Nouveau Monde Louis Vuitton 2018

It has a strong opening with notes of oud and saffron, which makes it very noticeable, this is a perfume for somebody who likes to do things its own way and is not afraid to disturb a person or two. It is very long lasting and you do not need to reapply during the day.

It reminds a bit of Ombre Nomade at first, but this one is more complex and easier to wear due to the beautiful leather note, cocoa and patchouli which are coming to life in dry-down.
To me this smells very unique and manly and if you will wear this, for sure there is no risk that someone else would smell the same.

It is very versatile and can be worn on all occasions, but do not use more than two sprays because it is projecting very strong.
This is another great creation from Jaques Cavallier and like I said already, I really like the direction of LV Perfumes.

Oud and leather sounds like a horrid combination in theory. One is medicinal, rubbery, smoky, and fecal, and the other is harsh, animalic, sharp, and pungent. In fragrances like Le Gemme - Onekh or Aoud Cuir d'Arabie, the two notes don't pull any punches, and it's a wild ride. Not fragrances you want to wear in close proximity to other human beings. However, in Nouveau Monde, these two notes embrace each other in perfect harmony.

Nouveau Monde opens with a soft, almost creamy leather and rose. Blackcurrant provides lift and sparkle to the leather. Then the oud enters. It is not harshly medicinal or rubbery; rather, the soft woody aspects come through the most, with an animalic edge. The cacao note that accompanies it is not overly sweet, but just slightly bitter and smooth. It does not overwhelm but provides the composition with a unique signature.

My scent description is filled with words like "soft," "creamy," "smooth," and that's what this fragrance is. Somehow M. Cavallier-Belletrud has combined the two harshest notes/materials in perfumery and managed to blend them in such a way where they smell classy and not overwhelming. A rare 10 from me; one of only 6 fragrances out of the almost 800 I have tried so far. Absolutely gorgeous, signature scent worthy, and everyone should get their nose on it at least once. Not to say that everyone will like it; quite the opposite. But if it's your style of scent, it might very well be a perfect 10 for you too.

It almost felt like a confession to admit to myself that I love Ombre Nomade as much as I do. I hated it for months - on me and especially on others - and then it grew on me like the first tender fingers of the dawn across the periphery of the night skies. Before I knew it, the sun was well and truly up for me and Ombre Nomade and it is one of my all time favourite fragrances now. It is one of those few that I sometimes sniff from the bottle when I walk into my bedroom just to smell it, without spraying it on myself. Just smelling it to smell it. Proper fragrance collectors reading this will be able to relate. It is one of those smells where I don't know why I love it or why I am addicted to it. I am a bit sad that I cannot wear Ombre Nomade every day, and also that my partner isn't a fan of the thick, animalic oud or the textures of raspberry that run through it.

So when I heard about Nouveau Monde - specifically that it is a "more wearable version of ON" I had to go to Dubai Mall to check it out. Unlike OM, NM was an instant love.

It is indeed lighter and more wearable but has the ON DNA on display all the way. The heady combo of the animalic, super high quality oud and the redolent leather, lifted by the rose in the background is all there. Whereas ON has the raspberry running through it making it go a little sour at first (not in a bad way but it can be challenging for some), NM has vanilla, patchouli and these resinous amber accords in it adding a sweetness that stops the cacao from going too bitter and dark. The fruit in NM comes from some blackcurrants in the base notes.

Eyes closed, I drifted off right there in the shop, carried away by the way this smell sings to me. When I opened them the shop assistant was staring at me with a look of surprise on her face. Before I could say anything she remarked:

"You really like that, don't you? I see it in your face."

She was spot on. I do love it. I really, really do.

Fast forward a couple of weeks to Doha airport today and it was one of the most satisfying shop purchases I've ever done for a fragrance. There is something to be said for really wanting a fragrance and having to wait a few weeks until you can go buy it, rather than just idly sniffing some testers, picking out a couple and then buying them. I got to the gate for my flight to London and couldn't resist a quick spritz before boarding. Exactly in the same way ON does for me, I found myself addicted to sniffing my wrists when I have this on. It just sings to me. I cannot explain to you why.

There is something in this that evokes a deeper memory for me and it took me a while to figure out what it was.

