The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
ITISDREAM arrived in 2012 from a brand that treats every bottle as a tiny surrealist performance. The house carries a catalog anchored by a 1983 fragrance, the earliest entry in what would become a larger exploration of translating the painter's visual language into something wearable. Michel Almairac composed this particular juice, and ITISDREAM reads as a study in daytime florals with enough fruit and wood underneath to keep it from floating away. The opening carries that crisp, fruit-forward lift you expect from a fresh floral: grapefruit and apple slicing through the top, blackcurrant lending a faint berry shadow underneath. It's the sort of accord that smells like breakfast fruit on a white tablecloth, bright and uncomplicated, before settling into the quieter floral heart.
What makes this composition worth attention is the balance Almairac struck between crispness and softness. Apple, blackcurrant, and grapefruit land sharp at the top. Hyacinth, magnolia, and rose take the middle, pulling toward the powdery and the green. Then white cedar, amber, and musk anchor the whole thing in something skin-close and warm. The result is a floral that's neither soapy nor syrupy. It rides the line between a cologne-style freshness and a softer, more intimate fragrance. Most compositions at this price point go one direction or the other. This one manages both, and that's the quiet trick.
The evolution
The first 15 minutes are all snap. Grapefruit cuts first, then the green tartness of apple joins in, and blackcurrant adds a faint berry shadow underneath. It smells like breakfast fruit on a white tablecloth, bright and uncomplicated. By the 30-minute mark the florals arrive. Hyacinth leads, bringing that watery, slightly sharp green quality that almost feels cold against the warmth of the opening fruit. Magnolia softens the edges, lending a creamy, lacy quality that bridges the sharp green into something more rounded. Rose stays polite, never going full bouquet, just adding a pink sweetness that rounds out the sharpness without ever tipping into old-fashioned territory. This is the prettiest phase, and it lingers longer than you'd expect. The florals hold court for a while, the three of them trading the spotlight in slow shifts. Around the three-hour mark, the base starts to surface.
Cultural impact
ITISDREAM by Salvador Dalí launched in 2012 as part of the house's modern fragrance catalog, a line that traces its roots to the original 1983 perfume that opened the catalog. The 2012 release sits within a broader conversation about how legacy fragrance houses approach new compositions. ITISDREAM pairs bright fruit top notes with a quieter, skin-close musky drydown, a structural choice that gives the scent a study-in-contrast feel without ever shouting about it.
