Carnal Flower Eau de Parfum

Composed by Dominique Ropion in 2005, Frédéric Malle Carnal Flower Eau de Parfum shows more clearly than anything else what the house sets out to do: hand a perfumer a single idea and let the result be as extreme as that idea requires.

The idea here is tuberose, used at a concentration most houses would consider reckless. Before it arrives there is a cold, bitter overture of eucalyptus and galbanum, both sharply green, with melon and bergamot lending a brief watery sweetness. Then the flower takes over, creamy and rubbery and almost fleshy, and coconut beside it adds a soft milkiness that reads as warm skin instead of suntan oil. Jasmine, ylang ylang and orange blossom are layered in to broaden the floral middle, while white musk and amber at the bottom give it the long, quiet, body warmed finish that keeps people buying it.

Who it suits is a fair question, because this is not a polite perfume. It rewards anyone who likes a white flower at full volume and will frustrate anyone looking for something discreet. It reads as unisex in practice, works in heat better than most heavy florals because of that green opening, and asks for restraint in application: this is a perfume where a single spray is a real dose.

The Paris house behind it opened in 2000, founded by Frédéric Malle, whose family had been in perfumery long before him. Every scent is credited to the perfumer who composed it, which was an unusual way to sell perfume at the time and is now widely copied, and the perfumers it has worked with include Maurice Roucel, Carlos Benaim and Annick Menardo as well as Ropion. The business passed to The Estee Lauder Companies in 2015.