MARC-ANTOINE BARROIS
TILIA

2024

PERFUMER
Quentin Bisch

LIME
BROOM

JASMINE SAMBAC
HELIOTROPE
VETIVER

GEORGYWOOD
AMBROFIX

‘Simply. Solar. Smiling. It is the scent of a Summer. Of holidays that never end. The honeyed apricot inflexions of broom. The tender powder of heliotrope. A bucolic bouquet made still richer with a sprig of velvety jasmine sambac. Underlined, like a stroke of shade intensifying the radience of an afternoon in the sun, by the smoky earthiness of vetiver. The first of a constellation of floral fragrances. Tilia is also, the name of an imaginary star. The one that shines on happy days. An ode to simplicity and optimism.’ – Marc-Antoine Barrois

Tilia is positioned in a new collection and new direction from the existing (and most would argue, more masculine leaning) line of Marc-Antoine Barrois and that is definitely what it delivers.

Perhaps Tilia is even more floral and delicate than I’d imagined and it feels completely different from the work Bisch has done for this brand so far. I would even argue, different from most other Bisch creations I’ve smelled in general. His style I’d typically see as more abstract, hyper-contemporary (and being one of the few that seems to evolve and make most out of that style). At least in the first hours, Tilia goes in a more traditional direction.

It is more minimal and clean than yesteryear’s big blossoming florals, but I’d say the scent is neither as contemporary, nor as abstract as I was expecting. Opting for a rather clean and familiar smelling floral. Texture-wise too, I find this powdery and, while I personally love powdery, I can absolutely see people referring to this as dated.

The notes list lime, whereas earlier reports on Tilia were centered around linden blossom (flowers of lime tree). I’m not overly familiar with the actual smell of linden, the couple of fragrances that I am familiar with pack much more of a punch, like the nearly animalic Baruti Onder de Linde. Instead, I find myself imagining a more lilac colored smell here; heliotrope, soft jasmine, ‘designer’ style non-indolic tuberose comes to mind as well, maybe even some violet. Frankly, this was not the tone that I was expecting and hoping, but it is done in a manner that I ended up liking.

Now most of what I said in the paragraph above applies to smelling Tilia in the air around me and in the first hour(s). When I smell my skin up close and more so in the drydown, I get a lot more pronounced fruity and green facets and that honeyed apricot accent that the brand’s description refers to is there. Here, the more interesting linden blossom scent peeks through the windows. The emphasis shifts a little bit, also making Tilia feeling more modern after all, with almost neon-acidic hits throughout the drydown. It goes a bit soapy on my skin, with a sweetness, so staying away from a really clean generic musky base. I can’t say that on my first wearing, I got any strong woodiness from Tilia.

What I like about it, is that it sticks to its floral core heavily; the powdery heliotrope could go much sweeter or this could have an overdose of white musk that dominates the entire drydown; I find both to be kept in check. I also have to commend the performance. On first wear, it was going pretty strong after about 10 hours and even 14 hours in there was a pleasant skin scent. It does wear much lighter and less sillage-heavy than what you’ll be used to from Marc-Antoine Barrois other releases.

What I don’t like about it, is that it plays it safe and that to me, it is perhaps too much of a departure from the Marc-Antoine Barrois line, although I also understand that Tilia is aimed at a difference audience, not at me per se. That being said, I can only tell you what I think of it personally and I would have preferred a heavier touch of Bisch’s abstraction, some of the spicy eccentricities found in the Ganymede and Maison Crivelli Tubereuse Astrale DNA’s or anything less conventional to break up this beautiful, but rather mundane bouquet. That would’ve put Tilia in a more familiar territory among the Marc-Antoine Barrois siblings. Now it finds itself closer to contemporaries such as Chanel Chance Eau Tendre or Creed Spring Flower, with the drydown reminding me a of Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s transparent work, albeit Tilia stays more floral. Also, Tilia is likely beating out all alternatives in the vicinity for my taste, so it’s by any means a solid to great release, but not necessarily what I was looking for.