Olfactory memory takes you home, which for Parisian couture designer Nabil Hayari is the fragrance of the Atlas Mountains. Stretching across Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, the mountains are home to a number of plant species unique to Africa, including the Atlas cedar and the Algerian oak.
Hayari launched his fragrance line in 2010 with a collection of three feminine fragrances that reflect the red-carpet glamour and erotic femininity of his couture gowns.
© Hayari
Le Paradis de l’Homme, one of Hayari’s first two male fragrances, launched in the States in the spring of 2014 with a benefit at Trump World Tower adjacent to the United Nations.
Categorized as a leather fragrance, Le Paradis de l’Homme jolts the memory with a burst of schinus, the source of pink peppercorn. The spicy top note is followed by a waft of redwood and cedar, a mélange not unlike the blanket chest at the base of your grandmother’s bed on the top floor of the family home, where the heat of the summer sun warmed the hardwood floors.
Perfumer Dorothee Piot, who is also the nose behind Hayari’s Goldy, evokes the green of the Atlas woodlands with a soft bed of vetiver and oak moss, anchored by musk.
© Hayari
As luxurious as a butter leather jacket on the catwalk during fashion week, Le Paradis de l’Homme lingers in the air like an urbane gentleman who has graced you with his presence. The sophistication of sandalwood ripples the atmosphere as he passes through the room.
As charismatic and charming as the designer, Le Paradis de l’Hommeevokes a North African masculinity underscored by tenderness.
Packaged in a cut crystal vessel with leather embellishments, Le Paradis de l’Homme is produced at15% eau de parfum.
