WHAT I SMELL: Jazmin Yucatan opens with an aquatic tinged passion flower that’s a bit chewy and which quickly explodes into a rounded aquatic infused jasmine. The perfume is big without being overwhelming and it’s clean and fresh with just a hint of jungle earthiness. You can almost feel the sun-kissed jasmine being tossed by the warm winds pushing northward across the Yucatan Peninsula. As the perfume slowly develops, an earthy vetiver creates a rattan like base for the jasmine to sit upon. In the end, Jazmin Yucatan settles into a cottony fresh linen. Jazmin Yucatan is quite linear, but that’s just fine, because it’s meant to be worn in the heat of the warm Mexican sun where it can lightly radiate its floral beauty.
From the D.S. & Durga website:
Jungle, humidity, snake plants, jazmín yucateco, crocodile by the cenote, shaded temple, limestone ruins.
Top notes: water, passion flower, bergamot
Heart notes: jazmin yucateco, sambac, clove
Base notes: snake plant, vetiver, copal
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Jasmine wafting amongst the Mayan temples dotting the landscape of the Yucatan Peninsula.
THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE JAZMIN YUCATAN: moistened, cottony, rounded
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT JAZMIN YUCATAN: Colognoisseur, Notetaking
BOTTOM LINE: Jazmin Yucatan does capture the earthy floral environment of the Yucatan peninsula and takes the heady jasmine and tames it nicely. Groundbreaking, no. Lovely, yes.
- Bone Rating: 3 out of possible 5 bones
- Scent: Floral
- Nose: David Moltz
- Classification: Unisex
- Expense: Starting at $175 for 50 ml eau de parfum
WHAT I SMELL: Velvet Tonka opens with a soft and silky orange blossom that’s riding on top of a thickened wave of almond. The perfume starts off big and very rounded with what seems to be a taffy like glaze. It’s sweet, but more buttery almond sweet than sugary sweet. As the perfume begins to develop it radiates greatly and it reminds me of my mother’s confectionary kitchen cabinet where smells of vanilla, almond, paste and frosting created a veritable olfactory sugar rush. Continuing on, the addition of tobacco absolute helps to tame the perfume from growing out of control. However, the almond is still front and center and rather hard to resist. As the perfume continues on its journey, the almond melds with the tonka and vanilla. Here, the perfume softens oh so lightly along with a dash of wood just to even it out. It’s much later where I believe Velvet Tonka hits its “sweet spot” when it quiets to an ambered gourmet delight. It’s pretty, slightly sweet, lightly warmed and quite delightful.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Frosted almond cookies.
WHAT I SMELL: Mixed Emotions opens with a beautiful minty fresh cassis which moves ever so slightly to the evergreen in a rapid manner. Almost immediately, the perfume feels as if it resides on the edge of the forest where the green and the fruits seem to beckon all living things to commune with its ripened juice. After a short while, the fruit begins to quiet and soften, but the blackcurrant sweetens with the addition of a hint of violet while a soft tea note begins to enter. Here the perfume becomes more contemplative. Did I say contemplative? In a very short time, the perfume starts to move towards the semi-funky when wafts of light sweat come into play. For non-perfumistas that may sound like a horrible thing, but for those in the know, it can be enticing; and in this case, it’s exactly that. As the perfume continues to develop, a light violet begins to occupy the space where the blackcurrant resided along with the lightest of tea and incense. Here, the perfume is once again contemplative, soft and engaging and to me, very, very pretty. In the end you’re left with a quiet, lightly sweet musk of a perfume. Mixed Emotions is pretty and rather intimate in just the right kind of way.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Mixed emotions? Maybe. But to me, it’s sweet emotions. (And to clarify further, that means sweet related to love vs. sweet related to sugar!)
The Scented Hound 