Adulter. The Broken Chair

Sep 2

2 min read

Updated: Oct 16

Olfactorium

What does it taste like? And how does it smell? Fresh, but bitter.

In the corner of the workshop stood a chair with a broken leg. It had broken the evening Kirill's wife packed her things and left him for another man. Three months had passed since then, and the workshop had stayed shut.

April was windy. Water dripped from the roof, puddles were drying in the yard, and the "Closed" sign still hung on the workshop gate; Kirill had never taken it down.

That morning he put Adulter on his wrists. Bergamot and mint sounded fresh and bitter, like cold water after a sleepless night, and for the first time in ages Kirill threw the gate open.

By noon lavender and clove had opened on his skin, spicy and calm. Kirill swept up the shavings, sharpened his chisels and started on an order he had been putting off since winter.

In the afternoon a neighbour from the house opposite looked into the yard. She had long been asking him to repair her grandmother's chest of drawers and, seeing the gate open, decided to come in.

"It smells like a garden after a thunderstorm in here. Fresh and a little bitter," the neighbour said, looking round the workshop. Kirill nodded, wrote down her order and promised to collect the chest on Friday.

By evening oakmoss and white cedar remained on his skin, deep and warm. Kirill was turning a new leg for the chair, and the work went steadily, without hurry.

At sunset he set the mended chair by the open gate and sat on it. The chair held.

How it sounds

The opening is fresh and bitter: bergamot, mandarin and orange give a citrus spark, mint and basil cool it, rhubarb adds tart greenery, and green tea makes the start transparent.

At the heart spicy herbs open: lavender, fennel and celery sound green and slightly bitter, clove, cinnamon and nutmeg warm them, and jasmine, rose and white lily add softness.

In the base oakmoss and patchouli give deep shade, white cedar and sandalwood warm wood, caraway a light spice, and musk and amber leave a calm trail.

What makes it special

Adulter belongs to the Olfactorium collection. Its name means infidelity, and the fragrance answers the question of how it tastes and smells: fresh, but bitter. The brand describes infidelity as a signal that can be both an end and a beginning, and it is up to us to decide how it ends. It is a fresh bitter men's fragrance with spicy herbs for spring and autumn.

The tastylooks blog writes: "What does my nose sense? The bitterness of grass, dense, concentrated bitter air… The fragrance is very interesting." Pati Khakimova on Aromo hears "greenery, stem sap, something like rhubarb, and soft mint-and-sage facets".

La Parfumerie notes that despite the many notes in the pyramid, they "sound in the purest, smoothest choral tone".

People wear it for clarity: when they need to pull themselves together after a hard time and start again with a fresh head.