Maison Violet Abime image via the brand

Falling slowly, eyes that know me
And I can’t go back
And moods that take me and erase me
And I’m painted black

Well, you have suffered enough
And warred with yourself
It’s time that you won

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We’ve still got time
Raise your hopeful voice, you have a choice
You’ve made it now

Falling slowly, sing your melody
I’ll sing it loud-“Falling Slowly” by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová

Abime image via Instagram

In world religions and in literature, the abyss is most often a fearful, dark place, the way to the underworld, a place unknown, unlit, unseen, where existence itself is an unanswered question. In such a void, what is self? During the early days of the pandemic, many of us felt lost, as if we had stepped into a void where familiar boundaries were erased. Certainty faced an unknown monster; safety went and hid. We were rootless and lost.

And yet, darkness is not always scary. Think of the celestial promise of the night sky with its infinite faraway stars; those velvety moments before sleep comes, where there is no sound, no light, and the body goes soft and warm; the ceremonial incense that floats leisurely towards heaven and merges into black nothingness, its lingering scent calming and quiet. A place without walls, form, light can feel unmoored and terrifying, or it can offer the intoxication of freedom if we can, like Alice, just allow ourselves to fall.

Falling image via Pixabay

With its dense woods and black pepper, Maison Violet Abime – ‘abyss” in French – from Maison Violet is not afraid of the dark. But Firmenich master perfumer Nathalie Lorson’s creation is not the sooty, witchy brew its name might first imply. It is instead equal parts soothing woods and prickly spice, a scent for reconciling darkness as both antagonist and friend. The tenacious peppercorn note that opens Abime initially puts in mind Comme Des Garçons Black Pepper but also the stunning Le Labo Poivre 23, which was also created by Lorson. Here, she again mixes spiky spice with comforting notes and dusts them with incense. But the two perfumes take quite different paths. Where Poivre 23 sank into a bed of vanilla and rich resin like a voluptuous odalisque, Abime goes a cooler, more austere route, blending hot piquancy with the smoothest, silkiest woods, palo santo and sandalwood.

 Master Perfumer Nathalie Lorson, image via The Perfume Society

Lorson begins Maison Violet Abime with a cheeky nod to hellfire courtesy of the hot chili pepper that tips into the opening like a drip of hot sauce. After it ignites the fragrance, the chili simmers down and makes way for the black pepper that dominates Abime’s first half. If I close my eyes and reapply, I get the peppery zing alongside something opaque but calming: palo santo. With its anisic, milky quality, palo santo is an excellent foil for the jumpy heat of pepper, combining just a touch of black licorice with the wood’s soothing creaminess (I’d like to think this choice of wood is also a deliberate tip of the hat to the perfume’s concept).

Oannès I, the First Consciousness of Chaos, Arose from the Abyss to Harden Matter, to Regulate Form from The Temptation of Saint Anthony by Odilon Redon, 1896 via WikiArt

As the feisty pepper notes push against tranquil wood aromas, the coniferous smell of elemi dances into the fragrance’s center. With its herbaceous, grapefuity zip, elemi provides a graceful bridge between sandalwood and palo santo and the spice notes. As Abime progresses towards drydown, it softens from hot glow to ember warmth. Light incense cloaks the fragrance in a dusty veil, and the familiar, schoolroom smell of cedar reinforces Abime’s consoling aura. An hour later, Abime is simultaneously dark, barbed pepper and cool, satiny woods, part provocateur, part ally; the smell of racing thoughts that are giving way to calm. The sensation is strangely lovely.

Lorson’s other compositions for Maison Violet have led to some lovely, sprightly fragrances, each defined by the same seamlessness and elegance I have found in much of her work. Abime, their dark sister, joins them.

Notes: Black pepper, chili pepper, palo santo, elemi, sandalwood, cedar and incense.

Disclaimer: Sample of Maison Violet Abime kindly provided by Indigo Perfumery. My opinions, as always, are my own.

Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor

Bottle of  Abime courtesy of the brand

Thanks to the generosity of Indigo Perfumery, we have a 50 ml bottle of Maison Violet Abime for one registered reader in the U.S. ONLY. To be eligible, please leave a comment describing what draws you to Abime based on Lauryn’s review. Draw closes 4/13/2023.

Follow us on Instagram: @cafleurebonofficial @elledebee @violet.parfums @indigoperfumery @nathalielorson_masterperfumer

This is our Privacy and Draw Rules Policy.

We announce the winners on our site and on our Facebook page, so please “like” ÇaFleureBon and use our blog feed, or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume