned. So soft and cuddly, like a cashmere sweater. I really like this one a lot and I think it maybe a love. I will have to wear it for a full day before I decide to pull the trigger and buy but it is lovely and very feminine. It reminds me of Violet Ida w/out the earthy carrot seed. It smells like a comforting violet-colored shroud, a perfect bedtime scent. Very safe and comforting.

This is perfect. Creamy musk without any kind of edge whatsoever. That gossimer iris, vanilla, heliotrope...all that it contains smell like pure powder, but not like "baby powder", no violet present, and doesnt smell like manufactured ideas of "baby smells". Gorgeousness! I like all of the Delacourte Vanilla Discovery Set, but I think it is among the Muscs that I will really feel emotional!

Musky vanilla face-powder creamy hay ... with a facet of iris coolness ... clean, wholesome, classy, delicate, lacey, and feminine. I really love the way ambrette and iris work together, and Dovana highlights this accord to perfection. I'm giving this a Love for its scent, which is enthralling. But it whispers in the daintiest of voices, and can only be heard with nose up against skin.

Clean, musky, soft and powdery. Lasted longer than expected on my skin for such a gentle smelling fragrance. I would consider buying a full bottle of this because if you like powdery, lipstick notes, this is a good option. Not unisex, suitable for a more experienced wearer, won’t appeal to the lovely young things who go for candy and fruit vibes.

It's a soapy vibe scent for me- a get the dry powdery Iris and Heliotrope but in soapy base. Nice parfume- I fell like I'm after a good shower...

This is gorgeous, powdery and soft like Florentina, but more woody than spicy as a foil to the soft powder. I love both.

I LOVE this fragrance 🥰 It’s perfectly soapy & powdery + it really does smell like Dove soap!

I just want to wear this to bed! So beautiful and clean without being sharp.

Dovana was the third SD I tried out of the three sampler packs (already tested Ozkam and Helicriss). Dovana is light, pretty, airy and feminine. For me it brought to mind Prada's Infusion d'Iris, though a watered down version. Another reviewer mentioned L'Espirit d'Oscar and I do see the resemblance there too. It also reminded me very slightly of Narciso Rodriguez' Poudree. This is a very wearable, inoffensive scent that wears close to the skin. The word 'veil' suits how it wears I think. And it's nice but that's it - it's just another nice, easy to wear perfume, which wears very close to the body. There's nothing new or groundbreaking here - this has been done hundreds of times before. I've only started working my way through the three samplers but think I need to lower my expectations. Based on the website, descriptions and all the hype, I was expecting some really innovative, creative scents, but so far have been a bit underwhelmed. Despite that they do seem high quality - no funky chemical smells, so that's good.

Dovana was a tale of two halves really and here's why... It's rare that I spray a fragrance and say that it's instantly 'Too feminine' (whetever that means?) and ultimately not for me, but this is one of those occasions. It's also, slightly acrid in the opening resembling the throat gag of hairspray and too much of a cleanly assault. Boy is it strong JEEEZ!!! Settles to a much more pleasurable, touch of iris perhaps? Rose hips, apricot aldehydic, powdery, lightly soapy, Talcum. Reminds me a little of a Chanel or Hermes I can't place...perhaps Faubourg? Maybe? In hindsight I actually would wear it, if the opening persisted like that for too long though, I definitely wouldn't. Dries down to smell like a freshly shampooed head. So some harsher, 'cheap' elements followed by more classically likeable stuff. adds up to 'meh'

This smell takes you to a vintage soap shop. Just like every other reviewer mentioned – very powdery, musky, clean scent. Yet it has its hidden layers - for the first couple hours it was just powdery musk on my skin. Then neroli appeared. And in another hour or so I felt vanilla kicking in. From soapy, powdery clean it developed into sweet floral. Lasting power is good - still smell it after 5 hours. Ideal for a cold sunny winters day, can see myself wearing it when skiing :) Not enough to be my favorite - need to wait 3-4 hours until I actually enjoy this perfume.

Dovana is a sweet and soapy rose fragrance. The clean bubbly musk, along with citrusy notes, offers a fresh start that lingers to surround a dusty rose melted with sweet vanilla. The iris note remind me of Florentina, only in Dovana it's very subtle. Finally, the ambrette adds a lovely touch of cozyness and depth. This is definitely a pleasant sweet floral fragrance but it smells a little bit too soapy in my opinion. It's giving me nice retro vibes, but with a lightness that feels refreshing.

I recently found my completely empty sample of Dovana. I tried out the entire Musc and Vanilla discovery kits. Her fragrances all share a common dna. I’m not of fan of her fragrances but I did enjoy Dovana. From my memory, I only remember it smelling very similar to baby powder. I don’t recall any soapiness. It’s not soapy and powdery like Amouage Dia woman. I may have to try it out again.

I agree with the reviewers that the spicy iris is a very interesting perfume interpretation. It's juicy, airy, sexy, light and super lipsticky floral. I absolutely love the musk base and the spicy top notes. The vanilla adds an interesting sweet note to the perfume. The perfume is very feminine and is best suited for the day. To me, due to the powderiness, the perfume is winter-leaning.

Of the musk collection from Sylvaine Delacourte, Dovana might be the least distinct. It's soft and subtle, maybe a little close to play-doh territory for some, fresh laundry clean, and pleasant. It reminds me a lot of Sd's Oscarine, sans orange blossom. Not terribly exciting, but could imagine it as a go-to low profile everyday fragrance, easily.

The combination of heliotrope, neroli, mandarin and iris with musk here blend to form a perfume that is soft yet with a dash of bite that smells not unlike violet to me. A musky fruity floral that is pretty and very wearable - very office safe but also pretty enough for wearing to a dinner date imo. Can't see that this would offend anyone.

Very feminine, powdery musk, vanilla and iris scent that like others from Delacourte’s collection, stays close, making it an intimate scent. A signature style of hers is that she takes out the animalic part of musk, making it so much easier to wear. Base features a soft gentle sandalwood. I can’t imagine any one being offended by Dovana.