Cedrè Iris

Cedre Iris and Santal Basmati are probably my favorites from this line with Vanille Benjoin as a close runner up. This brand has been quite tough to write upon and I will explain why soon. I am going to get the formalities out of the way and get straight to the point. These smell like the base notes of your favorite private-line designer. Putting aside that there are truly expensive ingredients at use in these compositions they do however smell two dimensional and slightly uninspired. Some risk was abandoned with the formulas so they smell pleasant and thankfully like their notes promise but somehow they are missing an edge or a "realness" with the ingredients that convinces the wearer they are wearing a +$300 fragrance. To me they are not worth their high price as I've smelled these ingredients done with more convincing realness in lower price brackets. However, the Affinessence concept for their perfumes as fragrances made by only base notes is a pleasant and refreshingly artistic venture. I absolutely love the idea of this brand, limiting the perfumers palette of ingredients and having them create a composition using their methods of resourcefulness. Antoine Lie partakes in this form of composing as well but adds an extra layer to it by also limiting his palette to ingredients generally disliked or hated by people surveyed in focus groups. It is tough to write about Affinessence because their perfumes are indeed nice, easy to wear and I do see myself acquiring them because they are good enough at what they do to be an enjoyable wear. "Isn't that all we can ask for in a fragrance?" I say "Ultimately, sure!". Unfortunately as it stands the perfumers took the safe route when creating these compositions and made perfumes that felt more derivative than what I had hoped. All this snobby nitpicking aside they do smell quite good!! Cedre Iris as the name suggests is a marriage of a medley of cedars, Texan, Moroccan Atlas, and Virginian with Iris Pallida of the Florentine/Tuscan variety. Completely noble ingredients are used in Cedre Iris and I applaud the effort of providing consumer with the chance to own a composition of these sought after ingredients but personally I feel that price of the Affinessence line rides on the packaging and the promoted exclusivity of the ingredients. I especially feel this way about the indie brands and artisinal oud scene that survive on scarcity tactics releasing in exclusively small batches with recklessly exorbitant pricing and stay afloat on the hype of their FOMO stricken fan-bases. Cedre Iris opens very smoothly with a slightly sour sawdusty woody atmosphere, splinters smoothed out and coated by a thick drapery of creamy orris root that is carrot-y, rooty, lightly sweet, fatty and above all powdery. Despite the name I feel that Iris is the dominant member of this olfactory partnership as it consumes the piney and sour moth-ball facets of the Moroccan Atlas Cedar and the pencil shavings earthiness of the Virginia and Texas Cedars, and mutes the composition to a creamy hum that exaggerates only the earthy, vegetal, and powdery facets of Iris. Upon drying down we can notice the scaffolding of the woody cedars slightly changing the color and adding redness to this iris evolving from a vivid lilac purple to a more pinkish woody iris scent. Where the composition loses some of its points is in the far dry-down where I notice the slightest exposure of some special effects machinery and boom mics. I notice a very delicate sharp screech of something clashing in the base. This must be the high-pitched incense in the background providing some sort of unneeded metallic-like inkiness. Very "white-noise" screech so it is hardly ever enough of a distraction to throw the show thankfully, but it is enough to remind me of over-priced private-line designers that do the same. It is not as one dimensional as Iris aroma chemicals, some iris essential oils or some privé designers, not one bit. Cedre Iris is very finely blended and I like its simplicity but it is not as dimensional as I would expect from a blend that seeks to display a real Cedar and Iris. Owning some Iris flowers in my front yard, Iris flowers can contain metallic facets of hot iron as well as yeasty, lipid facets of vegetable oil and leather. Iris also possesses fruity, green, banana, sometimes raspberry facets and starchy cereal nuances of bread or dough. Iris butter can come across as a more smooth and linear dimension of the flower's natural smell possessing talcum powdery nuances. Iris butter can be earthy and can come across leathery in some blends also with waxy facets. Moroccan atlas cedar is camphorous, sulfuric and industrial like the smell of moth-balls, and Virginia and Texas cedars are typical sawdust and wood-shop smells containing leather facets, mildew facets, and humidity. I was hoping for Cedre Iris to exceed expectations give me more than what was promised especially at the price so that I can be knee-deep in the complex profiles of these great ingredients but the blend is too smooth and only succeeds at perpetuating the simplicity it promises. Cedre Iris lasts a great amount of 6-7 hours and it is comfortably linear and pleasingly, tasteful, fashionable and French. Unisex. Being nice to this fragrance we can say it is a relative to such classics as Jacques Guerlain's Après l'Ondée or l'Heure Bleue which inspired such fragrances as Pierre Bourdon's Iris Poudre from Frédéric Malle. Users have voted this being somewhat similar. This had the potential to reach those heights, the talent and the ingredients are there. The essential oils of these cedars and Iris Pallida can alone be perfume but the blend is too academic, safe and cold. It is still a very enjoyable wear that has me thinking about it sometimes. I truly suggest trying this line it is wonderful and has not one bit been a waste of my time. I am considering a discounted purchase as a fancy signature fragrance. My suggestion would be that this brand promises a beautiful minimalist base using natural essences of the highest olfactory caliber, then prove it to me! 9/10

