Les Rivières de Cartier - Luxuriance
Cartier (2021)

Luxuriance, in the "Rivières" series by Mathilde Laurent at Cartier, is, to my nose, a singular fragrance, simultaneously appealing and disturbing. Technically a fougère, I think, due to the fern note, the green notes and citrus bloom powerfully on first application. But then, I swear to god, I get a whiff of salty fried shrimp. This is obviously an idiosyncratic association, but I have tried two samples and one travel spray, and the experience has been remarkably uniform each time. For me, then, unless one is talking about the Mississippi, this would more accurately be a "Port" scent--a rocky coast with ferns, moss, spicy shrubs, and a seafood shack on the dock, with that slight salty fried shrimp smell carried on the breeze. Waves lap softly near the mounds of ropy nets and the tarry ground around the mooring bollards. Piles of seaweed are partly submerged, partly baking, around the rocks to the side of the nearby sandy inlet. What is creating this olfactory scene in my mind? Mastic (or lentisque), a fresh balsamic note with turpentine nuances; geranium, rosemary, oak, and, of all things, pistachio, round out this odd bouquet. But I love perfumes that perform rather than adorn. I am luxuriating in this oddness.