Al-Jazeera / الجزيرة
Al-Jazeera / الجزيرة
403 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The passion fruit hits like a tropical storm, all pulpy sweetness and acidic brightness, whilst bergamot skims across the top like sunlight on wet leaves. Reseda's honeyed-green facets emerge within minutes, adding an almost waxy, pollen-dusted quality that prevents the fruit from dominating entirely.
Frangipani unfurls with its characteristic creamy-almond richness, embracing the dark chocolate accord in a way that feels more floral patisserie than simple confection. The vanilla begins to deepen everything, adding a caramelised warmth that makes the chocolate read as cocoa absolute rather than sugary ganache, whilst the flower petals remain suspended in this edible haze.
The woods and cedar emerge quietly, their presence more atmospheric than assertive, creating a soft scaffolding around the musk's intimate warmth. What remains is a powdery-sweet skin scent with lingering traces of vanilla and cocoa, the florals now ghostly impressions rather than blooms, the whole composition settling into something comforting yet refined.
La Forêt announces itself with an almost brazen sweetness, the kind that makes you question whether you've stumbled into a patisserie or a tropical greenhouse. Nathalie Lorson's 1998 composition is unapologetically gourmand, but there's an elegance here that prevents it from tipping into cloying territory. The bergamot does little to cut through the passion fruit's syrupy intensity; instead, it adds a citric shimmer that makes the opening feel sun-drenched rather than purely edible. The reseda—a green, honey-like note rarely spotted in modern perfumery—weaves through with an old-fashioned charm, lending an unexpected floral transparency to what could have been relentlessly fruity.
The heart is where La Forêt earns its complexity. Frangipani blooms with that distinctive coconut-almond creaminess, whilst the dark chocolate accord reads more as cocoa powder dusted over petals than a dense truffle. The vanilla here isn't the sharp ethyl maltol of contemporary crowd-pleasers; it's rounder, almost resinous, with a slight burnt-sugar edge that keeps things interesting. This is dessert as worn by someone who also appreciates white florals, a balance that shouldn't work but does.
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3.5/5 (188)