DIPTYQUE
LAZULIO
2025
PERFUMER
Quentin Bisch
rhubarb
rose
benzoin
vetiver
”One spritz. Infinite splendor. Will you answer the call? Inspired by the Majestic beauty of the peacock, translated by the olfactory genius Quentin Bisch, encased in the magic of Nigel Peake. Dare to follow the trail of a feathered jewel?’ – Diptyque
‘Lazulio expresses in a perfume the striking beauty of the peacock feather. I wanted to contrast a bright accord of tangy, lively rhubarb with the delicious, enveloping caress of benzoin. I chose rose and vetiver to add further emphasis to the interplay of different colours and textures, imagining the fragrance of a jewel as displayed by this fabulous bird’ – Quentin Bisch
Aside from the Guidance lineage, I am, and always have been, a big fan of Quentin Bisch work; my favorites being Marc-Antoine Barrois Ganymede & Etat Libre D’Orange Experimentum Crucis, which have an overlap. And that overlap continues in Lazulio, but it’s much more than a small tweak. I’d argue that Lazulio feels like a cumulation of Bisch’ work up until this point. Which means that it’s a complete 180° in style for the usual more tame and traditional Diptyque. Lazulio will likely be a divisive release, surely among traditionalists and Diptyque regulars. For me, it’s undeniably a contender for fragrance of the year, as my perhaps premature conclusion after a full wearing was: ‘Masterpiece’.
A lot is happening with Lazulio and it does it in a loud, vibrant manner, especially in the opening hour. It matches the peacock feather concept brilliantly. Green, fruity, a tiny hit of a dank, musty quality. Not quite cannabis, but it goes a little towards the cannabis, hemp + grapefruit + vetiver direction that we’ve seen in fragrance quite often (Orto Parisi Risvelium in this year for example). It has a strong soapy quality and both myself and people I tried it with first in-store, were initially reminded of Bisch’ Encelade. A lighter take on that rhubarb-like green fruitiness with massive projection.
On skin, I found Lazulio to pull back in and lose the greenness quite soon after. The fragrance that it reminded me of most for a good chunk of the wear is Etat Libre D’Orange Experimentum Crucis (and with that, also Hermann A Mes Cotes). It shares that latexy, plasticy, vacuum-sealed aesthetic with a mineralic spiciness that was brought more to the forefront in Ganymede.
After the opening, I get a touch of herbal showergel. The soapiness having a cologne-like more masculine-leaning quality (like a lighter Maison Crivelli Safran Secret), before it switches again and becomes sweeter. Vanilla seems to have been a bigger factor in more recent Bisch creations (Amouage Guidance & Decision and Maison Crivelli Tubereuse Astrale) and I was surprised to see this drydown going vanillic as well. But it works.
I’ll have to wear it again to give a better description of the drydown, but it seems to lose all last remnants of the green, fruity, soapiness and move towards a vanillic, lighter Ganymede-esque skin scent. I will come back to this review with updated thoughts after 1-2 more wears.
Because it’s still hard to make sense of this fragrance or at least, find a way to convey it in words, with how many directions Lazulio pulls in me during the wear. But to my nose, it feels like a lot of Bisch’ hallmarks, toned down & brought together; Encelade green fruitiness, Experimentum Crucis/Hermann A Mes Cotes texture & spiciness, Ganymede mineralic spicess, Decision/Tubereuse Astrale vanilla; I can imagine it all in Lazulio like it’s a timeline that passes by each of them from a distance.
As someone who’s not the biggest fan of the greener, soapier opening, I don’t think I would ever rate Lazulio over Ganymede, which is arguably my absolute favorite fragrance (and in my opinion, the most influential perfume of its decade). But it’s not hard to argue that Lazulio could be the most intriguing and multi-faceted Bisch creation to date. It’s the most exciting fragrance I’ve reviewed so far this year and I look forward to seeing how it will be received and how/if it influences the direction of Diptyque moving forward.
