Eau Capitale by Diptyque

Today, I'm wearing Eau Capitale. Diptyque is calling this an homage to the city of Paris, its hometown. And since Paris is the capital of France, I'm guessing that's what the name is referring to, Eau Capitale. Now, it shouldn't be a surprise that any fragrance that's a love letter to Paris would be a sheep, since the sheep's style is generally considered to be a very classical French style. A sheep will have a bergamot top note, and Eau Capitale does. Specifically, they're calling it a verte bergamot, which is the green of the bergamot fruit, which gives it this extra zest and brightness in the beginning. And something about that bergamot combined with pink pepper give it this electrifying sparkle. It just kind of dances up at the top. Sheepra will have an oak moss base, typically, but in this case, the base is patchouli. The perfumer is Olivier Pecheux, and he also did tempo for Diptyque. And that is a patchouli forward fragrance, so I feel that he does patchouli so well. He just gets what it can do and how it combines beautifully with other notes. At the heart of Eau Capitale is Rose Damascene in three forms. Rose Essence, Absolute, and Concentrate. That's a lot of rose. But if you're thinking there's going to be a rose solely floor, it is not that. It is not a blousy, big bouquet of roses. It's not that kind of a scent. There's an alchemy that happens when these materials are combined, and it's very squarely a sheep, and it smells like a sheep. A number of years ago, Diptyque came out with a fragrance called Opone, which is also a spicy rose sheep. And there are some similarities, yet this is unique. It's not Opone. Opone was more spice forward, and I got this immortelle in that fragrance that this does not have. I've been hearing some comparisons to Portrait of a Lady from Frederic Malle, but I wouldn't compare these two fragrances. They have a very different texture. They feel different when you wear them. For me, Portrait of a Lady is a much grander scent. It's a big scent, and I love Portrait, but it's a heavy hitter. Eau Capitale is a little bit more subtle and a little warmer in his heart. In fact, I get a little bit of a waxiness in the heart, which I sometimes get from fragrances that feature iris. But since iris is not listed as one of the notes of Eau Capitale, I don't think that's what's giving it that warm waxiness. Maybe it's the use of amber resins. I'm not sure. But whatever it is, I'm loving it. Plus, with that pink pepper just sparkling forward, it's just such a great scent. In fact, when some of my friends first smelled this, they thought, this was designed for you specifically, because I love this kind of thing. And it's no surprise. I've been wearing this every day since I first smelled it. I couldn't rate this more highly. Eau Capitale from Diptyque.