L'Homme Water Splash

The mandarin leaf strikes first—green, bitter-bright, almost astringent in its crispness. Neroli blooms immediately alongside it, all petally softness and orange flower water, while a whisper of something soapy-clean begins to gather at the edges. It's bracingly fresh but never harsh, like diving into perfectly maintained pool water on a hot day.

As the citric brightness recedes, the ginger emerges as a pale, mineralised warmth—imagine raw ginger sliced paper-thin and left to dry rather than the fiery spice of the root. The powdery accord builds in earnest now, a talc-like softness that mingles with the lingering neroli to create something between expensive soap and freshly laundered cotton. The woods begin their quiet entrance, still supporting players but adding a creamy density that grounds all that ethereal freshness.

What remains is predominantly that powdery-creamy signature, the sandalwood and cedar now fully present but rendered almost translucent, like viewing pale wood through frosted glass. The freshness hasn't entirely disappeared but has transformed into a clean-skin scent, intimate and close-wearing. It's the olfactory equivalent of a perfectly pressed white shirt—immaculate, refined, quietly confident in its simplicity.