The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Miguel Matos and Sarah Baker collaborated on Rules of Attraction as an homage to a famed fragrance, a reimagining of a ball at Versailles, but stripped of the rose-tinted version. Baker's artistic practice has always been about world-building, about mythology, about what lives beneath the polished surface. This fragrance takes that approach to olfactory form: what if you could smell the attraction that happens when the chandeliers dim and the guests think no one's watching? The title itself is the concept, rules, broken.
The white florals are the intentional provocation here. Tuberose, jasmine, gardenia, these aren't subtle fillers. They're the flowers that announce themselves, that refuse to recede. Combined with the aldehydes and the cumin, they create a tension between the formal and the animal, the clean and the bodily. This isn't a fragrance that whispers. It builds a scene and then walks into the center of it.
The evolution
The aldehydes announce themselves first, sharp, metallic, almost clinical. Grapefruit adds brightness for the first fifteen minutes, then the citrus fades and the cumin steps forward, introducing something spicier, more bodily. The white florals take over the heart with force. Tuberose leads, creamy and assertive, followed by jasmine and gardenia adding depth. The iris appears with its powdery, slightly medicinal quality, and the neroli brings a bitter-orange freshness that cuts through the richness. By the third hour, the civet and leather arrive. Not as a surprise, as a declaration. The animalic notes anchor everything, making the florals feel less ornamental and more primal. The drydown settles into musk, vanilla, and woody notes, but the civet lingers. On fabric, this fragrance stays close and warm for hours. On skin, it develops for a full day and into the next morning.
Cultural impact
Rules of Attraction has attracted wearers who want something with real presence and character, people who appreciate its boldness and find the animalic notes compelling rather than off-putting. The fragrance appeals to those curious about what animalic actually means in practice, and to fans of confrontational compositions who want something that commits fully to its vision.
