Abîme

True blonde woods. Sandalwood is masterfully blended with the Palo Santo and Cedar here to give a perfect wooded serenity on the drydown. I feel like I am at a women's yoga retreat, outside at a newly built wooden pergola in the dense woods. The air is still, and it's a perfect sparkling spring day - some geosmin in the air. Incense is lit to heighten the experience, and the subtle ashiness reminds us that the fleeting nature of life is what makes it so precious. ... I love this. It feels like it fits that same part of me that adores the Hinoki toiletries from Le Labo. A top contender for a full bottle for me at the moment.

This is a great release. I have to say, I live in the US and the brand's website makes ordering a single sample incredibly easy and not too expensive to order from France. I love this fragrance, the woodiness is moderately sweetened, calming with a creamy/somewhat milky dry down. I don't think it leans too much into the sandalwood "urine cake" territory like in Santal 33 (thank goodness, not my jam). I don't think it's in the same vein as that anyway. I work from home, so I love a "good mood" fragrance like this one. Maison Violet is one of my favorite French brands and I'm definitely picking up a bottle.

Deep smoky + aromatic woody blend....quite beguiling. Draws you in. Warm layers of different woods with pepper - not fully dry but not damp either. Stays intriguing. Really love the almost minty touches brought by the palo santo. Meditative + comforting, yet distinctive and bright at times. The drydown is stunning. Decent sillage. Quite beautiful! FB beckoning...

I think this is the best fragrance of the house. It’s woody and warm and envelopes you with the dearest embrace of palo santo and sandalwood I’ve experienced in quite a while. Not at all posh, or ‘French’ or aggressive, but slightly sweet and down to earth and full of life. Love it!

My favourite everyday wear. It’s a linear cedar and incense but just so smooth. Sweet heat from the chili and that almost aromatic palo santo smoke on this skin. Yes there are plenty like this, but there’s none that do it like this.

Waxy cedar, smoky palo santo, warm spice. A really beautiful blend.

Love it spiritual and super fresh woody reminds me santal 33

A very woody aromatic expression. I LOVE IT

Bright pepper opening dries down to resiny dry sandalwood. My first thought was CDG Wonderwood, but here there is no citrus, and the woody dry down is smoother, warmer, and more well rounded. Through the heart of this it increases in warm woodiness, the pepper grinds finer and drier, and the resinous sweetness comes through. I like this a lot, it's a beautiful woodsy sandalwood with a bit of pepper kick. However, it's a little forgettable for me, and I don't think I need a full bottle.

The wooded notes of this fragrance are very enjoyable. The opening with spices is quite interesting and pleasant. Extraits’ performance never disappoint. However, I can’t tell which elements of the dry down is doing something weird but the base notes combination come to destroy this beautiful experience. Something that I can’t describe other than stinky??? I was toying with the idea to get this bottle but the base notes calmed me down.

Opens with black pepper and palo santo. It dries down quickly to creamy sandalwood and mild cedar. I don't get any incense, unfortunately. Pleasant and cosy, but definitely lakes in complexity, which doesn't justify the price tag for me personally. Plus, it doesn't have much personality, it smells spa-like or candle-like in some way. Performance in both longevity and projection are so-so on me; a bit better on clothes.

A nice tasteful woody scent with some pepper, leans a little heavier on the sandalwood/cedar than the palo santo for me. Very unisex, light, sweet but not too sweet. Nothing too exciting but certainly not bad, inoffensive and work appropriate along the same lines as Gris Charnel.

I really love this. I get a slight soapy waxy smell like bay berries on the bush, and the rest is all beautiful mild woody incense and a bit of the black pepper. Somehow smells exactly like my mom’s best friend’s truck that we went on camping trips in when i was a kid.

If you're into woody fragrances, this will probably this will be your thing. It's nice but I'm surprised according to this website that it's unisex. It might say on the about section of Maison Violet but as a young women, I feel this is strictly a man's perfume

I don’t know how this is as a scent because my dumb ass fell asleep with the tester and dumped it out on to my bed. Bad idea to try testers in bed.

This is the only Maison Violet that is not for me. I can appreciate the artistry of Abime, the sandalwood/incense/palo santo smell really smooth and beautiful with that kick of black pepper. It's not anything I've never smelled before, but it is a very smooth sandalwood/palo santo perfume. The cedar is what kills this for me. I smell like a No. 2 pencil right now. Maybe a woody fragrance lover would enjoy that, but although the pencil shaving smell is bringing back many memories, I don't want to smell like this. I feel like a pencil box, which is not sexy.

Great new launch from the brand. It does well at making the santal 33 DNA a bit more interesting. Definitely smells like there is patchouli in here. Feels kinda like the Palo Santo/Sandalwood is laying on a bed of soft patchouli... maybe its because of how some of the notes play with each other. If you are into that type of a fragrance, then this is a Solid choice

The sweet/smoky notes from the Palo Santo and Cedar were the most noticeable on my skin. I'm a fan of sandalwood, but it get's overwhelmed in this perfume by the other wood notes, and I'm missing the pepper notes entirely. It's a perfectly fine, unisex, woody perfume but the notes that would give it more depth and complexity are absent.

I hoped this would be a great incense frag. I get cumin (which I dislike) in the top notes, and then it's all Palo Santo on me. C'est la vie...

Sawdust. Pencil shavings. It starts out woody. Palo santo and cedar. Tiny bit of pepper. Resin. Incense in dry down.

