Le Message Oublié
L'Antichambre

Le Message Oubilie (Hidden Message) is a dark tea fragrance with bitter orange, dry woods and a leafy leather base note. The listed notes are: orange, pepper, canation, nutmeg, black tea, geranium, birch, cedar, vetiver, pine, leather, styrax, tobacco. The black tea and leather coupled with the pine and atlas cedar yields one of the darkest tea fragrances I've tried. It is not as dark as CdG Tea but it has more variation and character within its evolution. I am reminded of the grim but beautiful message of the Robert Frost poem "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep - But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep - And miles to go before I sleep." The fragrance is imposing and bold but also very strengthening to the wearer who can pull this off. Le Messsage Oubilie projects strong and silent determination. The fragrance lasts a long time, even days on me; but its silage is not too powerful and stays close to the skin. Like all dark dry scents this one will not be enjoyed by everyone, but it is a bold and unique statement.

Le Message Oublie opens with a strong natural smelling pine in the same vein as Norne by Slumberhouse, but as the scent enters the heart phase it adds smoky incense and leather with a subtle woody cedar and effervescent vetiver backbone, displaying mild sweetness that is closer to the overall spirit of Arso by Profumum actually (though less sweet). The late dry-down is much softer with the vetiver now really shining through as the pine all but disappears, with just hints of tobacco supporting it. The blending is so well-done that picking out individual notes is quite difficult late. Projection is slightly above average and longevity is excellent with at least 12 hours on skin.

While the official list of notes is rather extensive and impressive: bitter orange, hot pepper, carnation, nutmeg, black tea, geranium, birch, atlas cedar, vetiver, pine resin, leather, styrax resin, smoked tobacco ... a lot of these like the hot pepper and black tea are sadly MIA on paper and on skin to my nose, at least... The pine really is the star here and the vetiver, leather and birch play key supporting roles. While I expected a very different scent based on the official list of notes, Le Message Oublie is what the disappointing Arso really should have been and is a quite successful composition on the whole. It is an excellent smelling 4 star out of 5 release that gives me great hope this relatively new house has some other winners waiting to be found...