by the drooling Musette
I always wonder why the term ‘diva’ has gotten such a bad rap – maybe it always has come with that faint tinge of Puritan disapproval and I just didn’t notice it (and it wouldn’t be the first time). But I like the word diva. Its Latin origin means ‘goddess’ and if you think about true divas (Jessye Norman, Joan Sutherland come to mind), what it conjures is a massive, almost mystical Presence to match their incredible vocal gifts…..
…which is why I am stunned! that Roja Dove chose to name his new fragrance Diaghilev and create it to mark the Victoria & Albert Ballets Russes exhibit. This perfume which I fell into, courtesy of WAFT by Carol, is so incredibly, lushly velvet-chypre-y,creamy, swoony-swoopy, (pant!pant!).….my darlings, I just don’t know how to describe it. If divas = difficult this perfume might qualify. But the difficulty will be yours. I defy you to wear this without incurring a Repetitive Motion Injury. My shoulder still hurts from the 243 times I lifted my wrist to my nose in one hour alone!
Sergei D. might’ve worn it – by all accounts the impressario was an Imperious Presence – but I doubt any of his ballerinas would’ve. Not even his prima ballerina. It’s just a bit too hefty for a ballerina….
Oh! Wait. I’m an idiot. Roja Dove is a genius. And he’s right. He created this in honor of an early 20th Century ballet company. Think everything Diaghilev represented, iron will, outsized ego, Mitsouko-scented curtains. Think Olga Spessivtseva, considered one of the greatest classical dancers of all time. A prima ballerina. Presence. I see her, emerging from her bath, wrapped in a silk kimono…powdering her shoulders whilst her maid lays out her gown for dinner with a fabulously wealthy admirer….her dressing room filled to the brim with luscious deep pink roses and her chaise longue covered in a cashmere throw, vintage Bollinger on her dressing table, spraying this with abandon….. Sergei and Olga, mirror satellites of fabulousness, each needing the other to achieve the zeniths of their talents..
Shut up about the ballerinas already and get to the perfume! Sorry. I got carried away with the Bolly and the chaise longue. You all …..wow. Okay. (deep breath here)… You all know how much I adore vintage Mitsouko, right? And you know I heart current Femme with its sexy sweat…..and Coty Chypre is one of my all-time vintage loves. Well…imagine that those three are romping in a bed dressed in woven silk sheets and there is a LOT of 1990 Krug (with its yeasty magnificence)…and a big silver bucket of chilled shrimp with Thousand Island dressing (I’m serious) and a flourless chocolate cake with a warm vanilla crème anglaise….and you have Diaghilev. Carol and I agree that it is not a ‘modern’ scent at all – this is evocative of the great 50s-60s versions of Coty Chypre. Like M. Dove I smell Mitsouko (Carol disagrees – for her more coherent review see here ) but the smoothness of vintage EDP, not the current (pre-reformulation) with its gasoline punch. Roja Dove studied at Guerlain and you can smell the Guerlain influence in Diaghilev – the vanilla that defines Shalimar is evident in the springy roundness of this scent, which stops just one sugar sprinkle short of crème brulee ( my favorite crèmes brulees incorporate 3 distinct things that flow together: the bite of carmelized (nearly carbonized) sugar, the sweet followthrough of that sugar and the salty tang of the crème). Everything about this perfume translates, for me, into ‘mouthfeel’. Carol uses the term ‘mouthwatering’….and she’s absolutely right. If I didn’t already adore her, I would hate her guts. Her evocative review caused a lemming so intense it made my gums ache! So I schemed and scrabbed and am now anxiously awaiting my leetle bit of it. And I am willing to share a small sample with one incredibly lucky commenter. Drop a line here letting me know which perfume most conjures up ‘mouthfeel’ for you and I’ll get Pickle to pull a winner. I doubt this rambling, screechifyin’ post has spawned any lemmings but just in case, you can purchase Diaghilev here . Two caveats: it has one of those scary bulb atomizers and currently it only ships to the UK. But everybody knows somebody (or knows somebody who knows somebody) who lives/works/visits London – if you are a chypre-lover this one is an absolute ‘must-try’ for you.
