L'Eau Papier
Diptyque (2023)

L’Eau Papier has a problem – its fragility. It’s a thing of beauty with a soul-gladdening fluffy clean musk carrying its message of delicate blossom (powdery, lemon-custardy mimosa) and a draw-closer kind of roasted nuttiness. This latter is utterly enchanting, a kind of pale, golden-beige spell of comfort and gentle warmth – my nose took it for hazelnuts, but the listed notes say sesame. Diptyque has a string of perfumes that rely on the clever placement of a few notes which together give an experience akin to a favourite pop song, the kind with the irresistible riff you want to wake up and play to get you in the mood for the day. L’Eau Papier could have been a contender but it’s a soft little thing – try spraying more to oomph it and possibly the musks could blot out one’s nose. Perfect for sitting in a pleasantly cool room with time to repeatedly sniff oneself and go ahhh, but falling a bit short in functionality otherwise. But perhaps the biggest letdown is that the lovely nuttiness and the gauzy florals are pretty much gone after about three hours, leaving just the laundry musks droning on.

Truth be told, it took me some time to get on with L'Eau Papier. It is deceptive in that it seems intimate, but it is one that surprises and haunts. Starting with a realistic sesame seed, it at first feels gossamer, a cocoon of down-to-earth comfort, a gauzy muskiness. At its heart, at times it smells like warm white paper, hot off the press, other times like aged and yellowed Bantam paperback novels from the used bookstore. Piles of them, piles and piles of them. A resident orange cat wanders around the stacks.

I get impressions of oat cereal, black-pepper seasoned mimosa flowers, nutty steamed rice, and then it takes this detour. The dry down is intensely woody, just reaching the threshold of what I can tolerate, yet I am entranced by it. The skin scent is almost like one could take the volume dial for the scent of papier d'Armenie, turn it to 11, and use it in a high-end laundry detergent. Then you smell clothes laundered then dried with said detergent, and stick your head in the dryer. Insanity—yet, I'm enthralled and here I am with a bottle.

Warning: this is indelible on my skin. I will be applying this sparingly. Monsieur Pellegrin, what is your secret??

Screechy musk and stuffy white florals. Not getting much else. More a soapy talc accord than anything even approaching paper, rice etc.

As the fragrance dries down I get some citrus which reminds me quite a bit of Oyedo. Went from total scrubber to tolerable. Still not for me.

White rice and cream with just the tiniest hit of talc that dries down to blonde wood. It's not bad, it's not great, but it's a perfume definitely for those who want to wear something, but are afraid of offending others with their scent. It is minimalist and simple and sometimes that is what you want and need.

Lasted 3 hours on me at best.

It’s great for what it is, but it’s not for me. Simple and warm. Really great for layering. Worked well with anais anais.

The ultimate perfume for people who dont want to smell of anything. It is super light, clean skin scent. It has no power, no presence.