Figment Man (Amouage)

Ménardo at her best

Amouage’s Figment Man released in 2017 under then creative director Christopher Chong is sadly discontinued but enjoys a somewhat cult following, especially as one of the more daring releases.

Ménardo has a knack for being able to transform existing archetypal fragrances in a way that is not derivative. For example, it’s very clear when you study the fragrance that her Hypnotic Poison for Dior is a blow up of the accord of Canoe, modernised, feminised. Le Labo’s Patchouli 24 is an oriental enriched with birch tar, much like a classic like Shalimar, only done for today’s times.

Figment Man follows in this vein. Though not as drastic a transformation as the previous examples, Figment Man inherits from Bourdon’s Kouros for Yves Saint Laurent. I would not be surprised if the starting point was the formula itself.

The first significant departure is the absence of coumarin and Veramoss, thus ridding it of a direct fougère connotation. It retains the trace of vanillin but is not overtly oriental. Nevertheless, there are expected elements of a fougère, with the use of dihydro myrcenol, methyl pamplemousse (the abstractly grapefruit odorant overdosed in much of Ellena’s works including Terre) and geranium.

Kouros is not Kouros without Synarome’s Animalis base which we find at 6% in Figment Man. Of all the changes caused by regulation, including the banning of natural costus oil, I would say the decline in the reformulation of Kouros is most attributable to the changes affecting Animalis.

The take on Kouros is further modernised by judicious use of woody amber materials like amber ketal (Firmenich Z11) and Norlimbanol. We also find the musky, woody, spicy, nuzzly odorant Cashmeran at 1%, though not essential for the signature but fitting very well with all the other elements.

When I had first smelt Figment Man I was sure it contained Ambrinol, one of the dirtier components of ambergris which is readily available as a synthesised material. This is because apart from other facets, it is noticeably earthy. However the earthy part of Figment Man comes from the unexpected use of geosmin at around 0.002%, which is plenty! The quintessential material for petrichor. This completes the earthy animalic character nicely contrasting against the bright top emphasised also with lemon oil.

Every time I’m wearing Figment Man, I imagine I must smell quite like The Bride climbing out of that grave to give Budd and Elle their comeuppance.