Unisex For Everybody

What makes Unisex For Everybody interesting is not what it includes but what it commits to. The bergamot-cinnamon-elemi triangle is not a novel accord, but the proportions here skew deliberately bold. The bergamot arrives bright and assertive, the cinnamon follows without hesitation, and the elemi in the base adds a clean, slightly camphorated warmth that gives the drydown real character. Elemi itself is an underused material: a Philippine resin with a citrusy-balsamic profile that sits between frankincense and pine. In most fragrances it plays a supporting role. Here it is the closing statement.

The evolution

The opening is all citrus brightness. Italian bergamot announces itself with the sharp clarity of fruit peel on warm skin, clean, bright, impossible to miss. Within minutes the conifer aspect of the bergamot fades and the cinnamon arrives, unspooling into the warmth with a slightly sweet edge that gives the heart its character. The elemi enters quietly, adding a balsamic resinous depth that rounds the spice without softening it. By the mid-drydown the bergamot is gone and the cinnamon has settled into something skin-close and warm. The elemi carries the final hours, clean, slightly camphorated, resinous. The sillage that was assertive in the opening has become intimate. Close enough to notice, too refined to overpower. On fabric the elemi lingers into the next day, a faint warmth that resists washing out entirely.