I recently had the pleasure of smelling all of d’Annam’s fragrances released to date on weekend trip to Ho Chi Minh City. For those who may not know, d’Annam is a Vietnamese niche fragrance house that specialises in Asia-inspired perfumes. The ethos of the brand is truly inspiring, and the quality of the products reflects a genuine devotion to the art of perfumery and Asian cultures.
d’Annam Fragrances
Their first collection—Chapter 1 Enchanting Vietnam—pays homage to their homeland, with fragrances such as White Rice, Monsoon Tea, and Pho Breakfast (which I absolutely loved!). The collection is a love letter to Vietnam and has been received well internationally, paving the way for the house’s second collection—Chapter 2 Memoires of Japan. This second collection is all about memories of a Japanese holiday, with Strawberry Mochi, Matcha Soft Serve, and Sakura Snow evoking nostalgia for childhood trips to the land of the rising sun. Each bottle made me want to sample more of the collection, and genuinely got me excited about their upcoming third chapter—Majestic China.
The third collection was teased with the release of Pomelo Oolong, a tea fragrance with notes of citrus, porcelain, and osmanthus. It’s similar to the now-discontinued Matcha Meditation from Maison Margiela’s Replica line, but with an original twist—a must-have for tea fragrance lovers. As much as I enjoyed Pomelo Oolong, I have a lot of tea fragrances in my collection already, so I didn’t pick one up, but I’ve definitely never owned anything that smelled like a Mooncake fragrance.
Mooncake Fragrance
Mooncake, the second and final teaser before the complete Chapter 3 drops, is like nothing I’ve ever smelled before. It opens with a sweet note, dominated by honey and syrupy quality, before becoming more subtle on the skin. The official notes from the brand are golden syrup, salted egg yolk, mung bean, lotus seed, honey, and vanilla, showing a mix between traditional fragrance notes and more sophisticated, Asian accords. Gourmand girlies will really like this fragrance, especially if you’re looking for something with an Asian twist. The salted egg note isn’t ‘eggy’ at all, and conjured thoughts of a decadent hollandaise-style sauce in my mind. That’s not to say this perfume is in any way savoury, but the mung bean, lotus seed, and salted egg contribute to the mooncake identity rather than a generic sweet, honeyed fragrance. If you don’t know what mooncakes, lotus seeds, or mung beans smell like, online discussion from the fragrance community describes this as a scent reminiscent of baklava or honey pastry with nuanced undertones. It’s definitely one for fragrance collectors looking for something a little different, and with Mid Autumn Festival coming up on 4 October this year, it’s the perfect time of year to invest.
With d’Annam’s existing fragrances and plans for the future, I can’t wait to see what’s next for the brand. Will we see a Malaysia-inspired collection someday? Let’s hope Chang’e grants us a wish upon the moon.
Discover d’Annam’s Mooncake fragrance here.
This story first appeared on GRAZIA Singapore.
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