Moonlight In Chiangmai
Dusita, a multi award-winning Parisian brand who claim “a paradise of fragrance, happiness and excellence.” You know you’re in for a sublime olfactory journey, when you’ve won ‘Brand of the Year’ and even been awarded Fragrantica’s ‘Editors’ Best Perfumes’ (2019).
I’m lucky enough to have the entire range, so if we don’t find our coveted signature scent here, then I’ve lost all hope.
Let’s start with ‘Moonlight in Chiangmai’, the latest 2020 scent from the house.
Before I’ve even smelt it, I’m intrigued by the supporting art work. Dusita paints pictures to help you imagine hundreds of paper lanterns slowly rising up through the warm, moonlit, Thai night sky. Already, I’m prepared for this scent to be ambient, transcendent and spiritual.
Will this scent promise to let the warm winds lift away my problems like gently rising night lanterns? Or am I to expect an overly-hyped touristic symbolic anticlimax? There’s only one way to find out, let’s get spraying…
Like all Dusita fragrances, they are all perfectly unisex and expertly blended. Dusita’s founder/creator Pissara Umavijani is the ultimate maestro of perfume blending. I first get the yuzu, and although I’m not a big fan of citrus (often turning sour on my skin) here it works to give a tart tang throughout the entire duration of this scent. This tang is almost pineapple-like but it’s sweetened by the siam bezoin resin which smells like crystallised raw honey. But there’s also the white floral of a very seductive jasmine, one that’s night-flowering and sweet, and NOT indolic like urine. The combined scent is not too dissimilar to my Sarcococca Confusa plant (otherwise known as Winter Box, Christmas Box or Sweet Box) as it gives off a richly-sweet floral scent every winter, perfuming the landscape for weeks. It never fails to lift my spirits in the dullest winter, so I’ve subsequently planted 6 more, right by my front door. I’ve been searching for a scent which captures the honey-sweet floral of my Sarcococca Confusia, and this is the closets so far.
‘Moonlight in Chiangmai’ has a soothing, mooth creaminess from the nuanced vanillic sweetness of the benzoid siam resin (combined with the nutmeg). I wish all vanilla could be replaced with this resin as it’s delicious but never too sweet (you know I reach my sweetness threshold easily). The Indonesian patchouli, myrrh and teak wood, gently warms and spices the base to make a comforting and spiritual scent. Patchouli with vetiver is always a great combo, as this dynamic duo keeps it dry and powdery whilst anchored in sultry sweet spice. Again I’m in awe of the perfection of this balanced blend, as it’s light, lifted, juicy and tangy, but also earthy, woody and contemplative.
If you can imagine a piece of teak wood, with crystalised raw honey rubbed into it, freshly cut pineapple chunks placed on top and sprinkled with jasmine flowers, THAT’S ‘Moonlight in Chiangmai’. I can’t see how anyone would dislike this. It’s so easy to wear in any season/occasion and for anyone. It’s Solero Exotic ice-cream delicious and I want to bathe in the halo of its glory. It instantly became my joint favourite from Dusita’s range, and I can see it becoming my signature.
‘Moonlight in Chiangmai’ smells like exotic yellow resinous sunshine, and I’m completely smitten. “A paradise of fragrance, happiness and excellence” has definitely been achieved.
TOP: Yuzu from Japan, Jasmine
MIDDLE: Nutmeg, Siam Bezoin Resinoid
BASE: Myrrh, Patchouli, Vetiver, Teak Wood