HERBES

Herbes is really a strangely flowery woody flora mixed into something very "garden-magical". A botanically bohemian writer who sits thoughtfully in a garden like this and listens to his thoughts. Quite a nice and solidly blended hanging garden. It is more comfortable on a delicate female neck. I see this in a woman who washed herself with cold water, did not wipe her face and looked in the mirror. Next to the mirror is a small vase that gives memories of one of the gardens. Find more under: frag_explorer

This is a great naturally-smelling perfume that mixes all the herbs of Mallorca with sandalwood and a bit of citruses. It's kinda bitter-herby, so works great as an invigorating day perfume. And reminds of walking on the sun-drenched paths between dry herbs in the South of Europe, a little holiday in a bottle.

MM, a signature-worthy scent. It's hard to separate into individual notes - it's so round, yet playful and iridescent. Dryish, but airy, like silk chiffon. Sophisticatedly natural. Creamy sandalwood, powdery dry mimosa. Anise, mint and dry citrus zest add a bit of zing. I can't catch the white flowers. In any case, they are very unusual and very distant here. Completely genderless. A very kind, peaceful and positive perfume in elegant bottle. I love it) The official pyramid is: TOP: Lemon, Orange, Spearmint, Star Anise HEART: Orange Flower. Tuberose. Mimosa BASE: Sandalwood. Cedarwood. Musk

A very well crafted musky herbal citrus fragrance. Totally a unisex creation, although I think will be more male friendly wear. Really beautiful scent. It is a skin scent though, so do not expect a big silage or projection.

I'm not entirely sure to what D:SOL refers to with "The Secret Recipe" as their descriptive title for Herbes. Maybe the more unusual addition of star anise in a composition like this? Maybe some extra secret ingredients tossed in here that they didn't disclose? Regardless, here on Fragrantica you don't even get all the official notes that the brand lists. Top notes first, there's also some galbanum which hasn't been listed, and I definitely get some of its bitter-green attributes intertwined with the unmistakable pungent, warm, spicy star anise aroma. I cannot say that I'm a huge fan of the note, and the way it is incorporated in here doesn't really feel like my cup of tea. It sits right next to citric accents leaning more into the lemon, with a mentholated coating from the mint that also boosts the freshness of the scent. Not too bad, certainly more distinct due to the star anise, but I hardly love it either. And it only gets worse as it dries, simply because it feels 'watered-down', muddled. Lavender and pine tree are two notes at the heart that aren't listed here, although I don't get much lavender, nor a lot of pine (though still a gentle touch is noticeable). Mostly, it's gentle white floral dominance from the tuberose with a bit of that orange-y edge from the orange blossom, but the mimosa aside from appending a powdery accent, it also brings this sort of watery sensation that makes the scent feel washed off. I don't find that part to be doing the scent any favors. It also makes it lean feminine more than I'd like. And soon, that powdery accent slowly makes way for soft musk covering a dry and unexciting woodiness, concluding that the scent doesn't pack any sort of punch for me. It's of good quality, well-blended, just rather bland, and star anise is not much of my thing either, so... Performance was hardly worthy of praise either. Yes, it reached about 8 hours in longevity, but to what good if it did so most of the time as a skin scent? Apart from the first hour having a pretty prominent sillage and fairly good pushing power, Herbes quickly dies down and turns most of the projection off by the 3 hour mark. Good thing at least that versatility only benefits from that. Even if slightly more feminine leaning, it is still perfectly wearable for a man as well, as that star anise manages to keep things from completely going astray into watered down white florals. Anyways, for daily wear, for the office, for school, for a walk in the park... It's about as easy to wear as the notes make it out to be, but maybe not exciting enough for special situations. Herbes is probably my least favorite from D:SOL's catalogue at the time of this writing. It doesn't offer much to get excited about apart from that star anise. Frankly, that's not even my biggest issue with the scent; it's just that I don't enjoy that washed-off feeling the mimosa and heart notes evoke. But of course, someone else might love exactly that, and it might even make the price (€160/75ml) justifiable. As far as I'm concerned, you can keep the recipe a secret, D:SOL. Presentation: 7/10 Scent: 6/10 Longevity: 7/10 Projection: 3/10 Versatility: 9/10 Value for Money: 3.5/10 Overall: 5.9/10