By Terry
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Violet leaf arrives first with its cucumber-green metallic snap, almost aqueous but with a sharp, stemmy bitterness that prickles at the nose. There's an immediate cool wetness, like crushing leaves between your fingers until the sap runs green and acrid.
The violet blooms fully now, sweet and powdery, whilst iris and orris create that unmistakable lipstick texture—waxy, smooth, slightly rooty. Ylang-ylang weaves through with its spiced, tropical richness, and jasmine adds a musky, skin-like warmth that prevents the composition from floating away into pure abstraction.
Benzoin and vanilla coalesce into a resinous, amber-toned embrace, whilst patchouli provides earthy depth and sandalwood adds its signature creamy woodiness. The powder remains, now warmed and honeyed, clinging to skin with a soft persistence that feels both comforting and quietly sensual.
Ombre Mercure reads like a love letter to violet in all its mercurial dimensions—green, sharp, and dewy at the outset through crushed leaf, then descending into the plush, suede-textured heart of the flower itself. Jacques Flori has orchestrated a fragrance that pivots on the interplay between violet's naturally metallic, almost bitter facets and the creamy opulence of iris and orris root, which lend a lipstick-smooth powderiness that settles over the composition like fine talc. The ylang-ylang contributes a surprising spiciness, its banana-custard richness cut through by jasmine's indolic bite, preventing the florals from tipping into saccharine territory. What makes this compelling is how the benzoin and vanilla in the base don't simply sweeten—they provide a resinous, almost incense-like backdrop that allows the patchouli's earthy chocolate notes to emerge alongside sandalwood's creamy dryness. The result is a scent that feels simultaneously vintage and modern, with the weighted, nostalgic quality of face powder compacts and silk slips, yet rendered wearable through its spiced warmth. This is for someone who appreciates fragrance as an act of quiet subversion—polished and proper on the surface, but with something darker and more complex underneath. It suits evenings spent in velvet-upholstered rooms, autumn walks through leaf-strewn parks, and anyone who finds beauty in the liminal space between light and shadow.
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3.6/5 (83)