maison martin margiela: 2 posts

Some fragrances have great top notes, others tempt with you a gorgeous drydown, but without a beautiful sillage, the pleasure of wearing them is nil. The French word sillage refers to the perfume trail you leave behind, a spell cast on others as well as you. Martin Margiela’s Lazy Sunday Morning is nice enough on paper, but to fully experience the sheer chypre, you need to try it on skin. If you’re lucky to have a friend who wears it, you can experience how well Lazy Sunday Morning diffuses and the soft, gauzy wake it leaves behind them.

Of course, this is true for many perfumes, which are composed of volatile essences, with unique rates of evaporation. This unromantically sounding idea, of molecules floating off your skin at different speeds, is what creates each scent’s aura, its melody and form. The intriguing aspect of Lazy Sunday Morning is that it’s part fresh cologne and part rosy chypre, oscillating between vivid aldehydes and dark moss, velvety rose and bitter patchouli. This interplay, well-modulated by musks, orange blossom, and green notes, is what gives this perfume its layered effect.

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

In ballet, the dancer’s foot has the same delicacy and sensitivity that in other art forms is reserved for the hands. The light touch of a ballerina’s satin wrapped toes can express a wide range of emotions, and this effect, underscored by a remarkably steely strength, gives classical dance its unique flavor. When I first discovered Maison Martin Margiela’s debut fragrance, Untitled, its graceful treatment of woods and incense made me immediately draw the dance analogy. While traditionally one envisions these notes as dark and opulent counterpoints to the more evanescent floral and green touches, in Untitled the roles are reversed.

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