DKNY Women Skyline Eau de Parfum 30ml

Hazelnut in the heart of a flower scent is not a common decision, and it is what makes DKNY Women Skyline Eau de Parfum 30ml, from Donna Karan, worth a look from anyone tired of the usual.

Pink pepper opens it with a dry, rosy prickle, magnolia follows with a clean creaminess, and heliotrope brings an immediate powderiness, soft and sweetly dusty, which signals early that this is a comfortable scent rather than a sharp one. Then the hazelnut. It is not a dessert note here, more the smell of the nut itself, dry and faintly toasted, and it sits under rose and jasmine where you would normally expect fruit. Rose keeps things recognisably floral and slightly jammy, jasmine adds a white, indolic richness, and the nut underneath gives both of them a roasted warmth that is genuinely unusual at this price.

Vanilla, cashmeran and musk take it home. Vanilla is handled as warmth rather than sugar, cashmeran contributes a soft, slightly fuzzy, almost velvety quality that gives the finish a costly feel, and musk cleans it all up. The finish is warm, soft and close.

The 30ml bottle is the one to buy if you are testing the water, or if you simply want a fragrance small enough to live permanently in a handbag. It is an autumn and winter scent, best in the evening, and it suits anyone who wants comfort and warmth without the sugar that usually comes with it.

Donna Karan opened in New York in 1984 on the back of her years with Anne Klein, and the look she became known for was soft, neutral and built around the bodysuit. The DKNY line sits below it on price. Fragrance has always been an outside licence.