Giorgio Armani
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The violet leaf arrives with its characteristic cucumber-meets-metal greenness, immediately sharpened by lemon that feels more pith than juice. Bergamot adds a brief petitgrain-like bitterness before the whole affair turns decidedly vegetal, almost stemmy, like snapping fresh herbs between your fingers.
Cardamom emerges with its cooling spice, while cumin adds an unexpected earthiness that flirts with body-like warmth without crossing into indolic territory. Sage brings a silvery-green herbal quality that keeps everything grounded, whilst black tea begins to thread through with its dry, slightly smoky tannins.
The cedar settles into something pencil-shaving linear, warmed by suede that feels more textural than animalic. What remains is quietly woody, faintly spiced, and utterly skin-close—the ghost of green herbs lingering at the edges like a memory you can't quite place.
Eau de Cèdre is a study in contrasts—the crisp, almost metallic bite of violet leaf colliding with the resinous warmth of Virginia cedar. Mathilde Bijaoui has crafted something that feels like an early morning walk through a cedar forest after rain, where crushed green stems underfoot release their bitter, vegetal oils into air still sharp with citrus. The bergamot and lemon never feel sunny here; they're tart and astringent, pulling the composition towards something austere rather than cheerful. What makes this compelling is the spice troika at its heart—cardamom's eucalyptus-like brightness, sage's herbal camphor, and cumin's earthy warmth create a savoury middle that stops the woods from feeling too polite or corporate.
The black tea accord brings a tannic quality that bridges the green opening with the suede base, lending everything a dry, almost dusty texture. This isn't plush suede but the kind that's been worn thin, carrying the faint mineralness of skin. The cedar itself feels unvarnished and true, more like pencil shavings than the polished Iso E Super abstractions that dominate modern woody fragrances. This is for the person who finds most "fresh" fragrances too sweet, too aquatic, too eager to please. It wears well on those who appreciate restraint and don't mind a fragrance that leans intellectual rather than seductive. Perfect for temperate days when you want presence without projection, structure without stiffness.
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3.9/5 (288)