Note Pyramid
Déclaration
The reason Cartier Déclaration Eau de Toilette still sells almost thirty years after it appeared is that nothing else smells quite like it, and attempts to copy the idea have mostly made it sweeter and lost the point.
The opening is bitter and strange. Bitter orange and bergamot give a sharp citrus start, mandarin orange and neroli soften it slightly, and then caraway and artemisia arrive with something genuinely odd: caraway is seedy and savoury, almost like rye bread, and artemisia is dry, bitter and herbal. Birch adds a thin tarry smokiness and coriander a cool, soapy, slightly peppery note. It is a lot, and it is deliberately uncomfortable. The middle is all spice and powder. Guatemalan cardamom is the dominant material, green and camphorous and faintly soapy, with ginger and black pepper giving it heat and juniper adding a cool resinous bite. Cinnamon warms the edges. Iris and orris bring a cool, grey, rooty powderiness that sits oddly and brilliantly against the spice, and jasmine adds just enough flower to stop it reading as a spice rack. Tahitian vetiver anchors the base, dry and smoky and bitter, with leather, cedarwood and oakmoss building a tough, dusty, slightly animal finish. Tea lends a dry papery lift and amber a faint resinous warmth that keeps it from being cold.
Jean-Claude Ellena composed it in 1998 and his handwriting is all over the restraint of it. In eau de toilette form it keeps a moderate distance and a moderate span, four to five hours on most skin, and it should be reapplied rather than overapplied. Men are the intended audience, warm weather is where the bitterness reads as refreshing rather than awkward, and daytime suits it better than evening.
Cartier has been a Paris jeweller and watchmaker since 1847, opened its first salon in 1853 and is now owned by the Swiss group Richemont. It entered perfumery in 1981 with Must de Cartier and has always composed in house, naming Mathilde Laurent its first dedicated perfumer in 2005.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
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