Maison Martin Margiela (Untitled) – But not unloved (September 3, 2010 New Fragrance Listing)

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I never buy a bottle blind…anymore. I’ve been burned a few times – read and believed enticing product descriptions or reviews, suffered buyer's remorse, and frankly wasted my hard earned do-re-mi on a scrubber.

That’s why I started sampling – I like to try a scent on my skin and see how we get along. And I don’t pay as much attention to reviews as I used to because I don’t want anyone else’s opinion to influence me. If I read reviews, I use them as guidelines, as indicators that I might like a scent, but I still sample it before I buy. Always. Almost always.

Except when I was in Paris last week. I bought Maison Martin Margiela (Untitled) after one whiff. Who has time to mess around with samples, spraying testing and spraying when they are on vacay in Paris? I smelled it, I loved it so I bought it. Guess what? I still love it! Now that I’ve given this juice a home, I suppose I should read its papers and learn more about it.

Martin Margiela is a Belgian fashion designer, known for his avant garde fashions and while the design house still bears his name, it was bought by Diesel in 2002. (Untitled) is their first fragrance and was created by nose Daniela Andrier, (best known for her work for Prada) in collaboration with L’Oréal.

But what’s with the name, or lack of name, and the plain white packaging? He’s a bit of a rebel, our Martin, a real anti-establishment type who doesn’t like labels or names or recognition – better to let the work speak for itself. Maison Martin Margiela wants you to experience the scent without defining it for you. If they had called it “Flowers”, for example, people who don’t like flowers wouldn’t try it, wouldn’t experience it. By not naming it, you come to it fresh without pre-conceived notions, your senses open and ready for the ride – and oh, what a ride.

At the top, it opens with a bitter green note from galbanum, boxwood and bigaradier. As this passes, animalic/floral jasmine appears at the heart, giving it a dirty phase that stops the EDP from being too sweet. Lentisque gives it an herbaceous, spicy warmth. At the base, cedar and incense add a woody warmth, while musk gives it a creamy softness.

This is not a cool, clean springtime green scent, it has more depth and darkness than that. This is a woody, dark green, shot through with dirty jasmine, warmed by incense softened by musk. Deep, sensuous and gorgeous – yep, sometimes you gotta break your own rules and just go for it.

Maison Martin Margiela (Untitled) is listed in our Decant Store. Decants are $6.00 for 1 ml.