Phantom in Red

Rabanne classifies Phantom in Red as an amber aromatic woody fragrance. Lavender, the signature of the Phantom line, stays at the center, surrounded by fruit, spices and resins that raise it to the intensity of an elixir.

Top, heart and base

The house publishes this breakdown: at the top, bergamot, a plum liqueur and saffron; at the heart, lavender, clary sage and orange blossom; at the base, an amber woods accord, tobacco, benzoin and oud.

Here the notes are classified as follows: bergamot, plum and saffron at the top; lavender, clary sage and orange blossom at the heart; amber woods, tobacco, benzoin and oud at the base. The plum liqueur is filed under plum.

A lavender set ablaze

On Sephora’s American store, the house speaks of an addictive lavender set ablaze by a fruity plum liqueur and a flaming saffron, and deepened by smoky benzoin, ambery tobacco and oud. The base, it writes, turns warm and smoky.

What the label declares

After denatured alcohol, fragrance and water, the list names tetramethyl acetyloctahydronaphthalenes, a woody, ambery molecule, ahead of linalyl acetate and linalool, two major constituents of lavender, and bergamot oil.

Lavender oil appears by name, as do coumarin, which smells of hay and almond, and patchouli oil. Vanillin comes further down, near rose ketones and benzyl benzoate.

A UV filter, avobenzone, protects the juice, which three colorants, yellow, violet and red, tint. The list contains neither lilial nor lyral, two ingredients banned in the European Union.