Une Amourette - Roland Mouret

Une Amourette announces itself with a bracing cardamom snap that immediately tempers the citrus sweetness of neroli—you get the perfumed brightness without saccharine surrender. The pink pepper adds a prickly, almost peppercorn heat that prevents this opening from feeling conventionally floral. What's remarkable is how quickly the iris moves centre stage, arriving with that distinctive pencil-shaving dryness that iris does so well, whilst the peach beneath it reads less as fruit-forward prettiness and more as a subtle almond-skin warmth. The patchouli doesn't lumber in like a bruising base note; instead it threads through with earthy restraint, grounding the composition without dominating it.

This is a fragrance for the wearer who finds typical florals cloying, yet resists outright woody austerity. The synthetic accords (64%) are cleverly deployed—they create an almost lacquered quality, a sheen of refinement that keeps everything from becoming too organic or deliberately artisanal. It's cosmetic without being sterile. Akigalawood provides the structural backbone, a woody note with subtle sweetness that prevents opoponax and vanilla from tipping into gourmand territory. Instead, they sit quietly in the foundation, adding a whispered sensuality rather than decadence.