Comme des Garçons Daphne is a perfume not inspired by the flowering shrub but by beer heiress and fashion icon Daphne Guinness. I didn’t know what to expect with this fragrance but I can tell you that I didn’t expect for it to smell like what it does. This isn’t a bad thing. I like Daphne but I do feel she tries awfully hard to come across as eccentric. But, I admire that and admit that I’m only a couple million dollars away from dressing like a cape-wearing futuristic soothsayer in shoes that I can’t walk in.
Daphne opens up with a citrus floral and enough incense to catch my attention immediately. The fragrance gets sweeter like coconut-y manoi with classic white florals. The heart is a big ‘ole white floral with enough woods to win me over for good. The saffron in this is delicious. It dries down to slightly camphoric woods and a sweet vanilla amber incense…with a hint of Double Bubble bubble gum. I’m not an expert but it seems like Daphne has a high concentration of naturals. It’s not as synth as the other CdG perfumes. I expected for a Daphne Guinness perfume to smell more synthetic. She always said if you had to label her, label her as boho. Daphne is a boho white floral. Strangely, I see her wearing it…or maybe it wearing her.
I like white florals but I often get “exhausted” wearing them. I get tired of them after a few hours. Daphne is a wonderful compromise. It opens as a glorious white floral and ends with that relief you feel after a night out on the town when you come home and kick off your heels and unhook your bra strap.
Notes listed include bitter orange, incense, saffron, rose centifolia, Tunisian jasmine, tuberose, iris, patchouli, oud, amber, and vanilla. Launch date 2009. PERFUMER – Antoine Lie
Give Daphne a try if you like floral incense fragrances. Or if you like “Tauer-aide” or even Nag Champa. Or if you like Juliette Has a Gun Midnight Oud, Etat Libre d’Orange Encens et Bubblegum, Tauer Une Rose Vermeille, L’Artisan Parfumeur Nuit de Tubereuse, YOSH Omniscent and/or Amouage Opus III. I perceive Daphne as a feminine fragrance that is good for cold climates or evening wear.
Daphne has above average projection and longevity. I mean above, above average. I actually prefer Daphne dabbed!
The 1.7 oz EDP of Daphne retails for $150 at Beautyhabit.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – Voluptuous floral incense. I ended up buying this one. I like this sort of thing. We often see oud and saffron paired with rose. This time we have an addition of heady white florals.
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Okay, I am on my butt on the floor laughing at the idea of wearing Daphne with any sort of relief. For me it’s like those scary shoes – not so much the white floral, as I wear those pretty comfortably, but the ORANGE! SAFFRON! INCENSE! EVERYTHINGBUTTHEKITCHENSINK!!
Whew. I’m exhausted just thinking about it. It’s fascinating stuff, true.
Haha, it’s a polarizing one; I know that.
And because it is everything and the kitchen sink, it’s so Daphne Guinness.
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