Notes (which I stole from Carol’s post – please do read it (way better than mine) there’s also a link to a Roja Dove interview…he’s delightfully over the top and I think I am in love! I carry my own blanket, too!)
top -bergamot, lemon and orange
heart – rose de mai , jasmine
base – oak moss, orris, patchouli, vanilla and vetiver
photo: frenchchicandshabby.com some rights reserved
Mouthfeel… mouthfeel… hmm. I don’t want a lot of gourmands. Of the stuff I wear regularly, maybe Sweet Anthem’s Mary, which smells of black cherries to start? or YSL Cinema?
Actually, vintage Opium feels mouthwatering to me as well.
Would love to be entered in the drawing! Thanks
Great review Musette, and THANKS for adding to my “to-sample” list that’s already a mile long ;P
For mouth feel, I’d have to say my mother’s vintage Shalimar extrait always had that effect on me.
That said, the one that immediately comes to mind is Casmir by Chopard simply for a comment I received on it. I told my friend I was looking for a sexy fragrance, and when she smelled it she said “well if you’re looking for one that says TAKE ME, this is more like ‘TAKE ME home and I’ll bake you cookies'” I always associate that with Casmir now.
Please enter me in the drawing, and thanks to the link I’m going to have to explore some more! :)
That’s a great review, Musette. It perfectly conveys your lust! :d
For me, the scent with ‘mouthfeel’ is YSL Yvresse (was Champagne). It makes me want a glass. Or five….
But I don’t need a sample of Diaghilev, thanks – I snagged a bottle last year in Harrods! And I totally agree, it’s delish. I knew I had to own it before I’d even tried it on skin.
I also agree about scary bulb atomisers. But luckily it comes separately. So I’ve never attached mine, I just dab/splash.
I’d love to try this, please enter me in the draw. :)
Oh, oh! Please enter me in the draw. What an enticing post.
This sounds wonderful! Les Rosines Rose Praline tranlates to me like a madeleine.
Chypre lover here! Thanks for the draw!
Guerlain’s Spirituese Double Vanille would be my “mouthfeel” pick. The vanilla and the booze, ya know.
real oakmoss? I’d love to try this!
I have to be completely honest, I can’t even begin to come up with a scent that conjures up “mouthfeel,” but I would love to be entered in the draw, if that’s ok! Your review has convinced me that I really need to know what that’s like, and how better than a little sample of Diaghilev? Anyway, if I could be entered, it would make my day! :-)
Of course!
xo >-)
Many thanks! :)
Andy Tauer’s Rose Vermeille has a nice mouth feel to me- big mouthfuls of juicy warm raspberry and rose, dripping from the corners of my mouth on a hot summer day.
Please enter me in the drawing.
that’s a very visceral description! =p~
xo >-)
PLEASE ENTER ME IN THE DRAW
Yowza! Misouko, Femme, and Chypre romping around in a bed together, with shrimp, champagne, and chocolate cake galore…that’s a party I want to be part of! Add to that the fact that I’m a big ol’ ballet fanatic…
As for fragrances with “mouthfeel”, I would pick the rich vanilla of Shalimar, and the anise-infused pastry of L’Heure Bleue. On the other end of the spectrum, Lime Basil & Mandarin has a tang I can almost taste.
Would love to be the lucky winner of this sample!
I’m with you, darlin’ (except for the LB&M, which gives me a mi (wait! can’t say the “M” word 😮 )
xo >-)
Thanks for the lovely review.
I’d love to be entered in the drawing.
S-Perfume’s 100% Love is like the most yummy, almost buttery, raspberry chocolate truffle.
Musette, I take note of anything you rave review, so I would love to sample this!
Thank you!
And ‘ooooh’ on the buttery!
😡
xo >-)
Thanks for the reminder on this — I have a sample somewhere that I need to give some love to. Yum!!
If by “mouthfeel” you mean, heady, swoony, fall over your heels while deeply inhaling, that for me, would be the classics, the heavy hitters..Arpege, Joy, to some degree Samsara, Songes. The caramelized flower love of Organza, Chloe by Lagerfeld. I’m sure I have a limited collection in comparison, but some of the gourmands I have such as Angel, M, Lolita Lempecka’s L and Coral Flower are almost there, but tend toward background happiness.
