Jovoy
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The angelica and gin combination hits with herbal sharpness—almost medicinal—before the dried fruits emerge as dark, concentrated notes (no bright citrus here). Within moments, cumin begins its creep, adding a peppery warmth that makes the entire opening feel slightly feverish and spiced.
The tobacco blooms fully, its leaf-like dryness intensified by that persistent cumin, whilst Cuban rum adds a woody, slightly fermented sweetness that sits comfortably with the spice rather than fighting it. The composition becomes almost creamy as labdanum begins its ascent, transforming the sharp opening into something more rounded and resinous, though never soft.
Patchouli and sandalwood take the lead, with labdanum acting as a binding agent that keeps everything rooted in amber-earth territory. What remains is primarily woody and resinous—the tobacco and rum fade to suggestion—creating a warm, slightly dusty finish that feels more like the memory of the fragrance than its current statement.
Les Jeux sont Faits arrives as a boozy, spiced provocation—a fragrance that seems designed for people who treat their skin like a smoking room at a gentleman's club crossed with a colonial trading post. Dorothée Piot has orchestrated a deliberately austere composition where angelica's herbal bite collides with dried fruits (apricot, perhaps fig) that taste rather than smell sweet, all anchored by a gin-like juniper dryness that prevents anything from becoming cloying. This is no fruity confection; the fruits exist as preserved things, withered and concentrated.
The heart reveals the fragrance's true character: a cumin-spiked tobacco absolute that feels almost medicinal in its intensity, warmed through by Cuban rum that doesn't smell like a beach cocktail but rather like the wood-stained interior of a distillery. The tobacco-cumin pairing is particularly clever—cumin adds a dusty, almost feverish quality that makes the tobacco feel less comfortable, more challenging. It's spice for its own sake, not for charm.
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3.9/5 (83)