Angelos Creations Olfactives Salon dt unsplash and bottle collage by Michelyn

Tea time won’t be the same without my Donna
At night I lie awake and dream of Donna
I think about that small cafe
That’s where we used to meet each day
And then we used to sit a while
And drink our afternoon tea

I’ll take afternoon tea (afternoon tea)
If you take it with me (afternoon tea)
You take as long as you like
Cause I like you, girl

I take sugar with tea (afternoon tea)
You take milk if you please (afternoon tea)
Like you talking to me
Because you ease my mind –– “Afternoon Tea” by the Kinks

Queen Charlotte played by Golda Rosheuval, still from Bridgerton, Netflix

Tea is enjoying a renewed popularity these days, in no small part thanks to the phenomenon of Netflix’s Bridgerton. I myself have spent many hours imbibing that venerable beverage, and the iced variety is one of my favourite warm weather tipples. Here’s a tip on how to make a perfect summer cuppa: take equal parts black tea, green tea and mate, and add three different chamomiles; blend with ripe berries and a generous squeeze of citrus. Sprinkle beeswax, sweet spice, honey-blond tobacco, airy florals, and wood notes. Add one immensely talented perfumer and stir. Finish with a dollop of orris butter and spray liberally, et voila! Le parfait parfum de the.

Angelos Balamis of Angelos Creations Olfactives courtesy of the perfumer

Salon dt, from Angelos Creations Olfactives, is the quintessential iced tea for the skin – aromatic, with multilayered tea notes and just the right touches of astringency, bitter citrus, and woods to feel refreshing, and flowers to add airiness and a bit of classical refinement. The name is a pun on salon de thé with the lower case “dt” as a reference to perfume Angelos Balamis’ scientific background (he’s an engineer).

via pexels chamomile tea

Modern tea fragrances can, however, sometimes come across as one-dimensional, of little else than Earl Grey, matcha or mate with maybe a bit of lemon or honey. Balamis sidesteps this problem neatly by piquing Earl Grey’s characteristic medicinal floralcy with a bounce of juicy raspberry and, just a little later, the addition of apricot-infused osmanthus, with its sly suggestion of tea cakes. He is careful to also add depth and colour to the tea aromas themselves. The Earl Grey of the opening gives way to the vegetal, gunpowder notes of green tea, and then mate, all herbs and dried hay. Flowers seep in; a subtle velveteen texture from violet absolute, then mimosa lending its warm, pollenous powderpuff; jasmine softening and rounding out the more acerbic odors.

But the most prominent note in the fragrance’s center is undoubtedly chamomile, whose bouquet smells to me like a melange of dried linden blossom, straw, and angelica. It merges with the tea notes easily but, along with some mulchy tobacco leaf, also deepens the perfume’s herbal quality. Stepping back and smelling Salon dt now, it’s as if I’ve been offered a calming tonic by a medieval herbalist; soothingly bittersweet, aromas of wildflowers and countryside stirred into a cool, dark brew.

Phoebe Dynevor and Regé-Jean Page Bridgerton Season 2

I often find that there’s a certain motion to Balamis’ fragrances, a soothing back and forth that feels a bit like a waltz step, swaying gently from side to side, back and forth and then spinning gracefully. In Salon dt, that movement is created by the way certain notes surge forward quietly, then recede, then return with others. Here, I find it most in the mid-section, when the flowers and tea notes touch and part, as if in quiet minuet. In particular, the mimosa is a lovely foil for the mate, the dry hay-like odor of the tea playing off mimosa’s crumbly, honey-powder scent. There’s a wonderful, soft fruitiness in Salon dt’s heart that smells rather like bee balm, while the astringent notes stay present but backgrounded, keeping the sweeter, richer notes in check. After a while, the dusty sweetness of nutmeg is just discernable, complemented seamlessly by sandalwood (Note to self: bug Angelos to create a nutmeg-sandalwood perfume).

Angelos Creations Olfactives Salon dt quiets in its dry-down after about two hours, and while it does not by any means disappear, it does beckon another spray. This is my favourite duration for a hot weather perfume; the notes never become weighty, and I can relive that elegant progression of teas and florals as desired. It is a wonderful exemplar of tea fragrances, a perfectly balanced blend of dry-herbal, tart fruit, and filigreed florals that treads an indefinite line between genders. On a humid, hazy July day like today, there’s nothing I’d rather wear.

Notes: Bergamot, lemongrass, pink grapefruit, black currant, raspberry, violet leaves abs., raspberry leaves absolute, ho wood, blue chamomile, mimosa absolute from India, jasmine absolute from Egypt, black tea absolute, green tea, mate absolute, osmanthus absolute from China, orris butter, clary sage, nutmeg, musk, orange flower absolute, muguet, beeswax absolute, santalum lanceolatum, blond tobacco accord.

Disclaimer: sample of Salon dt kindly provided by Angelos Balamis. My opinions, as always, are my own.

Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor

Angelos Creations Olfactives Salon dt courtesy of the brand

Thanks to the generosity of Angelos Balamis, we have a 30 ml bottle of Angelos Creations Olfactives Salon dt for one registered reader in Europe, the UK or the USA. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what strikes you about Salon dt and where you live. Draw closes 7/13/2023.

Angelos Balamis was Michelyn’s Rising Star of 2020

Fougeriste was in Lauryn’s Top 10 of 2022 and co-recipient of Best  Artisan of 2022

Please enjoy Lauryn’s review of  Danse Lascive and Yloud Yloud

This is our Privacy and Draw Rules Policy.

Follow us on Instagram: @cafleurebonofficial @elledebee @angelos_creations_olfactives @angel_bal

We announce the winners only on our site and on our Facebook page, so “like” Çafleurebon and use our blog feed, or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.