One spritz and I’m done, so I don’t wear anything liberally, but those old tyme fragrances are just lovely enough to chew.
Thanks for posting and sharing, I always love to read your reviews, even if i often feel too poor to add a sample :)
They are, aren’t they? I just read a review of the original Versace and it was SO 80s! And the mention of Chloe (original) – that was something else! I just tried Songes for the first time (thanks, March, for that lemming! /:);)) and was stunned at how PRETTY it is! Nordie’s still has it, thank Floyd. I’m tired of chasing stuff down! [-(
xo >-)
Oooh count me in!! i love chypre! it is such a rich-classy-b*tch note. Thank you for the draw!
One scent that makes my mouth water is L’artisan’s Havana Vanille. It smells the way vanilla-flavoured cigarillos taste (delicious).
I would’ve said vanilla-flavoured cigarillos soaked in rum but ymmv! 😉
xo >-)
Thank you for the draw. Other people’s lemmings are irresistible plus I am a chypre lover.
My mouthfeel is DSH perfumes creation, Mahjoun. It is based on a moroccan dessert, and it is amazing. It’s a mouthfeel and an instant pick-me-up.
DSH gets much love here on the Posse!
xo >-)
Oh YES, Mahjoun belongs here too! That one is an HG for me, I want ALL versions of it. I love the way it starts out so gourmand and ends up an incandescent incense.
OOOHH – Mitsy without the Mean Girl vibe?! (Not that there is anything wrong with that of course!)Count me IN! :-D
Yes, I am nothing if not a chypre fan! However, my favorite scents with good “mouthfeel” have to be vintage Parfum Sacre and the original formula of Amoauge Ubar; in fact I recently ran a cross a rich wine that reminded me of PS. Something about the smoothnes of the vanilla combined with the resinous ingredients just makes it irresistible. In the case of Ubar, it is also about the resins and whatever else in there that makes it so addictive; just can’t get enough!
Ooooh! 😮 I’mo tell her you said that! ;))
xo>-)
Would love to try this Roja Dove – being a true chypre lover!
For mouthfeel I would have to say vintage Shalimar and also Lutens Un Bois Vanille layered with Douce Amere. Interesting that so many have chosen a vanilla based perfume for good mouthfeel!
I think it’s one of the most easily translatable notes. To my mind, vanilla smells exactly like we expect it to taste (even though it, tasted on its own, doesn’t taste like it smells – for that you need it ‘in’ something)
xo >-)
No “mouth feel” scents to my perception (so far, anyway), but “tactile” scents. The classic Chanels are like deep, supple, silk – not taffeta but charmeuse or crepe de chine.
The Diaghilev sounds sumptuous. Crossing my fingers for a win!
Someone above compared the classic Chanel No 5 to a beautiful garment. I would say that is a very apt description of/response to the House of Chanel’s fragrances.
and charmeuse is perfect tactile comparison!
xo >-)
Num = Ambre narguile. Tastes – I mean smells – like a platonic ideal of a giner cake…
😮
The Nazgul!
xo >-)
The scent that gives me a mouthfeel is daphne by comme des garcons. I would really like to try Diaghilev.
That’s another one I need to revisit!
xo >-)
As for ‘mouthfeel’, I would say Bvlgari Black- strange, I know, but it tastes like skin that has been wearing leather and riding a motorcycle! Also, Kenzo Amour- rice pudding steam. Yum…
Oh, that’s a shame! :(( Luckily there are so many beauties out there….
xo >-)
Fab review! This is some gorgeous stuff and the exhibit was wonderful as well. I sprayed on the day and gorgeous though it was it sadly didn’t suit me, it smelled much better on my friend. I fear it was the Mitsouko Effect- something in there is just discordant on my skin and I find it frequently happens with ‘true’ chypres. Money saved I guess! I will see if I can get hold of a sample though and pass it along…*winks at Ann*
I am lemming Miss M :)
mouthfeel- hmmm. CdG Daphne and Stephen Jones both have summa that I’d say.
