The Library Collection Opus III

I've had the set of Library sample sprays for a while, and I've had a sniff from a cap or little spritz on a wrist here or there without much thought, like a louche partier sampling random pills and pleasures without much memory the next morning. Well in the modern spirit of mindfulness it's time to commit and concentrate on each one in turn - sprayed heavily and fully worn for a day at a time. And so far, Opus I is good, II is OK, but III is where things get glooooorious. From the cap, I felt smugly sure this would be a simple violet bomb. But after spraying, the violet weirdly disappears, and out come these green and brown notes. What does Broom smell like? I don't know but I seem to like it whenever it's a note. And real thyme! You always see thyme as a note and it seems like fanciful marketing rather than an actual indication of ingredients, but here the thyme smells like you just squeezed your fingers down the branch to pull off the fresh leaves ... or more specifically (but obscurely) just like a Russian wild thyme tea they stocked at my local Eastern European grocer. On the off chance you've smelled such a tea, it's exactly what you get in the first hour. Then a creamy purple phase, violet and clove and vanilla/musk/ambrette. Extremely beautiful, slightly feminine but still perfectly wearable for me (at least as far as I care). The drydown is cushiony, cozy, heavy on sandalwood and vanilla on a soft white musk. Bedtime after the garden party. It's not a projection bomb or a longevity monster (though the drydown lasts a good long time). Just a beautifully balanced, deeply artful evolving journey. I know there's more good ones to come, but it's the first in the Opus series (tried in sequence) of which I’ll covet a full bottle.

Isn't that the most beautiful violet related fragrance you ve ever smelled!?? Go and sample this if you are a violet lover! For my nose it is the most fat, creamy rich violence fragrance in the world! Finally I found my violet signature fragrance:) But there is also soo much more in that thick layered fragrance: the smoky benzoine in the drydown makes me think of my beloved L'air du Desert Marocain in combination with the wonderful sweet gaiac wood and sandalwoody notes...it takes many times of applying this before you really can differ the ingredients: today I detected the mimosa in the opening!Gorgeous!! Yesterday it was yasmine in the middlenotes...wow!Violet and jasmine..could go perfectly well together!! Anyway its kind of a sweet fragrance but NOWHERE near a cloying sweetness as in Loulou or Angel or Poison..no a fine woody flowery sweetness that you can bear easily and admire even more...I even get a very soft vanilla tone today in the drydown and normally I do not like in my perfumes... What I do like best in this perfume is that you have the idea of wearing at least 4 different perfumes one after another! It really smells as a different perfume in the drydown..my husband had asked me three times yesterday:What are you wearing now? I smiled and answered: still the same stuff.. so I got myself the big bottle of it..luckily on ebay at less bucks...

This smells remarkably like Ombre Mercure, but like the "gourmand" version. Usually when I read "smells just like so and so" I take it with a grain of salt. In this case, it's very true. This isn't just a "slight reminder" it's like the same exact base fragrance tweaked a little differently to go a different direction in the drydown. I would have to wear them side by side to notice major differences in the first hour. The differences become more apparent in the second hour. III is a richer and creamier and has no rose, more vanilla, cedar, sandalwood and what smells like tonka. I'm absolutely in love with this scent and even though they smell extremely similar initially there is just enough difference to make me want all 3 (including Ombre Mercure Extreme). Mainly because I totally hoard anything I love and all smell alikes. But if price is an issue and you can only choose one, whichever you find at the best price would probably make you happy. Because if you like one of these, you will like all 3. This type of scent is my "powdery cosmetic" holy grail. I consider III the more indulgent and rich one. It's like gourmand meets powder puff. The gourmandish part may be too much for some people. If you find it a bit too indulgent, give Ombre Mercure a try. It doesn't have the gourmand edge.

This perfume is amazing !!!! All I want to wear is this and Ombré mercure as well as love in black . In the last few days I have only worn Opus III and it's so incredible , FRESH WOODSY sweet VIOLETS a touch of BENZOIN / VANILLA and a dose of ACETONE I also smell buttery IRIS and MIMOSA , it's just so fantastic . Classic but not old fashioned! Femine and timeless. LOVE !!! Update , I have mainly been wearing opus lll and ombré Mercure as well as insolence , just love violets. I find this one is the most old school out of the 3 and become my least worn in this cathegory as it's a little paculier and old school compared to the others. Still great but more nostalgic and specific , not as young as the others . Ombré Mercure is the smoothest ,buttery , woody violet out of them, balsamic and easy to wear. Just wonderful and resting happily on my top shelf. , insolence is the youngest and frutiest out of them. Oh and there is love in black and Misia , all in the same genere and all worth a try if you love this type of perfume. All centered around violets with a slightly different feel. Opus lll is definilty the most old school one out of them and something about it has a chanel 5 vibe , the powdery woody part with strong ylang ylang, the yellow flowers.

"Opus III" is a masterpiece. The opening violet and mimosa combo is to die for, the papyrus joining in adds a twist - after the old book smell this actually turns to smell like industrial glue, nevertheless my nose was stuck upon the scent for the entire journey and I loved the smell. I got dozens of compliments wearing it, even though I did not think I smell pleasing, because - really? sweet mimosa and industrial glue? When it's been around three hours on the skin it starts to get even better, I love how this perfume changes, you get the sweet mimosa and then BOOM in few minutes you are thrown over by a dry vanilla/clove/sandalwood (similar to Mona Di Orio Vanille, but much, much better) just to be greeted by the same mimosa again later. The drydown though is the divine vanilla-clove-sandalwood dryness/sweetness, truly pretty. I've never before have wanted and not wanted something so badly. On the one hand - this is truly unique and top quality, but on the other hand - come on, industrial glue! I tell myself that it will not be a good investment, though I seem to be addicted to my wrists especially in the glue phase.