Velvet Dusk Novellista 2020
1
Absolutely No Surprise
If you take a look at the breakdown of the fragrance notes, you can immediately guess how this scent smells.
Fresh, slightly citrusy and green, a bit spicy and somewhat darker in the drydown.
The drydown smells immensely like Dior Sauvage to me, with a slightly peppery note that is not listed here. Maybe it's the tobacco or another note that gives me this feeling.
Therefore, I don't have much to say about this perfume. It smells like the 1000th fragrance in the fresh and inoffensive direction - just a copy of the successful Dior Sauvage. However, I must say that I prefer Velvet Dusk. It is much less aggressive than Sauvage, which always bothers me about it. I just can't wear it. Velvet Dusk starts much softer with a bit more green in the opening; my brother said after the first spray it smells "like a salad dressing," but that faded after a while and it was just... typically fresh. Anyone looking for an average perfume that can be worn on any occasion without much thought will surely be well advised here, unless they prefer one of the more well-known rivals (BdC, Sauvage, Dylan Blue, AdG Profumo, Montblanc Explorer, ...).
I personally would describe this scent with one word: Boring. I am at a point in my "perfume career" where I don't want to smell the 100th Sauvage clone. Smelling good is always nice, but by now, you just can't distinguish them anymore. Therefore, definitely not for me, and I won't be purchasing a bottle. Anyone who wants to wear something simple and perhaps finds Dior Sauvage too strong or offensive with its strong pepper, and also thinks Prada Luna Rossa Carbon with its rounded lavender is silly, might want to sample Velvet Dusk.
One positive feature I want to highlight is the performance. The sillage is by no means strong; maybe a few more sprays would do the trick, but that's not my style. The longevity is really very good! I applied it in the afternoon, and even though the fresher notes fade quite quickly after a while, the peppery, musky, and slightly woody drydown lingers in my nose for a long time. A full twelve hours after spraying, I could still smell it on my chest (or rather on my collarbones)! A Dior Sauvage can certainly compete with that, but many of the other standard "blue fragrances" will unfortunately not be quite as competitive.
Velvet Dusk is marketed as unisex. I haven't been able to smell it on a lady yet, neither my mother nor a perfume-loving friend, but to my nose, it is clearly a masculine scent. Just a typical men's fragrance. Sure, women can also wear Sauvage or Acqua di Gio Profumo. And some of my friends do (especially BdC is very popular and smells great on women), but it cannot be denied that it is very masculine, somewhat softer than Sauvage, and just a typical "clean man scent" that can be worn every day. If someone is looking for a challenge or something extraordinary, this is not the right choice. If you just want to smell good and have a full wallet, feel free to find a sample or buy it.
In conclusion, I want to mention that this review sounds quite negative, even though the scent itself is not that bad. On one hand, it is simply a (in my opinion!!) boring fragrance that gets lost in the crowd; on the other hand, this is supposedly a NICHE FRAGRANCE!! This brand is currently being heavily promoted in many places. "Unique niche fragrances inspired by novels (Novels, hence the name Novellista)."
So I was actually looking forward to something unique or creative, very much in the spirit of the already existing brand imaginary authors, and especially with this elegantly sounding name - "Velvet Dusk." I haven't tried any of the other fragrances from this line or this brand, but I really don't need a niche Dior Sauvage, especially since this perfume costs over 100€. That's more than Sauvage, Bleu de Chanel, or the numerous other affordable alternatives. And all of them can keep up or even surpass Velvet Dusk.
Fresh, slightly citrusy and green, a bit spicy and somewhat darker in the drydown.
The drydown smells immensely like Dior Sauvage to me, with a slightly peppery note that is not listed here. Maybe it's the tobacco or another note that gives me this feeling.
Therefore, I don't have much to say about this perfume. It smells like the 1000th fragrance in the fresh and inoffensive direction - just a copy of the successful Dior Sauvage. However, I must say that I prefer Velvet Dusk. It is much less aggressive than Sauvage, which always bothers me about it. I just can't wear it. Velvet Dusk starts much softer with a bit more green in the opening; my brother said after the first spray it smells "like a salad dressing," but that faded after a while and it was just... typically fresh. Anyone looking for an average perfume that can be worn on any occasion without much thought will surely be well advised here, unless they prefer one of the more well-known rivals (BdC, Sauvage, Dylan Blue, AdG Profumo, Montblanc Explorer, ...).
I personally would describe this scent with one word: Boring. I am at a point in my "perfume career" where I don't want to smell the 100th Sauvage clone. Smelling good is always nice, but by now, you just can't distinguish them anymore. Therefore, definitely not for me, and I won't be purchasing a bottle. Anyone who wants to wear something simple and perhaps finds Dior Sauvage too strong or offensive with its strong pepper, and also thinks Prada Luna Rossa Carbon with its rounded lavender is silly, might want to sample Velvet Dusk.
One positive feature I want to highlight is the performance. The sillage is by no means strong; maybe a few more sprays would do the trick, but that's not my style. The longevity is really very good! I applied it in the afternoon, and even though the fresher notes fade quite quickly after a while, the peppery, musky, and slightly woody drydown lingers in my nose for a long time. A full twelve hours after spraying, I could still smell it on my chest (or rather on my collarbones)! A Dior Sauvage can certainly compete with that, but many of the other standard "blue fragrances" will unfortunately not be quite as competitive.
Velvet Dusk is marketed as unisex. I haven't been able to smell it on a lady yet, neither my mother nor a perfume-loving friend, but to my nose, it is clearly a masculine scent. Just a typical men's fragrance. Sure, women can also wear Sauvage or Acqua di Gio Profumo. And some of my friends do (especially BdC is very popular and smells great on women), but it cannot be denied that it is very masculine, somewhat softer than Sauvage, and just a typical "clean man scent" that can be worn every day. If someone is looking for a challenge or something extraordinary, this is not the right choice. If you just want to smell good and have a full wallet, feel free to find a sample or buy it.
In conclusion, I want to mention that this review sounds quite negative, even though the scent itself is not that bad. On one hand, it is simply a (in my opinion!!) boring fragrance that gets lost in the crowd; on the other hand, this is supposedly a NICHE FRAGRANCE!! This brand is currently being heavily promoted in many places. "Unique niche fragrances inspired by novels (Novels, hence the name Novellista)."
So I was actually looking forward to something unique or creative, very much in the spirit of the already existing brand imaginary authors, and especially with this elegantly sounding name - "Velvet Dusk." I haven't tried any of the other fragrances from this line or this brand, but I really don't need a niche Dior Sauvage, especially since this perfume costs over 100€. That's more than Sauvage, Bleu de Chanel, or the numerous other affordable alternatives. And all of them can keep up or even surpass Velvet Dusk.
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