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Collection Muscs

Dovana Sylvaine Delacourte 2016

7.3 / 10 226 Ratings

A perfume by Sylvaine Delacourte for women and men, released in 2016. The scent is floral-powdery. It is still in production.
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Main accords

Floral

Powdery

Creamy

Sweet

Fresh

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Neroli

Mandarin orange

Heart Notes

Heliotrope

Ambrette

Base Notes

Musk

Iris

Sandalwood Vanilla

Vanilla

Perfumers

Sylvaine Delacourte, Anne-Louise Gautier

Ratings

Scent

7.3226 Ratings

Longevity

6.5182 Ratings

Sillage

5.9183 Ratings

Bottle

7.1150 Ratings

Value for money

6.641 Ratings

Submitted by Rivegauche, last update on 11/19/2025.

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the Collection Muscs collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Florentina

Iperborea

Baby Touch Eau de Toilette

Infusion d'Iris L'Eau d'Iris

Innocente Fragilité

My Pearls

Reviews

7 in-depth fragrance descriptions

03/07/2024

9Scent

DogiCoco
637 Reviews

DogiCoco

3

Can you guess where the name comes from? Soapy in a good way...

My second favorite of Sylvaine Delacourte's beautiful musks when I tried them all some years ago. Now I'm retesting only this one and still like it very much.

As the name suggests, I think the inspiration must have been Dove soap. I even went to the drugstore and smelled some Dove products to compare, and there is a connection, but Dovana isn't as harsh as the shower products, it's more tender and refined. Well, I would expect that for the price.

Usually I'm not much into soapy fragrances, but this is soapy in a very good way. Not like sticking your nose into a bar of soap, more like soft soap bubbles on the skin, or like a 'neutral' clean smelling body lotion.
This is a cold, powdery iris and musk scent that gets just enough warmth from the heliotrope to make it still smell kind of cozy and inviting. I would compare the feeling to slipping under a cold duvet on a warm summer night. Even though vanilla is listed in the notes, I don't really smell it here, and this doesn't have a lot of sweetness in general.
Dovana is very easy to wear, it would make a perfect scent for every day/work that can be worn all year round.

02/06/2017

Rickbr
190 Reviews

Rickbr

Dovana

I see it as a natural path that after many years behind the creative direction of Guerlain Sylvaine Delacourte decided that it's time for a brand under her name and with her ideas. And it's not a surprise for me that she decided to make her first line of 5 fragrances united by a white musk concept. The abuse of musk bases in thin fragrances created a misconception that musks give a cheap aspect to a composition. The fact is that used in the right way they are certainly a force capable of round and exalt the most precious materials and bring unity and softness to a whole composition. This seems to be the idea here and Dovana is already a good example of that.

If you expect a clean functional idea of white musk, you'll certainly be surprised (or disappointed). Dovana might have a clean component in its smell - after all it was inspired by a soap of Sylvaine's childhood. The idea in fact conveys a sensation of freshness and purity, but one which doesn't forget the chic component behind it. It makes me think as if Sylvaine was inspired or motivated to bring some of her projects for Guerlain back and rethink them. I see that the delicate musky sweetness of creations like L'Instant Magic and Mon Precieux Nectar are here, but under a different harmony.

Dovana starts with a sparkling citrus impression, which already has a floral component on it. It moves foward something more bitter and almond like and i appreciate that here, different from L'Instant Magic, the almond blossom impression is neither so bitter or plastic in its aroma. It's delicate, elegant and gives plenty of space for a powdery and discreetly sweet iris accord. Dovana ends quite simple in a coherent way, with a musky creaminess punctuated by the delicate woody aroma of sandalwood. And altough it aroma is soft, it lasts in a very pleasant way, like a second skin. It's a good choice if you appreciate Delacourte work with Guerlain perfumes where the muscinade was a major star.

11/15/2016

8Scent 9Longevity 8Sillage

Chanelle
752 Reviews

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Chanelle

Top Review 15

A Floral Scent in the Wrong Decade

Even with Helicriss by Sylvaine Delacourte, I had a very strong retro feeling, which is easily topped by Dovana. And now I’m slowly wondering how the relatively poor reviews so far came about? Is there a connection? I find it quite charming, but I have a weakness for 80s scents, vintage perfumes, and classics anyway. To me, Dovana smells like one of them. Familiar, yet not really. It hasn’t reinvented the wheel, but rather turned it back by a good 20-30 years. A soft, honey-like scent of white flowers. Not really sweet, by no means gourmand. Very elegant, very feminine, very understated. It confuses me a bit, like Smeraldo did before, which I had to test 3 times before I liked it. The only scent that evokes similar associations is Beige by Chanel, but that is significantly less soft-musk-heavy.
Now wearing a long cream-colored linen dress, wrapped in a lace scarf, and either listening to Stevie Nicks oldies or Joanne by Lady Gaga. Fits.

