I recently became obsessed with tuberose. It can be a challenging note in perfume. Keeping in mind that everyone wears perfume differently, and just because it smells awful on me, doesn’t mean it isn’t a gorgeous perfume. Like Robert Piguet Fracas, which is arguably the grande dame of tuberose perfumes. Oh, how I wish I could wear it. I fantasize about how beautiful it is and my bubble is popped every time I try it. I am holding out for the pure parfum extrait, as perhaps that is the version that will work for me. I adore Estee Lauder Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia, which is really mostly tuberose. It’s gorgeous and elegant but a little formal for every day wear, however it is perfect for occasions when I want to diva it up a little. Rawr.
Tuberose is a flower with an earthy and somewhat carnal scent to it. It was frequently the star of Victorian “Moon Gardens” which was usually made up of white flowers that release their intense fragrance after dark- popular so the sun-shunning Victorian ladies could keep their milky white complexions. It’s floral-heady-jasmine-orange- rubbery-fruity-lactonic-honeyed-indolic aroma is said to have powers to cure frigidity . Oh those naughty Victorians. They also believed that tuberose signified dangerous and carnal pleasures, and young girls were warned against inhaling its aphrodisiac scent after dark, lest it lead them into trouble. No wonder I love it. Meow.
Heathcliff, driven mad by smelling my tuberose perfume in the moongarden….I adore Frederic Malle Carnal Flower, another reference tuberose, but on my skin it is one of those perfumes that does. Not. Quit. It wants to wear me, settle into a chair in my house and stay awhile. That’s not how I like my perfume. I like it closer to the skin, as my readers likely know. Diptyque Do Son was one I wanted to revisist, as it is what I’d call a gentle less intense tuberose. I had tried Diptyque Do Son in the eau de toilette version several times. For some reason it didn’t stick, so I kept having to try it again. It never really stuck with me, or impressed me enough to want to wear it But I knew I had to revisit it, and perhaps in my new found obsession with tuberose I would magically love it. Well, wouldn’t you know, the store I went to had a) no tester for Do Son and b) no eau de toilette in stock. They only had the recently released eau de parfum version of Do Son, which Diptyque describes as “A familiar yet reinvented interpretation, with accentuated, enhanced major notes… the Eau de Parfum expresses itself with even more personality, audacity, intensity and tenacity”. I get a little crazy when it comes to perfume and in a fit, I decided to just buy Do Son in eau de parfum – without even smelling it. Risky, I know, but that’s the Bond Girl in me. I leapt. And I’m glad I did. It is a gorgeous, sweet, musky tuberose, with some yummy fruity notes that play off the intense vibrating tuberose scent, calming it perfectly. It does stay close to the skin, but lasts quite a long time. It’s so rich and creamy and is officially My Favourite Perfume Right Now.
Verdict? I love it. It feels sexy, feminine and pretty, and is the kind of floral that will work in cool or warm weather. And it does purr on the skin.
Diptyque Do Son eau de parfum in the 75ml bottle is available on their website for $140 US, at these Diptyque stores, and at select retailers. I got mine at Holt Renfrew.
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