Mandala Masque Milano. Interpreted by Christian Carbonnel. Eau de Parfum.

Head Notes: Frankincense, Nutmeg, Angelica.
Heart Notes: Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cloves, Cistus, Cedar, Incense.
Base Notes: Myrrh, Sandalwood, Oakmoss, Tincture of Natural Ambergris.

A triumph of myrrh, incense and spices. Mandala opens with a kaleidoscope of spices, creating the feeling of a whopping medical-dipped oud, sweaty, shuddering and sensual. Yet no agarwood was employed in the composition.

A steroidal incense work, myrrh and frankincense smashed into one-another with great energy. Christian’s perfume work is cleverly composed of ingredients he understands very well and combined in such a way as to impact the senses in a vivid-fireworks-in-the dark style.

The myrrh and frankincense punch out at you simultaneously; for a dizzying moment the mind and nose are overwhelmed. You’d be forgiven for thinking these two notes will be the only things you will smell, such is the kickass joy of the overture. Then then two coalesce into a single high-toned note, steady and unbroken, the odd vegetal bitterness of the myrrh smoothed out by the woody ancient Zen of frankincense. Two materials in fascinating harmony yet still discernible as separate components.

Eventually, Mandala was launched in 2017 alongside Bruno Jovanovic’s Times Square. The two fragrances project two quite different facets of Masque Milano, indeed a duo of perfumes divergent enough in style as to cause a few ripples of intrigue in the busybody world of perfume gossip.