FIG MY LOVE

Fine Fragrance

Christophe Laudamiel’s take on fig is dramatic, a full blown multi-sensory mix of realism and abstraction. It is a scent of a quiet villa on a Greek island, a private place, far from tourists and the distractions of modern life. No phones ring, music is muted and kind. Doors and windows open into a courtyard of fig trees, moving gently in a late summer breeze. The air is ripe with the oozing aroma of fruits, wasps lick at the milky tears of fallen figs. An orange tree in one corner exudes its juicy sharpness, creating a miasma of redolent fruitiness.

One of the benchmarks for fig perfumes must be Philosykos for Diptyque by the supremely talented Olivia Giacobetti. It was so ubiquitous at one point; you smelled it everywhere. Another would be Premier Figuier, also made by Giacobetti for L’Artisan Parfumeur, a very different take on fig. Up until the Diptyque perfume, fig was a relatively unknown in olfaction, it had been used but not as the leading performer.

Christophe’s fig is luscious and jungly, the aftermath of a storm has bruised the fruit. The greenness of Fig my Love is startling, hyper-grass and new shoots, apple-coloured ink bleeding into wet paper. Hints of coconut milk and powdered woods suggest the white ooze of slashed harvest. Like Rhubarb my Love, the realism of the fruit is illuminated by tropical vibes in that quiet villa courtyard garden. A man sits under the aromatic trees, shadows dappling his face, an old paperback fallen to the ground. He realises he is alone. He smiles.

Composition:

• Fig Leaf, Fig Flesh
• Fig Tree
• Milky Sap

Perfumer: Christophe Laudamiel, 2016

inci list: Alcohol Denat., Fragrance, Water / Aqua, Linalool, Hexyl Cinnamal, Coumarin, Benzyl Benzoate, Citronellol, Geraniol, Anise Alcohol, Amyl Cinnamal, Limonene, Benzyl Alcohol, Citral, Eugenol