Sienne l ́Hiver

Sienne l'Hiver is truly a masterpiece: original, well blended and long lasting. Together with Bois d'ombrie Bertrand made a pair of twins for Eau d'Italie. Those twins that don't look (smell) alike but you can tell from miles away they are so. They definitely share dna. My only concern regarding Sienne l'hiver is its wearability. I haven't been able to think of any occasion to use it without feeling I'd be bothering others. It is too one of a kind in a bizarre way... like a work of art only enjoyable by specialists. I feel tempted to describe it (the olive smell, the herbal vibe, the extreme coldness...) but I have been going through my small sample for 2 years now and still find it awkward. Amazing but detached, aloof, unreachable. It's definitely a fragrance I'd love to have for a perfume fair to show the world the wonders of fragrance, what these masters like Bertrand can create... but as a personal scent 100ml would stay unsprayed for decades. I love it but wouldn't wear it.

I have legitimately tried three of hs fragrances wanting to like each one because of all the hype surrounding him as an artist... but once more I'm slightly disappointed. This particular fragrance captures the grey moodiness of autumn unquestionably and successfully so, however it seems entirely inappropriate for anything outside of a novelty candle or sent for a home or apartment. It has that "typical" niche quality about it that makes it wearable only by those that are aiming to be unique, however it lacks the smell of a well-crafted fragrance worthy of a master perfumer's signature. Bitter, grey, somewhat depressing. 3/5 I'll stick to Nicolai, thank you.

Sadly discontinued, one of the first fragrances that really lured me into the world of niche. Ormonde Jayne Evernia reminds me of Sienne l'Hiver a bit, but Evernia is significantly warmer. Sienne is the coldest fragrance I have ever smelt, it is the body temperature of an anemic vampire in a stone coffin deep down in the damp and dark forgotten crypt of the Duomo di Siena. It's sinister, unforgiving and truly gothic. No warmth, no future and no hope. I love it so much but it's like the Cures' Pornography album, you must be in the right mood to listen to it otherwise it will become unbearable and dangerous for a simple human being.

Sienne l'Hiver (Siena in Winter). This one is definitely unique. I get loads of fern in this composition, which reminds me of my grandparents' garden. Indeed, this one is quite woody with a refreshing tone of violet leaf and some hay to give it a countryside feel to it, it is quite green. For me it is quite linear, which is great. The longevity is average, about six hours with moderate to soft projection. It is one of the better Eau D'Italie fragrances that fits the season of Spring perfectly, which makes me me think why is it called Siena in Winter? In any case, I do recommend trying it out, it is a delight to wear it.

Despite its winter description, I get some lovely fresh flowers at the opening, almost rose-like. But it soon does settle into chilly, smoky, olive tree with salt air, even a hint of dill pickle, and still some lingering florals. I can definitely get behind the imagery of a charismatic old European city on a winter evening (or maybe a cool autumn evening). Has some similarity to the feel of Passage d’Enfer, with the cool stone and lilies and incense. Beautiful!

Sienne l'hiver is like a morning walk in the countryside in a winter day, you can feel the humidity fill your lungs. It's a melancholic end introspective perfume. It opens with fern and violet leaf and after a while iris. I don't detect the smell of olive. Longevity and sillage are good. It's a very particular and unusual scent but if you don't like cold, green and earthy perfume Sienne l'Hiver is not for you because there's no sweetness in it

If you've ever tried a saperavi wine that is almost exactly what this smells like. Savoury, cool, fresh, ever so slightly funky. I get quite a bit of iris, and an almost grassy sent. I haven't been to Siena, but one year I spent Christmas just outside of Florence. Smelling this I can imagine myself back there breathing in the cold morning air in the fields.

Liquid Winter. No joke. This may be a turnoff for many, as it is a very somber, almost depressing scent. It's grey, Winter nostalgia. I'm from the northeast, so imagine a cold day after the snow has gotten a bit dirty on the pavement and the smell of the cold nothing is in the air. That's this one. Not one I care for but one that I undeniably recognize.

Literally the most depressing scent I've ever smelled. I don't care for most of his fragrances, but he's captured Winter as a concept piece extraordinarily well. This is the color grey, bottled. If you're from the northeastern US, you'll appreciate this one.

