Byredo
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Clary sage erupts with herbal snap, immediately tempered by mirabelle's subtle tartness—a green-tinged, almost savoury opening that feels botanical rather than perfumed. Within minutes, a faint spice emerges, suggesting the composition's eventual direction without revealing its destination.
Cistus and orris root settle into prominence, the composition deepening into something powdery yet leathery, simultaneously refined and slightly animalic. The fruit retreats entirely, replaced by a quietly insistent woodiness that feels grounded and contemplative rather than warm or inviting.
Palo santo dominates, its creamy, almost abstract wood-smoke character emerging fully as ambroxan and musk create a skin scent of remarkable discretion. What remains is pale, quiet, almost ghostly—the olfactory equivalent of afternoon light through frosted glass, present but untouchable.
De Los Santos arrives as a meditation on austerity—a fragrance that refuses sweetness or comfort in favour of something far more cerebral. Jérôme Epinette has crafted a composition where clary sage's herbaceous bite collides with mirabelle plum's delicate stone-fruit tartness, establishing an immediate tension that persists throughout. This is not a fruity fragrance that happens to be woody; rather, it's a woody framework upon which fruit and herbs are arranged like specimens under glass.
The heart reveals cistus and orris root working in concert—cistus contributing its leathery, almost animalic warmth, whilst orris root adds a powdery, violet-tinged restraint that prevents the composition from tipping into excessive earthiness. There's an intellectual quality here, a refusal to indulge. Palo santo in the base anchors everything with its creamy, almost pencil-shaving woodiness, whilst ambroxan and musk provide a second skin rather than a cloud; the fragrance sits remarkably close to the skin.
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3.5/5 (81)