Iconoclaste

French Affair Ex Nihilo 2017

We may earn a commission when you buy from links on our site, including the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.

7.9 / 10 99 Ratings

French Affair is a popular perfume by Ex Nihilo for women and men and was released in 2017. The scent is floral-spicy. It is still in production.

We may earn a commission when you buy from links on our site, including the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.

Main accords

Floral

Spicy

Woody

Chypre

Fresh

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Bergamot

Lychee

Violet leaf absolute

Heart Notes

Rose absolute

Angelica

Atlas cedar

Base Notes

Oakmoss

Patchouli

Vetiver

Perfumer

Quentin Bisch

Ratings

Scent

7.999 Ratings

Longevity

7.989 Ratings

Sillage

7.490 Ratings

Bottle

7.978 Ratings

Value for money

6.039 Ratings

Submitted by Lilalu1983, last update on 09.04.2024.

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the "Iconoclaste" collection.

Reviews

5 in-depth fragrance descriptions

04/08/2020

8
Bottle 8
Sillage 8
Longevity 9
Scent

Yatagan
80 Reviews

Translated Show original

Yatagan

Top Review 55

A comment is due!

I have rarely struggled with a fragrance for as long as I have with this one and in my experience irritation is often not a bad sign. Bulky scents get stuck in the memory more easily and longer lasting. Here, however, I was disturbed at first because I perceive an almost animalistic chord in the top note of this postmodern chypre. I can't say for certain where it comes from, but lychee may seem similar to grapefruit, which is also described by some as urine-like - and this note actually reminds me of grapefruit, with the difference that grapefruit itself is quite insensitive and I find it downright pleasant, but here I was almost a bit shocked.
In the meantime, this impression has vanished and I recommend everybody (because the fragrance is equally wearable by all genders, but perhaps the closest it comes to the idea of metrosexuality) to get involved with the fragrance.

In the next step, the fragrance develops a green note, which might come from the violet leaf. A short time later, the rose, which Profumo has described very beautifully as a velvety rose accord, sets the mood. The fragrance then remains linear for a long time, which I find pleasant, because the fresh, tart accents of bergamot and lychee hold up surprisingly well, while the rose doesn't get the upper hand. Especially the scent rose often dominates depending on the dosage and then appears generic. This is never the case here - as in a good classic chypre. In drydown the woody base with the oak moss substitute develops more strongly, which I find very successful, but which should have been even stronger for my taste.

I find the deconstructively productive approach to the classic chypre genre very exciting. Profumo reports on its revival in several well-researched commentaries, and also fundamentally addresses the creative redesign of the chypre through the innovative use of new substitutes for the natural oak moss that is banned by the IRFA. Therefore, here just so much to add: This redesign would not be creative if it was only based on the reproduction of old fragrances. Instead, I have the impression that the elements (in the case of the classic chypre these would be: bergamot / Hesperidian - rose and jasmine oil - oakmoss and musk; possibly patchouli or vetiver) have been broken down and from this deconstruction something new and surprising has been created.

My initial resistance to sustained irritation led me to increased curiosity and ultimately fascination. Expressed in ratings: from 6 to 7 and finally to 8.5. I have really rarely experienced this.

11/05/2019

9
Bottle 8
Sillage 8
Longevity 9
Scent

Profumo
59 Reviews

Translated Show original

Profumo

Top Review 48

The Rebirth of Chypres

Anyone who still claims today that true chypre fragrances are a thing of the past will be punished by 'French Affair' lies. Like 'Maai', 'Chypre Palatin', 'The Afternoon of a Faun' or 'Chypre Shot', the fragrance shows that Chypres of the classic type are still feasible today, and that thanks to the latest, largely allergen-free oak moss, they can even survive alongside the classics However, since there was a long dry spell in which the development of a chypre scent was basically impossible and there was therefore no continuity in the further development of the genre, these new creations are often given the attribute 'neo-classical' And indeed, the reference points mostly lie in the time span that was a classic for chypre fragrances: from the 50s to well into the 70s.
French Affair' clearly cites the last great decade of the Chypres, the 70s. And here especially a variation of the rose patchouli chypres, whose most prominent representatives were 'Aromatics Elixir' and 'Aramis 900', both created by Bernard Chant at the beginning of the 70s.
The fact that the young French company Ex Nihilo came around the corner almost half a century later with a factory quoting precisely these fragrances shows some courage, since the originals no longer play a role at all in today's fragrance scene, unlike in the past. On the other hand, however, it fits in with the omnipresent efforts to revive the 'good old days': rows and rows of new 'classic' Fougères suddenly appear, patchouli, amber and musk as well, the hippies' favourite fragrances are heavy 'en vogue' again, just as oriental heavyweights à la 'opium' are gladly quoted again.
So why not the rosy patchouli chypres from Bernard Chant.

