Clive Christian
Clive Christian
99 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The bergamot arrives with gentle insistence, its oils slightly bitter and refined rather than zesty, immediately joined by lemon that reads more as zest than juice—sharp, thin, almost peppery. Within the first few minutes, you detect the woody framework muscling beneath, papyrus lending a slightly desiccated, almost incense-like quality that prevents the citrus from soaring upward.
The immortelle blooms into focus, its caramel-maple character now in conversation with pronounced spiciness—that clove-like warmth becomes undeniable. The vetiver deepens, adding an earthy gravitas, whilst the woody accords swell to prominence, creating a composite that smells like expensive paper, dried flowers, and distant woodsmoke. The florality becomes almost herbal here, less about flowers themselves than the dried aromatics you'd find in an apothecary.
The composition settles into amber-warmed base notes where papyrus becomes increasingly prominent, that slightly mineral, slightly sweet papery quality intensifying as other elements recede. The final hours belong to a soft, almost skin-scent embrace of amber and vetiver dusted with immortelle's lingering caramel—warm, tactile, and decidedly earthy rather than romantic.
Clive Christian VIII: Rococo - Immortelle is a study in controlled opacity, a fragrance that refuses to announce itself yet commands attention through sheer textural density. The immortelle absolute is the gravitational centre here—that distinctive note with its maple-syrup sweetness and faint caramel earthiness—yet rather than allowing it to drift into gourmand territory, the composition anchors it firmly in woody, almost resinous terrain. The papyrus and vetiver create a papery, slightly astringent framework that prevents the immortelle from becoming cloying; instead, there's a subtle spiciness threading through the middle registers that suggests clove or perhaps a whisper of nutmeg, lending an almost medicinal sophistication.
This is a fragrance for the deliberate dresser—someone who understands that quiet confidence outperforms loudness. It's neither particularly fresh nor particularly sweet, existing instead in that rarified middle ground where florals meet smoke and earth. The bergamot and lemon opening provides structure rather than brightness; they're present as architectural elements rather than summery punctuation. Wear this when you want to be noticed by those paying attention, not those merely passing through. It suits autumn days in libraries, evening aperitifs, moments of introspection. The smoky undertow—that 76% accord—suggests someone contemplative, perhaps slightly mysterious. Not a fragrance to seduce strangers; rather one for deepening existing connections.
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Molinard
4.1/5 (80)