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.

Soft, clean and enveloping like a caress of delicate white lace. This reminds me of a more wearable, less “omg my compact of face powder exploded all over my face!” Esprit D’Oscar- I could sense the heliotrope and iris even though everything is very well blended. Graceful and lady-like skin scent.

The original powdery fragrance, before it became en vogue with Delina. I like the musk in it, there' s not very much to say about it because it' s a very simple fragrance, reminds me of the baby powder smell. Edit: the dry down is hooking me I really like it.

Musk, neroli, and purple flowers. Here I thought I didn't like musk, but I think I was getting it mixed up with the patchouli in some scents. Dovana is definitely powdery at first, but it becomes a light, sweet musk later on.

For what it's worth, my musk and vanilla hating partner likes this. Since the advertising come on says it is a rediscovery of what a musk/vanilla perfume cam be, it seems to have worked with Dovana at least.

For me, this smells like baby powder with a subtle neroli note that gives a touch of freshness. It's not my cup of tea but it's nice and inoffensive, and I like the cologne-y drydown from the neroli.

Creamy, musky and clean. It smells like you’re fresh out of the shower, and the description of a nice lotion that someone else put is very fitting! I enjoy it.

Soft, crushed velvet iris scent, leaving behind a powdery trail- lovely late fall/winter scent- Thanks, M.!

Lovely non offensive powdery musk. If only it had lasted.

I purchased the sample sets from her website. Musk, Orange Blossom, and Vanilla. Inexpensive and she gives 5 nice full samples in each kit with a nice little booklet with information about each scent so you are not testing blind. She also deducts the costs of the samples off the first purchase should you decide to buy, which is a pretty good deal. Problem is, I've tried several already, from the musk and orange blossom samples, and have yet to be WOWED by any of them. This one smells nice, but not particularly pretty, with super light silage and poor longevity. Honestly, I think the cheap Body Fantasies Musk I own smells better. As someone here already mentioned, they all seem to have the same dna underneath. IDK, maybe it's the carrier oil she uses, but there is an underlying note that is running beneath all that I've tried that almost smells like coconut oil. Just as with this one, I'm finding the others to have the same performance issues too. I've learned, after putting one on in the morning right after I got them, to carry the next sample I tried with me the next day because you will have to reapply. When I wear perfumes that smell great and that I love, I often get whiffs of them throughout the day. Here, I mostly forgot that I was even wearing perfume. It certainly didn't stop me in my tracks, or anyone else for that matter. I plan to keep trying them in the hopes that I find at least one that I'll like enough to purchase a fb, but at this point I'm beginning to think this is just not my house.

An opening of iris and musk. Then suddenly a note of orange blossom appears (neroli? mandarin?), and Dovana becomes more pleasant. Unfortunately, this phase only lasts a minute before the note fades away and leaves behind nothing but a clean scent. In fact, this perfume smells like soap - the "neutral" kind of white soap, a bit like... Dove. Dovana is a nice perfume for lovers of soapy fragrances, but the scent is extremely intimate and the longevity is very short (30 minutes on my skin).

This opens more citrusy than I expected, not like the mandarin orange itself but its peel - fainter, more powdery. It dries down into a fairly unassuming soapy iris, with a hazy backdrop of that same mandarin peel and just a smidge of vanilla. My partner sniffed this and proclaimed I smelled exactly like soap, so take that for what you will. It's ok but not my favourite! That being said, their sample set is an absolute bargain.

I bought the sample set of Sylvaine Delacourte and Dovana smells like a fancy baby powder. Just out of the shower scent. It doesnt really smell unique.. it is just meh. Some of their other scents have more depth (or uniqueness) to them. This is a scent I would buy for a more mature woman.

From official website: Top notes: Néroli, Mandarin. Heart notes: Heliotrope, Ambrette. Base notes: Iris, Vanilla, Sandalwood, Musk. It really smells like a luxury soap or shower gel. Really lovely, but rather fleeting.

Soft, delicate and motherly, like talcum or baby powder.

Fruity-floral in powder form. Like if you converted the shampoo aisle in a department store into powder form - poof! - this is what u'd get. Okay it's somewhat more interesting - there's a nice little tangy aspect to it (ambrette? an aspect of the heliotrope?) and the frag shimmers a bit; it's not exactly linear. I'm just not a fan of fruity-florals, and to my nose that's what this is. The powder was aspect was very original, but not enough for me to make me make an exception.

I usually enjoy soft musky powdery fumes. Perhaps it might suit a younger lady than I, but Dovana was a scrubber for me. I persisted for two hours to see how it developed, because on application it was far too candy sweet on my skin. Not many men could wear it confidently, meaning although labelled so it isn't unisex.

A sharp, stabby soapy fragrance. For those who love clean fragrances, this is a very mild, low projection musky-ish powdery light one. 4/10

Fresh out of the shower after using those 90’s soaps like Camay. Beautiful especially in the drydown.