Kenzo Pour Homme. The OG version from the mid 90s. The one in the sculpted, angled dark blue bottle. I had it way back when and it was a signature for me for a year or so until it ran out and I never got round to buying it again. The core and base of NM smells just like it once it has dried down. What blows my mind is that the only common note to both is the rose accord and it isnt even very strong in either scent. But it does smell like Kenzo. A bit deeper and certainly better performing and with even better sillage, but the comparison is well made.

Objectively, Kenzo Pour Homme is one of the most wearable fragrances I've ever owned and is vastly more versatile than Ombre Nomade, to the point where comparing them seems a bit daft.

If I had to describe it to you, I would say that NM is Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud taking the core DNA of Ombre Nomade and sweetening it up in a way that takes it in an almost minerally direction, quite apart from the resinous, dark textures of the woodgrain, oudy Ombre Nomade. The result is the daylight to ON's night, its light to its dark. It is every bit as strong and long-lasting as Ombre Nomade but fresher and doesn't leap off you in resinous clouds the way its dark master forebear does. The projection is there but it is less forceful, less aggressive somehow. Neither are compliment monsters as they are both a little too polarising but both smell wonderful enough to me to the point where if I was the only person on the planet who liked them and the other 7.999999999 billion-odd people hated them, I'd still wear them and they'd both still be amongst the favourites I have across my entire collection.

Nouveau Monde is different enough to Ombre Nomade to stand up on its own and honestly I'm amazed more people aren't taking about this fragrance. The term "masterpiece" is banded around too much in these hype-addicted short term times but that is absolutely what this fragrance is. That this is so slept on, certainly in comparison to Ombre Nomade, is, along with the inexplicable adulation and hype that Pacific Chill gets, one of the great mysteries of modern perfumery to me. I simply cannot get my head around it.

Ombre Nomade is olfactory art. It was and is more than a fragrance; it is a state of mind and an evocative glimpse into something profoundly different to how most of us live. It is proud to be a bit challenging for most. Nouveau Monde is taking that art and its thinking and making it into a ridiculously wearable, complex and indulgent daily wearer fragrance that pays homage to its parent but does not copy it. One might even say it is the lovely unisex offspring of an Ombre Nomade father and a Kenzo mother. Arabian smoke and emotion meets oriental complexity and unspoken beauty.

Three Word Summary - The Ultimate Expression

Scent - 10/10
Drydown - 9/10
Sillage - 8/10
Bottle/packaging - 9/10
Performance - 10/10

46/50.

The similarities between Ombre Nomade and Nouveau Monde are striking, but not enough to relegate NM to the rank of a clone or, worse, a flanker.

Jacques Cavallier offers us here a powerful, adventurous, masculine fragrance. The oud is strong, virile, assertive; the saffron is subtle, elegant without being delicate. The incense, meanwhile, is the perfect mediator between the two, allowing for spirituality without sentimentality and adventure without haste. Indiana Jones’ perfume, in short (the original trilogy, not the affront that serves as a sequel).

To my great surprise, I wore it during these scorching summer days — two days in a row, no less. And yes, every time I waited somewhere, The Raiders March played at full volume in my head. It became almost tiresome. Especially in the checkout line at my local Lidl. But I digress.

NM doesn’t offer us a new world. It’s a companion that emboldens you, that pushes you to leave your comfort zone to explore uncharted territory — perhaps even a whole new world.

Insta: switzer_scent

They are similar, but completely different at the same time. Nouveau monde starts off more animalic than ombre nomade but after about 30-45 minutes, the cocoa really comes in and takes the edge off the animalic notes. I personally like this a bit more than ombre nomade, its easier to wear and not nearly as "suffocating".

The cocoa, vanilla and caramel help to cut through the oud and leather notes to make a surprisingly pleasant fragrance that can be worn in most occasions, just not to work..oud fragrances aren’t for office environments.

As the fragrance begins to dry down, the oud takes a far back seat and the leather, cocoa and sweeter notes come forward to balance out the fragrance and dial down the initial animalic blast. After a couple hours you start to notice that signature Louis Vuitton scent DNA that runs through nearly all of their men’s fragrances. If you’ve smelt a lot of them, you’ll know what I’m referring to. Performance is fantastic, no complaints in that department. Overall, i think this is a fantastic, undoubtedly masculine fragrance that will appeal to most fragrance collectors. I actually think it’s well worth the money, considering the quality of ingredients that are being used.