05/23/2025

ClaireV
969 Reviews

ClaireV
1
An incredibly warm, creamy, resinous osmanthus
Absolue d’Osmanthe is a battle cry of a thing that makes me want to stand up and punch the air like a thug at a Red Star game. Its strange opening gambit lands right where I really want osmanthus to be, which is straddling the common ground between the wood-rot of oud chips left to soak for fourteen days and the (not dissimilar) fruit-rot of osmanthus petals as they ferment at the bottom of a barrel, waiting for a quorum of this itty bitty flower to be reached before one has enough to justify firing up the still.
The leather mood is strong – pungent, dry, and smoky, with a cured fruit edge to it that makes me think of a Black Perfecto stitched together with apricot skin. But it is also intensely warm and resinous. I often comb through Architectural Digest to find the photos of the intimate spaces women have set aside for themselves in otherwise grand, hulking structures – invariably calm, clutter-free spaces lit by low-slung ambient light sources. This is that crepuscular glow in perfume format.
My only complaint is that the osmanthus leaves the scene too quickly, leaving in its place a spicy 1980s floriental amber to hold its beer. It’s fine because I love amber, but it’s also not fine, because, at this price, osmanthus to amber is a switcheroo I sure didn’t sign up for. Can I get over my grumpiness at this for the sake of the glorious first half? Time will tell. The other I get, the more I dither on which of my high standards to drop and in what order. This might be worth the climb down.
The leather mood is strong – pungent, dry, and smoky, with a cured fruit edge to it that makes me think of a Black Perfecto stitched together with apricot skin. But it is also intensely warm and resinous. I often comb through Architectural Digest to find the photos of the intimate spaces women have set aside for themselves in otherwise grand, hulking structures – invariably calm, clutter-free spaces lit by low-slung ambient light sources. This is that crepuscular glow in perfume format.
My only complaint is that the osmanthus leaves the scene too quickly, leaving in its place a spicy 1980s floriental amber to hold its beer. It’s fine because I love amber, but it’s also not fine, because, at this price, osmanthus to amber is a switcheroo I sure didn’t sign up for. Can I get over my grumpiness at this for the sake of the glorious first half? Time will tell. The other I get, the more I dither on which of my high standards to drop and in what order. This might be worth the climb down.



Top Notes
Osmanthus absolute
Plum
Pink pepper
Galvanized Teaspoon
Heart Notes
Tolu balm
Jasmine sambac
Base Notes
Sandalwood
Dry woods
Labdanum
Vanilla




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