Ablxs
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Bright bergamot and mandarin burst forward immediately, but they're arrested by coriander's savoury bite and cardamom's dusty spice—this smells like a spice merchant's counter rendered into fragrance, peppery and green rather than warm. The zarbot adds an oddly mineral, almost slightly soapy undertone that prevents anything sweet from gaining purchase.
The citrus gradually recedes as birch wood and mat absolute emerge, creating a woody-green heart that's distinctly herbaceous and slightly austere. Jasmine sambac attempts prettiness but is immediately surrounded by sage and pepper, resulting in something closer to a culinary herb garden than florality, with an intriguing smoky quality creeping in.
Oakmoss, vetiver, and clary sage dominate, anchoring the fragrance into something deeply earthy and almost leather-like. The base becomes progressively greener and drier, fading into a whisper of vegetal spice that lingers on skin rather than the air—intimate and somewhat mysterious rather than projecting.
Pygmalion arrives as a deliberately austere composition that rewards patient observation rather than immediate seduction. Daniela Andrier has constructed something genuinely unusual here: a citrus fragrance that resists sweetness entirely, instead channelling its bergamot and mandarin through a lens of cool green austerity. The coriander and cardamom provide a distinctly savoury opening, almost spice-market herbalism, whilst the mysterious zarbot—that deliberately obscure ingredient—adds an almost mineral tension to the proceedings.
What makes this truly compelling is the heart's architecture. Rather than allowing the jasmine sambac to soften things into florality, Andrier pairs it with birch wood and mat absolute, creating something distinctly woody-green that feels almost like walking through a forest clearing after rain. The pepper and sage amplify this herbal, almost medicinal character—there's something vaguely pharmaceutical about Pygmalion, in the best sense. It's the scent of someone who finds beauty in severity, who appreciates the green smell of crushed leaves and damp bark rather than the obvious charms of florals or fruit.
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3.8/5 (94)