Note Pyramid
Phantom
Rabanne Phantom Parfum 30ml is the dressed up reading of a scent most people first met in a lighter form, and the small bottle exists so you can test that preference without committing to a large one.
Cardamom opens it, dry and faintly soapy rather than hot, with lemon and bergamot sharpening the first minute. Rhubarb is what makes the start unusual. It is sour, pink and a little stalky, more a tartness than a fruit, and it keeps the citrus from reading like a plain cologne.
The middle is where the higher concentration shows its purpose. Lavender comes through herbal and clean, geranium sets a green, slightly metallic edge against it, and the two hold the shape while cedarwood and patchouli rise underneath, the first dry and splintery, the second darker and faintly bitter, like turned soil after rain.
Vanilla, tolu balsam and Haitian vetiver close it. The vanilla is thick rather than sweet, the tolu balsam lends a sticky resinous warmth that clings to fabric, and the vetiver stays rooty and faintly smoky, which stops the whole base settling into dessert. At parfum strength the oil load is high, so two sprays will see out a long evening and five would be a waste. It is aimed at men, reads best after dark and in cold weather, and suits dinners and parties rather than a desk. Anne Flipo, Dominique Ropion and Juliette Karagueuzoglou composed it, and it arrived in 2023.
Rabanne began as a Paris fashion house, its designer having shown a first collection in 1966, and the perfume side came later through the Spanish group Puig, which built the division in 1968 and released Calandre the year after. Puig bought the whole business in 1987, and the modern successes, 1 Million and Invictus among the men's bottles, have come out of that arrangement. The Paco has since been dropped from the name.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
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