by Chrissy Iley
Volutes is the heady and strangely emotional new scent by Diptyque. It has rather romantic beginnings and you can smell that. One of the three founders of Diptyque, Yves Coueslant, used to make a journey as a child on the transatlantic steamers that connected Marseille to Saigon.
These long crossings would be of Titanic style luxury and made a huge impression on him. The ports along the way would smell of adventure and spice. The wood-panelled salons of the steamer would soak in the smell of tobacco as people would dance, flirt and smoke. A particular smoke from Egyptian cigarettes that’s almost honeyed made its mark. He made olfactory notes so that much later on it could be recreated. Volutes is spicy, smoky, peppery, with notes of iris.
What’s really interesting is that the eau de toilette smells entirely different to the eau de parfum. The parfum is not just typically more heady as you would expect, it strikes entirely different notes, whereas the toilette has an unexpected freshness. It is more complex.
It is very difficult to choose which is the more delicious. It comes in a lovely bottle showing an elegant little steamship and its steam drifting across an ocean. Definitely magical.
Diptyque Volutes Eau de Toilette from £50 and Eau de Parfum from £85 www.diptyqueparis.co.uk