Ex Nihilo
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The bergamot-lychee duo arrives with almost jarring freshness, bright and slightly tart, before the violet leaf cuts through with a green, slightly peppery edge that makes you pause. Within seconds, you're aware this isn't a safe floral; there's an architectural quality to how these top notes arrange themselves, each occupying distinct space rather than blending into sweetness.
As the freshness subsides, the rose absolute blooms with unexpected richness—honeyed yet somehow savoury, almost medicinal—whilst angelica brings a herbal, slightly dusty spice. The Atlas cedar emerges like a door opening onto a wooden library, and suddenly the composition feels weighted, grounded, with the rose now reading as elegant restraint rather than romantic excess. The chypre structure becomes apparent here: dark, slightly animalic, offering skin-like intimacy beneath the florals.
The patchouli and oakmoss take over, creating a woody, slightly mossy foundation, whilst the vetiver adds a faint grassy dryness that prevents heaviness. What remains is essentially a whisper—a sophisticated, slightly austere trace of roses on weathered wood, more architectural than sensual.
French Affair opens with a startling clash of brightness and darkness that immediately marks it as something other than typical floral fare. The bergamot arrives first, sharp and almost aldehydic, before the lychee rounds it into something more syrupy—but then violet leaf absolute intercedes with its green, slightly metallic bite, preventing the composition from ever settling into sweetness. This is a floral that refuses politeness.
The heart reveals Quentin Bisch's true hand: a rose absolute that reads almost animalic, candied but never cloying, paired with angelica that brings a herbal, slightly medicinal quality—there's something faintly pharmaceutical about this combination, like rose petals steeped in an apothecary's cabinet. The Atlas cedar enters quietly but insistently, adding a dry, resinous undertone that grounds the floralcy and prevents it from becoming precious.
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3.9/5 (97)