Les Privés 303: Chili Pepper, Pink Pepper & Benzoin

Like a spellbinding swirl of dancing spices, 303 opens on a duet of pepper and pink berry. Initially spicy, the fragrance heats up with cardamom before revealing its warm amber floral heart. Notes of benzoin, Tolu balsam and vetiver compose a vibrant accord, scenting the skin with fiercely sensual aromas. A signature fragrance that draws on natural ingredients bursting with character.

What does chili smell like?

Legend has it that Napoleon’s troops put chili pepper in their boots to keep their feet warm during their retreat from Moscow. It is a warm and very potent spice indeed, similar to pepper, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. Chili lends a creation depth and adds texture to citrus and floral notes. As a fixative, it helps to make a fragrance last longer. The leaves and berries are steam-distilled to extract the essential oil. This ingredient is not commonly found in fragrances. These kinds of rare raw materials are helping to reinvent perfumery.

What is ylang-ylang?

This marvelous rich, sunny and totally hypnotic yellow flower grows in north-west Madagascar, an island in the western Indian Ocean. In Indonesia, its name means “flower of flowers”. Ylangylang is picked carefully by hand with collection beginning in the early morning between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. After sunrise, the flowers spoil and their quality of their scent suffers as a result. These flowers are immediately steamdistilled to obtain the precious essence. The fresh flower smells different to the essence, which is a lot more powerful. In terms of its scent, it is really a cross between tuberose and jasmine. It presents the sensuality of white flowers alongside fruity, creamy and exotic facets.

What is benzoin?

Incisions are made into this wood from Laos, releasing a semi-liquid resin that quickly becomes hard and brittle. Physically, it looks like frankincense with little brown-orange lumps called “tears”. But make no mistake, their scents are very different! Benzoin reveals warm sensual vanillalike facets of toffee and honey. They enhance base notes and extend a fragrance’s wear as benzoin makes an excellent fixative. When combined with vanilla and labdanum, it creates an amber accord. Benzoin is beautifully showcased in Guerlain’s Shalimar. Its resin has been used since ancient times to cleanse the air.

Notes: chili pepper, pink pepper, cardamom, ylang-ylang, patchouli, vetiver, tolu balsam, benzoin, musk