Constance Carroll
Constance Carroll
86 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Thyme crashes immediately with herbaceous intensity—dusty, peppery, vaguely minty. The citrus arrives as a brief flash of brightness before the spice settles in, creating an almost savoury impression that feels more herb garden than perfume bottle.
The lavender emerges with surprising restraint, complementing rather than contradicting the thyme's herbal backbone. The composition maintains its bracing, aromatic character throughout this phase—fresh and slightly green-tinged, with the spicy and citrus accords weaving together into something aromatic rather than fragrant.
The base reveals its weakness here, as those "sweet notes" and "sludge" collapse into a murky, indistinct finish that lacks coherence or longevity. The fragrance fades into an indeterminate greyness rather than dissolving gracefully.
Avert presents itself as a deliberately austere composition, one that refuses easy charm in favour of herbal candour. The thyme-led opening establishes an almost medicinal pungency—sharp, slightly peppery, with that distinctive green-stemmed character that feels more apothecary than perfumery. What's intriguing is how the lavender heart doesn't soften this into conventional floral comfort; instead, it amplifies the spicy accord (88% registration) into something vaguely aromatic and herbaceous rather than sweetly fragrant. There's a bracing quality here, reminiscent of eau de cologne traditions or vintage fougère structures stripped of their powdery indulgences.
The citrus element (76%) lurks as a supporting note rather than headline attraction, adding a whisper of brightness without disrupting the composition's fundamentally green, almost culinary disposition. This is fragrance as functional object—something you'd wear for clarity rather than sensuality, for morning rituals rather than evening seduction. The base notes introduce an oddly discordant element: "sweet notes" and "sludge" feel like competing impulses, as though the composition couldn't decide between earthiness and sugared warmth, resulting in a base that feels muddled rather than grounding.
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Lorenzo Villoresi
3.9/5 (83)