A will o’ the wisp of a scent that will leave you wondering if you just caught what you thought you caught on it’s complex and transient bouquet.

Listed notes

Rose de Mai, frangipani, champaka, green carnation, ylang-ylang, violet leaf, cinnamon, Thai Chalwood bark, vanilla absolute, sandalwood mysore, amber and ambergris.

The brand

The founder of Dusita, Pissara ‘Ploi’ Umavijani, uses her father’s poetry as inspiration for the line, and fuses Thai heritage with classical French quality and tradition.

Dusita are the relatively new kid on the block of high-end fragrances. They wowed us, and the critics, with their first line of extraits including the gorgeous Melodie de l’Amour.

Dusita have recently released two more scents to add to their line; La Douceur de Siam (Google translates this as The Sweetness of Siam) and Le Sillage Blanc (The White Wake). Unlike the original three scents in the Dusita line, La Douceur de Siam and Le Sillage Blanc are eau de parfums rather than (the more expensive) extraits.

Top notes

Trying to describe La Douceur de Siam is rather like trying to catch fog. It seems to have a bit of almost everything in there and just as soon as you start to try and classify it as a floral, it shifts and becomes very sweet, and then changes again and you get wood, or green, or even something a bit mineral.

The top notes were the easiest part of the fragrance to understand: the scent starts with a big, floral opener. It’s an energetic top, with bold rose and violet coming through (violet does seem to be everywhere in perfume at the moment). Just when you think it’s solidly floral, a hit of green freshness comes through fleetingly. Later on, as the perfume matures, you might wonder if you imagined that greenery because it completely vanishes. It’s inclusion in the top is inspired though, as it cuts through the clean, powdery feel that the fragrance has running through it start to finish and gives the start of the scent some real vim and vigour.

Heart notes

There isn’t really any getting away from the fact that this is quite a sweet perfume, and this builds as the fragrance warms up and settles on the skin.

The heart of La Douceur de Siam opens to a creamy, sweet warmth. The woody notes start to emerge, but they too are sweet and almost citrusy bright. The heart of the fragrance evokes a similar experience to that of sniffing really expensive dark chocolate. You get that sweetness underlying everything, but there are also zingy, brighter, citrusy notes there as well as vanilla, creamy notes. It has the whole range, and if you didn’t know what you were smelling you might not be sure if you should wear it or eat it.

Despite the range that emerges in the heart, the fragrance takes on a distinctly traditional feel. This isn’t a criticism. The scent doesn’t feel like it is pushing any boundaries, but it is a solid fragrance which we can see having a wide appeal to those who enjoy sweeter perfumes but perhaps can’t quite get on board with something that is full-on edible.

Base notes

The base continues to be sweet, warm, woody. A note of something distinctly animalic comes through which gives it a moreish, sensual quality. The cinnamon adds to this and gives the base a spicy hint which is detectable, but never overpowers the sweetness of the amber and vanilla.

There is also a distinctly dry and yet almost soapy feel to the base of the scent. It does feel very clean and has a real brightness to it. On one hand it is comforting but on the other, almost sharp. It’s this shifting nature that keeps the fragrance interesting throughout.

The finish of the perfume does have a piquancy about it that it is hard to really pin down to one specific element – could be the ambergris, could be the cinnamon – but which is very pleasant indeed. It’s the sort of fragrance that will definitely have people asking what it is you are wearing.

The other stuff

La Douceur de Siam is definitely a scent that sits towards the stereotypically feminine end of the spectrum. So much so that it would be quite hard to imagine a male wearing it. But don’t let that stop you if you are a guy who likes it!

The sillage, or projection, of the scent is moderate. You can definitely determine it in wafts of sweetness throughout the day, but it managed to never tip into overpowering.

The longevity of La Douceur de Siam is excellent. It stayed and stayed, right through to the evening. The scent, despite it’s more flighty opening, would be quite suited to being worn as an evening fragrance, especially in the base. It has an air and a weight that lends itself to a posh evening soiree, velvet gown and diamonds.

Buy it

La Douceur de Siam is available directly from Dusita, who kindly sent us a lovely little travel size bottle of this. From Dusita, La Douceur is priced at $185 for an unspecified amount of EdP, but presumably it’s the 50ml bottle (their website isn’t overly specific on the matter).

Bloom also carries the Dusita line including La Douceur de Siam which will be getting in stock soon, according to their website. From Bloom it is priced at £165 for 50ml EdP.