Love Exposure / Le Cinéma Olfactif : No. 2 - Love Exposure
Folie à Plusieurs (2014)

You've just entered a very leafy garden, with some magnolia and jasmine here and there, and you take a seat on a hot wooden bench as you wait for your girlfriend to arrive. When she does, she's sipping a cold, refreshing Dr. Pepper, and she kisses you softly with her open mouth. You smile and hug her, noticing her natural musk, and you quickly take her hand and move indoors, wondering whether or not that brief moment in the garden actually happened. Love Exposure by Folie à Plusieurs.

G and S

A slightly sweetish fruity-floral greeting hits me in the opening blast, and with time a few more nuances emerge: the fuitiness discloses blackcurrant with touches of rasberry, and the floral side a somewhat pedestrian jasmine that has a green-indolic undertone, with ylang-ylang the other significant player. The latter, pepped up by a very standard-type vanilla, drives the sweet component that is unmistakable present and dominates in the drydown, towards the end endowed with a dull woodsy component.

In the base I get additional hints of a perfunctory white musk.

The sillage is weak, the projection limited and the longevity three hours on my skin.

Generic and synthetic, very synthetic, are the terms that sum up the fabric of this spring scent. Never mind the awe-inspiring lineup of components in the official description - this is all I get. Given the poor performance it is hard for me to identify any redeeming features.

In spite of the name, not only is there not much exposure to it, but there also is nothing lost. 1.75/5.

Sheer, synthetic green notes–it's like wearing an array of light petals. It's mainly white florals like jasmine and neroli but there are some ionone-style violet hues to it as well. Slightly sweetened with vanilla, but there's really nothing else to it besides that. If pushed, I'd say there are some herbal notes, but you'd have to get really close to smell them. An extremely light, barely there kind of deal that goes from zero to Iso E in about 15 minutes (and has a stupid name). Well suited for the kind of person who hates perfume.

When it comes to modern perfumery, Mark Buxton is surely responsible of some of my favorite fragrances and, as much as I was keen towards these new *Le Cinema Olfactif* projects, I've found both of the fragrances they released thus far to be more or less letdowns.

Let's put it simple, Love Exposure is a competent white floral built around a moderately sweet woody-incensey-ambery base. The problem here is that it is basically a violently castrated version of Amouage Opus VIII which is itself already a meh-version of several other fragrances. I wasn't excited by the Amouage and I don't see why I should be by this one.

Ok, calm down, Love Exposure it's not a bad fragrance but let me write a few other considerations on the price and you decide yourself if it's worth of your attention. Le Cinema Olfactf fragrances come in a single format 12ml bottle which sells for $55. This makes price per .ml rising up to $4.5.

…and no, they're not extraits or oils. Just plain simple EDPs in tiny atomizers.

Now, while I love the idea of brands offering their ranges in smaller bottles, in this case the price is really a bit pretentious.