When I met Marc-Antoine Corticchiato at Exsence we had a brief exchange during which we were talking over each other, finishing each other’s sentences. This was a conversation about vetiver, where he and I (and I expect a majority of vetiver aficionados, had they been there) saw eye to eye. If you’ve ever smelled vetiver twigs you will know what the problem is. My mother used to send me down Rue Dauphine in Paris to a small shop selling dried vetiver in small bundles to put in drawers instead of bags of lavender. They smelled earthier, dustier, sharper, less anisic and more incense-like than any vetiver that ever came in a bottle.
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