Winter is my favorite time of year. I love snow, overall calmness and peace a winter brings, I love holidays. I like wearing coats and robust jackets and boots. However, all this cold and freeze has its dark side, and it's exactly what Sienne l'Hiver captured for me. It's like, if a winter fog could have a smell, it would smell like this. Sienne l'Hiver is a green, herbal perfume, with a lot of different grassy and aromatic notes. The notes in this scent, however, are hard to dissect for me. The only two notes I can put my finger on are orris and geranium, both in the heart of the fragrance and both earthy and dusty in a way. The rest is a sea of greenness in the opening and the woodiness in the base. People here mostly feel a fern note and it doesn't help me a little bit, since I have no clue what fern smells like. Also, hay note could be spotted by someone, just like violet leaf, I cannot say they are not here, but all I feel is a complex conglomerate of grasses, herbs and leaves. Both longevity and sillage are moderate, with the scent being closer to the skin as the time passes and more woods appear. All that being said, I think I'd prefer this scent if it was a candle, or another home fragrance type. That doesn't say that it cannot be worn, it can, in a variety of ways, seasons and occasions. Still, if it was an ambiental smell, it would fit the story better. I'll give my best to explain this. On a man it is green, sharp and aromatic. However, if the point was to capture the essence of winter air, it was done very successfully - even if it doesn't sound that way being that green and winter don't really sound complementary. Now, you cannot really feel an atmosphere of winter from a man (or woman, it doesn't matter). The perfume worn by a person is what I said, green, sharp and herbal and, even if different from other similar perfumes, it is still, in a way, ordinary. The cloud of perfume is a whole other story. You see, it would get 10/10 from me if it was meant to be a concept, a smell, or a candle. In this case, I feel like wearing it makes a disservice to its quality perception. 7.75/10

More a scent of time and space, this evocative creation by Bertrand Duchaufour is his reminiscing about wintry days in the city of Siena, Italy. Combining notes of violet leaf, geranium, black olive, white truffle, smoke, woods, coal roasted chestnuts, autumn leaves, french straw, iris root, and white musk, he creates this serene and contemplative scent which is mysterious, contemplative and serene. This is a perfume that wont dazzle a lot of people or put them in swoon filled ecstasies but will take them to more reflective, sentimental moments in their life. Perfect for wintry days while you sit and enjoy your espresso and look into the snow falling on the street or your yard. Moderate in sillage, long lasting, well blended and most importantly, utterly unique!

Sienne l'Hiver opens with geranium leaf, violet petals, and fern, but I can only describe what my nose smells: Dry olives in powder. Ever since I smelled the drugstore body mist Olive and Aloe from Healing Gardens, I realized how much I love the smell of olives, although I hate the taste! The olive note is obvious, but not overpowering because it is softened by the powder (or the blend that smells like powder to my nose). I would like to say Sienne l'Hiver is a well-balanced fragrance, but that awesome olive note simply drowns in all that powder. I suspect Eau d’Italie tries too hard to be like Serge Lutens because their frags, the ones I have tried, all have that same powdery drydown. Overall, Sienne l'Hiver is unique, and definitely worth sampling.

Sienne l'Hiver is a very kitchen-garden smell for me. Dill, geranium, all the herbs blended together. Very grassy green dry non-sweet scent. Totally can see how a man can wear it. Women? Not every, as absolute lack of sweetness will repell the majority of females. Those strongest left might immensely enjoy this version of winter - a winter when violets and irises are in flower and predominant color outside is green, not white. Winter looks and feels radically different where I live, so I can use Italian winter scent during my spring or early summer - when after a long frigid winter you so look forward to blue skies, fresh leaves and first flowers.

An original scent but not a full bottle for me at this time. I agree with the reviewers who call this herbal and green. Not something I would have pictured as l'hiver, unless one is wistful for spring in the middle of winter and breathes in this scent to catch a glimpse of the future or a memory of the past. Longevity is good, more than six hours for me but it started and remained close to the body. I prefer the fuller Tauer's Reverie Au Jardin if I were to get a bottle of green. This is lovely but more watered down and more of a sibling to Calvin Klein's Truth.

I wonder if Duchaufour read The Song of Ice and Fire . I kept thinking what that blue flower "winter rose" would smell like. Thanks to Duchaufore, the Winter Rose now have a scent, although it's not a rose. The soft almond-plastic+rice-powder floral lying on the deathly-cold bed of dry moss and rotten leaves, this is what Lyanna smelt when Raeghar crown her with the laurel of blue winter rose.

whoever described it as floral green must have missed something out..i smell wood, and a lot of it too. wood, incense and geranium. quite a peculiar smell. very square, very clear and confident. i see a person wearing it as ambitious but a little shallow. i think that the scent is lacking deepness and character. on the other hand it's quite easy to wear, might be perfect for the office:-)

I am no ta blond (Kterhark) :-) but I love it. No bleach on me. Its a fresh and uplifting pefrume. Spring Summer-very light. Its very close to skin On me it is a light woody green

scent : 9/10 sillage : 7/10 longevity : 7/10 70% day / 30% night fragrance nice green,violet and woody scent Reminds me of grey flannel

Floral, green, too feminine for me, but pleasant.

The Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel 1565