05/23/2017

8.5Scent 6Longevity 4Sillage

DonJuanDeCat
2047 Reviews

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DonJuanDeCat

Top Review 12

Jumping into the Powder Box

And once again, I received a few samples from a dear Parfuma, among which were the Sylvaine Delacourte fragrances. Hmm… I just noticed that I often make fun of you Parfumas in my comments, or even call you stupid and silly or mean and grumpy, but as soon as I get samples, suddenly you’re all sweet! Aaaah,… I think I’m totally the wrong snake, waaah :(( …. :DD

Oh well! Of course, I thank you for the samples and am excited to test all these fragrances. Now, as I said, I’ll start with a Sylvaine Delacourte scent that I’ve never seen or tried before. Hmm… it contains iris and vanilla and musk… usually always the ingredients for a very pleasant fragrance, well, we’ll see :)

The Scent:

The scent starts with the unmistakable and very beautiful iris, which smells powdery and softly sweet, with the sweetness also coming a bit from the musk. Just a few minutes later, you get the feeling that the fragrance becomes creamier. It generally has a clean, fresh note, almost slightly soapy, somewhat comparable to the Prada Infusion d’Iris fragrances.
I have slight difficulties with the heliotrope, as it usually smells more almondy/marzipan-like (or?) and that is less the case here. But I could be mistaken. Towards the base, you can smell a bit of heliotrope, but I find that the base is more dominated by musk and vanilla with a hint of iris.

The Sillage and Longevity:

As is often the case with this type of fragrance, the projection is rather moderate to weak and can only be perceived by others from close up. So it won’t envelop anyone in a powdery cloud from a distance.
The longevity isn’t the best, but still quite okay with its six to seven hours.

The Bottle:

The bottle is slightly rounded and filled with a clear fragrance liquid. It has a white label with a black border, on which you can see the name and brand. Additionally, there is a black-and-white drawing of a flower that I don’t recognize due to my lack of botanical knowledge… :D
The cap is bronze-colored and cylindrical. A beautiful bottle.

Hmm, as I said, the scent somehow reminded me of the clean-smelling iris fragrances from Prada, which I find quite nice. I know that some of you don’t really like clean notes (you dirty birds… see? I’m starting with the insults again… .D), but Dovana is a very beautiful iris/musk fragrance that you should definitely check out.

With these fragrances, I often have difficulty deciding whether they are truly unisex, as the scent comes across as somewhat feminine to me. The fragrance is best used on warm days, as it is light. Due to the low projection, it is actually only suitable for personal enjoyment or, as they say, as a cuddle scent, since you would need to get quite close to smell it! For that, it envelops you in a cozy, powdery cloud that feels nice and brings satisfaction.

So, I would definitely recommend testing the fragrance!

03/28/2023

9Scent 8Longevity 5Sillage

Alisa23
69 Reviews

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Alisa23

Helpful Review 13

Showered-lotioned-and the little nose is also powdered. A gentle soul in the ocean of perfumes.

Dovana is the fragrant proof that a women's fragrance can also be refined when it simply smells sweetly fresh and very delicate! In 2023, it is almost the greatest discovery to find a scent that does not need to stand out from the millions of new releases each year.

Fresh softness and class - that is the motto here. And I find it wonderful!

The stakes are high, and the approval of those around you is just as important. It works anytime, anywhere, on any woman, and at any age. In my opinion, this is due to two points. First, the main scent character remains NEUTRAL despite interesting scent plays. Second, the floral, powdery, citrus, and musk aspects are in perfect balance without any one of them becoming too much.
This brings high versatility and still a special perfume. And yes, the trend of "unisex" is not to be found here at any corner. Dovana is a women's fragrance, or rather a girl's fragrance? I’m not quite sure; I can easily imagine it on women from 10 to 110 years old. Who wouldn’t want to smell delicately cared for?

Another special feature of Dovana is the technical execution. Here, Sylvaine has skillfully applied her years of experience at Maison Guerlain and hit the mark. The note play is flawless, the quality of the fragrance materials is very high, and the transitions are wonderfully polished. Those looking for minor olfactory mishaps and sharp synthetics will find nothing here.

Dovana is like a small perfectly cut diamond in a very classic gold setting.

How does the scent work?
Very pure, minimally soapy (more like a bubble feeling), softly powdery, a bit floral (iris, violet, rose, orange blossom accord), a hint of vanilla, and lots of fluffy musk. Clean, feminine, floral-soft, enveloping, homely, radiant, and cheerful.

Longevity 9/10
Sillage/Projection 7/10
Price-performance 9/10
Bottle, packaging. 9/10

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