I don’t get nearly as excited for a Frédéric Malle scent as I used to. Their lackluster recent releases (Uncut Gem, Acne Studios, etc.) and the departure of the brand’s editor have further dampened my enthusiasm. The thrill is gone, as BB King would say. Well, not quite. My ears pricked up when I heard that one of my favourite perfumers, Annick Ménardo, was collaborating with the brand for the first time. In early April, Contre-Jour hit the shelves in Australia, and I marched myself down to the store to give it a sample.
There is evidence suggesting that Frédéric Malle was still with the brand when Contre-Jour was first conceived. In an interview he gave before leaving, Malle mentioned that the brand had brought in two new female perfumers to work on projects for the house. The first was Suzy Le Helley with Acne Studios, and now Annick Ménardo with Contre-Jour. Contre-Jour has Malle’s fingerprints all over it. I think it’s their most interesting release since Synthetic Jungle in 2021.
Contre-jour means “against the light” or “against daylight.” It is a style or technique in photography—originally used in painting—in which the camera is directed toward a light source, with the subject positioned between the camera and the light. The resulting backlit images have a dynamic, eye-catching feel, with strong contrast between light and dark, helping to emphasise lines, shapes, and silhouettes. There’s more to Contre-Jour than shooting silhouettes at sunset, though, but that’s not for this blog. It is indeed a thought-provoking name for a fragrance. How would the brand and Ménardo go about bringing the concept into the olfactory realm? Well, I think they’ve done a decent job.
The brand provides very few notes in their fragrance pyramid: just three—immortelle at the top, rose in the middle, and sandalwood at the base. While I suspect there might be more complexity to it, for the most part, Contre-Jour is primarily a duet between rose and immortelle. I immediately notice the immortelle, but it’s not syrupy, sharp, or overwhelming. Instead, it has a dry, hay-like quality and a fruity, herbaceous character reminiscent of chamomile—all in all a much gentler introduction to the fragrance than I was expecting.
I’m an immortelle fearing cream puff, so I’m more than happy with this relatively benevolent opening. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so surprised. The brand tends to temper some of the more challenging aspects of certain ingredients, as seen in “Vetiver Extraordinaire.” That fragrance becomes too sterile, though, like something straight from the lab. In Contre-Jour, however, they achieve a good balance with the immortelle. Some of its more curry-like facets emerge later, but they don’t overwhelm me as they do in “Sables,” for instance.
Rose runs alongside the immortelle. Upon spraying Contre-Jour, I thought to myself that they’ve used the same floral materials as in Rose & Cuir. It’s green, spicy, and geranium-like right from the off. However, while that fragrance becomes ashy and leathery, the rose in Contre-Jour feels more luminous. Indeed, it is bright and vibrant, aligning well with the marketing concept.
As it shakes off its Rose & Cuir associations, the rose becomes fruity and tangy, like a spiced mulled Christmas beverage. I thought of the festive Santal Majuscule with its ambery rose facets, but again only for a short time. For the first hour or two, the immortelle and rose alternate in and out of prominence, almost like a game of hide and seek. At times, the rose takes centre stage, while at other times the spotlight falls on the warm yellow immortelle.
After about two hours, the immortelle completely fades away, allowing the tangy, fruity rose to bloom. Malle already offers a variety of rose scents, so another one might not have been necessary. However, Contre-Jour doesn’t closely resemble any of their existing rose fragrances, aside from a brief similarity to Rose & Cuir in the opening notes. As it takes its final bow, I don’t notice the sandalwood. Instead, on my skin, Contre-Jour beds down on a musky, mossy, patchouli base.
Comparisons can be drawn between this fragrance and ELDO’s “Afternoon of a Faun” and Mendittorosa’s “Le Mat.” However, those scents feel darker, more heavily immersed in immortelle, and indeed more complex. The mossy, patchouli classical base of Contre-Jour feels more like a nod to Clinique’s Aromatic Elixir. It’s a thumbs up from me. To my surprise, it works as an agreeable immortelle scent on my skin.
I think they nailed the brief. It was an interesting exercise to analyse whether the rose or the immortelle came into sharper focus during the first couple of hours. Ultimately, though, do I need a bottle, or is it worth the price? I would say no. Still, it’s the best offering from the brand we’ve seen in a while. Can they maintain some consistency, which has been patchy at best since Estée Lauder got their hands on the brand? Perhaps their next scent will serve as a true litmus test for the direction they will take without their talismanic leader at the helm.
Have you tried Contre-Jour? Which of the brand’s many rose scents do you favour?
Note: Image of Contre-Jour bottle from the brand. All other images are my own.
