The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
The Dua Brand launched Lokum De Luxe in 2025, a tribute to LoukouMÈ by Theodoros Kalotinis, the Greek perfumer who built a fragrance around Turkish delight and rose water. The original loukhoum note, the confection that has become an unexpected reference point in modern perfumery, serves as the anchor for this composition. The Dua Brand layers that sweet core with frangipani, tuberose, and a soft undercoat of dulce de leche and vanilla, building a gourmand reading of the original concept. Lokum De Luxe is part of an ongoing conversation between the two houses, a way of reinterpreting Kalotinis's confection through a different lens.
The lokum note functions as the conceptual heart of the composition, the element that gives the fragrance its identity before anything else has a chance to register. Pairing it with neroli and orange blossom keeps the opening from sliding into pure sugar, those white-floral lifts offering a counterweight to the confection's sweetness. The heart then loads up on frangipani, jasmine, and tuberose, a trio of white florals that bring depth and texture to the composition.
The evolution
Lokum De Luxe opens with a candied energy. Lokum, neroli, and orange blossom hit immediately, sweet and bright, before settling into something quieter. The white florals take over as the initial sweetness recedes, frangipani and tuberose arriving with a creamy density that softens the edges of the composition. Jasmine threads through the middle phase, adding another layer of floral texture that prevents the whole thing from collapsing into dessert. Rose water runs underneath, smoothing the transitions between each note group, a constant that ties the opening, heart, and base together. The base settles in gradually. Dulce de leche and vanilla warm the composition, marshmallow and cotton candy adding a softness that reads more confection than sugar. Iris settles in as a powdery backbone, giving the drydown a more refined edge.
Cultural impact
Lokum De Luxe sits within The Dua Brand's Inspired Expression line, and its reference point is LoukouMÈ by Theodoros Kalotinis, a Greek perfumer who built a fragrance around the idea of Turkish delight and rose water. This version keeps that lokum-and-rose-water signature but thickens the gourmand base with dulce de leche and cotton candy, adding layers of sweetness to the original concept. The result is a composition that feels both familiar and distinctly its own, carrying the floral-confection DNA of the reference while building a warmer, more dessert-leaning profile.
