BamBamNYC

I love Diptyque. Other than Frederic Malle, they’re the biggest part of my collection. This new collection, and especially this fragrance, is almost making me swear off the brand for good if they don’t course-correct. Diptyque’s supposed to be about understated elegance. The fragrances are not overbearing, smell “natural”, and seamlessly blend into the background of everyday life, almost like atmospheric background music. Corail Oscuro is a synthetic, screechy mess that’s the antithesis of “natural”. It spits in the face of everything Diptyque stands for.

One small detail that marks the erasure of Diptyque’s legacy: Lunamaris and Lilyphea do not have an “O” sound in their names. Every single fragrance released thus far has an “O” sound (usually in eau) as a nod to Diptyque’s ovals. Clearly whoever’s in charge of this collection has no love or understanding for Diptyque, just making decisions off market research.

Diptyque seems to be losing its brand identity, its creative direction. It seems Diptyque is struggling to recover from the loss of Pescheux (RIP). Instead of slow, thoughtful releases, they released five fragrances at once, ranging from awful to mid. Their main lineup feels very fairly priced. At $230 for the quantity and quality, the EdP feel neither too expensive nor cheap. Trying to peddle far worse fragrances at $330 is a transparent money grab.

There are plenty of other brands that release faceless mid fragrances. Stop trying to appeal to the general market. Appeal to your already-loyal customers instead of alienating them. Diptyque’s customers don’t want synthetic fragrances that last days on the blotter.

A mentholated explosion from the eucalyptus. A huge pile of freshly cut stems and tuberose. If it weren’t for the florals, this smells like a hot and humid greenhouse, lush with deep emerald leaves. Carnal Flower lasts surprisingly long for a green scent. I can put it on in the morning and smell remnants of it in the evening.

You know those pouches of hot cocoa mix? When you cut one open, there’s a comforting powdery chocolate smell? That’s what Over The Chocolate Shop smells like. It’s hard to do a realistic chocolate smell that’s not artificially nauseating; this fragrance has done a great job. There’s a detectable amount of iso e super (?) so it can easily make you go noseblind.

If I close my eyes as I spray this, I get the vibe of sitting by a tranquil pond dotted with water lilies, perhaps a few koi fish swimming by. It suits a rainy summer day. Lys Mediterranee smells realistically of lilies but it can become cloying / detergent-like as the aquatic notes dissipate a couple of hours later.

Frederic Malle says this is an extrait so go light on application. More than two sprays is too much. It is absolutely nuclear—I have strongly smelled this on someone as they walked by. If it gets on your clothes, it will smell of lilies for days.

Tam Dao is not for everyone as it takes woodiness to the extreme. However, if you love woody scents, you must get your nose on this. Diptyque excels at making restrained “natural” smelling scents.

Personally I love it as it manages to be both dry (cedar) and creamy (sandalwood) at the same time. It’s much more cedar than sandalwood, though. It reminds me of the incense sticks in Buddhist temples and altars, making it a deeply meditative scent.