Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 + Champaca review

J’s image of Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 + Champaca.

Following on from the dark delight of Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 + Cistus, Geza Schoen focuses on the rare champaca flower with the new release Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 + Champaca. Champaca is a flower full of character and one you don’t get to experience often in perfumes as the main player. Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 + Champaca shows it off beautifully pairing it with the minimal abstract nature of Iso E Super as their meeting becomes a tale of two lovers as contrasting elements merge into a beautiful perfume.

Perfumer Geza Schoen of Escentric Molecules courtesy of the brand.

Geza Schoen’s now classic Molecule 01’s Iso E Super magic really highlights the stunning yet subtle complexities of Champaca making Molecule 01 + Champaca feel complex, yet so beautiful and easy to wear. Its opening’s fleshy allure has the steamy heady density of orange blossom which plays nicely with the Iso E Super, forming a rich muskiness that’s biteable. This soft veil of steamy floral silk wraps round you purring with desire yet feels very elegant. It makes me think of the scene in the new “Wuthering Heights” directed by Emerald Fennell, where the silk veil is covering Catherine’s, Margot Robbie, face as she walks across the fields to marry Edgar. That stunning softness flowing around her, yet her face is still revealed albeit in a soft focus with her graceful dress flowing out behind. Though Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 + Champaca‘s heady side is more akin the yearning lust between Catherine and Heathcliff, desire wrapped in elegance with layers of complexity reminiscent of their layers of clothes. Humming with gentle kiss of spice and body heat from that dense musk of orange blossom making it glow.

J’s ‘Wuthering Heights” collage, images copyright Emerald Fennell and Warner Bros. Pictures.

There’s a bitter green neroli facet that stands out on my skin, when combined the Iso E Super pairs beautifully with the orange blossom and darker almost leathery facets of the Champaca creating a kind of classic eau de cologne. This is where Heathcliff comes in as he wraps himself around Catherine’s floral musks making the Champaca sparkle like a dry champagne as if it’s been poured slowly over the rare seductive flower. It’s this champagne like quality that gives Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 + Champaca a vertical feel, ethereal in the way its top notes rise up. You get some subtle green tea aromas too, lightly sweet with a subtle grassy freshness, adding to the traditional eau de cologne fresh elements, while also making me think of some of the softer side of Molecule 01 + Black Tea. It’s feels very clean and refreshing even with the Iso E Super emphasising the warmth of your body. There’s a velvety greenness that is oh so beautiful to wear.

Escentric Molecules 01 + Champaca courtesy of the brand.

At the dry down more of the Iso E Super woodiness arrives, as it merges with the Champaca it gives the woods a steamed feel. Almost sauna like, lots of cedar notes come through but they feel more like woods made of silk, ones that release a hazy floral musky steam when heated. Molecule 01 + Champaca gets slightly leathery, again, as if the leather was formed of layers of transparent fabric . Molecule 01’s classic white abstract musks slink beneath the champaca in a beautiful way, leaving a stunning trail in its wake as the two materials glides over and through each other. The interplay of the soft and harder facets of these two materials is stunning. Gentle yet rugged, Geza Schoen beautifully expands the complexities of Champaca with his deft use of Iso E Super to tease out the contrasts that play within this fragrant flower.

courtesy of the brand.

Molecule 01 + Champaca holds a beautiful tension of brimming desire, tin a controlled way. Catherine and Heathcliff’s yearning lust captured in the tension of these two materials. Molecule 01 + Champaca feels like smooth floral silks gliding delicately over naked cedar wood as if it was moved by a light breeze on a warm summer’s eve. Another stunning release from Escentric Molecules pairing minimalism with a beautifully complex material and making it radiant and luminous.

Notes: Iso E Super, Champaca.

Discloser: J went to a local shop to test Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 + Champaca for review, his nose, thoughts are his own.

J Wearescentient – Senior Editor, artist and olfactive writer.

Please read one of Michelyn’s many interviews with Geza Schöen here

J’s review of M+ Black Tea here. Please watch Video Contributor Steven Gavriolatos’s Black Tea and Guaiac Wood and Ginger

Molecule 01 is a ÇaFleureBon Modern Masterpiece. More here.

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