L'Antimatière (2006)
by LesNez

While many will complain that this is "rain water, a pretentious piece of crap or the emperor's new clothes," I can only say one thing about L'Antimatiere: You smell it or you don't.

When I first tried it, it was during hay fever season, and so I smelled next to nothing. Come the end of fall, I went for a jog and cleared my sinuses, then took another stab at L'Antimatiere. Lo and behold, it was super potent, with an overload of white musk, the *slightest, almost unnoticeable touch of something salty and animalic (I'm guessing this is the ambergris) and a touch of vetiver in the top notes. It's no surprise that L'Antimatiere is hard to smell, as the molecules must be enormous, granted how musky it is (musk molecules tend to be big). You really need to have your sinuses clear if you want to smell it in all its glory. Otherwise, L'Antimatiere tends to pop in and out of consciousness, sometimes only becoming noticeable when you're not paying attention. Not only is it hard to smell unless you're allergy-free, but olfactory habituation tends to occur remarkably fast with L'Antimatiere as well.

I definitely do not find it light, and I can also vouch for 48+ hour longevity. I remember taking a shower two days later and suddenly being overcome with a cloud of white musk. Somehow it manages to pop out again when your body heats up.

I can't say I didn't enjoy L'Antimatiere, but for someone who doesn't like white musk, it just didn't cut it for me. I do however think it's a great piece of art, and definitely smells like the olfactory equivalent of invisible ink. It also layers remarkably well with Mitsouko (as Isabelle Doyen has been known to do herself), however Mitsouko EdP is already perfect in my mind, and doesn't require any tampering, however tempting it may be.

8.25/10

Even rain water has a stronger presence than this obnoxious piece of bourgeois crap (do you really think some pretentious poem is going to help me ‘understand’ or even appreciate this pathetic creation of nothingness?). If you really need something ‘super clean’, buy Gendarme instead (or just go outside and collect some rain water).

What a complete rip-off!

[Original submission date: 25 May 2008]

it's so interesting that such a fleeting scent has inspired my first review on basenotes. i had such a strong visceral response to this scent that i just had to post.

first off, to everyone who says it's barely there, i have to absolutely agree. my first reaction was this is water and alcohol. purplebird7, who said "The Emperor's New Clothes", is so right on the money! it's so non-existent that i could not and should not ever shell out the cash for a bottle. luckily i nabbed a large sample.

now what i like about it: it's my husband! to me, it's not clean laundry, it's not air. to me, it's like light musk that smells like my husband after a long day. it's a clean, human, natural smell. after i sprayed this on me, i can hardly detect anything. and now i'm getting whiffs here and there, and i'm like "darling are you there?" it smells like my husband smells in bed. it's beautiful. it's amazing.

and sadly, despite the fact that i'm in awe and wonder at the moment, i would never pay for this.

Wow, I really like this. Maybe it's down to individual skin chemistry or noses, but on me, the natural, seductive scent is quite robust - I don't have to work at all to smell it! It conjures up a familiar, delicious bed partner, in clean sheets but naked and right next to me. As it dries, I get the hit of vetiver adding a little complexity to the gentle musk. Gorgeous.

seems like an unusual white musk whom soapyness has been taken out to leave only with skin, hair and sebum, the whole thing without trace of any «dirtiness» or even warmth for instance. Like someone stepped out of the shower and did'nt use any soap or shampoo. Probably little more complicated than that actualy. A perfume designed not only to not smell of perfume but to smell of nothing at all but the person who is wearing it. So what's the point of doing something like this? Perhaps to see how far can you push the concept (or anti-concept ;) of abstraction or minimalism in contemporary perfume art? Perhaps to fool customers and perfume enthusiasts? Perhaps to make a big joke? I don't know but I had never smelled any thing like this before.

Ps: Am I crazy or do I smell l'Antimatière in Encens Flamboyant by Goutal?

I can smell it only when I'm not wearing it. On paper it smells very clean and a little herbal. According to Silvio Levi, who imports Les Nez perfumesi in Italy, it has only three notes: oakmoss, musk and ambergris, all of them normally used as basenotes, because they are made of very heavy molecules, that can not be smelled immediatly, but only after a while. This, I think, explains why some people can't smell it: it has no headnote. In my opinion, with its strange way to fade and then reappear and be smelled again, l'Antimatiere is more the ghost of a scent, than a real fragrance. A weird experiment in fringe perfumery, that I appreciate but would'nt buy.