DKNY / Donna Karan
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Blackberry surges forward with sharp, slightly jammy immediacy, colliding with a bright, almost herbaceous ginger bite and an unexpected martini accord that reads less as alcoholic vermouth and more as botanical gin botanicals. The first five minutes feel arrestingly fruity and somewhat savoury-spiced, catching people off-guard with its near-saline quality.
The florals unfold gradually, with jasmine developing a creamy, slightly soapy character whilst orchid adds an orchidaceous coolness and freesia provides almost citric brightness. The ginger retreats substantially, and the composition becomes noticeably sweeter as the amber begins asserting itself—the fragrance transforms from fruit-forward and spicy into something softer, more powdery, with iris lending a gentle cosmetic quality that feels faintly vintage.
Frankincense and myrrh emerge to dominate, creating a warm, resinous haze that envelops the remaining amber. The base becomes increasingly incensory and atmospheric rather than aggressively sweet, the florals fade to whisper-thin, and what persists is a hazy, faintly smoky amber-resin accord that feels both comforting and slightly ethereal—intimate without being cloying.
Delicious Night arrives as a paradox—a fragrance that toys with nocturnal elegance whilst maintaining an almost mischievous levity. Jean-Marc Chaillan has constructed something deliberately contradictory: the blackberry and martini pairing in the opening suggests cocktail-hour sophistication, yet the composition refuses to settle into typical evening wear territory. Instead, it operates as a fruity-amber hybrid that leans closer to gourmand playfulness than austere glamour.
The jasmine and orchid heart prevents this from becoming a mere candy fragrance, introducing a whisper of bodily warmth and slight indolic character that grounds the sweeter elements. There's a peculiar tension here—the freesia adds airy brightness whilst the iris provides a subtle powder-soft undercurrent, creating a floral accord that feels neither particularly romantic nor strictly aldehydic. It's caught between moods, which is precisely its charm.
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Elizabeth Arden
3.3/5 (219)