Dia for Men (2002)
by Amouage

Discreet, balanced spicy-incensed  fragrance that introduces a remarcably sweet, almost edible (fruits and tasty spices) and powdery kind of masculine subtlety. The starring frankincense-cistus labdanum is immediately notable in its prickly link with cardamom and nutmeg (cinnamon?). The smell is averagely sharp, slightly smoky, barely earthy and woody. There is anyway something wet and fresh in the dust along the first instants of the development because of the orangy accord of citrus and lavender. The sweet combination of dry spices, citrus, dry fruits and neroli is almost boozy and agreable with a touch of fluidity. The rise up of flowers starts to moderate the game while balancing the tasty vibe and introducing elements of natural sophistication. The floral complex heart of ylang-ylang, peonies and iris sets a sort of complex transition towards a kind of creamy final suede that is at once silky and boise' with its musky bed of labdanum and a sheer darkly sophisticated floral patchouli. The slightly  powdery and dusty dry down is tremendously subtle, slightly buttery and decidededly sophisticated of flowers, exotic fruits and mossy patchouli. While the scent is discreet and close to the skin it is tenacious and well appointed in the solidity of chords and multifaceted complexity. The smell is really arcane and complicated with some reminiscences of fragrances like Coze' 02 and  Arsene Lupin Dandy because of its green crispiness and its spicy-rooty kind of boozy and rosey savour. The dry down is leathery for sure and musky but with reminiscences of tasty and edible elements. A touch of earthiness and smoke close  the round. Extremely elegant, spiritual and changeful fragrance.

5th February, 2012.

This is really a weird one for me. I’ve tried this many times and cannot pick out any real singular note. Dia is very subtle, yet very complex. After sampling the powerhouses of Jubiliation XXV and Epic, maybe I was expecting a little more with this one. It is extremely well-balanced and elegant, yet it really doesn’t do much for me. Wears very close to the skin and has great longevity. Wish I could say more about the notes, but after sampling several times I’m either anosmic to the main components of this or it is so well-blended to the point of identifying singular notes is difficult.

12nd January, 2012.

A very discreet fragrance that smells very opulent in a sweet exotic cherry blossom, fruit and incense way that stays close to your skin. I only wish it had more development or something else to contrast the cherry blossom/fruit accord to make it more interesting. Though it is a very lovely fragrance.

13rd December, 2011.

Dia is surely one of the most easy to wear fragrances among the Amouage masculines and, although this aspect is not enough to make of Dia a great composition, there are many other elements that contribute to its status as a "winner".

Yes, Gold is restrained and subtle but at the same time it has an extremely solid and thick structure made of dry woods and frankincense around of wich blooms a floral/citrus accord of incredible beauty. A slight suede note together with spices add an extra touch that sounds like a lash of tail working as a reminder that Dia is definitely a masculine fragrance. The drydown is (moderately) sweet with amber playing a remarkable part.

Overall Dia moves back and forth from powdery to woody via smoky-citrusy and does it with such a non-chalance we can only tolerate from an higher class composition (wich it surely is).

Don't let Dia tricks you as while it may result discreet at the same time it's incredibly long lasting and with a good sillage. A top quality fragrance.

12nd September, 2011.

Dia is a bright, thick, creamy, generically perfumey potpourri-like floral that can resemble lotion in "texture." It absolutely smells rich and opulent, as do all of the Amouage's that I've tried, and I suppose that's a testament to the high quality ingredients, but rich and opulent doesn't automatically make a fragrance a winner. Dia has moments of its development when it can get a bit cloying and feel unclean.

The whole experience of wearing it feels like I'm wearing a little too much of a high quality grooming product. And it has nothing to do with over-application. When you over apply Epic you're a destroyer, and when you over apply Ciel you're a cloud. I mention those two because they're both somehow similar, yet WAY better.

30th August, 2011.

Dia, as others have mentioned is a very subtle scent. It starts off fresh and mildly sweet with some cardamom, incense and citrus notes,then turning more towards leather and amber. The leather and amber notes are definitely not "in your face" like a lot of other scents. Instead, like the opening, Dia remains refined, classy, mild and very close to the skin throughout. The scent is so subtle I frequently had to keep smelling my wrists to make sure it was still there, but it was... Very different from other scents from Amouage like Jubilation XXV. At the end of the day, the buyer will need to determine whether Dia is worth its relatively large price tag compared to other options, but from a scent quality perspective it is hard to fault its merits if you are not looking for a more vociferous fragrance.

27th August, 2011.