Above the Waves.

The idea came from a ritual, tea as a way of reconnecting with stillness. Mathieu Nardin built Above the Waves around that premise, drawing from the meditative quality that tea ceremonies offer. Three teas anchor the composition, Ceylon for its brightness, oolong for its depth, maté for its bitter earth, and each one arrives in sequence rather than all at once. Bergamot and frankincense open the top, clean and aromatic. Rose softens the heart. Cypress, cedar, and vetiver arrive last, anchoring the base with their woody presence. The fragrance unfolds slowly, asking you to follow along as each layer reveals itself, the way attention settles when you stop trying to hold onto everything at once.

What makes this composition unusual is the sequencing. Tea fragrances typically blend their notes into a single accord, tea plus supporting players. Above the Waves treats each tea as a distinct phase, letting Ceylon, oolong, and maté arrive one after another like chapters. The bergamot-frankincense opening clears space for this, providing a clean backdrop. Rose appears in the heart not as a florist's addition but as a counterpoint, delicate and slightly cool. The base builds from cypress and cedar, with vetiver adding its distinctive smoky and mineral character.

The opening arrives fast: bergamot and frankincense, clean and airy. Within minutes the teas begin their hand-off, Ceylon first, brisk and citrus-adjacent, then oolong settling in with something deeper and richer. The rose doesn't announce itself so much as surface, a cool note against the warmth of the tea. This is where the composition earns attention: the middle section unfolds methodically, each tea taking its turn before the next arrives. Three to four hours in, the base takes over. Cypress and cedar arrive together, their woody structures familiar now against the tea. Vetiver underneath does the work of making everything feel closer to skin than to air. The drydown reads as wood driven by vetiver, the smoky and mineral qualities giving the fragrance its final character. It doesn't disappear so much as recede, becoming part of the wearer rather than something worn.

Above the Waves takes a different approach than some of the house's earlier releases. Where Sécrétions Magnifiques and Putain des Palaces sought reactions through shock, this one asks for patience. The tea structure rewards attention in a way that citrus-fresh fragrances rarely do. It's the fragrance for someone who doesn't need to announce themselves, who arrives present and unhurried, comfortable simply being there.