Iris Rebelle

So, I finally succumbed and purchased a big 200ml bottle direct from the Atelier Cologne website (along with a 30ml bottle of Santal Carmine). My love for Iris Rebelle is non-conventional as I did not love her at first whiff. It must have been two years ago or more that I first encountered her and found her a little too quiet and plain and dare I say it, ‘girly’. I am a huge fan of iris scents but Iris Rebelle ranked quite low on my list. And yet how strange the change with the passing of time that the nose can change its opinion. I continued to sample her whenever I came across her at the department store (and although still not too enamoured, my nostrils did linger longer at my wrist) and then bought three small ‘purse’ sprays that I found for a good price. It was on a certain long coastal walk earlier this year that I truly fell in love with this little rebel. During lockdown long walks in nature have saved my soul and sanity and I always took with me several perfumes to help with the experience. I am the type of person that likes to change their perfume throughout the day; sometimes once, sometimes twice and sometimes more. The British Isles are famous for the unpredictable weather. Like the clouds that shift and change and the breeze the blows in from the sea, my moods can wax and wane like the moon and I can truly experience four seasons in one day. Colognes are perfect for me for this very reason, I can change my perfume within a few hours if I wish and I relish the experience of the previous dying scent amalgamating with the new. Irish Rebelle became my favourite scent on my coastal walks and I very quickly used up my small sprays. The rendition of iris is so pure, so fresh and yet still has some of that sense of earthy roots. There is just the perfect balance of flowers and guaiac wood to compliment the iris. I find Iris Rebelle a very meditative, calm and almost spiritual scent. She comforts me like a silent friend. A friend that allows me to be self-indulgent with my moods, a friend that doesn’t try to influence or judge me in any way. A friend that somehow always brings me gently back to a sense of calm and balance and to my true self. Irish Rebelle is a scent I could wear at anytime of the day or time of the year and with any mood. I could wear her when I go to celebrate the birth of a new family member and I could equally wear her when the time comes to say forever goodbye to those I love the most. That’s what a really good friend is, someone who can witness your ecstasies and your agonies. When I am sitting on the rocks with the waves crashing at my feet while watching the storm clouds rising over the horizon, and while the winds of change blow through me, I will hold my wrist to my nose and listen with deepest intent in the way that only the nose can and I will hear that which can not be heard by the ears and I will smile and a teardrop will no doubt run down my cheek to rejoin the sea; salt to salt. Iris Rebelle, I didn’t always know you but you always knew me.

Update: I'm kind of blown away by the longevity complaimts. Sprayed one spray on my elbow and it's just as strong after 12 hours as it was in hour two or three. Again, it's not a huge projector, but I wouldn't like it if it was. Also, I don't get carrots at all, but I think what people are describing is the slightly vegetal earthy sweetness, like when you cut into a raw carrot, which I love, not mushy cooked carrots. A couple more wearings have cemented my affinity for this. I'm a fairly masculine brown hair and beard type of guy, and I absolutely love this. Dare I say it's exactly what I've been looking for in a floral scent. It smells like a flower without being sweet (kind of like a brut champaign vs. dry) or decidedly feminine. It's restrained and mature and I think leans more masculine than you'd expect from the marketing. In fact, I think a lot of the negative reviews are coming from women who are turned off by what I believe are the positive points I just outlined. Silage is fine (about average) if you prefer a little subtlety like I do. Longevity is moderate to good too. Sprayed 4 or 5 sprays at 645 am and still catching regular wafts at noon. Dry down is very linear (not sure why that's a bad thing-it means that the top notes are persistant), but after a few hours the iris fades some and is replaced by light musk but that's about it. Weirdly, I can still smell the iris on my skin a day or two later. If you're looking for a floral that is sweet and bright, or one that has a heavier leather/cocoa/moss/etc base, or a beast-mode silage monster, look elsewhere. Personally, his has jumped to the top of my cue of full bottle purchases.

I think it's so amazing to see how varied the reviews are on this and most other Atelier fragrances. I bought a box of samples from their website to try every single available scent as of 2018, and this one is really spectacular for me. Based on what I've tried so far, my experiences with the fragrances have been very different than the reviews I've read here, so I thought I'd say my piece. My suspicion is that they rely heavily on body chemistry, so everyone will get a different smell. When I spray it, I get a scent of fresh beets, garden smell, which after a few hours dries down to a nice woodsy iris white musk. I love it, I think it's a fantastic scent and it has excellent sillage and longevity on me. Compared to most other atelier scents I've tried so far, it has a better sillage and longevity. It's a very interesting fragrance, although the white musk and patchouli are very commonly used in mainstream perfumes it's true.

Of course, there may be people who don't like Iris Rebelle, or any iris scent for that matter. But for iris lovres it is a real gem. It's different from most scents we know on iris, from the Prada's to Dior Homme, from Iris de Nuit to Terre d'Iris, from Bois d'Argent to Iris Bleu Gris but ... but very close to 31 Rue Cambon. If... if the Chanel Exclusif is too much for you ( it's not for me althought it is thick and a bit gloomy... funereal, says Luca Turin ) Iris Rebelle must be a good choice. It is as though Chanel had made an eau de colgne version of Rue Cambon, the same scent, the same smell, the same quality but light and airy and quite cherfull, also. And 31 Rue Cambon IS one of the best iris scents around ... I couldn't be happier.

I really wanted a feminine yet confident scent for work. The citrus and pepper notes in this really makes what seems like such a floral perfume leap out at you and definitely turns it into something very complex. I would describe it as sexy somehow, but the imagery is more of a chic popped collar, first two buttons undone powerful female CEO kind of sexy rather than the more conventional idea of female sexy. It dries down into a lovely floral musk and has my friends repeatedly sniffing my wrists asking what it is I'm wearing. Some people have commented that it smells like carrots and I really never noticed until now. Initially it does have a sort of bitter carrot vibe but it's not bad and it definitely fades.