Marc Gebauer
Marc Gebauer
173 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Green notes explode with a tart blackcurrant-grapefruit brightness that feels almost peppery, whilst oud enters as a shadowy undertone—not roasted or medicinal, but distinctly leathery-animalic. The initial impression is crisp, almost aldehydic in its sharpness, demanding attention through clarity rather than volume.
Lavender and cypriol emerge to soften the opening's severity, the fougère accord building structure and providing unexpected floral nuance. Cedar arrives with a dry, woody precision that prevents sweetness from overwhelming; the composition settles into a creamy, slightly powdery territory where the blackcurrant becomes almost perfumy rather than fruity, suggesting a lipstick rather than fruit.
Musk and amber create a gossamer base that feels closer to skin than fragrance, whilst sandalwood provides the final architectural flourish—woody, somewhat austere, undeniably present but never loud. The powdery accord lingers longest, the scent becoming an intimate whisper that rewards close proximity.
Killer Instinct arrives as a paradox—a fragrance that signals aggression through whispered restraint. Christian Carbonnel has constructed something deceptively gentle, where the initial green-blackcurrant brightness feels almost vulnerable beneath the architectural weight of oud. This isn't a fragrance that announces itself; rather, it seduces through contradiction, pairing the tart cassis-grapefruit opening against what promises to be a woody, almost austere base.
The heart reveals the true character: cypriol and lavender create a fougère skeleton that prevents the composition from becoming merely another creamy amber bomb. Instead, these herbal-woody elements anchor the sweetness, lending the scent a distinctly cerebral quality. The interplay between the grapefruit's sharp citric bite and the cedar's dry pencil-shaving texture suggests someone who dresses with intention—perhaps in tailored minimalism, perhaps in carefully disrupted elegance. Sandalwood appears in the base not as cushioning softness but as a grounding agent, something that demands respect.
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4.1/5 (283)