Review of Atelier Materi: Coffret Découverte

The discovery set came with six 3mL samples ($31) of my choice and thick, embossed tester strips, one for each sample spray. I love how the website clearly distinguishes between notes and ingredients, and the very French aesthetic of it all: clean, modern, but with an eye for detail. This set came in a dark blue box with gold lettering. It had a sliding cover, and each spray its own miniature box; the typeface has a clean, commercial efficiency to it. A matching envelope with my name handwritten on it in gold metallic ink slid out upon opening the package, containing a bilingual thank-you letter: French on one side (which I was delighted to discover I could still read without the translation,) English on the other. Without further introduction, I present my impressions.

Ambre Papier

Smells like new book. Peppery, spice-based top and heart notes evoke bookbinding materials’ sharp scent; the amber, tonka, and benzoin provide a smoothness I associate with the creamy texture of high-quality paper. I especially appreciate that gentle, expert touch, given that my nose both craves the excitement of sharpness and also needs the reassurance of something smoother or sweeter beneath it. Wonderfully executed, wonderfully balanced.

Perfumer’s Notes:

Top—Madagascar Black Pepper Essence, Jamaican Pimento Extract, Italian Red Mandarin

Heart—Jasmine Absolute, Myrrh Essence, Brazilian Maté Extract, Saffron Extract

Base—Siam Benzoin Resin, Haitian Vetiver Essence, Tonka Bean Absolute

Néroli Hasbaya

Floral, but with undertones that give it a delectable fullness not possessed by other floral-inspired perfumes: contrast it with the classic Quelque Fleurs by Houbigant, which is similarly delightful—smelling of a bouquet of flowers sniffed one at a time in rapturous succession—but not as richly delicious. Néroli Hasbaya is orange blossom, honey, and something complex and nutty but sweet to my nose. (Looking at the notes, I can identify it as the almond, pistachio, musk, and sandalwood). I do have mixed feelings about the name: Hasbaya is a Lebanese city, once under French governance after WWI and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, which reeks to me of a rosy view of Orientalism. As an American it might be hypocritical to point this out, since my own government still does such things, but romanticizing France’s colonial past feels like an uncomfortable power flex to me. Nonetheless, how does the perfume world move forward? Colonialism can’t be erased from our shared history, only acknowledged, and reparations can be attempted; this perfume is beautiful, with a lingering sadness that trails afterwards in my brain. How do I reconcile my taste in perfume with my politics—with my anger at wars and genocides carried out in “The Middle East” by Western governments in the cynical, hypocritical name of peace? I like that Atelier Materi does not appear to support Israel, but it still draws on France’s colonial history, and on the projection of sensuality that Orientalism creates to eroticize and subdue its subjects.

Perfumer’s Notes:

Top—Neroli Essence, Bitter Almond Extract, Pistachio

Heart—Orange Blossom Absolute, Damascena Rose Absolute

Base—Musk, Peruvian Balsam Essence, White Sandalwood Essence

Narcisse Taiji

            A study in sophisticated contrasts. There’s something golden and light-speckled about it, like Vermeer’s paintings, the hypothesis that he used a camera obscura and that those bright freckles in his works are artefacts of the process. This perfume smells like a stroll in a gallery with a docent, confident in her expertise. Not my usual go-to, but expertly executed enough that I’d gladly expand my comfort zone to accommodate it.

Perfumer’s Notes

Top—Pear, Ginger Root, Tuberose

Heart—Narcissus, Absolute of Hay and Bran

Base—Leather, Patchouli, Musks

Iris Ebène

            An unfolding richness, both vegetal and spicy, like the petals of the dark iris for which this perfume is named. Although iris, or orris, is derived from the roots, I smell the flower: this perfume has been blended well enough to evoke flowers, spice, and leather all at once. As much as Néroli Hasbaya is a seductive floral gourmand, this is a seductive floral-animalic with a punch of something pungent at its head.

Perfumer’s Notes

Top—Red Mandarin, Petitgrain Mandarin, Allspice

Heart—Peppercorn, Iris, Suede

Base—Balsam of Peru, Sandalwood, Leather Musk

Cuir Nilam

            If Iris Ebène is seductive, then this one is the distillation of sex-appeal itself. Comparable to another of my favorite leather-inspired perfumes, Cuir Grenat by L’Artisan (I do have a weakness for French perfumery, in spite of myself,) both unfortunately also draw on Orientalism in their attempts to give name to their sensual blend of the animalic with something smoother. In the case of Cuir Grenat, that smoother thing is a sweet-tart raspberry; in Cuir Nilam, it’s a woodsy blend of patchouli, tobacco, and violet leaf. Any beautiful person wearing this would make my heart race, my knees buckle. I bend to its tender, caressive dominion the way I do to songs like Lucy Dacus’ “Timefighter,” Adia Victoria’s “The Needle’s Eye,” or Mark Lanegan’s throaty deep voice.

Perfumer’s Notes:

Top—Cardamon, Violet leaf

Heart—Rose, Leather

Base—Patchouli, Tabacco

Santal Blond

            I’m enraptured. Sweet, light at its head with a base of creamy sandalwood, this perfume is a feminine-leaning unisex scent that feels as familiar to me as my own gender. Described on the website as “luminous,” I have to agree: perhaps it’s just the name, but I picture a glossy, genuine blond wood, something more stylish than me. It’s breezy, a light-soaked room through which a fresh, lightly floral wind stirs translucent curtains. I detect sandalwood and something fruity-floral.

Perfumer’s Notes:

Top—Bergamot, Cardamom

Heart—Jasmine, Sandalwood

Base—Hinoki Bourbon, Tonka Bean