I was looking through a picture book on birds when I wore Le Troisième Homme de Caron for the first time. A work of Albrecht Dürer’s — an illustration of a wing of Coracias garrulus — caught my attention. The disembodied wing, with its glossy blue, green, yellow and black feathers, possesses a sad beauty; it’s impossible to forget all that’s missing from that wing: a body, a beating heart, a song. Like the beautiful wing that’s “lost” its bird, Le Troisième Homme is a lovely aroma fragment that seems to have become separated from its perfume.

Listing the notes for Le Troisième Homme seems pointless*; it’s one well-blended fragrance. (I’ve been wearing Le Troisième Homme for weeks, hoping it would “fragment” on my skin or clothes and reveal an individual note or two; this has not happened. Le Troisième Homme is a linear fragrance.) Le Troisième Homme begins, and ends, with a sweet, floral-fruit aroma (almost like the scent of gardenia buds and lemon peel submerged in ice wine). The scent is liqueur-y, dense, and has a creamy floral character…

Read the rest of this article »