Ex Nihilo
French Affair
About
French Affair pays tribute to the fiercely elegant chypres of Paris in the 1970’s – earthy, mossy affairs worn by the free-thinkers of the world who strolled through the Left Bank like they owned it. And they did. Women in Le Smoking tuxedos unbuttoned to the navel, men in full-on Oscar Wilde mode: nonconformists who smelled of Gauloises smoke, crushed velvet, and Aramis 900. But French Affair is no nu-chypre pretender. It is authentically, damply, unmistakably oakmoss-y, with that familiar inky feel that gives chypres their backbone. A rich wave of Indonesian patchouli - earthy and camphoraceous - jumps out at you from the topnotes, riding hand in hand with the moss to create an accord of coppery, freshly-turned soil. The lychee note smells more like overripe plum, momentarily sweetening the earthier notes. Violet leaf streaks across the loamy gloom, as surprising as a camera flash. But the dark, musty earth notes are what prevail – a bolt of black velvet unfolded after many years in storage. Eventually, this accord reveals a spiced, plummy rose and a pungent cedary drydown that is both aromatic and slightly sweaty. French Affair stands shoulder to shoulder with the great patchoul