Tam Dao by Diptyque

I'm not a person who can harp on and on about luxury-label fragrances or obsessively collect them. In fact I skeptically think perfumes are of importance at all and I have set my mind, since my student days, that the majority of my hard-earned income should be channeled towards clothing and shoes. In order to get by the everyday humidity and potentially embarrassing odorous moments I just cling on to my only fragrance - Comme Des Garcons 2, which was a birthday present from close friends back in Volgograd almost THREE years ago. Get this - I still use it till this very day!

However my previous trip to Paris has opened my eyes to a whole new world of fragrance. People there are not just immensely obsessed with perfumes, they simply could not live without them.

My foray into French fragrance territory is all thanks to Arman who introduced to me the famous Parisian fragrance brand Diptyque, that was stocked in L'Eclaireur, checking out which intensifies my interest in fragrances. 

Diptyque is a generally an under-the-radar fragrance brand that is aptly so, especially for those who desire understated luxury. This Paris-based company was founded in 1961 by three friends  (Desmond Knox-Leet, Yves Coueslant and Christiane Gautro). Due to its burgeoning increase in sales, as most of big successful companies, this privately held niche perfume house was bought by London based Manzanita Capital.

The company originally produced printed fabrics, but in 1963 they introduced a line of scented candles and subsequently, in 1968, produced their first perfume, L'Eau. It's pretty overwhelming looking over Diptyque's list of perfumes over the years which spans over 20 individual fragrances.

But after a careful selection I finally resorted to a unisex perfume, Tam Dao - a floral woody musk fragrance for women and men. Launched in 2003 its top notes are rose, myrtle and italian cypress; middle notes are sandalwood and cedar; base notes are spices, amber, white musk and brazilian rosewood.

 

Of course I can't say that I'm too familiar with fragrance world lingo (what are top, middle and base notes still boggle me).  But having a perfume with a quality that stimulates my olfactory nerves which in turn, evokes a certain emotion is good enough I think...