VILHELM
FACES OF FRANCIS
2023
PERFUMER
Bertrand Duchaufour
aldehydes
saffron
grilled pistachio
juniper wood
driftwood
oud
ambergris
cypriol
vetiver
fumed styrax
‘Imagine you’re alongside the artist in the studio. What is inspiring him to create? He recalls this volcanic island, somewhere in the Mediterranean. He recalls the colors and smells of Tangier where pistachio mixes with saffron. He recalls all his past or imaginary trips that still awaken his senses. Inspiration is a fantastic journey between memories and desires in the present.’ – Vilhelm
Faces Of Francis has a very distinct scent that I know from a handful of other fragrances, but is at the same time not often done.
It’s a very sweet, but also very woody scent at its core. It has however, a rubbery, plasticy edge from the saffron that I don’t love. It reminds me mostly of Memoirs Of A Perfume Collector Lost In The Desert (it’s been a while since I wore that, but they are definitely similar).
For a moment early on in the wear, I figured that the saffron was going to be too much for me to enjoy this fragrance. It’s hard to describe what it is that I’m smelling, but it’s a tiny bit like plaster as well and reminiscent of for example Papillion Artisan Anubis.
However, Faces Of Francis is more easy to wear and it leans heavily into the sweetness during the progression. It’s not quite gourmand, but it’s not far off. I don’t really get the scent of pistachio per se, but I do get the ‘grilled’ element and maybe more of the styrax here giving a harsh, slightly smokey, but sweet and resinous wear. I guess I do find it nutty, but not distinctly pistachio (I know my friend Kati to whom I owe this sample gets a ton of pistachio from it however).
What the mid section of the wear smells like more than anything to me, is super sweet wood. As if you take a piece of freshly cut, still smoking wood and caramelize it.
Unfortunately, as it dries down more, I revert back to not enjoying it as much. It becomes dry and a tad smoky. Still a sweet and spicy wood, but at this stage it’s reminiscent of old furniture and paper. Weirdly enough, there is also a tiny hint of dried fruits to me in the late drydown that I can’t place; if anything it reminds me of banana in the way I also get banana in Matiere Premiere French Flower; maybe my nose is broken.
An interesting fragrance, that I’m sure I’d like more in colder weather, but I do think that the appeal for me is in the middle section of the wear only.