Breakthroughs are deceptive. When I finally found the few first yellow floral perfumes I loved – first Amouage’s Ylang-forward Ubar, then Guerlain’s Embruns D’Ylang – I was certain I had discovered a new favorite perfume genre. There was something intoxicating about the bold, almost-overwhelming floral bodies of those perfumes; they ride the fine line between lush and bombastic. However, the more yellow florals I tested, the more I drifted away. When you’re sampling concoctions that hinge on precise balance, the smallest misstep can render an otherwise beloved perfume unwearable.
Recently, Diptyque’s Eau Moheli found its way out of my sample jar and reignighted my interest in yellow florals. Here is a yellow floral perfume that is anything but bold. Diptyque is known for their natural, well-balanced concotions, and Eau Moheli fills the bill as well as any yellow floral perfume could. The real question is whether such balance and restraint lead to delight or boredom.
Eau Moheli notes
Ylang-Ylang, Ginger, Pink Pepper, Vetiver, Benzoin, Patchouli, Incense
Yet another misleading notes list enters the fray. At first glance, Eau Moheli looks like a mainstream winner disguised as a floral. Ginger, pink pepper, vetiver, benzoin and patchouli spell out ‘crowd-friendly woody-spicy’ in capital letters. To be fair, it’s not far from the truth. Eau Moheli’s essential curveball lies in the pairing of such ordinary with a bold, unmistakable floral note. It’s suitable for any person who pairs their suits with kaleidoscopic ties that somehow just work.
Which is to say – Eau Moheli just works. This is the rare sort of floral that can dodge the inevitable ‘it smells like my grandma’ comments online. It’s a light, yet grounded, floral perfume that is undoubtedly beyond gender, and it could pass itself off easily as either a beachside safety pick or a leftfield gym scent.
As a light fragrance, Eau Moheli leans toward its top notes. Wearers looking forward to a lush vetiver-patchouli-incense base are sure to be disappointed. Rather, the sharper elements of those notes provide balance against the full-bodied prettiness of the ylang-ylang. The ginger and pepper are also welcome additions to the fray, adding a spicy element that never comes off as piercing or aggressive. Elegance is the main result here. The originality of the composition keeps that elegance on the right side of the pleasant/boring dichotomy.
It feels strange to recommend a fragrance both as a safe pick and as an experimental detour, but Eau Moheli checks both boxes. For the floral-hesitant, it provides a lovely intro to the genre. Meanwhile, floral fans are likely to find its unconventionally masculine base a welcome take on the genre. Will it blow you away? Probably not. But will it fit a niche in your wardrobe you didn’t even know existed? Probably so. And most importantly, you’re likely to enjoy it no matter which box it ends up ticking.
Eau Moheli can be sampled here or purchased here.
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The Fandomentals “Fragdomentals” team base our reviews off of fragrances that we have personally, independently sourced. Any reviews based off of house-provided materials will be explicitly stated.
