Etro
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
A sharp, almost aggressive volley of citrus and spice arrives with noticeable pop—bergamot's fluorescent brightness colliding with Sichuan pepper's mouth-numbing heat and elemi resin's herbal bite. The cardamom threads through these top notes like a warm golden filament, adding sweetness just substantial enough to prevent the composition from feeling purely bracing.
Turkish rose finally emerges, but tempered and surrounded—geranium's green leaf quality and frankincense's incense smoke keep it from blooming into anything romantic. Here the fragrance shifts from confrontational to contemplative, revealing a quietly spiced floral arrangement that leans heavily on anise-like and peppery undertones rather than petals and perfume.
Patchouli deepens into leather and precious woods, the base establishing a warm, earthy foundation where the remaining rose sits like a ghost impression. Vetiver and musk create a skin-scent dryness that persists with stubborn longevity, turning abstract and woody, almost like worn suede warmed by sunlight.
Mathieu Nardin's ManRose refuses the predictable sweetness that typically ensnares floral fragrances. Instead, he constructs something deliberately prickly—a rose that bristles with spice rather than sighs with romance. The Calabrian bergamot and Sichuan pepper form an aggressive opening act, their citric bite and numbing heat priming the skin for what arrives next: Turkish rose tempered by frankincense's smoky restraint and geranium's herbal green undertone. This is not a fragrance that coddles.
The base reveals Nardin's architectural cunning. Patchouli and vetiver establish a desiccated, almost leathery terrestrial foundation, whilst amber provides just enough warmth to prevent the composition from becoming austere. The leather accord threads through like a burnished thread, adding tactile dimensionality—there's a faint animalic quality here, skin-like rather than floral-feminine.
Add fragrances to your collection and unlock your personalised scent DNA, note map, and shareable identity card.
3.8/5 (233)