Bon Monsieur (Rogue Perfumery) leans on a brilliant quality of lavender absolute, speaking volumes amongst incredible nuance. Balanced with oakmoss, with these two notes, there’s no mistaking the genre of this scent. Camphoraceous overtones blankets a medley of bergamot, rose geranium, carnation, and lily of the valley - all on a woody, mossy, musky base. This is a confident, gutsy, and sumptuous fragrance, oscillating between a green, mint-like freshness and spicy ambery warmth - never at the expense of its elegance.
Arcadia (Hiram Green) is undoubtedly an aromatic fougere and preserves the distinct floral hallmarks of the lavender material - certainly enough to warrant a distinction, calling this a lavender (or lavender-dominant) fougere. With obvious classical inspiration, it achieves a fabulous balance between minty, camphor freshness and dark caramelised molasses.
In 1725 (Histoires de Parfums), lavender’s anisic facets are drawn out and paired with a complementary dose of star anise and liquorice root, brightened up top with the remarkable charge of bergamot, lemon, and grapefruit. This sizzling accord ascends – an intermezzo of spicy, sweet, and bright – until this lands on a generous cloud of heliotropin musk, vanilla, and cedarwood for structure. The total composition is richly filled with air; plush without being heavy - it is a happy scent.
Indeed, lavender is the cornerstone of this category, and Gardoni strikingly presents a lavender without precedent, making grand of the fougere as it is married with decadent notes that range from floral, woody, resinous, and animalic. The lavender heart of this scent is unmistakable, made up of 4 precious lavender extracts to attain the best lavender effect possible, sequenced to demonstrate all of its facets, all in good and measured time. MEM is not a perfume that lends itself to easy interpretation, it will reward your patience a hundred times over. Beautiful, quixotic, and memorable, this is artisanal perfumery at its most daring.
Fougere Bengale (Parfum d’Empire) properly takes the fern note to uncharted territory, scorching traditional lavender and tonka bean additions with the rousing heat of immortelle, spices, tobacco, honey. It is possible to trace the many converging lines of this fragrance, discovering notes of liquorice, assam tea, hay, and patchouli - resulting in an entirely new take on the fougere style that is sure to revive the most habituated of tastes.
And in The Code of Emotion, Francesca Bianchi transforms the category with a gorgeous rendering of tropical fruits - think mango and pineapple - on a sturdily composed lavender, sandalwood, and oakmoss body. The result is immediate happiness, certainly as if she has cracked the code to immediate emotional pleasure. A tweak up the top produces a whole new fragrance.
