L'Eau de Merzhin

Merzhin means Merlin in the old Breton language. The Water of Merlin is a great name for this perfume since it smells magical, like you’re following behind Merlin in his virgin forest homestead watching the green flora sparkle and effervesce into the air like they are releasing pixie dust as he walks by, sprinkling them with magical life-giving water. The spells he is casting take the forms of galbanum, sweet floral grasses, cassie, and orris. Galbanum is the first flick of his wand, bitter, pale green, hard, cold, a bit watery thick and accented with wonderful hawthorn and angelica notes of almonds, parched musks, and herbal woodiness. It might be a bit jarring seeing a sorcerer do his thing at first, or so L’Eau suggests. But then Merlin leads us into a clearing where we’re greeted with sweet fermented hay, and a gorgeous honeyed and bronzed cassie. L’Eau feels just like that, as if we’ve stepped from a cold and dim forest into the warm light of a floral hay field, the sunlight making the sparkle of Merlin’s spells twinkle even more. Sorry to say it, but it’s at this stage I started thinking of my beloved Une Fleur de Cassie; it is not as rich and strong as UFdC, but the cassie in L’Eau is so wonderfully done I can’t help but want to immerse myself in it more. But we need to talk about the orris, another beautifully handled material in L’Eau. It is present in the top, helping the muskier qualities with its starchiness, and it is present in the heart with all of its buttery, silvery, cool rooty aromas. It and the cassie are hand in hand, the juxtaposition of the cool, buttery, and silvery with the warm, honeyed, and bronzed creating a contrast that make both more vivid and complete. Lovely stuff. As the day grows long and we continue to follow Merlin deeper into his countryside, the warmth imparted by the sun begins to radiate from within the living flora instead of beaming down on them. Earthy tonka and brown mosses invite and embrace. We thank Merlin for his blessings upon the flora, and the warm smile says “it’s my mandate yet my pleasure.” Beautiful and compelling work.

This had to grow on me but it was immediately transportive upon first contact. The carroty quality was just way more amped up than I’d ever experienced but it charmed me in the end. This takes me back to my childhood playing soccer at practice next to this farm that had horses galloping and large bales of hay coloring the air with their aroma. There is a kind of manure thing going on but not poopy so don’t worry! It’s like just very fresh grass and hay so no one will smell feces on you but yeah. The field was lined with magnolia trees too it’s just so evocative of that time period for me only the powdery Iris doesn’t call back to anything but that was makes it a stylized perfume version of that memory and I think of it as sort of symbolic of the grace and elegance of the horses without putting skanky horse stench in it. Which I’d welcome but it’s fine. Really glad I sampled this

Wow. Very pretty, comfortable, evocative perfume, and I’m not usually that big on green scents. Big rooty orris opening, with fresh cut grass and wafts of Angelica. Quickly morphs into a beautiful blend of hay, violet leaf, and honeyed hawthorn, with a bit of powdery orris underneath and hints of anise. Stays that way for a few hours. Late dry down is dominated by orris that takes on a waxier quality. Successful marriage between the realistic greenery calling to mind nostalgic countryside memories and the more grown up, refined, perfumey elements (I understand the references to Chanel). Very French, slight vintage feel with the anise.

I get a visceral shudder of pleasure from this green beauty. If you're into pretty perfumes, this one won't please. It's a hugely bitter, aromatic, funky-musty waft of uplifting freshness with a soft, warm hay note for the first 15 minutes and powdery orris throughout. Hawthorn may be the source of the funky note; it had a similar effect on me in Daim Blond. Hawthorn, Galbanum and Oakmoss create lightning in a bottle; a green djin with zing. Distillation: a green djin with zing it's lightning in a bottle making my toes curl

The blend of barnyard-tinged hay and bold iris is ultra-cold and green ; utterly magnetic and mesmerising. It feels very natural and soothing, yet there’s a dark undercurrent. Think ancient cellar air: you feel safe, but a shiver runs through you. Scents this cold and sugar-free are rare; this beauty is one of them. It’s the best fragrance I’ve smelled from this house so far. They already craft uniquely high-quality scents, and this fits that lineage perfectly. Big love! Tag(s): hay, green, iris, soothing

Being a huge fan of Vie de Chateau Intense (Nicolai), I was thrilled to discover this cheeky close cousin. They're easily the two most bucolic frags that have ever wafted up my schnozz. Not everyone around you will want to smell it for hours on end, but those who do will become obsessed with it. If this doesn't trigger memories of running through fields of tall grass and hay bales on a hot summer day, then you didn't get out enough as a kid. Yes, please.

