Mousse Illuminee

Mousse Illuminée is a delightful anachronism. It smells manly in the best possible way – soapy, bright, and almost cleansing in its bitterness, a cornucopia of camphoraceous green notes such as cypress, laurel, and artemisia stuffed into a cedar chest, aromatizing it from the inside out. Fougères used to smell like this, once upon a time, we remember. Now, shorn of any vanilla or sweetness, Mouse Illuminée returns the fougère to its original form, stripping it back until we are left with a powerful and invigorating ‘forest fern’ accord that is unabashedly masculine.

The deeply green atmosphere created by Mousse Illuminée revolves around a beautiful treemoss absolute from Robertet, but it is by no means the sole player. In particular, the minty laurel and camphoraceous aspects of the cypress and artemisia stand out, framed by an aquiline frankincense note that smells lightly smoky, but not burnt or severe. Best of all, there’s no softening or fussiness towards the middle - a muscular musk simply carries the greenery on its broad shoulders to its natural conclusion.