2020 ended in glory for me, as in the final days of the year, just before Christmas, I have received a 30% discount to one of my favourite shop, the airport duty free, so I used it wisely, to buy two great fragrances. One of them is one of the most talked about, sold and swapped last year. I’m talking about Parfums de Marly Delina Exclusif.

For me, it was a curiosity buy, a blind curiosity buy, and a semi-succesful one, as I have mixed feelings about it.

One thing is clear: I can understand the hype about it. It is a great fragrance, for the floral, fruity, sweet family, very well blended, very persistent and with a great projection.

Although I’m not a big fan of florals, this one has notes that I like, and notes that I dislike, so my feelings about it are mixed. If you are into fruity-floral, Delina Exclusif is a masterpiece, unraveling itself note by note and layer by layer.

If the video was simple to make for me, as I was very curious about the fragrance, writing this piece of text made me experience the writer’s blockage, as it took me about two weeks to gather my feelings and ideas and put them into words.

When first spraying, Delina Exclusif took me directly to an exotic beach, with golden sand, blue water, and a fruity pink cocktail in one hand. It is an instant mood lifter and an instant imagination muse.

I will start with the box, a delicate square pink and silver box, very elegant and expensive looking, with the bottle placed in pink velvet. The bottle is the same shade of pink, with silver accents, the classical shape of Parfums de Marly bottles, looking like a vintage perfume bottle belonging to an innocent and delicate princess at the king’s court.

Although it is listed as a rose fragrance, for me it’s more a fruity one. It opens up with notes of litchi and pear, with the litchi staying for long time on the skin. Middle notes that follow are rose damascena and incense, from which the incense in strong, and as base notes, we have vanilla and musk.

To my nose, it opens up as a litchi explosion, with some bergamot, followed by sweet incense with some roses and settling down with vanilla and a hint of amber. Although I love the litchi, I find it somewhat disturbing and with just a little bit of plastic wrap scent. Overall, the smell reminds me of those small perfumed incense bits one can buy from church, which is a great relaxing smell.

I have to mention the fact that this is one, despite being fruity and floral, has huge projection and it is extremely long lasting. I made a comparison between Delina Exclusif and Alexandria II and this one has better projection and it is more long lasting, which came as a huge surprise for me. I do think it has the same power as POAL or Porpora, two very strong niche fragrances. So, in terms of performances, Delina Exclusif is a hit.

Being so strong, it might be a bit overwhelming for most of you, but if you are used to being the centre of attention, this is a guarantee that you will not go unnoticed. It is great for afternoon activities, like cocktails, theatres, balls and parties. It is an all ages fragrance, suited for both young and mature ladies and it is exclusively a woman’s fragrance, as is two sweet and fruity for a man. I don’t find it appropriate for layering with other fragrances, as it is way to strong and complex to be mixed with new notes.

If you are into fruity, flowery, strong sweet bomb fragrances, then Delina Exclusif is the one for you and it can definitely be a signature fragrance for lovers of characteristics mentioned.

If you are into musky and strong incense fragrances, this is way to delicate and has very thin notes of those aromas.

All in all, I would advise against blind buy, but rather to try on and be open minded about this one.