The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Lacrima takes its name from the Latin for tear, not the hurried kind, but the rare pearl that escapes the corner of the eye. A precious water, laden with your most intimate emotions. The house conceived it as part of the Les Humeurs collection. Anne-Sophie Behaghel translated that tension into a composition that opens bright and crystalline, then settles into something darker, earthier, closer to the body. The top notes arrive like light hitting water, sparkling and immediate, before the composition deepens into warmer territory. There's an almost shimmering quality to the transition as the fragrance moves from that initial brilliance into something more grounded, more personal. The name is the concept: precious liquid made from feeling.
What makes Lacrima distinctive is its refusal to stay still. The aldehydes give it a cold, luminous opening that most compositions leave behind quickly. But in this composition, those aldehydes persist, threading through the heart where pink pepper and elemi work against that brightness rather than replacing it. The result is a fragrance that feels like it's arguing with itself, warmth against cold, sparkle against depth. Then the base arrives: benzoin's sweet resin, moss's earthy damp, labdanum's smoke, and castoreum's animalic presence. The animalic doesn't dominate. It haunts.
The evolution
The opening arrives sharp and bright. Aldehydes first, then pink pepper's prickle. The combination reads like the smell of a candle just extinguished, smoke and light at once. It holds there for an extended period before the elemi resin announces itself, softening the edges, adding warmth to the cold. The woody notes build underneath, not dramatic, just structural. By the second hour, the heart is fully in control: warm, resinous, close. The aldehydes have faded but not disappeared. Then the base takes over. Benzoin first, sweet, slightly vanillic. Moss next, earthier than expected. Labdanum adds smoke without drama. And the castoreum. That's the note that outlasts everything else. It lingers. Faintly animalic, faintly leathery, close to the skin but unmistakable if someone leans in. On fabric, it can last into the next day.
Cultural impact
Lacrima was part of the house's Les Humeurs collection, a group of fragrances exploring different emotional states. Its resinous-spicy character and animalic edge placed it among the more challenging compositions in the niche market, the kind of fragrance that attracts people tired of safe, mainstream options. Since its 2014 launch, it has maintained a loyal following among those who appreciate complexity and aren't afraid of a scent that lingers.