This brand are a real revelation! I mean as a tireless fragrance hunter I'm constantly trying stuff from transient, pop up houses that I can barely remember from day to day with oddly similar names and this is one of them. The famliar name I mean because the fragrances are highly memorable for the sheer fact that they smell so bassy! (base heavy) The atomiser is practically a subwoofer, pumping out 40hz bass to your chest. I mean that musk/ambergris one was such a unique perfume that anything else from this brand would have to be amazing to reach those heights. Cedar Iris doesn't but it's still very, very, good and is the embodiment of Ronseal perfumery doing exactly what it says on the tin (okay only UK readers will probably get that) and no I don't mean this smells like teak woodstain or creosote. This smells like cedar and Iris, which is a glorious combination, the fleshy smoothness of the iris and the anything but smoothness of a robust, smoky, prickling virginian/Texas type cedarwood. More specifically this feels, thick and textured, containing relatively high doses of natural materials. Now everyone will know my stance on Natural Vs Synthetic (a redundant and stupid 'battle' they're all Just chemicals folks!!!!) and I'm not suggesting natural equals better but in this instance these two materials combine in quite a blissful way, really complimenting one another. Cedar is pretty abundant and reasonably priced and there's no reason not to assume it's not in even the least 'niche' of perfumes but 'Iris' materials (of which there's quite a few) but lets say Orris butter is wildly expensive, so perhaps wouldn't necessarily feature and as I mentioned....that's fine, there's some wonderful Iris/orris synthetic molecules and bases. In here though, there's a thickness and sweet, stewed carrot, going to powdery, ethereal, weirdness and magic about the iris smell, you can really smell the irone content. Again this reminds me of a base from PCW which is an iris/cedar mixture of natural materials and it's divine, so is this perfume and it's so simple to say that it's two things, there's probably other stuff holding it together too. One minor critique is that it's not very exciting, it's a perfume aesthetic which would be more suited to those who like natural or artisanal perfume, although with the added bonus (again a personal preference) these are all made by trained perfumers I believe.

Sweet, suave, discreet, powdery, beautiful ... but just a little bit samey. Maybe all the years of battering the smell buds with some of the butchest, most bombastic wood scents around have brutalised them, but I only get cedar (a favourite note) as a very vague impression here, rather than the thunking sawdust/plank effect others report. It's an intensely civilised EVOCATION rather than ESSENCE of the wood. Here everything is calm, comfortable luxe, which is what Affinessence do best (and at an outrageous RRP); the iris is gorgeously warm and powdery - nothing soapy or cold or 'liquid' at all, this is pure dry safe-space all the way though. Not quite the outrageous orris overdose I was seeking, but really classy work all the same. Everything so mellow and comfortable there's hardly anything to object to, but I still pick up more of an almost-generic vanilla & powder feel than the promised precious array resins, guaiac, etc - it seemed closest of all to YSL Velours or even (weirdly) to the other Affinessence beaut Santal Basmati. Now that is not bad at all! (and as a passionate lover of Santal Basmati, it's precisely why I jumped at a heavily marked-down bottle of this) - but if you're seeking cedar transcendence, or an ultra-iris barnstormer, you may feel a slight sense of letdown as well as agonising pain in the wallet. Wears fairly close to the skin - half-arm's length is about as far as it goes - but on the plus side, longevity is extremely impressive, and its aura lulls to a sense of deep relaxation. The drydown's absolutely lovely. So: understatedly wonderful, even if it's not a total marvel of originality.

#980 in my "Tour de Fragrance" I love most any iris scent, and I love this. The opening is cedar, cedar and more cedar, but in a few minutes the iris comes through. Is it better than Dior Homme Intense? Not really. Is it better than Givenchy Gentleman EDP. Okay the longevity and projection are better (Givenchy has a problem there), but it's not $100+ better. Still, if you're cool with spending this kind of cash, I'd get the Dior Homme Parfum, especially you guys. And if the woodiness is not important to you Valentino Uomo Intense is a great iris scent. This is car pool, elevator and small office safe. Anyone who smells it will like it. Okay for the office, better for dates. I'd say any use you'd have for Dior Homme, this will fit. It's a great scent, but I have alternatives, so for the moment this isn't high on my acquisition list, unless I win the Lottery. I could feel differently if this is still performing at the end of the day.

The best scent to describe a colorful autumn. Its not a perfume, it is a real piece of art. Imagine that you are smelling an iris flower along with its soil under light rain.a mixture of iris, cedar and damp soil under autumn rain. It smells very classy , precious and expensive. Scent: 4.9/5 Longevity: +8hrs Projection: moderate Occasions: formal Season; autumn afternoon and evenings Age:+35