Consider perfume a portrait of its wearer: the sound of her voice, her gaze, the way she plays cards. At once timeless and resonant with today, here is a scent that speaks of her innate sophistication. Charm that emanates from within, boldly depicted without; an expressive portrayal of modern grace.
At the fore, an exuberant dose of Turkish rose — 400 flowers per 100ml bottle, no less. Beneath, a bed of patchouli heart imbued with sandalwood and frankincense. An accord of clove, blackcurrant and raspberry binds the perfume together for a final characterful brushstroke.
Depths of black.
Composed like a Rothko painting, where layer upon layer of somber notes form a deeper, more textured darkness. A thick coating of spices rests on a wooden base of sandalwood and patchouli; top notes of orange and geranium are subtly illumined by rose, which, like all masterful paintings, reveal that even darkness is made of light.
Unafraid of the dark.
Top notes: orange; geranium,
At a party on Paris’ rive gauche, a woman’s fur coat is lifted from her bare shoulders, exposing her neck to the candlelight. Aware of many eyes upon her, she pauses, smiling to herself, before emerging like a conqueror from the shadows.
A sensuous body of lavender is warmed by patchouli, amber and vanilla, and transformed by notes of pineapple and mandarin.
Musc Ravageur enhances the magnetic aspect of musk with amber, vanilla, patchouli and sandalwood, at the total exclusion of floral notes.
Having caused a scandal when the perfume first appeared in 2000, Musc Ravageur is now celebrated in all its sensuousness as the Sistine Chapel of the soft Amber tradition.
For the man who wears a pinstripe suit with ease and self-assurance, whose highly sophisticated virility is tinged with artistic flair, and whose ruthless pursuit of seduction is somewhat of an aesthetic endeavor.
This perfume reveals the style behind impeccable appearance: patchouli is the pinstripe suit, with a cocktail of rum absolute and mandarin in hand, for a distinct flavor of late nights in dark corners; as cedar, suede and incense are the underlying sensual pulse, warmed by vanilla in a small acknowledgment of intimacy.
A star’s moment of privacy at her dressing table with her lipstick, which she spreads carefully onto her lower lip: grapefruit and violet sparkle above sweet notes of rose, iris and raspberry on a sensuous bed of vanilla and white musk.
A 1950s prophetic masterpiece that was kept hidden for half a century for being ahead of its time, worn only by the perfumer’s wife, until now.
Prune fuses the modernity of cucumber and melon notes with the elegant classicism of rose and jasmine, blurring the perfume to the point of obscurity and rendering its ingredients unidentifiable.
A classic perfume that keeps its sensuous femininity enclosed in a sober shape.
A concealed satin lining of iris, musk and tonka bean is trimmed by cool, synthetic aldehydes for an aura of serene formality. Vetiver introduces a further quality of crisp chic, while decorative notes of rose, violet and ylang-ylang remind a stranger to see the woman beyond the surface.
Like the eccentric Englishman in a blue velvet jacket, pink striped shirt and a cashmere-print pocket square, this perfume is an extravagant unravelling of colors and textures.
A cool whiff of mint and aniseed, imbued with Chinese geranium, spills over into nuances of clove, sandalwood, benzoin and frankincense.
For the man who would not normally wear perfume, who believes in naked attraction and relies on the simple seductive power of his rugged appearance.
The spicy freshness of pimiento, angelica and juniper flowers melts into a woody sea of cedar, patchouli and vetiver, bound by galbanum and frankincense in a mysterious enhancement of men’s natural scent.
A moment of closeness full of promise and the addictive feeling of mutual dependency.
Cashmeran, which performs like a vibrating musk, is crowned with violet, warmed by heliotrope and imbued with the saltiness of moist skin. Sandalwood adds a milky softness, and white musk, a clean magnetism, evoking the scent of someone you couldn’t live without.
Musk is notorious for having two faces: the pure and the wicked. Accentuating its binary character produces a perfume both innocent and irresistible, split between a clean cologne accord of lemon, bergamot and orange blossom, and a seductive white musk accord.
A show of innocence is not the perfume’s only source of trickery: its staggering concentration of musk overcomes the transient nature of an eau de cologne and renders the perfume indestructible.
An initial impression of innocence and flower-shop freshness disperses to reveal a more lustful tuberose: these dark and spicy notes surrender in turn to ones of milky comfort, enhanced by white musk, to draw out tuberose’s aura of lingering sensuality.
Erotic flower.
Carnal Flower contains by far the highest concentration of natural tuberose in the perfume industry.
An overdose of refined essence of bitter orange (or “bigarade”, as they say in Provence), embellished with cardamom and pink pepper on a woody base of hay and cedar, heralds a new generation of “eaux”.
A simple formula for an air of clean sophistication.
Cologne Bigarade is also available in a more concentrated form as Bigarade Concentrée.
Inspiration: A perfume as complex and dazzling as the woman who wears it. Perfumer Calice Becker was inspired by the fascinating contrast between the painting’s facets, which she describes as “texturized and brilliant, rich and voluptuous.
Fragrance story: The notes conjure, in scent, the delicate gold leafing and play between light and shadow, for which the painting is celebrated. Its zesty luminosity is the fragrant expression of this brightness. The petal-y rose heart depicts all of the facets of the rose. Finally, vanilla absolute’s unctuosity appears generously in the drydown, adorned by an exclusive patchouli molecule, the Akigalawood.
Key notes: rose, vanilla absolute, Akigalawood
Olfactive Family: Narcotics – From rose to tuberose, from orange blossom to gardenia… Kilian flowers are composed like a narcotic dependence.
PHILIP B. 
Maison Francis Kurkdjian 
LE LABO 
