Epices d'Hiver

Drop dead beautiful. To me, this has the same vibe as Estee Lauder Youth Dew. Sophisticated, timeless, enticing and confident. At first, dark spices and a pinch of herb turn the head and combine with a little dirty jasmine--I also detect a bit of an indolic note which quickly gives way to a narcotic spiced flower. I'm not sure but it could also be the combination with the dark pepper that gives the heart its slightly animalic accord which makes me feel a little naughty in a matronly way (!!). More wearable than Youth Dew with it's deeply natural vibration and softer drydown of patchouli, jasmine and dark gold spice. If you can't stand Youth Dew but like the concept, I urge you to give this botanical version a try. Epices d'Hiver is equally engaging with lasting quality all the way.

This is the perfume I would grab if my home was on fire and I could only save one. The resins dominate this scent, well, the resins and the jasmine. There's a moment after I put it on, as it starts to warm, where there's a hint of indole, and I'm not sure if it's the ambrette or the jasmine, but I'm guessing it's the former, because that smell burns off minutes later. And then the rest of the fragrance plays a supporting role, like a wedding party in the marriage of jasmine and resin. This perfume has a lovely sweetness that doesn't become cloying. It manages to be both warm and airy, which is a fine trick. This fragrance is absolutely gorgeous.

144 love how this opens, black pepper, bitter herbal, sweet spices, an herbal cola. I loved it, but now it’s retired. I do have to say from my personal experience, that it once was much stronger and the last bottle I had was so watered down. Couldn’t smell it after 15 minutes of a generous spraying. That fantastic opening went quickly and there was not much of a dry-down other than weedy dusty metallic notes. I’m not sure if this was from poor quality of materials, unstable notes that lost their potency fast(I kept my bottle in a cool dark drawer), or the juice coming to me had already not been fresh and a year later all that wonderful uniqueness was gone. 8/10-what it once was long ago 0/10-went down in quality, weak