Sombres Dessins Jovoy Paris Eau de Parfum

Sombres Dessins by Jovoy Paris is a Woody fragrance for women and men. Sombres Dessinswas launched in 2015. Top notes are Pink Pepper and Bergamot; middle notes are Rose, Patchouli, Saffron and Osmanthus; base notes are Sandalwood, Olibanum, Rum and Labdanum.

Not being a perfumer and having no special gift or predisposition to compose, is a huge frustration for me. I have ideas. I know the raw materials having spent time distilling some in Vietnam and I know the perfume vocabulary from my time working in Grasse. But I will always be missing the talent to express myself. Fragrances haunt me, they grow on me. However, this frustration is overcome by the richness of my encounters with perfumers who kimdly embrace my stories. It’s like being a writer who meets an illustrator with his own style and who will create a universe that someone else would see another way.

"During my years in Grasse, I was lucky enough to be sent to India and to experience the distillation of Mysore sandalwood. It left me a unique memory of creamy, saturated, almost deafening notes. And such a strong fragrance! My clothes and skin seemed like they were soaked in it. It is hard to forget such an alchemy when you’ve experienced it.
"Beyond that note which has become a fantasy (you can no longer use Mysore sandalwood; the forests are protected after having been overexploited), I needed a story to give volume to a single note. Sandalwood is good, but it is a bit monotonous on its own. The trilogy taking shape, the personality of Sombre Dessins (which means 'Dark Designs') imposed itself during a discussion with friends, suddenly becoming obvious.

"For me sandalwood expresses a dark beauty. The opulence of its oil and its strength makes it an extraordinary raw material in the longevity of a composition. By itself, it's almost supernatural, it’s a potion that embraces you, it’s mesmerizing, it’s the Holy Grail of raw materials when we wish to express sensuality."

"And like most of Jovoy’s perfumes, the name Sombres Dessins revolves around a pun. We could have called it Sombre desseins or 'Dark Intentions'. But he who wears it doesn’t have those intentions. He is not Machiavellian, he doesn’t not need to be. He has a natural understanding of our codes, standards and of how things work. On his skin, his perfume is a trap. It is a hot and sweet cocoon full of intoxicating spices and hidden flowers. It is the Siren’s song from which no one can escape." - Francois Henin