This is fun! In adorable kind of way. I never smelled anything quite like it, not even close, yet it strangely it reminds me of Après l'Ondée and Mentha Religiosa. I love it, but I could not wear it, it's too sweet. Fresh and aromatic, smooth and almost opulent. Full bodied, rich and dense. Playful and charming. Addictive. I can't stop smiling, I love it. Quirky. I'm enjoying it immensely. It might be worth buying a bottle just for that.

Dewy, watercolor-green floral in genre of Guerlain Apres L'Ondee or MCG Hanbury. Masterfully blended; green notes are perfectly tamed, floral notes are providing soft, candy-like sweetness, along with sweet warmth of hay. Violet leaf is actually the sharpest accent, occuring periodically. Orris and oakmoss are detaching it from any romanticism making it nostalgic in feel, yet eclectic and modern in design. Performs a bit less than the other two, but no need to yell with such composition. Well done!

This one is kind of confusing! some sort of complex chaos! sweetish grass! sweet greens! like a cloying sweet mingled with green notes & sightly saffron... will wait a bit more till the calm down! Edit (26th Oct 2015) nope, this is a greeny with mild sourness that has kind of common factors with Bois Lumiere, amazingly refreshing (not the citrus type) but the captivating sour refresh. i am loving Anatole i guess! all his 3 fragrances are superbly captivating!

this reminds me of those hot steam bowls you'd hover above as a kid when you were sick. a bunch of dry herbs, i'm surprised there is no chamomile note

L'eau de Merzhin is green but in a fun and complex way. I could pick apart the notes of galbanum, orris, angelica and hay, where the hay was definitely sun drenched and dry. There was also a realistic funk reminiscent of actual living soil in there, making me feel like I was surrounded by freshly plowed farmlands. This perfume doesn't have a classic pyramid structure or linear development and is really well blended. Unfortunately the drydown turned somewhat stinky on me (think piss and/or stale sweat) which must have been the hay note beefing with my skin chemistry. As much as I like dirty animalics, this wasn't my cup of tea. I can see it working really well for a lot of people, though!

Very intriguing brand. With l'eau de Merzhin, you are in the middle of hay bales in the countryside in a sunny day... An enchanting landscape in fact. I can smell Galbanum, Hay and Oakmoss. I cannot wear it, but it is a wonderful atmosphere. It is a piece of art. A green and floral scent, 100% unisex. In this brand: - Eau de Merzhin = hay bales in the countryside - Grimoire = very old mysterious book - Bois précieux = candle on a old wood table - Incarnata = lipstick / makeup

I smelled this and I was like ok green vegetal iris but make it in a barn. Then I see hay, iris, galbanum, angelica. YEP. smells like all these things. The hay is very barnyard-y - like a horse's barn, but then it's rooty and orris-y and green. Horse barn x orris x galbanum.

The rendering here, personally speaking, turns out to be a total bummer, which is blaming for the disastrous collaboration of luxuriously buttery orris with the ethereal green-y galbanum plus the contribution from other `green notes`. I fully understand and admire how this perfumer wanted to explore into a new category with classical ingredients but the combo truly is lackluster and it is hard to excel in the green realm as the progenitors like Chamade, Calandre, and Silences by Jacome were badas$. By the way, Dryad comparing to others by Papillon, is not as great and bold or beautiful at all. Miss Dior and Vol de Nuit any vintage concentration are impeccably outstanding indisputably under the similar genre.

Hmm..you must have smelled this scent, it takes me back so strongly to the nineties when I perceived it as a masculine aftershave so much...so profane that for many years afterwards they used a very similar mix in spray air fresheners for bathrooms. Sorry, but this is not original, although it is in a way evoking a humid environment, algae, dust, violets...but in a completely different sense than I would like...rowdy...common...

