Deci Delà
Eau de Toilette, Nina Ricci (1994)

This is fast becoming my "go to" vintage/discontinued summer frag. Yes, I understand the "it's confusing" reviews but for me it's a perfect fruity-chypre - and there's really nothing like it on the market right now. Yes, it's super-synthetic, but I really don't care. Initial blasts of sharp aldehydes settle into a juicy peach that is neither sugary or childish, and for once there is no vanilla in the base. The silage wafts 80's grown up herbal chypre herbals for miles (think top notes of Tuscany Per Donna or vintage Y YSL), while up close the peach notes have that slightly alien-plastic other worldly feel of Eden and other garden-fruit frags of my youth. I've so enjoyed re-discovering this one! 30mls can be easily found on eBay (with patience, ignore the over priced stuff) for about £20. I have two back up bottles but seem to be wearing this to work at an alarming rate of knots this year so you may have to bid against me next time a cheap bottle comes up.

I'm not surprised that DECI DELA was discontinued, because it is a very confusing composition. The opening offers a waft of chemical-smelling solvent which would no doubt turn off lots of people. However, patience pays off in this case, as the drydown of this fruity chypre is delightful. Similar in some ways to other perfumes in this cateogry, including YVRESSE and Rochas FEMME, DECI DELA has a distinctive raspberry note which brings it closest of all, according to my nose, to Bond no 9 BRYANT PARK. The primary difference between the Nina Ricci and the Bond is that the latter is significantly sweeter than the former, with raspberry becoming a focal note (along with rhubarb, which is not present in DECI DELA at all), although it is still ensconced in a gorgeous modern chypre.

I have the eau de toilette and the eau de toilette concentree of DECI DELA, and I really enjoy both and find that the longevity and sillage are quite good even in the edt. Whenever I wear this perfume, I find myself remarking at some point during the drydown how lovely I smell. (-: But I do aver that the opening could be a real turn off. I would recommend BRYANT PARK to those who like the general idea and aesthetic of DECI DELA but wish to skip the solventy opening.

I bought this blind due to some good reviews. Deci Dela is a very synthetic floral smell on me, it smells like something is missing or not quite right. IMO this perfume reminds me of a cheap floral air freshner...which is not my cup of tea. I don't like this one at all.

Deci Dela shares a synthetic, high-end jelly candy quality that's present in another I've tried recently, Mukhallat, but without the exoticism, richness, and imagination. But those qualities don't appear to be the aim of this perfume, anyway.DD opens with a blast of maraschino cherries. It then settles into some very clean flowers, surprising me by not being as sweet as the opening implies. The maraschino note comes creeping back in and holds steady for the next couple hours. DD strikes me as a very young perfume, and reminds me of Shirley Temple singing "On the Good Ship Lollipop."

Capricious, dazzling, and effervescent, it is delightfully fruity without, for me, being cloyingly so. The woods and chypre ground it nicely. A keeper, especially for summer.

A fun and lively fruity and nutty delight. Not particularly cerebral but who cares? This is cute perfumery at its best without any trite cliches.