I got the musk sample set from the official website. Dovana is definitely the most pleasant one from the selection. Upon first sniff the scent does resemble the discontinued Narciso Rodriguez Essence somewhat. The only let down is the longevity. The smell disappeared after about 7 hours. The scent itself is much like an expensive body lotion. I think this is best suited to an environment where you are in close contact with people and want to leave a subtle trail of cleanliness or a freshly showered smell. The sillage isn’t that great. This is a skin scent plus a little more. I might just get this as a run-about perfume for when I want to smell like a clean girl with expensive lotion on. This would also make the hair smell really clean (shampoo scent). In terms of notes, i think this leans feminine for definite and also has some lactonic and creamy quality to it. The musk note is clean and aldehydic - great for anyone that finds animalic musk nauseating. I definitely get heliotrope from this and ambroxan too. I think this is quite a linear scent from first spray to dry down. The level of powder is quite pleasant and the subtle touch of iris gives it some coolness without smelling like lipstick. There is a subtle cashmere-type of scent which reminds me of La Perla’s invisible Touch perfume. Florentina was also included as a sample. Dovana is much less powdery than Florentina. I feel like Florentina is suited to older ladies and reminds me of Chanel number 22 in terms of powder and oriental spice notes. The other perfumes in the sample set were not that great. There was an iris one, a green musk and a yellow musk. I sprayed them onto 4 corners of a towel. Came back 2 hours later and the smell was gone! Dovana is definitely the better musk creation of the collection. Price point is okay too, around £125 for 100ml

The entire collection is called LA COLLECTION MUSCS but by now i feel to say this is the wrong name I only tested Florentina e Dovana but this two are talc. La Collection Talc, should be called. Every country has a bit different conception of talc, because talc can be actually perfumed in many different ways. Here in Italy one of the most famous and ancient-traditional talc is Borotalco Robert's, and this perfume smell almost exactly like the mentioned. Remember me Anna Sui when dries. Like Florentina, which is similar, I guess to find inside tonka, vanilla, iris, amber, heliotrope, powdery notes, vetiver and contrast notes to rebalance it and provide a not totally ultra sweet suffocating smell like geranium lavender or rosemary, or just rose. But they play with cottony almondy notes, praline. not properly real oils I presume. As usual. Nice, traditional talc of '800, plus some sugary notes.

Wonderful large-spray-portion sample sets are offered by this new company, nice! (Splashes are just not the same because I love when the scent mixes with the air and gives a little micro shower with each pump.) I tried this first in my musk set, and it seems very similar to Phlur's Hanami. Not at all an animalic musk but fresher take on musk, as she says on her lit. Creamy lotiony vanilla musk to me, and the blend-in of iris is very well done (for someone who found Prada Iris too much iris). Wish there was lotion; maybe there is. It is very soft so far, and I have to sniff my hand to pick up the scent, but I am being very gentle with my spritzes. Oh, if there is ever an intense version of this, I am in!

Just ordered the sample set. Dovana was the first I tried from the set, my last fragrance I purchased was Osez-Moi! and they are so very similar. Both have these baby powder vibes and not much else to it, no sweetness or fresh notes, but I must admit, that Dovana is more balanced than Osez-Moi! It sits close to the skin, so it will not bother anyone. Must-try for powdery-fragrance fans, just not for me.

Lovely, soft and feminine. Reminds me of Ellen by Ellen Tracy via the rose, vanilla and sandalwood. I don’t get much powderiness from the Iris. The heliotrope sweetens the base of smooth white musk. This perfume is interesting in that it rises and falls during the course of the day, You think it is gone, and here it comes again! Very wearable and very close up and personal in an innocent way. Lovely.

What an opening! Definitely a very floral perfume. I could've sworn that there was a ton of rose at the top, but something was a little different - the headiness wasn't quite the rich, intoxicating part of rose, but instead something almondy... that must be the heliotrope! This segues perfectly into a powdery blend of iris and musk. Not my cup of tea, but I must say that this was well-blended!

Dovana opens up with a strong, almost spicy note that is a bit much (maybe the musk mallow...?)! But as it dries down, it becomes more pleasant. But that's about all it does -- sit there pleasantly, slightly powdery (Florentina is MUCH more powdery). And then it disappears completely from the skin -- my skin, at least -- within 2-3 hours. Disappointing.

It has that vintage clean touch. Most likely reminds me of grossmith fragrances somehow with that soapy delicate musk and purple color floral. I can sense some iris sandalwood, soap, and heliotrope with hints of musk. Slight neroli and orange yes. It's after all not an animalic rough fragrance, it's delicate musky fragrance that could be sexy in away.

یه عطر گلی پودری ملو و کاملن زنونه که محوریتش اصلن مشک نیس خیلیییی زنونس و خیلییی گلی پودری. کیفیت خیلی خوب. پخش و دوام متوسط. یونیک نه به اون صورت ولی کیفیت عالی. ----------- Scent & Quality: 8/10 Longevity: 6/10 Sillage: 6/10 Creativity & Uniqueness: 5/10 Affordability: 5/10 ----------- Overall: 6/10

Dry powdery vanillic musk. Soft, cuddling and nostalgic, perfect for the winter season. Resembles to Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Perfumes Winter White. The iris-heliotrope-musk trio work well together, the fragrance has a good sillage, but it is not heavy, or too sweet. My new favourite perfume.

Well, here up Fragrantica shows only White Musk as note. So in the preview comment I did quickly tried to guess the notes, now I have found the official notes on the site. Ambrette Rose Sandalwood Iris Vanilla Mandarin Neroli Heliotrope White Musk I was not so far... and also: who knows?

Very close to L'Eau D'Hiver by Frederic Malle. It just lacks a bit of citrus or something to break the powder musky Iris heliotrope combo. This direction of scents is currently my favorite and I think I will get a bottle of this, maybe will layer it with something to give it a kick.