Quentin Bisch, his successor, has created with 'French Affair' a genuine chypre fragrance that seemed unimaginable until a few years ago. The ball that IFRA had directed directly into the heart of the chypre genre was too placed. The delinquent seemed dead as a doornail, but was actually only comatose, and only temporarily.
So 'French Affair' again shows up with a chypre gesture as if nothing had happened, nothing at all.
Right at the beginning of the fragrance, the typical bitter-woody, woody, olfactory chord of Chypres swells, initially accompanied by a fruity, sweet-sour lychee, which contrasts beautifully with the dry, green-grassy violet leaf, which in turn leads to a beautiful, velvety, powerful rose chord, which in turn comes to rest on a rich, woody, earthy patchouli, bitter oak moss and smoky, green vetiver.
All phases of the fragrance process reveal themselves at the same time, only the focus changes slowly. Even after many hours you can smell yourself back to the beginning, how you can sniff your way from there into the depth, through to the end. French Affair' unfolds quite a volume, without appearing overloaded and all too difficult Despite this enormous presence, the fragrance doesn't seem loud or even intrusive, but wonderfully keeps the balance between a strong performance on the one hand and appropriate restraint on the other hand This is a kind of a line between his predecessors 'Aromatics Elixier' and 'Aramis 900': not as full-sounding as one and a bit more courageous than the other.

The idea for this fragrance allegedly arose from the wish to pay homage to that type of Parisian dandy of the 70s, this rare, yet gossip-filled species that meandered between a dazzling world of fashion, a glamorous jet set and existentialist Rive Gauche chic.
Jacques de Bascher, for example, became the epitome of this type: A companion of Karl Lagerfeld and a temporary lover of Yves-Saint Laurent - an elegant stance with a melancholic shaded gaze and cultivated moustache. Also Marcel Proust was once such a Beau, as it is today Pierre Niney, the actor who impersonated Yves-Saint Laurent in the movie.
Yeah, I think that's a good fit. The link with these typical Parisian scene plants works.
But it's not as if this inspiration had forced itself upon me, you had to come across it. In the case of Patricia de Nicolaï's 'Patchouli Homme', today's 'Patchouli Intense', also a Patchouli-Rosen-combo, I actually had this association with a Marcel Proust type.

Just as those dandies played with their feminine side, 'French Affair' is an absolute gender-bender, at least in my opinion. A fragrance-savvy colleague, who was completely enthusiastic about 'French Affair' and was always hanging around my neck, repeated several times: "Ah, what a fragrance, so masculine!
Strange how different the perceptions are after all. A fragrance like Givenchys 'Gentleman' from 1974, which was also a Patchouli Rose fragrance, but with a much higher Patchouli content (here this woody earthy chord was really creaking), I would rather call it masculine - although I had a good friend who wore it for years...
But French Affair?
No, I think this scent is absolutely unisex. Just as 'Aramis 900' was unisex, respectively is, although Bernard Chant developed it as a male counterpart to 'Aromatics Elixier'. Aromatics Elixier', on the other hand, is clearly feminine - too pronounced and superficial, the floral part seems to me here.

In any case, 'French Affair' is a wonderful chypre with clear vintage vibes, in a modern garb at the same time: lychee gives the bitter-citric bergamot, which is indispensable for any chypre, a more fruity colour, a good pinch of pepper and a little bit of herb-herbal angelica accentuate the floral components, cedar and vetiver aerate the mossy-resin base Lychee, angelica, pepper and cedar form the contemporary Terre d'Hermès/French Lover outfit, so to speak, in which 'French Affair' confronts us as a good old friend.