Shelley called Stephen Jones ‘violets in space’ 😕
wonder what ‘mouthfeel’ is like in space?
xo >-)
Jicky has a taffylike mouthfeel for me…
I’d love to enter the draw. :)
Jicky=taffy
you KNOW I have to revisit that one, don’t you? 😕
xo >-)
I’ve never tried any of the Roja Dova scents, but this sounds amazing! Great review, Musette! Loved your descriptions of it. As far as mouthfeel goes, I haven’t sensed that very often yet. Maybe with some of my tea scents, that feeling of hot tea with its tannins and brisk tang. I’d like to be entered in the drawing. Thanks. :-)
Tea scents are great ‘mouthfeel’ scents – if you like orangeish teas, try my beloved Agraria Bitter Orange. Like Constant Comment in a spray!
xo >-)
This sound weird, but Eau de Mervilles gives me mouthfeel: it reminds me of the custom in the Philippines of cutting the top off of a cold orange and sprinkling salt on it and sucking the juice out (all standing in the Camargue in July).
That makes perfect sense! Salty Orange! 😡
xo >-)
Your review DID create a lemming. So there! In terms of “mouthfeel” – for me, Worth’s Courtesan (spicy warm goodness) woudl qualify, as would Chanel No 5 for a completely different reason. When i wear it, I feel as if i’ve wrapped myself in a garment rather than a scent – it has a corporal presence to me, one I remain aware of – tasting so to speak – all day.
I can totally see that with the No5. The Courtesan? 😕
I’ll let March handle that one! 😉
xo >-)
This sounds absolutely divine! I adore Roja Dove Unspoken, and if this is half as good, I’m in heaven. I would love to try this.
Mouthfeel? Hmmm. Rochas Femme, Rubj EDP, some of the Serge Lutens fragrances and L’Artisan Tea for Two are the ones that come to mind right now.
that’s a great list! Femme and Rubj are gorgeous!
xo >-)
What a fabulous review!! Did this one have a color for you?
Oddly enough, the only perfume to have given me a mouth-feel so far has been another Roja Dove….Scandal made me feel as though I had a mouth full of cherry flavored cough syrup. It triggered my swallow reflex.
Thanks for the chance to win a sample!
This one is a deep, dark olive-green silk, shot through with bronze and gold!
xo >-)
Ooooooh, girl, I want summa that!
“Delicious” review, wow! I would love to have it. Please enter me into the draw.
My mouthwaterer is Orange Sanguine,mmmmmmmm :x
OS is definitely ORANGE! It freaked me out when I first tried it but I find I really like it, paired with FM’s Bigarade Concentree – it cuts the pith in the BC and the OS’s sweetness gets toned down a notch – a perfect pairing imo!
xo >-)
Okay, don’t put me in the draw, but it sounds lovely! A great post. I’ve smelled some other of his kinda-retro creations, I liked Unspoken a lot.
You will LOVE this.
xo >-)
I would love to try this. It sounds lovely! Thank you.
Great, and heartfelt, review, Musette! I had the same response to Diaghilev upon sniffing and luckily, since I was home alone, I solved the repetitive motion problem by keeping my wrist glued to my nose.
I *do* get the reference to Mitsouko as well as the other great chypres from Diaghilev before it morphs into its own being. Just a beautiful, beautiful scent.
You don’t need to include me in the draw as I’m lucky enough to have some winging its way to me.
It’s 2011. We have the technology – or at least we have UPS. You’d think it’d be here already! :-w Don’t we have warp drive yet? Or Or…the you know….the …the ‘energizer’ room TRANSPORTER! (dang. sorry ’bout that. My brain froze clean up on that one!).
8-|
xo >-)
Yep, let’s hurry up and get that “transporter” hooked up so we can get those European/UK exclusives over here stat (and vice-versa)!!
Pickles, darling, please pick me.
I don’t know if I’m woman enough for this one but I’ll try my best.:d
You’re woman enough if you wanna be! 😉 For all its heft, it doesn’t wear one – it’s lovely and actually a bit soft…at least it is to me…
xo >-)
I LOVE this review!! I was once a ballerina a loonnnngggg time ago…sigh. The scent sounds amazing and I would love to be entered into the draw.
