Our take
What does Diva smell like?
Diva was Emanuel Ungaro’s first perfume, launched in 1983 during the great wave of floral chypres. Bergamot and mandarin open alongside rosewood and a tender green hyacinth. The rose soon takes over. It has company. Jasmine, tuberose and iris surround it and give it that thick and slightly theatrical 1980s volume. Iris brings the powder. The base pairs sandalwood with vanilla, while patchouli and oakmoss mark it as a chypre. It is often filed next to Paloma Picasso’s Mon Parfum, another rose chypre from the same decade. Diva is more floral and a little less harsh. Reformulations have changed it over the years, and older bottles smell mossier. A flanker called Diva Rose came out in 2011. Wear it lightly. Overspraying turns the tuberose shrill and the powder heavy. Few modern roses dare this much.
When to wear it
A winter evening perfume to wear with something dressy. One spray is enough, two at the very most.
It belongs to the Floral, Chypre family. Diva is one of 3 creations by Ungaro in our encyclopedia.