As I begin to follow a brand I am always interested in trying to define a particular brand aesthetic. I believe if a brand can create this it allows for a perfume buyer an opportunity to connect more strongly to it. Through the first ten releases Ex Nihilo was forming what I thought might be an emerging aesthetic. With the eleventh release, Love Shot, that aesthetic is mostly left behind. Which leaves me wondering if it is outlier or is it more similar than I think?
Love Shot is the second of two new Ex Nihilo releases helmed by perfumer Nathalie Gracia-Cetto. Creative directors Sylvie Loday, Benoit Verdier, and Olivier Royere asked Mme Gracia-Cetto to create a modern floral chypre. The previous florals within the Ex Nihilo collection have had a very extroverted presence which hearken back to the powerhouse florals of the past. It has been that embrace of the structures of perfume from decades ago which had me thinking this was the eventual identity of Ex Nihilo as a brand. Love Shot is a very modern version of a classic perfume type.
Nathalie Gracia-Cetto
Mme Gracia-Cetto chooses a fruity floral beginning with peony supported with a bit of raspberry. The raspberry imparts a tartness instead of the sweetness which I find so off-putting in this style. Having the fresh floralcy of the peony in place it allows jasmine to be the real star floral of this floral chypre. I like the expansiveness of the jasmine as it adds a tremendous amount of lift to Love Shot. So much so that the raspberry peeks out again. Then we head to the chypre base accord which Mme Gracia-Cetto constructs from patchouli, vetiver, and musk. This combination is starting to become the standard go-to for a modern chypre. What makes it different is how each perfumer chooses to balance the ingredients. Here the musks are amplified a little more so the vetiver and patchouli add a little less bite than they might. The choice works particularly well in Love Shot because Mme Gracia-Cetto matches the chypre accord with a leather accord. This is a classical leather accord very refined but not so far as to be suede more motorcycle jacket. Together this leathery chypre is a wonderful foil to the jasmine and raspberry.
Love Shot has 12-14 hour longevity and average sillage.
Love Shot represents a contemporary quality that most of the rest of the Ex Nihilo collection does not display. I think if I smelled it blind I would have guessed a whole lot of other brands before probably giving up and being surprised at the answer. Where it is similar is in its desire to push towards the limits of a style. As a fruity floral chypre I found Love Shot to be much more interesting than most perfumes of this ilk. That’s because it feels modern and vintage at different turns. Which might be the reason Love Shot is not an outlier just a different perspective on a vintage aesthetic.
Disclosure: This review is based on a sample provided by Ex Nihilo.
–Mark Behnke
