Northern LoveAmber Woody Eau de Parfum

Northern Love by Frédéric Malle is an amber, woody, and spicy unisex eau de parfum, created by Bruno Jovanovic. Sandalwood worked until it becomes creamy, almost milky, beneath a spicy opening of cinnamon.

The perfume publisher

Frédéric Malle is not a perfumer: he is a publisher. His model, which he formulated himself: creating perfumes like Gallimard publishes novels. He therefore commissions his fragrances from great noses without budget or deadline constraints, puts their name on the bottle — an unprecedented gesture at the opening of the house in 2000 — and, above all, leaves them their royalties: they are not service providers, they are authors. Malle is the third generation of a dynasty: his grandfather Serge Heftler-Louiche founded Christian Dior Parfums, his mother led its creation for thirty years, and the filmmaker Louis Malle was his uncle.

A cinnamon spéculoos opening

The perfume opens on a note of spéculoos, the spiced biscuit of Northern winters, which the house builds around cinnamon. The entry is warm and gourmand without being sweet.

A vanilla heart

Vanilla arrives early and immediately rounds off the spices. It does not seek the pastry effect: it softens, it envelops, and prepares the ground for the wood.

A creamy sandalwood base

Sandalwood is the central material of the composition. Bruno Jovanovic says he amplified its naturally creamy facets until they became unctuous and velvety: it is a milky, round, smooth sandalwood, which establishes an intimate and comforting trail close to the skin.

The house's signature

Three published notes, not one more: a spéculoos, a vanilla, a sandalwood. All the work is on the texture of the sandalwood, and the list of ingredients confirms it: we read sandalwood oil (Santalum album) and santalol, its main molecule, alongside a cinnamon bark oil. The house summarizes the intention with a contrast: a warm embrace facing a cold and nostalgic sensation, like a Northern winter.

For whom, for what occasions?

Amber, woody, and spicy, this eau de parfum is aimed at sandalwood lovers and enveloping perfumes. The perfumer himself associates it with autumn, at the end of the day when the light fades; it is also worn all winter, at the office as in the evening. Available at Odorare in 50 ml.

With Northern Love Frédéric Malle, sandalwood becomes cream under a handful of spices.