Maison Violet is a house I adore and am wearing Pourpre d’Autumne as I write this. Unfortunately, this goes into the pickle route for me like it did for other reviewers. The first blast from the sample smelled oddly of what I can only think of as “fish” and then it quickly turned into sweaty cumin-saffron smell. Though not the official notes, it paints a picture. Then, it gave me a semi-sweet damp woods “ok this is acceptable” phase. Sweaty pickle smell adds to the picture after. Yikes! It transitions again to something a little more woody with pickle undertones. It’s quite funny how this is someone’s favorite from the house while being my least liked. Dealing with extremes right there. It must be doing something right.

Uh, this smells like pickles. No.

Fragrance Review: Maison Violet - Abîme (2022) Perfumer: Nathalie Lorson Top: Chili Pepper and Black Pepper Heart: Elemi Resin and Palo Santo Base: Cedar, Incense and Sandalwood ••••• Maison Violet has a diverse and well crafted lineup, under the nose of master perfumer Nathalie Lorson. For some time we've all been waiting for a new release, and here it is! 🤩 Abîme, as the name implies, is the darkest proposition from the brand so far, adequately named as an abyss... The opening is dominated by a black pepper note, mixed with a more unusual chilli pepper. In a few minutes it evolves into the heart, where the resinous and slightly tangy nature of elemi crosses paths with the almost lactonic smoothness of palo santo. Cedar appears in their midst, and remains ever present for the rest of the life of the fragrance. As it progresses into the dry down, an incense note becomes more evident, giving a darker contrast to the scent. Sandalwood also appears, as an extension of the aforementioned palo santo. The wearing experience is just exquisitely balanced! At first it's really spicy, almost making your nose tingle, but then it smooths out, becoming more mellow and rounded. The woodiness becomes dominant during the transition into the base. A slightly dry cedar, comfortably sharp, and quickly enveloped by a pastel incense... It gets darker, but never too dark, never overwhelming! It's standing on the verge of the abyss... A proud tree rooted into a classy reality, just one inch away from plunging into the depths... It knows the darkness that folds just beneath its roots, but remains sturdily in place... Irradiates a serene aura of safety, while branching into the skies! It's vibrant without being luminous. It's honest but true to itself... Delightful! 🤗🖤 • Sample sent for review. IG with additional fragrance reviews at @fragrance_panther 🤗

Nathalie Lorson can do no wrong...there I said it! :) I'm in love with this. Can a powderpuff be woody? Its gloriously soft, and spicy. The chili pepper is just enough heat without overpowering the composition. Incense, resin, palo santo are an actual dream. I was thrilled the sandalwood was subdued, there's a creaminess to it that doesn't leave you bathed in pickle brine like Santal 33 (don't come for me, Santal 33 is lovely on other people). The cedar is being a team player, it doesn't dominate even in the dry down. I've been wearing it for six hours and she's still giving. Sweater weather approved, truly unisex, an absolute banger for late fall/ winter and my new favorite. Downy and intimately cozy. If someone was wearing this and I went in for a hug, I would just keep holding on...not in a creepy way, but in the "dang you smell amazing" way. I'm buying this.

I received a sample of this in a lucky scent “fragrance fitting” where I asked for scents that evoked the sense of receiving a tarot reading in an old house in Astoria Oregon. This was by far my favorite of the bunch and has quickly become my most sprayed perfume out of my collection. I cannot get enough of it! Something about it makes my brain say “more!”. I went through the travel size I got on scent split within a few months and await my full bottle I ordered on the MV site. It can’t get here fast enough. I don’t get pickles and I don’t get pencil shavings, I get a well rounded, woody, creamy, the tiniest bit sweet, incensey scent. Love!

I want to let you in on a little secret: Nathalie Lorson certainly has a way with woods, but she's done this very style before. Seek out Montana Graphite. Abîme is a dead-ringer for it. You would also need only pay a fraction of the cost. Trust me. Just check out my review of Montana Graphite. The only mild, very mild, difference, is the elemi accord in this, otherwise, side by side, almost identical. This could've even been an alternate draft for Graphite, for all we know...

This is my favorite fragrance right now. I love the warm spicy chili and the cool smoke of the Palo Santo. It smells sexy and spicy on my skin and a little bit spiritual. It feels like a meditation scent. I disagree with the pickle part! I’ve smelled that before in other perfumes like glossier. But this one is so pure and truly smells just like it Notes (in my opinion)

I think you have to know what you're smelling here. No pickles my little pickles, this is what palo santo smells like if you've ever smelt or lit it in your home. Really interesting fragrance, not sure I want to smell like this as a woman.

Very lovely slightly spicy yet not overwhelming woody scent. Revisiting the brand, I was surprised that this was the only one I liked. I don't get the comparison to food, but it happens with most woody fragrances. Good performance

On paper: Dry, heated and clean woods and pencil shavings. A very slightly sweaty cedarwoody tone to it. On skin: Peppery woodiness with a lot of that atlas cedar sweatiness. Not a hit on my skin.

This perfume smells like my childhood remedy. Although a chili pepper is mentioned in the top notes, it stays with me to the very end. Also, it has a cozy spicy palo santo and my beloved incense

Not sure who I’m getting a slight cumin scent.. a bit carnal on my skin. Comes off like a night out with a good ending. Interesting journey on my skin

this - like most sandelwoods - turns just dill on me. dill, palo santo, more dill and a cloud of more dill around me.

Reminds me of potato gratins, don't know why....i don't like it