Zadig & Voltaire
Zadig & Voltaire
85 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The mandarin arrives with almost beverage-like brightness, immediately joined by lavender that feels more botanical garden than linen closet. Within minutes, you notice the composition isn't settling into easy freshness—there's a peppery intrusion already, suggesting the cardamom waiting in the wings.
By the ninety-minute mark, that cardamom has moved forward with surprising assertiveness, creating a slightly prickly spice that plays against the frankincense's austere, almost bitter minerality. The lavender has receded substantially, leaving a woody-spicy composition that feels slightly off-balance in the most compelling way—it's neither warm nor cool, neither comfortable nor challenging enough to be truly provocative.
After four hours, the cedar and patchouli become the entire narrative, the citrus and spice having evaporated almost completely. What remains is a dry, somewhat austere woody-earthy base that clings closer to skin than initial sillage would suggest, fading gradually rather than making a dramatic exit.
This Is Him! Vibes of Freedom announces itself with a bright Italian mandarin that refuses to whisper—it's immediately citric and almost edible, paired with French lavender that adds herbaceous structure rather than powder. It's the opening gambit of someone unafraid to be noticed. The heart is where Nathalie Lorson's vision reveals itself: Guatemalan cardamom brings a peppery, almost clove-like warmth that sits uncomfortably against the Somalian frankincense, which trades the traditional resinous-church-incense character for something altogether more austere and mineral. This isn't a harmonious conversation between cardamom and frankincense; it's a slight tension, a friction that prevents the scent from becoming smooth or predictable.
The woody base—American cedar coupled with Indonesian patchouli—emerges like a foundation that was always there, gradually taking centre stage. The cedar reads as pencil-shaving dry rather than creamy; the patchouli is earthy without being dark. Together they create something that walks the line between fresh and spicy, never fully committing to either direction. The synthetic accord (64%) acts as an invisible scaffold; you won't identify it as "plasticky" or "artificial," but rather as the agent keeping this fractionally-off-kilter composition from collapsing into coherence.
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2.8/5 (102)