MUSICOLOGY
Close to Midnight

2020

PERFUMER
Nathalie Lorson

coffee
jasmine

labdanum
tonka bean

ambergris
musk

When I tried the Musicology collection some years ago in store (and with a couple of samples after), Close To Midnight was my favorite. Wearing it again, it definitely holds up as one of the coziest powdery scents on the market.

Nathalie Lorson rarely misses and here she delivers again. Often compared to Maison Violet Sketch, which she also orchestrated. I personally find Sketch a bit more interesting, more vintage-smelling and contrasting, whereas Close To Midnight sticks closer to the more generic sweet powdery drydown of Sketch throughout. But as mentioned, about as cozy as it gets.

I wouldn’t say I get a distinct scent of coffee here unfortunately, but more so a very (seemingly) simple powdery labdanum – vanilla – tonka sweetness. Of course, you can imagine coffee with that scent profile. but it feels more coffee-adjacent, like sweet cream. I definitely don’t get any roasted qualities, bitterness. It’s comforting sweet from start to finish. Not too sweet mind you, more sweet in the way a Dior Bois D’Argent wears, but a tad more gourmand.

And for me, when I think of that sweet powdery vibe from a Bois D’Argent or a Van Cleef & Arpels Bois D’Iris and add a dose of (Shalimar) labdanum and make it more gourmand, that’s where I land with Close To Midnight. Others mention babypowder and even relate it to a Chanel No. 5 and there’s definitely a tinge of it throughout, but for me not to the point where it takes away from it being sweet; I get more of the baby powder in Sketch.). Hard not to enjoy wearing this one.