About a year ago, tea was the fragrance world’s answer to everything, and most of it smelled like variations on the same cup. Lattafa’s Dynasty was the exception that got talked about, because it’s built on rooibos, which runs warmer and spicier than the green and black teas the trend leaned on.
The pitch was niche character at a Lattafa price, and it holds up. It’s around €17 at the moment; I’ve stocked up on a couple of bottles, which gives away the verdict before the verdict arrives.
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On the Skin
It opens on raspberry and ginger, sweet without tipping into sugar, and hands over to the rooibos before the raspberry can outstay its welcome. That’s the fragrance: mildly spicy, properly rich, and neither gourmand nor resinous. Rich scents usually run to one of those two places, dessert or incense, and Dynasty declines both. Most tea fragrances stay thin to stay clean; this one takes on weight and stays clean anyway.
Performance
Average on both counts: longevity won’t win any arguments and projection stays polite. Neither has cost me anything, because the compliments arrive anyway. Rooibos is rare enough in fragrance that people notice it for being unfamiliar rather than for being loud, which is a better way to be noticed.
The Verdict
Fall and spring are where it lives; summer isn’t its season. Within that window it handles everyday wear and special occasions with equal ease, and it’s about as universally approved as anything on my shelf. I’d put it beside Metallic Musk as a dumb reach: the bottle I pick up without thinking when I can’t decide what to wear, which is exactly what a rotation needs one of. I’m a couple of bottles deep at €17, so the decision stays made.
