Daly Beauty EAU DE JANE and Jane Daly photo courtesy of Jane Daly
Canadian native Creative Director Jane Daly of Daly Beauty has been a part of the perfume and beauty scene for years. Jane has been a model, an expert consultant for Dove, an online contributor for Lucky magazine, and has worked in the industry on several levels; she’s a popular beauty blogger whom people turn to for advice. Jane and I first ‘met’ one another through the well-known online fragrance fora of Makeup Alley and Basenotes in 2007 – where she was known as 3xasif. When Jane offered to send me a sample of her green floral chypre EAU DE JANE, I was thrilled. With the pandemic, however, it took a while to get things rolling – but here we are at last.
Vintage Balmain Vent Vert Ad Rene Gruau 1950s©
The concept for Daly Beauty EAU DE JANE actually began percolating seven years ago. Jane has always gravitated towards green perfumes (Vent Vert is her absolute favorite), and her intent was to create a universal scent memory: the green grass of childhood, the sunny benediction upon dandelions, clover; an ensuing sojourn into the woods, where cool streams flow over stones (her fragrance was initially to be all natural). After 5 ½ years of working with a perfumer, the module was spot on, smelling three-dimensional – but it didn’t feel grounded, until she recalled a perfume critic noting that the best perfume ‘has a natural heart and a synthetic spine’.
Jane Daly of Daly Beauty
Over the period which followed, Jane suffered two devastating losses – that of her father and her brother. It was then that she decided that her fragrance needed a larger concept, a more metaphysical one. Conversations with her dying father were profound and philosophical, including recollections of happiest times spent in the Laurentian mountains en famille. To evoke this, synthetic means were required – the employment of Iso E Super® (IFF) provided a note which could, in turn – smell both cool and musky or warm and woody. The ghost of a cool mineral hue redolent of running water over granite, maple and leafy green was also present.
Photo by Guest Contributor @bgirlrhapsody Brooke Belldon
Daly Beauty EAU DE JANE is a neo-classically structured modern green floral chypre possessed of a vintage sensibility; I think of it as a cosmic chypre. It unfolds with a luscious sweet/tart citrus bouquet of top notes as olfactory introduction: lime and bergamot for that requisite tang; mandarin and tangerine are fulsomely juicy. The fragrance’s voluptuous heart heralds fearless floralcy as indolic blossoms blend with spicy and creamy ones. The verdant coup, however – is a judicious splash of galbanum, sage and violet leaf – each contributing its particular charm. Galbanum, with its beautiful resinous, slightly bitter edginess for piquancy and sophistication; violet leaf’s coolly limpid, vegetal/mineral earthiness; and sage, which proffers bittersweet, heady herbal/floral/musky tones caressed with subtle haylike nuance. These touches remind me of the perfect seasoning of a dish – they highlight, contrast, provide intrigue to something which is already lovely in it own right, without causing undue distraction. By the time we reach the perfume’s foundation pillars we are ready for the plenty which awaits: every possible component one might wish for in a chypric base. Richly-hued, it is well-balanced and just weighty enough to achieve its aim, never overbearingly dominant. Additional green echoes arise from vetiver and moss, a deft soupçon of amber compliments musk; patchouli, oud and sandalwood help comprise a sylvan aura. Iso E Super® is a velvet chameleon – cedar-y, suggestive of ambergris, with floral undertones – which enriches the base notes with subtlety and imbues tenacity.
EAU DE JANE is very much a contemporary fragrance, but it is not a ‘beast’: in keeping with its level of equipoise and finesse, it clings closer to the flesh with a moderate projection and good longevity. I smile as I sniff: there exist tendrils which honor Jane Daly’s first scent memory of her mother’s houndstooth-checked flacon of Miss Dior. And that’s a terrific resonance.
Notes: Mandarin, lime, bergamot, tangerine, galbanum, rose, jasmine, neroli, ylang-ylang, carnation, violet leaf, sage, vetiver moss, amber, musk, oud, patchouli, sandalwood, Iso E Super® (IFF)
N.B. – I’d like to call your attention to two wonderful physical details of EAU DE JANE’s presentation. Jane recounted that her inspiration was derived from the ending credits of films from the 40s! The green “curtain” on her label resembles a theater screen’s velvet curtain, and the font she chose parallels that used to proclaim “The End”.
Sample kindly provided by Jane Daly – many thanks! My nose is my own…
~ Ida Meister, Deputy and Natural Perfumery Editor
Thanks to the generosity of Jane Daly of Daly Beauty, we have one 50 ml bottle and one sample available for two registered readers in the U.S or Canada. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what appeals to you about Daly Beauty EAU DE JANE, where you live. The winner of the sample verses the Bottle will be random. Draw closes 8/20/21
Jane Daly has been a Guest Contributor for CaFleureBon. You can read her article here
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