Masque
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The angelica and artemisia surge forward with green, herbaceous intensity, immediately challenged by orange blossom that arrives tart and slightly bitter rather than floral-sweet. Within moments, you're enveloped in an herbal-citrus haze that feels almost medicinal, as though you've crushed plant matter between your palms.
The French narcissus absolute emerges with quiet authority, its green, slightly indolic character finding kinship with the violet leaf's peppery bite. Jasmine softens the edges without sweetening the composition; instead, the florals develop a cool, slightly astringent quality, whilst the myrrh begins its animalic creep upwards from the base, adding an incense-like, skin-scent warmth.
Cedarwood and patchouli take prominence, the woody notes intertwining with amber to create an earthy, almost resinous foundation that pulls the remaining florals earthward. The fragrance becomes entirely skin-bound—a musky, faintly spiced whisper of green-tinged wood and amber that lingers as impression rather than presence.
Masque — III-II Romanza is a fragrance that speaks in whispers rather than proclamations, a green-floral composition that refuses the saccharine prettiness one might expect from its narcissus and jasmine heart. Cristiano Canali has constructed something deliberately ambiguous here—the artemisia and angelica in the opening create an herbal, almost medicinal sharpness that immediately complicates the orange blossom's typically honeyed character, rendering it crisp and slightly astringent rather than creamy.
What makes this composition genuinely intriguing is the interplay between its floral core and the animalic undertow (76% accord strength) that emerges from the myrrh and patchouli base. The violet leaf adds a peppery, almost metallic quality that prevents the narcissus absolute from becoming somnolent or powdery—instead, you're left with a green, slightly bitter florality that feels more like pressing your face into fresh blooms than wearing a traditional floral fragrance.
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3.9/5 (244)