The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Vanille Magnétique treats vanilla as a beginning, not a destination. Composed by Amandine Clerc-Marie, the fragrance pairs Madagascar vanilla, expressed in two different forms, against something resinous enough to interrupt the sugar. The approach is layered: the brighter, almost-fruity warmth of one vanilla sits alongside the deeper density of another, while myrrh threads through the composition to keep the sweetness from tipping into pure confection. The name, like the scent, operates on a pull you feel before you can name it. Magnétique is gravity dressed as gourmand, something that keeps someone leaning in past the usual distance, not something that announces itself across a room.
Two vanilla expressions do the heavy lifting here, and that's the structural choice worth noticing. Madagascar vanilla opens the composition with its bright, almost-fruity warmth, then vanilla absolute arrives at the heart with the deeper, boozy density of cured pods. Stacking them gives the scent vertical range, from a glossy surface to something almost fermented underneath. Myrrh acts as the interrupter, a resinous thread that keeps the praline and cacao from collapsing into confection.
The evolution
The opening belongs to praline and cacao, reading almost pastry-like, the kind of sweetness you'd find at the edge of a dessert menu. Then Madagascar vanilla arrives with something brighter, almost like the moment before a vanilla bean gets split open. The heart settles in slowly, the boozy warmth of vanilla absolute deepening as the initial brightness fades. Myrrh shows up gradually, a resinous hush turning the gourmand dial down just enough that the composition stops smelling like food and starts smelling like skin. Tonka bean rounds the corner of the heart, pulling warmth into something creamier, blurring the edges where the gourmand materials meet the drier ones. As the fragrance wears, the praline recedes, and what's left is vanilla absolute layered over sandalwood and white musk, a close, almost powdery warmth that clings rather than projects.
Cultural impact
Within OBART's lineup, Vanille Magnétique reads as a quieter proposition than some of the more overtly gourmand releases. The shift from overt sweetness toward a resinous backbone marks a different kind of sweetness: one that asks the wearer to lean in rather than step back. The composition takes a familiar note and places it in unfamiliar company, pairing Madagascar vanilla and vanilla absolute with myrrh, tonka, cedar, and sandalwood to create something that sits between gourmand and resin. The interplay of praline and cacao against the drier woods and resins gives the scent its tension, a sweetness that never fully resolves into dessert.
The House
OBARTOBART is rewriting the rules of how fragrance wears on skin. Founded by Sophia and Marc-Alexandre Risch, the Swiss-rooted brand bills itself as the first scentcare label, treating perfume longevity with the same rigor as a skincare routine. Now retailing through Sephora across Europe, the UK, Switzerland, and the US, OBART bridges clinical precision and olfactory pleasure in a category the industry barely knew existed.
The Creator
Amandine Clerc-MarieWhile it's difficult to pin down a single, defining characteristic across her entire body of work, a certain smoothness and refinement seem to be consistent themes. She appears to favor well-blended compositions, where individual notes harmonize to create a cohesive whole.
