Costume National
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
A bright flash of bergamot collides with green tea's fresh herbaceousness, but cardamom immediately hijacks the narrative, bringing peppery warmth and slight bitterness that transforms the citrus into something altogether more austere and spiced. Within seconds, you're not smelling a typical fresh fragrance—you're experiencing something with backbone and attitude.
The floral triad emerges with surprising restraint, hibiscus contributing tartness whilst jasmine sambac leans into its earthier, slightly indolic facets rather than creamy sweetness. A subtle, almost crepe-like texture develops as these florals wrap around the lingering cardamom spice, creating a middle passage that's intellectually engaging rather than immediately seductive.
The base asserts itself with quiet authority—leather and ambergris create an animalic warmth that dominates, whilst sandalwood and patchouli provide woody structure underneath. Vanilla emerges as a creamy counterweight, but the leather persists throughout, leaving a slightly powdery, suede-like second skin that's more intimate whisper than projection.
Scent Intense announces itself as a deliberate contradiction—a fragrance that refuses the easy middle ground. Laurent Bruyère has constructed something architecturally complex here, where verdant top notes collide with a decidedly animalic base, creating friction rather than harmony.
The green tea and bergamot opening speaks to restrained elegance, yet cardamom immediately destabilises any expectations of minimalism. This is no serene tea ceremony; it's cardamom asserting itself with peppery insistence, transforming the citrus into something spiced and almost confrontational. The floral heart—hibiscus, jasmine sambac, and rose—should soften matters considerably, but instead these flowers arrive with an almost austere quality, lacking the voluptuous sweetness one might anticipate. Sambac jasmine contributes its indolic earthiness rather than creamy diffusion, whilst hibiscus adds a tart, slightly sour undertone that prevents the composition from becoming conventionally pretty.
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3.9/5 (223)