The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Les Liquides Imaginaires emerged from a Parisian art gallery in 2011, where designer Philippe Di Méo first presented fragrances as olfactory installations within a gallery context. The immediate response from visitors prompted a partnership with industry veteran David Frossard, transforming what began as artistic experiment into a complete perfume house. Sancti represents this artistic lineage, conceived as a wearable meditation on scent as spiritual experience, with perfumer Sonia Constant translating Di Méo's vision into a composition that moves from bright citrus opening through aromatic heart to sacred resinous drydown.
The note selection reflects a deliberate philosophy: opening with citrus and cypress establishes accessibility and clarity, the herbal heart creates intellectual depth through balsam fir and warm spices, and the resinous drydown grounds everything in sacred materials that have historically marked moments of transition. The pairing of fir with incense is particularly intentional, both materials carrying ritualistic weight across cultures. Cardamom and coriander prevent the composition from becoming purely austere, adding warmth that makes the spiritual elements approachable rather than forbidding.
The evolution
The journey from first spray to final moments unfolds as a complete narrative arc. Grapefruit and mandarin provide immediate brightness, quickly joined by cypress and bergamot in an opening that feels both invigorating and grounded. The heart emerges gradually, balsam fir asserting its presence alongside rosemary and lavender, while cardamom and coriander introduce complexity. By the time incense and myrrh arrive in the drydown, the fragrance has completed its transformation from external brightness to internal warmth, with cedarwood, benzoin, and vetiver ensuring the final chapters linger for hours.
Cultural impact
As one of the three founding fragrances from Les Liquides Imaginaires' debut collection, Sancti established the house's reputation for high-concept perfumery from the start. Its unusual combination of fresh citrus and fir with incense and myrrh has kept it in steady rotation among niche fragrance enthusiasts since 2011, a rare longevity for a debut release. The house's amphora-shaped bottles have become a recognizable aesthetic in niche perfumery, and Sancti remains one of the most discussed compositions from the Eaux-Delà trilogy, particularly for its fir-and-incense heart that defies easy categorization.
