Absolu

In Absolu, Antoine Lie presents what I regard as an improvement to his Belle Âme for Les Abstraits, by taking his exquisite orris accord and placing it in a setting that illuminates rather than blurs its cohorts. Trading cacao for orange blossom for its adjunct (evidently a nod to Louis the XIVth), Lie massages his orris into the orange blossom absolute, and with the sensational addition of guaiac wood and cedar, manages to move forward into the mix the latter two. This surprising development results, where the warm and light smoky intrigue of the guaiac and the soft, citrus-accented dryness of cedar greet me sooner than expected. The cool pastel orris immediately in tow, with the orange blossom slinking its way through, revealing hints of indole and honeyed concord-grape sweetness. All is resolved with a tonka and the woods, rondo-like, return as the orange blossom recedes into an apparition of sorts, through incense smoke. The result is something akin to an olfactory tone poem, powerfully suggestive, yet also profoundly restrained. It seeks not to dazzle but to reflect, surprising me as the hours pass, with flickers of its refrain. It took a second full wear for me to fully appreciate it, as the first time around left me bewildered. I felt like it was escaping my grasp, but it turns out after the next visit, I was in fact escaping its grasp. I have a feeling this one deserves the dedicated attention of someone who just lives for, who lusts for, scent, in all its elusiveness. Someone with impact in mind will be let down—this is not about impact, it's far too calm. Perhaps this is too much work for the average fragrance enthusiast, but I do recommend it for someone who appreciates a perfume that churns slowly and quietly in the periphery, only for the wearer to realize over time that one is entirely inside of its world.

The opening is super fresh and woody, almost weirdly smelled fresh dewy rose alongside the woods. This pretty quickly dries down into a mainly woods, iris and orange medley. The orange is zingy and bright. Projection on this is a skin scent to me, but silage is larger and it leaves a scent trail. This kind of reminds me of a niche Valentino Uomo Intense that smells way more natural. It's really beautiful and pleasant, it's bright yet calming. It would make a fantastic signature fragrance! This makes me want to try more from this house ASAP.

✨ Absolu surprised me. I usually avoid orange blossom, but this one is dry, green, and contemplative. No syrup, no shine—just a sun-warmed bloom, surrounded by hay and guaiac wood. It feels like standing in a quiet field, the air thick with the aroma of herbs and the memory of the land. A grounding, elemental floral that sits close to the soul. Stunning. I carry samples at Nectar Atelier, thoughtfully wrapped in eco-conscious materials for an artful unboxing experience.

Candied mandarin, soft orange flower, sweet Tonka bean. Fantastic. I keep getting lovely wafts of this. Performance is awful. Even with 10 sprays it’ll only last 2 hours. 8.6/10

Although not unique or strong enough (for me) this is an absolutely captivating, high quality and signature worthy mix. The notes are blended perfectly and the outcome is very niche. I would imagine a snobby French man or woman wearing this to go with their perfectly imperfect outfit.

Perfectly nice, but nothing particularly unique, at least upon my first test.

deep, softly textured, almost chewy orange blossom jumps off my testing strip. The more I smell it the better it gets- layered aromas of cream, hay, and smoky guaiac are expertly unveiled over a few minutes more. It becomes woodier and more powdery with time, while the guaiac lends an oddly illuminating, phenolic edge that feels like a phantom of sturdier cedars and sandalwoods. I love smelling both components- guaiac for it's ethereal calm and mild sweetness, orange blossom for when it shows off it's raw indolic grassiness. Together here they're wonderful and the saffron and mandarin take this into a tea-like direction for me. Hollow, earthy aromatics that could mimick the roasting of freshly pick tea leaves. It's a direction that Akro's Infuse takes to a more literal extreme (supported by guaiac), but the two are not really comparable other than that. I smelled Geurlain's Nerolie Plein Sud just earlier this week and I'd say it has a similar quality of neroli/orange blossom materials but with less soapy, citrusy embelishments. Also interesting is that their Néroli Outrenoir is a darker, earthy tea fragrance, so there must be some synergy between the smoky, floral tea-like character and the brighter neroli elements that both perfumers may have been exploring. I loved the Outrenoir version so check it out if you haven't. Anyways, I also agree with alphairone about the orris accord here- the base turns into a lightly balsamic, pillowy-vegetal aroma that I've been drawn to in the recent Blossoms Smoke release from Parle Moi de Parfum and a bunch of Celine perfumes. The entire experience feels loungey and almost decadant, but also content with laying about unbothered as it unfolds soft edges of ash and vanilla, eventually becoming a little more tonka focused and never shouting for attention. It really does feel like luxury with it's weight and texture, but for myself I find ultra luxurious scents difficult to fit into my rotation. Still, it's one of the best releases I've smelled recently.

Wearing this today. A lot of orange flower centric perfumes tend to cheat a bit using things like neroli or synthetics (linalool and methyl anthranilate). But this one really captures the honeyed/indolic nature of real orange blossom absolute. Which is probably why it's called Absolu. And while Orange flower absolute usually tends to get heady and cloying, Antoine Lee has done a nice job keeping it light and modern thanks to the combo of bright mandarin and warm spices—all used sparingly as a mere support for the main note: fleur d'oranger. It's creamy and golden yet soft and pillowy. I don't pick up iris but I'm sure it's adding that fluffy texture to it. A bit of suede (saffron) and frankincense keep it all balanced and gender neutral. After a couple hours, the orange blossom fades and we're in a very quiet dry down. On my skin, it doesn't smell woody (not getting that cedar/guaiac wood). But more of an amber / herbal tone (maybe coumarin, patchouli, lily of the valley). If you're looking for loud, beast mode, I'm not sure this is it. Personally, i prefer it to be on the quiet side. In conclusion, does Absolu honor the true nature of orange blossom absolute? Absolutely.

Quite a nice floral fragrance, with a touch of citrus included. In my opinion, this is mainly a floral, flowery fragrance, and less of a citrusy fragrance. But nonetheless I think that this could be a nice fragrance for the summertime. Performance is quite rubbish to be frank but that's not a major factor. I will not be purchasing a bottle of this.

Antoine Lie has said today that this is his creation. Which makes me want to smell it even more!! Love Trudon scents. So must get a travel size perfume soon to test it out! Completely underrated house that doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves.

I don't know why but not like on the paper, on my skin, it becomes sweet tonka powdery, creamy iris with a touch of cedar.

done before, not worth the price tag imo. soapy floral saffron tonka, it’s giving Bree from Desperate Housewifes