“It’s fairly addictive, that factor,” says Frédéric Malle, founder of legendary perfume home Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle. He’s referring, of course, to Uncut Gem, a brand new outing within the olfactive arts that takes its title from Uncut Gems, the Safdie Brothers’ 2019 masterpiece starring Adam Sandler and Julia Fox.The perfume is a cautious configuration of perfumer Maurice Roucel’s private scent — a method he created only for himself. “I at all times thought, ‘Hm, this may be good for me; thanks very a lot,'” Malle says of Roucel’s signature odor. “[He] would not give it to me.”But after 5 years, Roucel agreed to lend his nostril to Malle. Tweaking and retuning Roucel’s bespoke juice for Editions de Parfums, the pair retained the juniper, angelica, and mandarin of his unique method, including in frankincense, musk, and a heaping of a brand new molecule known as Ambrocenide Crystal, a powerfully woody, amber-y artificial that Malle describes as “nuclear armament.”Brash but delicate, exhausting but comfortable, tough but refined, Uncut Gem is a paradox, a dialectic between extremes. “Maurice is a really masculine man and since it began from his fragrance, I see [Uncut Gem] as very rugged, very manly,” Malle says. “We’ve by no means labeled perfumes masculine or female… People [are] free to see themselves carrying them or not.”Although I see [Uncut Gem] as very masculine, many ladies are carrying it. I suppose that is at all times the case with profitable perfumes. Women prefer to put on males’s shirts or massive watches… it creates that fascinating distinction.”And now, the query you have all been ready for Malle to reply: how does Uncut Gems, the film, relate to Uncut Gem, the perfume?”I really like the movie,” Malle says, clarifying that the scent’s substance has “nothing to do with the theme of the fragrance” — simply its title.”I used to be attempting to name it [something like] Diamond within the Rough, which was not nice. And then I obtained Uncut Gem. It’s just a little bit like Carnal Flower — the title was impressed by Carnal Knowledge, the movie — or Portrait of a Lady, which is straight impressed by the e book.”Still, there’s one thing about Uncut Gem that, at first whiff, hooks you just like the frenetic vitality of a Safdie Brothers movie. As haunting as Howard Ratner’s demise, Malle and Roucel’s newest will lodge itself firmly in your thoughts.
https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/frederic-malle-uncut-gem-interview/
