L'Artisan Fragrances • Dzongkha • Fragrances

hyblaean on 4/24/2012 6:23:00 PM more reviews by hyblaean

Age: 36-43   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair, Cool   Hair: Brown, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Brown    

celery! yes, that is it exactly.
and not that it's a bad scent, but if I was going to pick a garden scent to go with, my preference would be tomato vine.
Waiting for the miraculous dry down on this one...it's taking it's time. Still celery, baby powder, spice cabinet going headache strong 1/2 hour in (which is incredibly rare on my hot, oily skin) So, lasting power is phenomenal.
--------------------
...just weird. Perfume Court, where I bought this in a sampler of Milk Notes, has it listed as containing: spices, incense, tea and milk. Spices, sure, as long as celery salt is the main spice, the rest?
This is such a funky scent. I'm sure it's someone's hg. For me though it's going in the recycle to friends pile- a little too 'comfort soup' smelling to wear and feel sexy.

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*TOP REVIEWER* kushka on 4/4/2012 10:26:00 AM more reviews by kushka

Age: 44-55   Skin: Other, Neutral   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

okay, when I first put this on my skin it smelled exactly the way air smells that's coming out of a tire. Really. Not all that good. Weird, kind of...not bad, but unless you want to smell like the tire changing store nothing you'd want to wear, trust me on this one.
~THEN~
This.
Beautiful
Thing.
Happens.
aedes describes it in part as an introspective and calming fragrance that is delicate and graceful like calligraphy on white silk. Yeah, that captures it pretty well.
Sample first and don't make any quick judgments until you experience the dry down!

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*TOP REVIEWER* BigEars on 1/11/2012 10:09:00 AM more reviews by BigEars

Age: 44-55   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

Oh this is another love/hate one. I LOVE. It is so green on me, I get iris, incense, tea, and for some strange reason cocoanut. It is very unusual and would be edible on a man. Very evocative and I can think of nothing else like it except Timbuktu. Did I mention the smokey vetiver? no? well that too - fabulous

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chevalierbossu on 1/2/2012 2:51:00 AM more reviews by chevalierbossu

Age: 25-29   Skin: Very Dry, Fair   Hair: Black, Curly, Fine   Eyes: Black    

it really evokes voyage......it's a scent of ambiance, of a certain time, a certain place. I would say it is more an interesting aroma but not so much as a perfume. I would not want myself to use Dzongkha, but the scent itself is evocative, it speaks of a time, a place, a memory.

if specifically decompose what Dzongkha smell like, aside from the romantize interpretation of above, it smells like rubber, wood, incense, milk tea, some distant flower.

i will not buy full bottle but it is definitely a very interesting, a scent that worth you to try out.

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*TOP REVIEWER* apparently on 10/29/2011 12:29:00 AM more reviews by apparently

Age: 36-43   Skin: Sensitive, Fair, Warm   Hair: Blond, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Blue    

I liked this on a brief sniff at Bluemercury, so had them decant a sample for me. Thank god I didn't buy a bottle! To me Dzongkha smells very strongly of celery with incense underneath. I'm surprised no one else here has mentioned the celery; to me it is very aggressive -- as much in front here as the green fig is in Philosykos. Anyway, I can appreciate the creativity that went into this fragrance, but emphatically not for me.

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*TOP REVIEWER* Fiammetta on 10/10/2011 8:01:00 AM more reviews by Fiammetta

Age: 25-29   Skin: Dry, Fair, Warm   Hair: Red   Eyes: Brown    

As others have said, the scent truly does recall certain Buddhist temples in Asia (I'm thinking of one in Vietnam, in particular). I smell smoky tea, incense, spices, iris, and fragrant wood; after awhile it's all very dry but still delicious. I find it uniquely appealing, maybe a little cerebral, but worth owning.

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Rydenfan3 on 7/31/2011 3:02:00 PM more reviews by Rydenfan3

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination   Hair: Red   Eyes: Blue    

I have been sampling Dzongkha and all I can smell is vetiver. My skin must just amp up vetiver. That being said this smells to similar to Coeur du Vetiver Sacre which I already own. If I didn't own and love that one, this would be FBW for sure but on my skin at least they are too similar.

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chrystelica on 7/29/2011 3:37:00 PM more reviews by chrystelica

Age: 25-29   Skin: Dry, Fair, Warm   Hair: Brown, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Blue    

This must be a nice fragrance on someone. To me, it smells exactly like the chinese medicine tea I was given in Korea. AWFUL! It's got that sweetish, fennel-like, rooty, fresh-from-the-garden-with-dirt-still-on-it smell. I do NOT like that scent on my body, nor do I ever want to smell like it... but now I do! Woohoo!! And I'm on the road and can't scrub it off... glorious.

However, I do give it props only because it captures the earthiness of vetiver combined with a really carroty, rooty, anise-fennel aroma with some fruitiness on top: and it completely captures the scent memory of Chinese medicine tea. A+ for effort! It's an exact replica of Chinese medicine in perfume concentration. IF you want to smell like that, here it is!!

