Le Cri

Inspired by the light towards which all beings reach out whether entering or leaving this world, Le Cri de la Lumière employs a sparse framework of just three notes: ambrette, iris, and rose. But for all its elegant minimalism, this is a scent with plenty to say.

Ambrette, with its tart nuances of green apple, pear, and grappa, is first to announce its presence, bathing the scent in a halo of crystalline light. The opening pitches high, with an almost citrusy sparkle. The iris note, at first rooty and then bready, moves in to flesh out the structure, like a length of suede draped over a metal chair. Comparisons between this perfume and another ambrette-iris composition, Chanel No. 18, are natural – but Le Cri de la Lumière is far brighter and drier affair, with a delicate sourness absent from the Chanel. As silvery as a glass of white vermouth, the scent gains a blush in its cheeks thanks to the late addition of rose. The ambrette wraps around the rose and iris, bedding them down in a soapy muskiness that feels both clean and sensual. The texture of this scent is dappled; in turns sheer and cloudy, bright and shaded, like a glass of Pastis into which a drop of water has just been stirred. Le Cri de la Lumière is a fragrance with noble lineage: aristocratic, haughty, and a little mysterious.

Ambrette, rose, iris