Masque
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The champagne accord fizzes briefly—more aldehydes than actual wine—whilst bergamot and neroli provide citrus scaffolding that dissolves within minutes. Almost immediately, the iris begins its metallic, powdery ascent, cold and precise as a surgeon's blade, with that distinctive earthy-rooty quality that marks genuine orris.
Here lives the fragrance's soul: iris absolute in full regalia, simultaneously lipstick-waxy and soil-dark, softened by ylang ylang's tropical creaminess and tuberose's green, almost mentholated floralcy. The powder accord intensifies to near-opaque levels, yet the florals prevent it from becoming suffocating, creating instead a plush, enveloping presence that clings to skin like cashmere.
Mysore sandalwood's creamy woodiness emerges alongside a distinctive leather note—slightly raw, animalic, with smoky undertones—whilst oakmoss adds mossy greenness and a vintage chypre sensibility. The iris never fully retreats, lingering as a ghostly powdery veil over skin-warmed leather and wood.
L'Attesa—"the wait"—captures that suspended moment before something significant unfolds, and Luca Maffei renders it as a study in iris absolutism. The champagne opening is no celebratory pop but rather a whisper of aldehydic sparkle, barely fizzing against bergamot and neroli before the real protagonist emerges: iris in triplicate. French and Italian orris roots conspire to create that characteristic metallic, almost carrot-seed coolness, whilst the absolute brings earthy, lipstick-waxy depth. This isn't polite iris; it's full-throated and uncompromising, the kind that coats your palate like expensive face powder from a vintage compact.
The genius lies in how ylang ylang's creamy banana-custard facets and tuberose's narcotic greenness soften the iris's severity without diminishing its presence. It's as though Maffei dressed this austere root note in white silk and pearls, lending it sensuality without sacrificing its essential coldness. The base reveals L'Attesa's true character: Mysore sandalwood adds milky warmth, but the leather—likely a quinoline or birch tar accord—introduces an animalic tension, whilst oakmoss grounds everything with its forest-floor dampness. This is iris for those who find most iris fragrances too timid, too sweet, too apologetic. It's worn by people who appreciate the poetry in restraint, who understand that luxury often whispers rather than shouts. Evening suits it best, perhaps in that liminal hour between work and pleasure, when transformation is possible.
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