Eau de Parfum Philosopher’s Walk is the fourth release from Eugen Nizac’s emotional and profoundly beautiful brand Les Abstraits. Each perfume, created in collaboration with Master Perfumer Antoine Lie, is a meticulous and complex melange of materials and ideas. They smell divine. Lie has used the Grand Cru palette of natural materials, an haute level collection of absolutes from around the globe subject to three strict principles that provide an exceptionally powerful range of ingredients. Lie has always had a magical ability to understand the nuances and differing personalities of notes and how they blend, often subverting expectations of what is possible in perfumery. He is a resolutely modern, almost brutalist perfumer. It's possible to think about him in terms of someone who chooses to renovate a classic architectural project by grafting on something startling and seemingly inappropriate but then you realise the organic movement from style to style is genius. Lie likes to remind us of perfumes tropes and tendencies through time and then hone, cut, weave and engineer blocks, bolts and materials onto them, allowing us to experience vintage echoes refracted through an expert modern eye. Philosopher’s Walk is no exception, in fact it is a fabulously rendered exemplar of how Lie works, filtering a classic barbershop fougère through an eerie gauze of alien floral beauty. Perfect for both men and women due to its ambiguity and skilled coalescence of concepts. It is a judiciously assembled smoky floral, hazy with delicate powder, drifting over lavender fields, coming slowly to life under dawn-bruised skies. Philosopher’s Walk has distinctive elements that reflect the craftsmanship of grooming. The steam from hot towels placed on the face to soften the skin, frothy shaving soap and the finest grade talc to further soothe and dry the skin. A classic and hugely popular lotion was Pinard-Clubman with notes of orange, lemon, jasmine, lavender, musks and woods like pine or sandalwood. All of which are echoed throughout Philosopher’s Walk. An intriguing edition is costus, a root that adds a dirty ginger animalic vibe of unwashed hair and fur. This might sound a tad gross, but used as it is here with discretion, it creates a beautiful tension with the powdered dusting of violet and carnation, sparking memories of washed and cut hair in barber shops. Geranium, sparkling pink pepper, orange blossom, juniper and an aromatic Ceylonese cinnamon absolute further enhance the intricate plotting of notes. Despite its classically masculine coding, Philosopher’s Walk is most definitely a perfume for everyone, the joyous barbershop aspects blend seamlessly with a floral sensuality, it is both gauze and garment, blurred and nostalgic. Yet Lie and Eugen have succeeded in making an eau de parfum that smells sharply modern, tapping into distant dreams and memories. Composition Ionian Coast Bergamot, Italian Lemon, Neroli, Orange Blossom, Baie Rose, Cardamom, Clove, Ceylan Cinnamon, Artemisia Juniper, Moroccan Geranium, French Clary Sage Absolute, Carnation, Violet, Lavender en Provence Moroccan Cedar Moss Absolute, Haitian Vetiver, Vetiver Haiti, Aceh Indonesian Patchouli, Costus, Musk, Benzoin, Tonka Bean, Vanilla Country of origin indicates Grands Crus materials produced by L’Atelier Français des Matières. Perfumer: Antoine Lie, 2025 ingredients: Alcohol denat, Parfum (fragrance), Aqua (water), Vanillin, Geranyl acetate, Pelargonium graveolens flower oil, Rose ketone, Sclareol, Citrus aurantium bergamia peel oil, Citrus limon peel oil, Pogostemon cablin oil, Tetramethylacetyloctahydronaphtalenes, Hexamethylindanopyran, Alpha-isomethyl ionone, Citral, Citronellol, Geraniol, Cinnamal, Coumarin, Amyl salicylate, Beta caryophyllene, Camphor, Cedrus atlantica oil / extract, Cinnamomum zeylanicum bark oil, Limonene, Linalool, Eugenol, Eugenia caryophyllus oil, Lavandula oil / extract, Linalyl acetate, Pinene, Terpineol, Evernia furfuracea extract (treemoss), BHT, Ethylhexyl salicylate, Butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane (avobenzone).
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