Diaphanous

"Caressed by the wings of an angel" Opens adehydic soapy with a vintage feel Soon the fruity peach emerges and it gives off an impression of a candied peach, still surrounded by aldehydes As it dries a bit the peach also gets surrounded by gentle rose petals and tuberose that is coming off a just a little bit animalic The fragrance is beautiful and ethereal, fit for a bride or a goddess but if you don't sppreciate the vintage feel you might not like it as much

Obviously this fragrance is for women. However, as a man I can still appreciate how well it was put together. It just doesn't feel like a designer fragrance at all. The quality is definitely there.

In terms of both notes and branding, Diaphanous is evocative of vintage aldehydic bride-y florals like Joy (an iconic wedding day perfume) and Nina ‘87 (whose ads featured a white-gloved woman peering through a veil). I love a wedding day perfume, which makes me especially amenable to Diaphanous’ marketing. Sadly, where Joy is juicy and exuberant; and Nina is rich, musky, and cloying, Diaphanous feels pale and thin. Watery peach and wan tuberose chase a fleeting whisper of aldehydes, and the whole procession is over within an hour. I get why The Fragrance Engineers wouldn’t go for a heady scent with a perfume called “Diaphanous,” but this feels downright austere. I appreciate what Diaphanous is trying to do, and I like the concept of a more transparent, wispy, modern take on an opulent vintage perfume. Unfortunately, like a lot of attempts to update the classics, this one comes off as icy, sober, and a little recursive in comparison to the fragrances that it is copying. Personally, I would still go for any ‘80s fruity tuberose over this, especially considering price point and lasting power – at $90 / 50 mL, I’d be cautious about picking up something I knew I was going to blast through so quickly. ...However, all of this being said, I feel like there’s an audience for Diaphanous. Sometimes when browsing Fragrantica, I see perfumes reviewed negatively in a way that makes me know that I will love them. (This sounds weird, but if you know, you know.) Somewhere out there, there is somebody that loves the effervescence and optimism of big aldehydic florals like Joy, Diva, and Arpege, but is turned off by the animalic / indolic / hefty aspects of these frags. If that’s you, I’d suggest giving Diaphanous a try. I see a couple other reviewers have rated longevity as “long lasting” and sillage as “enormous,” so my bad luck with both might even just be a me thing.