But as good as the scent is in my opinion, you won't meet it often. The fragrances of Ex Nihilo are not only quite expensive, but also hard to get, which is a pity, because the combination of inspiration, skill and good choice of materials is rather rare. Most of the time there's a problem with the former, often with the latter and sometimes with everything.
Not with Ex Nihilo, and certainly not with French Affair.

Maybe one day the company will reconsider its distribution policy, so that 'French Affair' might become 'Worldwide Affair' after all.
Please!

06/30/2021

8
Sillage 9
Longevity 6
Scent

NikEy
37 Reviews

Translated Show original

NikEy

Top Review 17

The rhubarb musk scent - or: A perfume in a blind test

Those who have been dealing with perfumes and the background of their production for a longer time will surely already know: the pyramid as we get it in front of our nose is not always congruent with the actual ingredients of a fragrance. Not only is a large number of fragrances not listed at all (otherwise the pyramid would just scare many away), often the notes listed are more of a chord of different fragrances than individual natural or synthetic fragrances.

If you look at the two aspects, so that you can smell more or less than indicated in the pyramid, blind tests are of course even more fun. So also with French Affair.

The fragrance starts with a sweet and sour fruit with distinct green notes. The type of fruit is quite quickly identified and pretty clear: RHABARBER! Fresh, tart - only because of the sweetness, my thoughts went briefly in the direction of apple, but no, it remains with rhubarb.
Quickly moves bright musk into the heart of the fragrance, which is joined after a short time a warm-amber background noise. The combination of both provides - especially towards the end of the fragrance - a discreetly sweetish-powdery impression, although the tart rhubarb always gives a certain freshness. And the really extremely high-dose musk (don't get me wrong, everything here is soft and not piebald-synthetic) unfortunately reminds me of the typical Douglas fragrance mix in the women's department. Which is why I would have blindly classified French Affair in the mainstream.

The more surprised I am about the official pyramid of the perfume. Rose, moss, vetiver ... all aspects I have not perceived at all. Even from Chypre is here in classification and statements the speech. Not at all, for me the fragrance is an uncomplicated summer refresher with a soft base, which reminds me of many well-known women's fragrances.
And the conclusion? Blind testing is fun and brings one or the other surprise, with which one would never have expected. So let you send from friends perfumofreunden quiet times a few numbered sample...

02/07/2023

7
Sillage 7
Longevity 8
Scent

Kurai
375 Reviews

Kurai

The C-word

It only takes one person to mention the c-word and everyone calls the fragrance a reinvention of a century-old genre. Based on the structure and the evolution of the scent I can follow the logic, but this does not quite give me that chypre (ah there it is) sensation. Nonetheless, I do find it one of the better takes on the rose-patchouli theme.

Back in 2021, I had a rose-patch phase. With Eau Capitale Eau de Parfum and even more so with Hippie Rose. At first glance, French Affair is actually quite close to Heeley's Hippie Rose. Both are light-greenish in color and the opening is very citric-fresh, almost sour. But where Heeley blends in a joss stick to push it towards that careless 'hippie' edge a bit, Ex Nihilo stays more on the serious side. Or maybe 'sophisticated' is a better description.

The nicest part is how the scent progresses over time. The fresh-sour top notes fade slowly while the rose-patchouli heart remains a light-green potpourri. It is joined by something mossy towards the drydown. So instead of fading out into blandness, the scent just gets better as it 'warms up'.

After 2021, I personally lost interest in the whole rose-patch theme, except for my recently acquired Gris Dior Eau de Parfum . French Affair is not going to make it to my collection, but it is a good second to Gris in my book. Well worth a try.

04/04/2022

4
Pricing 5
Bottle 8
Sillage 10
Longevity 10
Scent

Greenfaerie
85 Reviews

Greenfaerie

Elegant and modern

While it has vintage characteristics it’s very modern to me. Big vetiver fragrance that I think is quite feminine because it’s powdery and has some sweet creaminess as it dries down. Something green about it that is hard to pinpoint. I find it extremely classy. Reminds me of Dryad to some degree, but French Affair is more salty and sharp. I used up my sample vial and will be purchasing a bottle today. Something about keeps drawing me back for more.