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greydovefeatherwing on 2/15/2011 9:20:00 AM more reviews by greydovefeatherwing

Age: 30-35   Skin: Dry, Dark, Cool   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

Maybe it was my sample. maybe it was my chemistry, but this smelled like straight up roach spray on me.

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*TOP REVIEWER* zeynepd on 1/23/2011 3:34:00 PM more reviews by zeynepd

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Red   Eyes: Hazel    

The attribution “attractive” is often spared for some other genres in fragrances but I think this is a very attractive scent for a woman because I think there is something insightful, inward but at the same time inviting about it. The opening notes are powerful with a semi-sweet blossom and a semi-transparent cardamom on my skin. There is an incense note and although I'm not particularly fond of incense, I like it here. It is easily distinguishable, but not domineering and I quite enjoy smelling it amidst the greenness of the fragrance. It turns into the most beautiful mist or smoke I have ever smellt in my life, both lush and very slightly medicinal at the same time. It's herbacious and transparently vegetal with vetiver and orris root doing wonders here. Altogether I think this is a demure, dry, calm and collected fragrance with OK projection and lasting power. Only, it heats up toward the end, turning slightly bitter. As for compliments, I have attracted none but I have been told that I smell like cactus:) Still, I like it very much and may buy a FB one day.
EDIT: It is now summer in my country now and Dzongkha is a priceless shadow of smells, reminding me of rain in a forest, so calming, so serene, so translucent, yet so smoky.

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*TOP REVIEWER* KKAI on 1/23/2011 12:18:00 PM more reviews by KKAI

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Red, Curly, Coarse   Eyes: Hazel    

This is interesting and original but not my cup of tea. It smells mainly of burnt wood along with something medicinal. Strangely enough, it amplifies throughout the day. The resemblances to Timbuctu are pretty strong. Maybe it would suit better a guy, as it is definitely not a classical feminine scent. Worth trying but not worth purchasing a full bottle.

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Fantomia on 12/27/2010 4:30:00 PM more reviews by Fantomia

Age: 44-55   Skin: Sensitive, Fair   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Blue    

A sample of this has been around for a while and getting no attention, and trying it again I had in mind a saleslady that told me one of L'Artisans scents was created to resemble the smell of a circus. Maybe that's the explanation for why the most dominant smell in Dzongkha to me this time is ... horsepoo! And I like it! It's actually smelling good - interesting and good, and not overly perfumey (that would be horrible wouldn't it?) Now I know Dzing is the scent L'Artisan created to smell like a circus, and if somebody had told me that Dzongkha was made to smell like a bakery I would probably smell chockolate-cookies with cinnamon baking in an old fashioned wood-stove instead (there is definitely sweet - but not so sweet - smoke in it), but nevertheless, there is no way for me to escape from the horse-poo-impression in Dzongkha now. When I still thought it was Dzongkha that was the circus-scent I was admiring Bertrand Duchaufour's sense of humor: it's a fun scent to stick in front of your loved one's nose and ask: what do you think? And even now, knowing better, Dzongkha makes me giggle - or at least enjoy it for it's (as I see it) unpretentiousness.

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*TOP REVIEWER* WentworthRoth on 11/20/2010 9:39:00 AM more reviews by WentworthRoth

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Blond, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Blue    

Notes: peony, lychee, cardamom, tea with milk, vetiver, incense, cypriol (a grass used to make papyrus), cedar, leather and iris.

Dzonkha opens with a sharp nondescript accord on my skin. This sharp accord mellows into a gentle cardamom note laced with vetiver. These notes disappear fast and I smell a very faint flowery smell, floating on a layer of spices and wood. On my skin this fragrance is very sheer making it very hard to detect the singe notes. At about two hours of wearing this fragrance I smell fragrant salty hay, an olfactive impression most likely due to the cypriol. This peculiar smell lasts until the fragrance slowly disappears.


Updated review - 07/07/12


Notes: peony, lychee, cardamom, tea with milk, vetiver, incense, cypriol grass, cedar, leather and iris.


Opens with a blend of iris and tea (with milk). The iris root is the prefect match for the underlying accord, as it is both green (like the tea) and smooth (like the milk). Vetiver and cypriol form a sheath enveloping the two head notes with their salty-green and peppery-rooty nuances . A fresh floral accent - undoubtedly the peony - lightens and brightens the composition, it adds a dewy-sweet facet (lychee maybe playing a part in this) to the blend. This fragrance is cool and greenish, but also slightly spicy and smoky (cardamom and incense) in a vague, watercolor-like manner. It reminds me of Hermes' Paprika Brazil, only this scent is lighter and less spicy. As the notes develop and the flowers and grasses burn out, the fragrances becomes drier, but remains its pleasant coolness. I now see mainly vetiver-cedar blended together and a remnant of iris. The cold incense note adds a smooth, vaguely metallic finish to the accord which makes me think of of Timbuktu the more the scent progresses towards the dry down. Lasts more than six hours on my skin.

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GayLynn on 10/22/2010 8:28:00 AM more reviews by GayLynn

Age: 36-43   Skin: Normal, Medium   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Green    

Bad,very bad is about all I can say about this one. Cloying, awful headache inducing scent.