MOst of CSP’s scents are mouthfeels for me – although I HATED Matin Calin. Smelled like burnt popcorn on me – I so wanted to love it too. I’ve moved away from most of the CSP’s but I still wear Vanille Banane once in a while. It’s different.
Oooh! A real ballerina! I always love walking behind ballerinas in NYC (which is where one usually finds them. Certainly not in Wyoming, IL)….current/former, doesn’t matter. You always look as if someone is pulling your head up by an invisible wire…..and you gliiiiide. Sooo elegant. @};-
I only know of one CSP (can’t remember the name) and it has a lot of coconut in it so that’s a 8-x for me. I used to see them at TJM all the time – then they just …vanished!
xo >-)
I’m still looking for a new scent to wear to the ballet. Thanks for the drawing!
Well this might be the one! Erm…you did mean ‘to’ the ballet, not ‘in’ the ballet, right? 😕 This is NOT a corps-friendly scent! If you are prima, on the other hand, I suspect you can wear whatever you damn well please. Otherwise, what’s the point, right?
xo >-)
Update for those of you who want to get this…
it’s rojadovefragrance.com – the site is a bit confusing – this link will take you directly to Diaghilev.
xo >-)
Hi lady, what a great review! And lovely to hear you over the moon for a fragrance. It does sound divine. Is it anywhere close to Roja Dove’s Unspoken, do you think (as in kissing cousins, perhaps)?
And at the risk of sounding way too obvious, SL’s Jeux de Peau gives me a lot of mouth-watering action.
waiting for my sample of that…Comptoir Matin Calin has some
” mouthfeel ” going for it . And way fewer calories than caramel corn !
Oh Carol, that does sound yum! BTW, any idea who carries the CSP line anymore? Sephora used to, but I don’t remember seeing it there last time I visited.
Ann,
I am probably going to get my P-card yanked and then I will be stripped and beaten with jagged scent strips when I tell you this:
:”> until very recently I knew NOTHING of Roja Dove’s fragrances, save that he had Diorling! I mean, I knew of him and listened, with 1/30th of an ear, when folks raved about his stuff, etc…but gave his scents short shrift, indeed!
……(ducks head in shame)…
xo >-)
Silly girl, you are SO funny!! I think the Roja Doves are likely the ONLY scents on the planet you haven’t smelled :)
And probably many of us here in the U.S. have only sniffed them thanks to samples from TPC.
Ann – Diaghilev is nothing like Unspoken, at least to my nose. Unspoken is much more floral/violet whereas Diaghilev is much closer, as Musette pointed out, to the really vintage classic chypres.
Thanks, good to know. Sounds lovely!
Sounds lovely…I’m looking for something to give me ‘mouthfeel’ right now. The closest I’ve come lately is Amouage Gold. I’d sure like to try this one!
The Amouages have power. Mine is Jube 25…not quite ‘mouthfeel’, like this one, but close..
xo >-)
!!! Please enter me in the drawing; this fragrance sounds incredible.
What a wonderful review! Please enter me in the draw and the way you describe it, wish the prize were a Bucketful.
Although it’s a lighter scent, the one that makes me think food is Nuit de Noel. Love it, but my first impression every time I spritz it is – Fruitcake. And I do like fruitcake. (Bake mine from scratch, so the scent reminds me more of the glaced fruit.
You glace your own fruit! 😮
^:)^ (I’m WAY too lazy to do that. I can barely throw some rum on a raisin)
xo >-)
Hey Pam, I bow to your fruitcake skills as well!
BTW, around the holidays, might you consider selling
a few? A dear friend of mine and I just
ADORE homemade fruitcake. And you have me drooling already, what,
10 months in advance now …
Wow, a scent to make the mouth pucker….gotta like that.
In my collection I get that feeling from Back to Black. I love it!
Please enter me in the drawing as well.
You’re the second person to mention Back to Black – I’mo have to revisit that one!
xo >-)
I’ll send you a sample of it with your Diaghilev .
