L'Homme Infini

I am very taken with Divine in general - it is a truly underrated house. As a female perfume lover, masculine scents are less interesting to me in general, but Divine's masculine offerings are excellent. L'Homme Infini is a spicy-woody scent, nicely aromatic and just the right amount of peppery. It is made with good-quality, realistic-smelling ingredients, and is as elegant as it is delicious throughout. HI opens with an unmistakeable coriander note, nose-tickling and peppery. I find coriander very pleasant in general, and here, it adds a lovely aromatic quality to the woods that form the crux of this scent. Some citrus adds freshness up top, perhaps tart orange. Vetiver, the most prominent woody note here, follows closely, dry and grassy without being astringent, with black pepper enhancing the coriander nicely. Here, it is reminiscent of Terre d'Hermès, one of the best modern designer masculines in my opinion. As it develops further, I get oak - one of my favourite woody notes. It rounds out the woody core while adding a chypre-esque quality, a nod to oakmoss. Pine-tinged elemi gives an amber nuance to the base while keeping things light and fresh. It becomes slightly resinous as it dries down, but remains a smooth, woody-spicy scent. Sillage and longevity are moderate. It is a transeasonal masculine scent, lightweight and versatile. An effortlessly elegant masculine, HI is a high-quality aromatic woody scent, classic in style and utterly addictive. I would really enjoy this on a man. A road-less-travelled alternative to Terre d'Hermès that is spicer, smoother and subtler. 4.5/5.

C’est fantastique! Well folks, I feel like donning my serge Breton jersey; tilting my beret to a jaunty angle and, pour le petit dejeuner, feasting on robust French coffee accompanied with delicately buttered croissants, as Yvon Mouchel and his team in Dinard, Brittany, have done it again by creating yet another sensational perfume with this gorgeous ‘masculine’. To be sure, credit must go to the genius of Jean-Claude Ellena and his innovative, seductive, oak-based creation, Poivre Samarcande, from the Hermessence range by Hermes, as L’homme Infini is an unequivocal variation on his original theme. However, it is as if the Nose (Jann Vasnier?) has taken Ellena’s stark, minimalist, somewhat muted composition and rearranged it in the orchestrated jazz style of Gil Evans. This is a bolder, richer and fuller, more up-front, and uplifting treatment of this quercus theme that reminds me, for more opaque reasons, of Amouage’s gorgeous Honour Man, though without the muskiness of the latter. This is a joy to wear as L'homme Infini has tremendous projection; lasts all-day, and leaves one’s wrists imbued with a dry soapy chord that suggests an old-fashioned traditional cologne - though without the citrus up-top and, as a signature of this outstanding house, a cheerful, 'Tiggerish' quality that defies our most recent times of austerity. With the most exquisitely delightful, personal packaging, and sumptuous dark blue bottle casing, L’homme Infini is nothing short of Divine! 8+-10

I think the notes listed are correct, but the overall effect is smoother than what I expected. I think cedar can dominate, and black pepper can get a little pungent, but I don't get that here. I could sort of see the comparison to Terre d'Hermes because of the woodsy vetiver, but this doesn't have any of the orange or the dirtiness of TdH. Those are such a major part of TdH that I don't think they should get confused for each other. It maybe reminded me of Comme des Garcons Black EDT, but it's been a while since I tried that.

This is definitely inspired by Terre for sure, but this is done so well. It takes the aromatic soft notes of Terre and removes any sour/flinty/funky bits, making this a very easy to wear masculine office scent. Peppery, woody and calm. If you want a niche spicy version of Terre you will love this. Not totally unique, but a great riff on the theme of Terre. If I had to quantify it, this takes the opening of Terre and mixes it with the smoothness of Ormonde Jayne Man.

Lovely, lovely, LOVELY dry woods. Nothing novel here, in fact it's got an almost designer DNA. Imagine: "Tom Ford, but make it FRENCH!" I'd describe this as kind of an "ebony wood" but a little powdery, possibly with cinnamon, and yes, a generous serving of iso-e super. Not my favorite ingredient, but I can tell this thing would have beautiful sillage. It's pretty sexy! And I rarely think that about men's fragrances! 4/5