L’Interdit by Note33

I discovered the brand NOTE 33 thanks to samples my friend Darkbeat sent me. According to the sheet, L’INTERDIT is an oriental floral, but I don’t see it that way; putting it in another family is a mess. It sounds more to me like a wild, resinous, and rough chypre. The opening is resinous cardamom and labdanum, as if it grew among dry scrubland scorched by the sun of northern Algeria’s coast, where lizards move among herbs that turn sunlight into essence. From time to time, herbaceous and acidic flashes appear. Coriander gives that intense green, parsley-like, with bitter and spicy tones. After a few minutes, an acidic and floral note emerges. It’s not just lily of the valley; other sheets mention rose and rhubarb. The union of lily of the valley and rose creates a clean accord that clashes with the fruity acidity of green leaves and red rhubarb stems. It never loses its rough essence, but shares space with acidic-floral puffs that appear and disappear, as if in the dry mountain suddenly patches of acidic flowers and fresh rhubarb had sprung up. The composition is curious; few perfumes smell like this. Maybe BVLGARI II or DAYTONA 500 by ELIZABETH ARDEN, but those lack such peculiar floral acidity. I see it as unisex, though I doubt many will like it. I liked the alternation between resinous scrub and acidic flower, but it’s hard to frame in today’s era, or any other.

L’Interdit is one of those perfumes I like but wouldn’t buy. Here’s why: it smells amazing—an exquisite, delicate, elegant unisex scent that would make many Fragrantica users happy—but it leans slightly feminine. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it bothers me, even though I wear unisex perfumes without issue; I just don’t enjoy it enough to use it regularly. It’s silly, but it conditions my perception. Right after spraying, there’s a few seconds of sweet, beautiful floral freshness that fades quickly to reveal a very distinguished French vanity room aroma: powdery, elegant, and sober—a blend of rose and lily of the valley over spiced sandalwood evoking luxury. Then the florals soften, the spicy and peppery notes come forward, and the dry down warms with subtle leathery nuances, more velvet suede than leather, quite lovely. This dry down is warm, dry, spicy, and ethereal—fresh and spicy in equal measure, with a good dose of ambroxan that, in my opinion, taints it and makes it a bit generic. More than an oriental floral, I see it as a spicy floral with a subtle woody base. It’s unisex and wearable by men, though it tends feminine. It reminds me of vintage women’s perfumes that are no longer marketed as such today, but if it were released now, it would be undeniably feminine. Performance is good, lasting 6–7 hours on skin with moderate sillage; not spectacular, but solid for a niche. I applied it from an unsprayed sample; with a spray it might last longer. It’s a great option for fresh and temperate climates, day or night, versatile and elegant, perfect for the office. As I said, it hasn’t fully convinced me, even though it’s olfactorily beautiful; maybe because I perceive it as vintage feminine, which conditions my view. It’s strange, considering I’ve enjoyed Youth Dew, Tabu, Opium, and Shalimar. I can’t deny its beauty—a woman wearing it would be a showstopper—but I wouldn’t recommend it for men without trying it first.