Poker Face
Fragrance notes
Character
Poker Face by Ted Lapidus opens with a curious hand: lavender and violet leaves dusted with bergamot’s citrus sheen, then a cool minty slip that fades fast. The heart reveals the real player, a soft, lipsticky iris tangled with cardamom’s fuzzy warmth and a tickle of black pepper. As it settles, tonka bean and patchouli sweeten the cedar base into a muted, powdery hum. The overall image is a green felt table under a low chandelier: a man in a wool jacket who never raises his voice, letting the quiet weight of his presence do the bluffing.
This is a woody spicy composition that feels more like a hand-knotted wool sweater than a sharp suit. It leans powdery and slightly synthetic, with an ozonic lift that keeps it from turning cloying, but it sits close to the skin. Longevity clocks in around three to four hours, and sillage barely whispers past arm’s length. That thin performance is the weakness: you have to lean in, or reapply.
It suits someone who values nuance over projection, a reserved soul who wants a scent that smells like a hint of cardamom-laced lavender on a scarf. Skip it if you crave a room-filling blast or all-day endurance. Wear it on crisp autumn evenings, deep winter afternoons, or early spring nights when the air still has a chill and you’re headed somewhere dimly lit, maybe a jazz bar where the conversation stays low. A steady, unflashy hand, but it doesn’t win every round.
Smells similar
Built from the same materials — ranked by how unusual the shared notes are, not by how many.
