L’Artisan Parfumeur Passage d’Enfer Extrême Review (Olivia Giacobetti) 2021 + Smoky Lily Draw

January 24, 2021January 24, 2021

L’Artisan Parfumeur Passage d’Enfer Extrême (digital collage/effects by Despina Veneti)©

Twenty-two years after the release of Passage d’Enfer EdT, L’Artisan Parfumeur presents Passage d’Enfer Extrême, an EdP signed by pioneering independent perfumer Olivia Giacobetti, creator of the original scent. The darkly poetic undertones of the 1999-launched fragrance’s name (literally meaning “Passage to Hell”) were an unexpected match to a scent that was bright, airy, and contemplative: an incense-crowned white lily that symbolized a moment suspended between two worlds; an olfactive pathway to another state of being, rather than to eternal darkness.

Counter-clockwise: Perfumer Olivia Giacobetti, the original 1999 bottle of L’Artisan Parfumeur Passage d’Enfer EdT, the fragrance’s brand new 2021 look & illustration of the Passage d’Enfer in Paris’ 14^th arrondissement (photos via L’Artisan Parfumeur)©

At the same time, the name reflected the playful spirit of the historic French House’s founder/first perfumer Jean-François Laporte: Passage d’Enfer is an actual (by now privatized) passage in Paris’s 14^th arrondissement, where the company was originally based; moreover, the fragrance’s moniker seemed – at least to me – to humorously address all those “end of the world” theories that were flourishing just before the dawn of the new millennium.

Ling Liu photographed by Ben Hassett© for Vogue China©, 2017

Passage d’Enfer’s balance between the mystical and the sensual, as well as its ethereal abstraction, struck a chord with many consumers that were looking for something new, modern and exciting on the eve of 21^st century. Having successfully stood the test of time, L’Artisan Parfumeur Passage d’Enfer still has many a devoted fan around the world, and especially in Asia where it remains the brand’s best-selling scent. In Chinese, the fragrance’s name is translated as “Passage to the Underworld”, making the theme of passing from one state to another even clearer; it is, after all, a theme that timelessly remains at the core of most Asian philosophies and religions.

Red spider lilies in Saitama, Japan (photo by Miya Sho©)

It was only fitting that a lily native to Asia would be used for L’Artisan Parfumeur Passage d’Enfer Extrême’s imagery: it is lycoris radiata, commonly called “red spider lily”, but also known by many other names among various cultures (the most usual ones being “resurrection lily”, “hell flower” and “flower of the heavens”). Since the plant’s scarlet, spiky flower clusters never co-exist with its green foliage, red spider lily is considered a symbol of the separation between the “two worlds”, and of the “cycle of rebirth”. Its vivid red color has replaced the previously white label of the Passage d’Enfer EdT bottle, and adorns that of Passage d’Enfer Extrême EdP, as well as the corresponding body care products. Intrigued by the beauty of the flower, I asked the brand about its olfactory profile; I was told that the visually striking red spider lily was chosen for story-telling purposes, and that it’s actually the white lily that is used in the formula of L’Artisan Parfumeur Passage d’Enfer Extrême (lycoris radiata is apparently much less fragrant).

Smoky Red Lily (digital collage/effects by Despina Veneti©, inspired by L’Artisan Parfumeur Passage d’Enfer Extrême)

Nonetheless, the lily of L’Artisan Parfumeur Passage d’Enfer Extrême feels quite different from the one of the original EdT, in both character and behaviour. In Passage d’Enfer EdT, a radiant, translucent white lily initiates the olfactory journey, surrounded by a mist of incense that feels carried in by the breeze from a far away cathedral. In Passage d’Enfer Extrême, it’s the incense that launches the aromatic adventure, with the flower slowly emerging amidst the fumes. The incense itself significantly differs, too, compared to the 1999-composed Passage d’Enfer EdT: it is intensely smoky, dense, more woody than resinous. The hazy lily that appears through the cloud of frankincense could very well be perceived as red-hued: sprinkled with pink pepper, it feels warm, inviting. Each time I think that the lily will take the lead in the composition, it teasingly retreats behind the smoke until its next reappearance; this hide-and-seek makes for a surprisingly playful experience, until the sober, but enjoyable, base of ambery woods, creamy sandalwood, and comforting vanilla takes over. The drydown of L’Artisan Parfumeur Passage d’Enfer Extrême is softly woody, embellished with light floral touches, and a strong, clean-musk undercurrent.

L’Artisan Parfumeur Passage d’Enfer Extrême (photo courtesy of L’Artisan Parfumeur)©

Even though it shares most of its notes with the original Passage d’Enfer EdT of 1999, the new L’Artisan Parfumeur Passage d’Enfer Extrême of 2021 is an aromatic experience on its own. If Passage d’Enfer EdT was a meditative, otherworldly lily under a halo of airy incense, Passage d’Enfer Extrême EdP feels like a more directly sensuous, atmospheric olfactory impression of a tinted lily peeking through a cloud of burning incense and woods. A distinctive fragrance on its own merit, L’Artisan Parfumeur Passage d’Enfer Extrême succeeds in offering a more intense, gender fluid variant on the incense-lily theme, without abandoning its fragrant “ancestor’s” delicacy, subtlety, and austere charm.

Official Notes: Incense, Lily, Jasmine, Sandalwood, Cedarwood, Musk, Vanilla.

Disclaimer: I’d like to thank L’Artisan Parfumeur for my bottle of Passage d’Enfer Extrême. The opinions are my own.

– Despina Veneti, Senior Editor

Thanks to the generosity of L’Artisan Parfumeur, we have a draw for a 100ml bottle of L’Artisan Parfumeur Passage d’Enfer Extrême EdP (value: 145€) for one registered reader in USA, EU or UK. You must register here or your comment will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what you enjoyed most about Despina’s review, if you have a favorite L’Artisan Parfumeur fragrance, and where you live. Draw closes 1/27/21

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