Nomade (2018)
by Chloé

Chloé Nomade opens with juicy succulence of Mirabelle plum, sweeter, sunnier and less astringent than regular purple plums. I previously encountered this note in Givenchy Dahlia Divin, in which it tends to be ripen and stewed, quite heavy and opaque, while in Nomade, this Mirabelle plum feels more breezy and fresher, thanks to the powerful current of clean musk and dewy, aquatic freesia blowing from the heart. However, while the fruity and floral notes feel overall quite airy during the first 3 hours, the fragrance has an oddly irritating, scratchy texture especially in its moderate sillage.

Thankfully, Nomade turns smoother in the dry down. With the screechy sillage gone, now the fragrance sits close to skin, revealing a soft musky mossy cushion on which lay a few plums, a combined effect of fruity notes and patchouli. The longevity I got is around 8 hours.

To me, Nomade is a quintessential neo fruity chypre of our modern era. The basic stone fruit + musky mossy base is there, but it's designed as eager to please, sterilised and deprived of any earthy, vegetal or animalic warmth, and with certain aromachemicals to boost its sillage while bringing a grating texture as a sid-effect. However, even though it's not my cup of tea, I appreciate its relative lack of caramel sweetness compared to most gourmand fruitchouli in today's market, and its relative smooth mossy musky dry down. Nomade might be an option to consider for those who are graduating from sweet fruitchouli fragrances but aren't yet ready to step too much out of comfort zone.