LesNez Manoumalia: Perfume Review

By Tom Has if really been two years since LesNez released their last perfumes? These days that's something like the run of the original Beetle. Perfume houses, even some niche ones seem duty-bound to release something on schedule, no matter how variations-on-a-theme or unfinished or just terribly "meh" they might be. Luckily, LesNez is not that sort of company. Created by perfumer Sandrine Videault, Manoumalia opens with a rush of clean, dry vetiver. If it had stopped there I would have been very happy. But what came after made me go "Squeee!": the sharp, clean vetiver was slowly joined by tiare flower and subsequently by amber. The gardenia-like tiare and resinous, glottal amber warm the scent like morning sun. Sandalwood and Ylang Ylang ground it, completing the whole south-seas effect. Reading this you might think that this could be way over the top and perhaps in lesser hands it could be; Ms. Videault cleverly keeps the sillage relatively on the down low and quite sly, and the scent is as apt to give off a whiff of that bracing vetiver as it is the delicious tiare. It manages to be gorgeous but office-friendly, sexy-as-hell yet discrete; it's a trip to the tropics just in time for the dreariest part of Winter. This one is scheduled for release in January, and it's to be hoped it will be at Luckyscent at about the same time. I have no idea about the price point, but if they can keep it in the $80- $90 dollar range I will be very happy.