The Nose Behind
The Nose Behind
281 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The iris arrives immediately with its characteristic rootiness and a dusting of face powder, softened by ripe, almost jammy fruity notes and a spritz of bergamot that feels more textural than citrusy. The rose and jasmine hover around the edges, lending their indolic depth without ever stepping forward, whilst something slightly green and damp keeps the powder from becoming too cloying or old-fashioned.
The ylang-ylang emerges with its creamy, banana-custard richness, threading through violet's powdery sweetness and a surprisingly prominent cedar that adds pencil-shaving dryness. The leather becomes more apparent here—not animalic or smoky, but soft and slightly sweet, like nubuck brushed with orris butter. The entire composition feels like it's settling into itself, the powder becoming warmer, the florals more intimate against the skin.
What remains is a gauzy veil of amber-laced powder, vanilla and tonka creating a skin-scent sweetness that never tips into gourmand excess. The oakmoss adds a whisper of chypre structure—barely-there bitterness and forest floor dampness beneath the warmth—whilst the vetiver provides the faintest smoky dryness, like incense ash on cashmere.
Avenue Montaigne is Christian Carbonnel's love letter to haute couture powdered elegance, where iris takes centre stage and refuses to relinquish it. This is iris in its most unapologetically cosmetic expression—face powder, lipstick leather, and the faint metallic tang of vintage compacts snapping shut in Parisian salons. The Grasse jasmine and rose aren't here to create a conventional floral bouquet; instead, they're absorbed into the iris's rooty, earthy-sweet embrace, creating something closer to crushed petals pressed between the pages of a fashion magazine. That curious fruity sweetness threading through the powder comes from the interplay between ylang-ylang's banana-ish facets and what must be a peachy or plummy accord, stopping just short of gourmand territory but adding a soft, vintage glamour. The leather note feels less like biker jacket and more like suede gloves—supple, slightly sweet, dusted with violet. By the time the amber, vanilla, and tonka settle in, you're wearing something that smells expensive in an old-money way, like stepping into a room where someone applied Guerlain Après l'Ondée six hours ago and it's mingled with beeswax furniture polish and aged oakmoss. This is for the person who wants to smell quietly opulent, who appreciates the restraint of powdery florals over shouting orientals, and who understands that true luxury whispers.
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4.1/5 (179)