Scandal pour Homme Le Parfum

Scandal pour Homme Le Parfum is a relentless sweet assault wrapped in barely-there respectability. Quentin Bisch has taken the familiar geranium-tonka-sandalwood trinity and drowned it in synthetic amplifiers, creating something that reads more confectionery counter than classic masculine structure. The geranium arrives metallic and sharp, its rosy-minty facets immediately smothered by an avalanche of tonka bean that dominates from the first spray. This isn't the subtle, hay-like tonka of refined fragrances—it's the full-throated, caramelised, almost burnt-sugar intensity that borders on gourmand excess. The sandalwood base attempts to ground proceedings with its creamy woodiness, but it's fighting a losing battle against that tonka behemoth, which radiates sweetness with an almost cloying persistence.

The synthetic accord score tells you everything: this is unashamedly modern, engineered for maximum diffusion and contemporary tastes. There's a spicy undercurrent that adds some much-needed tension—likely from the geranium's peppery aspects—but it's fleeting, a ghost in the sugar storm. The woody element reads less like actual sandalwood and more like woody-ambery molecules doing an impression.