JOVOY PARFUMS HA LONG BAY

OFFICIAL BRAND STATEMENT

A refined identity and a brand-new bottle serve as the setting for Ha Long Bay, the latest eau de parfum from JOVOY — an homage to Vietnam, a country close to the heart of Artistic

Director François Hénin.

Ha Long Bay is no postcard. It’s a sensory evocation, a distillation of memories and rare raw materials, captured in a powerful and luminous trail. At the heart of the composition lies a unique note of sand mango (Xoài Cát) — an emblematic fruit from the Hoa Lộc province — extracted using Jungle Essence technology by perfumer Véronique Nyberg (MANE). With facets of peach, banana, and apricot, this mango brings a generous fruitiness and sunlit tenderness. It is enhanced by vibrant spices, cardamom and black pepper. Soft leather accents, evoking the sails of junks in the bay. A deep patchouli, the olfactory signature of François Hénin. A structured cedarwood, grounding the composition in woody elegance.

Ha Long Bay is a living and unexpected perfume. It evolves on the skin, revealing different facets depending on who wears it. It captivates without ever imposing, signs personalities and leaves lasting impressions.

Perfumer – Véronique Nyberg

Vietnamese Mango
Cardamom
Black Pepper

Leather
Cypriol
Cedarwood

Amber Woods
Patchouli
Orcanox

10+ hours on skin
About a day on clothes
Projection is strong

MY THOUGHTS

Jovoy Parfums Ha Long Bay is such vivid and evocative mango! I almost compulsive sweetness of a perfectly ripe mango. Not red-green kind we get in Europe, no-no. This is the real deal bright, sunny-yellow skin mango with velvety smooth flesh with very prominent acidic component to it. I’ve only had eaten it once in my life. It doesn’t survive shipping well so us, mere mortals have limited access to it (deep sigh).

There’s definitely a whole spectrum to this mango. It is juicy and bright. somewhat tart and utterly fun to wear on a hot day. I remember how sparkling it was in Milan, when I tried it on skin on a warm sunny day. Unfortunately now on cold evening, it did loose some of that smile-inducing joyfulness, like it’s been put on mute. But I’m more than certain it will shine again once we hit some hot September days.

There haven’t been any fruity releases from the brand that I can recall. Of course, Aqua Memorabilis can be considered as one, with it’s bitter citruses. But that one has always been more vetiver-dominant on my skin. Ergo, I stand by my statement, Jovoy Parfums Ha Long Bay is truly the first fruity release in this collection. And it is fun fun! The patchouli addition might sound scary for some, we’ve all been traumatized by designer fruitchouli era. Except here it is not vivid, very well muted backbone of patchouli is merely providinig the lasting factor and not so much the “sweet drama”.

The majority of fluffy sweetness comes from the ambery base. I guess it is the Orcanox from MANE (captive obtained from up-cycling the clary sage). Never tried it isolated, but call me curious. What I find interesting with fragrance pyramid is the leather. I get none of it on my skin. It’s more of a soft suede aura, which is technically leather, but in terms of smellables, not comparable to the regular leather mention.

The transition from sunny mango into the basenotes is smooth, fragrance clearly goes through distinct phases of development. Tangy-to softly spicy-to more green woody. I can’t really compare it to other mango scents directly. There is no repetition repetition of other fragrances here. At first wear I thought I spotted the Mugler’s Angel Eau Corisiere in there, but no, that’s not it. Kilian’s Moonlight in Heaven Croisière is something I’m leaning towards now, when it comes to comparison. Have you had a chance to experience this one? If yes, Ha Long Bay could certainly be right up your alley.

In terms of longevity and sillage, we have a champ here. Ode to mango just lasts and lasts on my skin. Only in the very late wear (we are talking 7+ hours) it mutes out and gradually gets replaced by sweet woody base. Overall very good addition to the line, if you’re testing it, give it few wears before final judgement. My experience is that it opens up more and more with every consecutive wear.

Final verdict: Jovoy Parfums Ha Long Bay is safe for younger fruitheads who are just at the start of their niche fragrances journey, however it also carries plenty of “piquant intrique” for seasoned fragheads.