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whitecountess on 7/26/2010 10:59:00 PM more reviews by whitecountess

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Fair   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Blue    

I once took a tour of Buddhist temples throughout China. This scent is very reminiscent of those places but is even better in the face of so many incense-like scents that are too strong and, well, "incensey" to be worn as a beautiful perfume.
At one of the temples on top of a mountain, they served us a beautiful black tea. This scent smells like that too. A dry tea served in a tiny cup, without honey.
But it is in the dry-down that Dzongkha becomes truly exquisite. For some, it will smell more like a place than a gorgeous scent and for others it will be all they need to transport themselves out of their daily cubicle. No matter where I am, it always takes me somewhere new.

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*TOP REVIEWER* AntFarm on 6/9/2010 7:04:00 PM more reviews by AntFarm

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Red, Medium   Eyes: Hazel    

Like all L'Artisans on my skin, this one was an hour of something interesting and wonderful that quickly faded into nothingness. So I'll review the first hour--this went on my skin smelling like rain on a summer sidewalk. It smelled both cool and hot at the same time. I could almost see the steam from the rain rising up off the sidewalk--giving some relief to a hot and humid summer's day. I wish this one would have lasted longer. L'Artisans always depress me with their interesting scents that don't last. It's such a tease.

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xanna on 9/9/2009 11:39:00 PM more reviews by xanna

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Fair   Hair: Blond, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Green    

My grandma wears this and it smells absolutely beautiful on her. Know that when I say that, I'm not saying "this smells like old lady." It doesn't, at all. It smells like a fine bottle of super peat-y scotch and lapsang souchong tea. The package (I have several samples vials, don't own it, too expensive) says there are incense notes, but I've never smelled incense completely devoid of sweetness as this is. If anyone knows where to find some, please let me know. There is a cut grass note (or maybe hay?) in there that keeps the smokiness in balance. I prefer how this smells on my grandmother than on me, leading me to think this is a perfume that really needs to work with your body chemistry. The warm, clean smokiness that I love about this scent really comes out on her skin while my skin seems to pick up the greener side of the fragrance. Still, there is something deeply intriguing and almost addictive about this.


I completely agree with the reviewer who said this is a personal fragrance, a fragrance you wear at home to alter your mood or transport your mind. Personally, I couldn't wear it out and about and I know my bf would hate it. Instead, I'll turn off the lights, light a candle (unfragranced so it doesn't interfere) and let my mind go where this scent takes me.

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*TOP REVIEWER* karelin7 on 5/9/2009 11:50:00 PM more reviews by karelin7

Age: 44-55   Skin: Oily, Medium   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

A masterpiece and one of the most unusual frags I've encountered, you can wear this without worrying that you will smell like anyone else. I wish I could articulate it but this one is tough to describe and comprises things I don't think I've ever smelled before. The shorthand classification in "Perfumes, The Guide" is "woody iris." If that helps. There is some nutmeg, some vetiver but then it lifts off and becomes a kind of grassy, herbal smell with some wheatlike notes--like the boozy smell I smelled as a kid when I would press my nose deep into a slice of fresh bread. I can understand the comparisons to incense, but of a kind that one doesn't find easily. The effect is angular and sharp. A bit too sharp for me to want to wear it. On me the sharpness becomes a bit much and I find myself wanting to get away from it. But I would love to smell it on someone whose chemistry works with it. It really is a wonderfully different scent.

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*TOP REVIEWER* condesadepitimini on 1/7/2009 11:43:00 AM more reviews by condesadepitimini

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Fair, Warm   Hair: Blond, Fine   Eyes: Green    

Strange perfume, complex and very original , like all L'Artisan's are.
Starts off very straight, upfront and you might be left with a sort of shock feeling - something like a bucket of iced water in your face. Kind of an alchool blast that can be unpleasant.
But then this fragrance unfolds to many other fragrances. Very strange as I said... but beautiful for its complexity.
It is dry and cold, like mountain air, with those balsamic woods and resins- you can feel it in your lungs.
You know that crisp fresh early morning mountain air? that's it.
Can it be the iris? I recognize the iris root note - the same as in SMN Città di Kyoto.
Then there is some misterious incense to it. It gives the warm this frag is needing.
There is something "religious" about this fragrance, something I associate with meditation (the mountains?the incense?). Introspective fragrance.
Not for everybody I would say. But surely marvellous: a work of art!

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taylorwest on 12/17/2008 10:16:00 AM more reviews by taylorwest

Age: 36-43   Skin: Oily, Fair-Medium, Cool   Hair: Blond, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Blue    

I fell in love with Dzing yesterday, so I think Dzongkha is suffering alittle from not being Dzing. But I'll try to review it on its own merits.

Initially, I was hit by something more perfumey than I expected--almost, as others have noted, like an alcohol (whiskey) smell. Afterwards, though, it mellowed and was much quieter, warmer. This fragrance is an introvert that you have to work and focus to really understand. I like the mix of spice and iris, and it ends up making me feel calm, almost like rocks near a river bed, cool stone. It is a little sweet-incensey, though, which I think would bother me more if it were stronger--but it's subtle. It's definitely worth getting to know better. But I don't think it's for me.

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