L'Eau de Merzhin is a mesmerizing pastel green dappled with deeper tints. The magic is in the overlapping of saturated grass and hay bales, a hedgerow of almond-anisic and magnificently pungent hawthorn accord, and a buttery, waxy, rich orris. I also detect a cassie absolute (one of my favorite natural materials). A brimming, fecund meadow, as it were, the sun bursting in after a rain, horses grazing, some tilled earth, and a farmer chewing timothy grass, is what I feel. Yet, in spite of the pastoral layers, there is a deliciously powdery, cosmetic quality to the orris, rivaled by that of Chanel No 19. Lebreton has clearly developed a mastery of using this beloved rhizome to great effect. With one foot in the countryside and the other in urbane haute perfumery, this dichotomy is what makes L'Eau de Merzhin so appealing. Not all of us are divided into the two categories of city mouse and country mouse. Bridging lucid naturalism with perfume watercolor impressionism takes skill and insight, and the end result is something nearly "meta" in concept, and I love it for that. This is perfect to wear in anticipation of spring, as the days get longer and the landscape awakens.

I received the Anatole Lebreton sample set and thought I'd start with this one, the one I had high hopes for. I sprayed this on as soon as I got to my office (perfume-tolerant) and I instantly regretted it: half an hour of a strong hay and grass notes ensued. I think I really smelled like a haystack or barn. This kind of ruined it for me. As the hours passed, it settled down,and became more enjoyable. Now eight hours in, I am left with a dewy floral note, which I assume is the violet leaf. At this point, it does remind me of Molinard by Molinard which I like. It also vaguely reminded me of the new Ivoire, which I did not like at all, at least its scratchy aspects. I am afraid I completely missed the galbanum, a note I love, but I was overwhelmed by the hay and the violet leaf. It would be a nice option for those looking for a grassy, summer scent but it's a pass for me. PS. I tend to change my mind or have samples grow on me, so I will update if that happens.

I sent off for the sample pack which is amazingly good value...6.50 euros for 4! This one opened on my skin with a huge herbal/grassiness which had elements of pencil shavings and violets....so far so good and then it wobbled into a shimmering green old fashioned lipstick softness...which I still liked - but after 20 minutes it settled into a definate masculine piney/clean brightness which I found a little too masculine. The mid section of this fragrance on my skin is dominated by the clean fresh greeness but after a couple of hours it settles into a soft slightly floral creaminess which is really beautiful. It is very well crafted - it is very different and Anatole is a very clever man with lots of passion for his art, but I still prefer the huge Tuberose of L'eau Scandaleuse - now THAT is a masterpiece!

Orris butter must be a favorite ingredient of Anatole Lebreton as evidenced in L'Eau Merzhin, Incarnata, and Cornaline. Even Bois Lumiere and Grimoire share a waxy, beige-hued basenote even if iris isn't an ingredient. It's this sensibility that has made this my favorite perfume house. In L'Eau Merzhin, the iris dominates again but is colored green with galbanum and grassy notes, and bonded to floral notes with greater sillage. The overall result is an abstract, funky, floral freshness that I have never encountered anywhere else. I can imagine Diptyque circa 1970 selling a long-forgotten soap or linen-spray with this scent. Anatole Lebreton seems to go out of his way to avoid any notes familiar and popular from modern life and perfumery instead favoring the delicate, rare and ancient. Very French!

Beautiful powdery orris, just a touch green and very naturalistic make up bag feel. I think LeBreton really specializes in this genre and has incredible nuance to it's powdery frags. Definitely getting a lot of violet leaf which i love, and even a violet like feel. Plenty of tonka sweeten this one up but it's not overbearing at all. Fresh, clean, a touch herbal, a touch green, and mostly powdery. Great scent. ** 200 samples for swap UK - 10+ bundles, check my custom shelves and ask as I have loads more **

I don't get green at all. The perfume is easy to describe: The tender powdery opening of Bel Respiro marries the Apres L'ondee medicinal dry down(propbably due to Anise). It doesn't have the sometimes animalic undertone of Bel Respiro, and the medicinal note is far less prominent than in Apres L'ondee. Worth trying if you're a collector of powdery notes. Update: the dry-down is reeeeeeeally similar to that of Apres L'ondee.

I disagree that this is like Apres l'ondee. It starts with a similar feel, but the iris gets waxy and the galbanum comes in strongly leathery. In the end, it smells like English Leather aftershave, but for ladies. It's not bad but it's nothing I'd ever wear as English Leather reminds me of my grandfather and that's nothing I want to smell like.

It's an orris-forward herbal scent that reads like low-contrast greenery. I'd say it's overall pretty, but something in the brand's base doesn't sit right with my nose. All scents have this harshly bright, mall-like trace in them that takes away from the depth of the compositions.

This smells like being in a damp field before a summer thunderstorm... looove