When I first dabbed Dianne Brill Eau de Parfum on my skin, I thought, this really reminds me of something. I tore to my perfume cabinet and looked at the bottles. What could it be? Something insistently spicy and a little astringent. Something with tobacco, maybe, and I definitely smelled coriander. I sniffed Serge Lutens Fumerie Turque and Chergui and dismissed them. L'Artisan Parfumeur Tea for Two? No. Then I picked up a decant and lit on the answer: Kenzo Jungle L'Eléphant. Dianne Brill is nearly a dead ringer for L'Eléphant.
According to Chandler Burr's review in the New York Times, Dianne Brill worked closely with Valérie Garnuch in developing the Dianne Brill fragrance. She wanted the fragrance to reflect the smell of an old piece of leather, a discontinued Kiehl's body oil, wood from a construction site, sticky figs, a cigar box, and nutmeg (which Brill said reminded her of the smell of sweaty bodies at a disco in Mustique). Dianne Brill Eau de Parfum debuted in September 2008.
What I smell is an aggressively spicy-woody scent with an acidic chemical note that cuts through it…
