GAÏAC MYSTIC
by L’ATELIER DE GIVENCHY
ingredients: iris, guaiac, tonka
One of the subvarieties of “oriental,” arguably the oldest one sold outside the “Orient” itself, is the Emeraude type (Coty, 1921) in which the sweetness of amber is offset by a cooling note: mint, camphor, eucalyptus, cardamom, styrallyl esters. This idea resurfaced in Lagerfeld Classic (1978) and especially in Maurice Roucel’s Lyra (Alain Delon, 1993) whose first five minutes were among the most memorable in recent perfumery. This combination of alcove snugness and bracing night air, when done right, achieves the kind of acrobatic balance great perfumery accords strive for.
Here, perfumer Irene Farmadichi picks up the story several fashion chapters later and cleverly uses a thumbnail sketch of Dior Homme as the oriental base. The freshness is supplied by a slug of that refined, languid, slightly medicinal relative of patchouli: guaiac wood (bois de Gaïac in French).
Gaïac Mystic is torn between the temptations of its tawdry, fuzzy warmth and a sleek, elegant freshness. The overall effect is affecting and unexpectedly poetic.
