Les Abstraits Philosopher’s Walk Review

Les Abstraits Philosopher’s Walk

There is something very comforting about ambling. Walking with no real purpose, at a slow pace, preferably with one hand holding the opposite’s wrist behind one’s back, sometimes just feels right. Plus, despite what it looks like, there’s usually a lot of pondering that goes alongside that action; whether it’s simply taking in the current state of your surroundings, processing the impressiveness of everyday nature or perhaps just inspecting the array of antique furniture at a boot sale, there’s something mentally beneficial about slowing pace and meandering.

In a way, I feel like that’s what Canadian brand Les Abstraits and perfumer Antoine Lie were working together to explore in 2025’s Philosopher’s Walk. The olfactory vision infers that feeling of restoration that walking through a balmy woodland provides. It’s an energising activity that often helps perspectives shift into more knowable measures.

L-R: Eugen Nizic, founder of Les Abstraits and his perfumer, the inimitable Antoine Lie.

Antoine Lie imagines all of this as an elegant, bracing fougere fragrance that’s modernised and accentuated with exceptional citruses, floral aspects and cedar moss all sourced from the ‘Grand Crus’ palette of L’Atelier Francais des Matieres (the Grand Crus terminology is borrowed from the wine industry indicating that the raw materials come from rare, limited vintage crops rather than from industrial mass production). As such the perfume bears all the hallmarks of Paul Parquet’s legendary 1882 fragrance Fougere Royale (coumarin, lavender, geranium and moss) after which the entire style was subsequently named, but it skews lighter, brighter and crisper. As much as I assume that’s partly a result of the use of these unique Grand Crus ingredients, it’s also by design as Lie has worked to embellish his floral parts, crafting an ethereality that feels a lot more refined than a token double dosing of Hedione and a splash of Floralozone.

That attention to detail is a big part of why I feel that Lie is such a rare talent, a perfumer able to work in total abstract territories (see Etat Libre D’Orange Secretions Magnifique or Commes des Garcons’ Wonderwood) as well as in more opulent, nature focused fragrances as well as last year’slauded Puredistance Ysayo (Best of Scent  2025 for J Wearescentient and for me) where Lie really shines at creating dense green notes. That said, Les Abstraits Philosopher’s Walk is a far brisker, lighter and airier interpretation of greenery with Lie using an opening lemon tinted citric blast as the initial lightning strike or the eureka moment of a philosophical realisation.

A photo of a very impressive fern that Oli took at The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall

For such an outwardly fresh, uplifting fougere Les Abstrait’s Philosopher’s Walk is packed fantastically dense, channeling that core high-end-soap-iness through a bouquet of orange blossom, violet, lavender, carnation, clary sage and geranium, whilst also drawing the necessary heat from the array of spices (cardamom, pink pepper, cinnamon and clove). Ultimately it’s the warmth of the spicing that serves a very vital and less discussed part of the fougere accord. I seem to focus more on the layers of moss, lavender, geranium and coumarin when discussing fougere fragrances, but – as is illustrated here so precisely – there’s a hot, piquancy required to inject a proper level of contrast and counterpoint to the weight of the coumarin and camphorous greenery. Somehow, Lie manages to make his spicing feel transient, allowing the full composition to billow in the wind, as if you’re catching different waves of aroma on the breeze whilst your internal thoughts churn and ruminate.

– Oli Marlow, Senior Editor

Notes: Ionian Coast Bergamot, Italian Lemon, Neroli, Orange Blossom, Pink Pepper, Cardamom, Clove, Ceylan Cinnamon, Artemisia, Juniper, Moroccan Geranium, French Clary Sage Absolute, Carnation, Violet, Lavender en Provence, Moroccan Cedar Moss Absolute, Haitian Vetiver, Aceh Indonesian Patchouli, Costus, Musk, Benzoin, Tonka Bean, Vanilla

Disclaimer: A generously sized sample set was sent by the brand for review, opinions my own.

Michelyn’s notes: Les Abstraits Des Cendres was a 2024 Art and Olfaction Finalist

 All images courtesy of Les Abstraits unless otherwise stated.

Thanks to the generosity of Eugen and Les Abstraits we have a bottle worldwide for a registered reader. You must register or your entry will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what sparks your interest based on Oli’s review and where you live. Draw closes 10/10/2026

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