Sweet, Generous One: Thanks, but I have a sample – I just haven’t really paid it much (okay ANY :”> ) attention!
xo >-)
Hmmm…mouthfeel, eh? Not sure I know what that really means. Mebbe if I’m the lucky winner I will know. I tried Enslaved and was not impressed, found Habanita was the one for me (and my budget!). But this review was good enough to get me to click through to the buy icon (can only be shipped to UK, apparently). Thanks!
‘Mouthfeel’ is more a culinary or wine term but I think it can be used to describe anything that causes your brain (and mouth) to translate as edible (in some fashion). There are a lot of gorgeous perfumes that thrill my soul but very few really make me think of food – this one tripped all my gustatory triggers. Not the food itself (it doesn’t smell like food) but the incredible pleasure of eating particular things, like the ’90 Krug and the shrimp.
xo >-)
Oh I kind of wish I hadn’t read your post! :(( Now you have me really wanting to try this one! Two SL’s have mouthfeel for me–Chergui and El Attarine.
sara,
This one really is worth trying!
xo >-)
Oh my God, now I’m drooling too with your comment! Thank you for sharing that little jewell of perfume.
The scent that makes my mouth water is my precious Soivohle Moroccan Orange. I wore it yesterday to celebrate Spring time!
Isa,
Liz makes THE most mouthwatering scents. I am her Number One Fan>-) – as you guys already know. Love Speaks Primeval has a similar ‘feel’ to this Dove – if you’ve not tried it, you should. Another truly gorgeous chypre. Liz and Roja are both genius perfumers, imo. I wonder what a collaboration between them would be like….:-?
xo >-)
Pulp (Byredo) initially makes my mouth pucker
thanks for entering me in the draw
Me, too!
Alas, not in a great way. >:p
xo >-)
LOL! Me too! I was really traumatized by Pulp. :-(
I love/hate it. I can’t buy it, but I went through a phase where I kept spraying it on myself for the weird/puckery open and would then regret it & want to saw my arm off. heaven help me if it got on my clothes.
this happens to me a lot when I go out sniffing, though. I carry a lot of pain killers in my bag for the resulting headaches!
me too…ugh !
I carry those baby wipes. They’ll take the chrome off a trailer hitch!
xo >-)
Lovely review Musette! Yes, it’s gorgeous and I bought a bottle the second it came out. It’s not Mitsouko, yet there is a definite homage, and Roja thinks it is the best perfume he has yet created.
I think it may well be sold out as it was a limited edition to go with the exhibition (which was amazing, by the way) but if anyone wants to know whether it can still be had I can make a call and find out!
yeah , we need to split another bottle , don’t you think Musette ?
YES!!!!!!
xo >-)
YES!!!! ;-)
(shy knock) can I join?
Is there anymore room?
How many ways can we split this?
how many bottles can we get…?!?
Lemmmmming – thanks so much ladies, another one I am drooling for! If you’re splitting count me in!
Hey, it’s spring! And the sun is shining! And the air certainly has a “mouthfeel” quality about it, all silk satin so soft you feel your tongue is too rough for it and might snag it. Sorry – now I’m getting carried away here by the perfect spring morning…. I think I need to drag out the morning in the garden that is Andy Tauer’s Reverie au Jardin…
I went to see Diaghilev’s freshly restored grave in Venice this January, with the touching (and rather mouldy-looking) offerings of ballet slippers and such (although I do wonder about the maracas. NOT the thing I’d associate Mr. D. with). And I’d love to try the fragrance.
My favorite spring Andy Tauer is actually Vetiver Dance, which doesn’t get a lot of love, but has that quirky back-and-forth, warm/cold, beautiful/harsh tension that so characterises spring in the Alps!
Vetiver Dance is a genuine will-o’-the-wisp, isn’t it? It seems to flicker and dance around you, luring you into all kinds of adventures. I haven’t tried it in spring yet, but definitely will?
VD is lovely! A lot of the Tauers and I don’t play well together but that one is absolutely lovely!
xo >-)
=)) on the maracas! But hey, they probably have DEEP meaning for the person who left them, eh? 😕
Your description of the perfect spring morning is gorgeous!
xo >-)