Divine Eau de Parfum Gift Set

Seven materials go into the fragrance in the Jean Paul Gaultier Divine Eau de Parfum Gift Set, which makes it the more elaborate route into this scent and gives it a proper structure to follow. Bergamot opens, bitter and bright, the citrus peel note that clears the way for everything else and is gone within minutes. Then the flowers arrive together, and they are not shy about it. Lily is cool and stemmy with a powdery cleanness, ylang ylang brings a thick, custardy richness with a slightly overripe edge, and jasmine adds the heavy, almost animal weight that makes a white flower heart smell like skin as well as petals. The three of them push against each other rather than blending politely into a single pretty note.

The base is where it turns unusual. Meringue is sugar whipped into air, crisp and lightly toasted at the edge, and it carries the sweetness without density. Musk sits beside it, soft and skin like, smoothing the join between the sweetness and what lies under it. Patchouli goes underneath, earthy and faintly bitter, and that bitterness is what keeps a sweet base from going flat. Quentin Bisch built it, and 2023 is its year. At eau de parfum strength it lasts well and projects for a good while before settling in close. It reads as feminine and works across the seasons, though the sweetness is easier to carry in cooler air. The box makes it a gift, and a good one for someone who likes a fragrance with something to listen to rather than one idea repeated over and over for eight hours.

Gaultier, a Paris fashion house from the mid seventies, opened its first boutique in 1984 and entered perfume in 1993. Puig has been the majority shareholder since 2011.