Apparently, Mendittorosa scents are like buses; you wait for ages and then several turn up at once!

Listed notes

Angelica root, jasmine, neroli, orris, tonka bean, ambroxan, benzoin, habanolide, sandalwood.

Top notes

Daymon by Mendittorosa is an interesting scent. It doesn’t seem to follow an expected path in the way in which the fragrance develops, and at times it feels as if it is leading you down lesser trodden paths – a strange composition which has a quirky sense of beauty.

The inspiration behind Daymon was Mendittorosa’s love of animals and commitment to helping those in need. It opens with an interesting chorus which is part sparkly and part chalky; half rise and half fall. On the one hand there is an invigorating fizzy, almost sherbetty ness (but without the fully lemony tang) and on the other there’s a really chalky, powdery, earthy orris which comes through quite quickly and anchors everything down.

The two opposing faces of the scent definitely give a sense of tension and it is impossible, at this stage, to discern where the fragrance is going to go next. If you are trying to picture an image for how this scent begins then imagine a matt wall, painted in a dark, musky evening-sky colour but then flecked and spattered with glitter so it shines and sparkles.

A flicker of jasmine wafts through the composition, but it is that intoxicating sort of white floral brought to you on the warm evening breeze through a half-open window. Not too much, indeed not much of it at all, but just enough for you to know that it is there and want to smell more.

Heart notes

Behind the chalkiness and the sparkle there is a vein of something slightly medicinal and herbal from the angelica root. It smells like the sort of little bottle of something which which lingers at the back of Grandma’s medicine cupboard; the faintest whiff of some sort of liniment or embrocation for sprains and strains. It isn’t punchy, just wafting around in the background and it plays on the chalkiness of the orris to further enhance what is an increasingly peculiar aspect to the scent.

A cardamon-like spicy warmth creeps through the fragrance, giving just that flicker of heat and balancing the scent against the cooler tones in the start. This facet has a metallic ring to it which gives the composition a vague sense of edge – although out of all the Mendittorosa fragrances this has to be one of the easiest to wear and most likely to find a wide appreciation. It feels as if it will be much less polarising than some of their compositions.

Neroli whispers across the face of the composition next, reminding us of sunshine and summer days and there is a sort of milky-hue about the way that these elements diffuse with the notes which set the whole composition off – it’s as if layers are being laid over other, gauzy layers to create not only a different sort of opacity but also a new landscape entirely.

Base notes

The final phase of the wear is much quieter, and the scent reduces in volume once those whispers of summer have passed through. A cosy sense of safety and comfort is imparted from the base of the fragrance, from the sandalwood and tonka bean elements, and the scent lowers to a purr on the skin after a couple of hours. At this stage we can appreciate a salty woodiness about the scent, the remnants of the orris and a more resinous sweetness. The final phase of the composition feels like it takes up much less space than the earlier phases do, and the scent fades away during this final stretch.

In its entirety, Daymon is a peculiar beast. It is easy to wear, inoffensive, and will be applicable to a variety of daytime situations from the office to play dates or strolls in the park. It feels like a scent which is too sensitive and light to really stand up to being a night time scent – it may get overwhelmed by competing fragrances too easily for that. Of course, you should wear it whenever and wherever you like though!

Daymon is definitely possessed of the Mendittorosa spirit and that sort of quirkiness which encapsulates the brand. It’s one of their quieter compositions, and whilst it doesn’t smell very animalic in and of itself, it does have the sort of peaceful, calming effect which being around an animal can have on us humans. This is the sort of scent which you can be as loyal to as your dog is to you, should you fall in love with it, because it will faithfully see you through a lot of different wears.

In the marketing blurb for Daymon on the Mendittorosa website, there is mention of the fact that animals have no human language or voice, but it does almost feel as if Daymon is trying to tell us something in the coded language of perfume. It just isn’t that easy or simple to figure out what and even after wearing this scent many times now, I am still at a loss as to what the main message is here; is it something intangible, or is it the endurance of one or more of the elements like the watery, chalky orris which is multifaceted and exciting as it is here? Perhaps only the wearer can decide what this scent means to them…

The other stuff

The perfumer for Daymon was Luca Maffei.

Daymon is a funny scent for longevity and projection – quite quiet on both accounts. In terms of longevity it seemed to stick around for about three to four hours following a spritz, sometimes a little longer. Throughout, it is a relatively calm and quiet wear, projecting to probably a little further than hugging distance or so.

It would be remiss to mention this scent though without a nod to the bottle. All Mendittorosa scents come in a fairly plain but attractive square bottle with their distinctness being defined with a unique cap. In the case of Daymon the cap is a felt tail which curls around the bottle like a cat’s does around its body. It’s quite lovely!

Daymon is cruelty free and vegan.

The brand

Mendittorosa are an esoteric and high-quality Italian brand who make scents under two broad lines: the Mendittorosa scents (which are then divided again into further collections: The Trilogy, Time Without End, The Duo and Versi), and the Talismans line. Every scent within the range is complex, multifaceted and nuanced. These are all scents which tell stories and take the wearer on a journey as they unfold – clearly they won’t be for everyone, but nor should they aspire to be and if you find something you like then it is likely to be something that stays with you for a while.

From Mendittorosa we’ve previously reviewed Orlo, Athanor, Ithaka, Alfa, South, Sirio, Sogno Reale, Nettuno, Le Mat and we have interviewed founder Stefania.

Buy it

Daymon is available from Bloom Perfumery London where it is priced at £180 for 100ml EdP. You can also buy Daymon from the Mendittorosa web boutique.

We were kindly gifted a no-strings-attached sample of Daymon from Bloom Perfumery London.

Image by Alexander Stein from Pixabay.