I’m a great believer that, when it comes to creative endeavours, weird is good.
It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about a distinctive long lasting perfume, a film that leaves you with more questions than answers, or an album that goes down unexpected sonic avenues. All the most exciting stuff gets made when creators welcome in the strange, rather than chasing trends or trying to please everyone.
In fragrance, Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle is a shining example of how artistic freedom leads to magical outcomes. The brand’s latest scent is unusual, beautiful, and has gotten right under my skin.
Article continues below
You may like
Why this strange and beautiful perfume is my beauty buy of the week
Important background: Frédéric Malle launched Editions to counteract the perfume industry’s slide towards populist, design-by-committee scents.
Malle wanted to bring back a bit of je ne sais quoi. So, he tapped up master perfumers and gave them carte blanche. As much time as they needed, ingredients at any cost, no interference. Experimentation was encouraged, and the name of the ‘nose’ was billed as prominently on the bottle as the name of the fragrance.
The resulting scents were brilliant, distinctive, and several were big commercial hits, in particular Dominique Ropion’s Carnal Flower and Portrait of a Lady (one of my all-time favourites, incidentally).
The latest, Contre-Jour by Annick Ménardo, is described as being ‘built against conventional patterns,’ and after one sniff, I get it.
Frederic Malle
Contre-Jour Eau De Parfum 50ml
Describing perfume is a strange one, as it’s all about your association with the smell – but I’ll have a crack. This has a baked, spicy, and aromatic quality, like herbs growing in the summer heat. Underneath that is a rich, Turkish-delight-like rose perfume and a woody, resiny base.
The composition sounds simple: everlasting flower, rose, sandalwood, but the scent is complex. Keep sniffing, and more ideas will keep popping into your head – that milk soap in my grandma’s bathroom, a sliver of marzipan. It lasts and lasts and lasts, so there’s lots of time for things to reveal themselves.
For transparency, the very first time I sprayed Contre-Jour, I had to ask myself: Do I like this? It doesn’t smell like anything else and that’s challenging, but I’d say in a good way, like a complex single malt whisky or a David Lynch film.
(Image credit: Future / Fiona McKim)
I won’t claim this is for everyone and every occasion, but those who love it will love it so much, and that’s the point. Singular and distinctive beats crowd pleaser – as I said, weird is good.
Speaking of which, a few other strange and brilliant things, from my current orbit to yours: Small Prophets on BBC iPlayer, James Blake Trying Times in your headphones, and – best till last – vinegary white boquerone anchovies layered on salty, oily Spanish crisps. Sounds good? Great! Let’s chat next Sunday
