Heaven Can Wait

On the first day I wore "Heaven Can Wait" by Frederic Malle, a chance encounter with a stranger in a bustling café left an indelible memory. As I placed my order, the person next to me couldn't help but lean in and ask, "Excuse me, but you smell absolutely incredible. What fragrance are you wearing?" It was a delightful surprise to receive such a spontaneous and genuine compliment. I shared the name of the fragrance, and they jotted it down, promising to seek it out for themselves. It was a testament to the immediate and enchanting allure of this remarkable scent. Perfume is often described as an art form, and when it comes to the works of Frederic Malle, this sentiment couldn't be truer. "Heaven Can Wait," the latest offering from this venerable house, is a fragrance that transcends time and trends, establishing itself as an exemplar of timeless elegance in the world of perfumery. Scent Profile: At the heart of any exceptional fragrance is its scent profile, and "Heaven Can Wait" is nothing short of exceptional. The scent journey begins with a burst of invigorating top notes that awaken the senses with a crisp iris. It's like the first rays of sunlight on a cool morning, filling you with energy and optimism. As the fragrance develops, it gracefully transitions into a harmonious symphony of floral notes. What sets "Heaven Can Wait" apart is Malle's expert blending, where no single floral note dominates. Instead, you experience a delicate, balanced bouquet that feels like walking through a spring garden in full bloom. It's a celebration of nature's beauty and the artistry of perfumery. However, what truly captivates the senses is the fragrance's base notes. Rich, warm woods envelop you, creating a comforting and velvety embrace. There's a subtle hint of vanilla that lingers, adding a touch of sweetness without overpowering the composition. It's a sensual, inviting conclusion to this olfactory journey. Longevity and Sillage: "Heaven Can Wait" showcases remarkable longevity. A few spritzes in the morning will carry you through the day and well into the evening, making it ideal for both daytime and evening wear. Its sillage is moderate, leaving a captivating trail that isn't overpowering but ensures you'll be noticed and remembered. Craftsmanship: Fredric Malle is renowned for collaborating with the world's most talented perfumers, and "Heaven Can Wait" is no exception. The fragrance's intricate blend of high-quality ingredients speaks to the skill and dedication that goes into each creation under the Malle brand. It's a testament to the artistry of perfumery and the commitment to delivering nothing short of excellence. JCE is a mastermind, no doubt. Conclusion: In a world inundated with fragrances vying for attention, "Heaven Can Wait" by Frederic Malle emerges as a true gem. It's the kind of fragrance that defies trends and transcends seasons. Its versatility, from professional settings to special occasions, makes it an indispensable addition to any fragrance collection. Without a doubt, this fragrance deserves the title of the best fragrance release of 2023. If you seek a fragrance that embodies timeless elegance, "Heaven Can Wait" is your invitation to a world of refined luxury and olfactory artistry. It's a fragrance that lingers in the memory, leaving an indelible mark, and a testament to the enduring legacy of Frederic Malle in the world of perfumery.

If you ever have smelled allspice (pimento), this perfume has loads of it. To me it is mainly the allspice, and the rest becomes a bit more abstract. The perfume reminds me of uncut gem, with this wet-saliva-kind-of-vetiver, but this time pushed into the more aquatic magnolia and dusty iris; and overal made warmer. You get the combination of cloves, which peaks into this allspice scent (which is an idiosyncratic type of smell to me). Jean-Claude as well puts many textures and scent profiles against each other in this perfume, giving you a full range of emotions through the perfume. Eventually you end up with a memory: a musky base. In release video on the perfume Frederic Malle himself says Jean-Claude Ellena wanted to work on warm spices, instead of the cold ones, as he is used to. Frederic Malle metaphorically adds Jean-Claude Ellena is by nature an aquarelist who suddenly changed into an oil painter; but still takes the structured way of perfume making with him. The name itself represents to Jean-Claude the protective sphere into which the perfume takes you. Maybe it can be understood through another perfume named Angel by Mugler, in which the angel slowly descends unto an earthy base, while in the creation of Jean-Claude an opposite effect is happening: we are holding on to the spiced-earthy pleasures. And as the spiced pleasures disappear, the scent leaves this earthly realm into a linguering after-thought, rising ever higher and higher. Jean-Claude himself says a perfume cannot be offensive, it has to be sensual and attractive. It has to bring you closer to the other. In the release video he adds 'I don't I have been that pationate when creating a perfume.' The reason therefor lies I think in the creation of the spicy opening, which can easily repel a person done wrongly. Clearly the search for a balanced spicy opening made him excited. For the people stating in the comments 'this scent is just x-y-z combined, we have seen it all, it is simple' etc. I have one thing to say: it is not as simple. 'They have just added a cheap base and added a bit of this or that.' Why would you willingly downgrade a creation, assuming there is only marketing going on in the Estée Lauder headquarters? As if the creation of a perfumer suddenly is just driven by some random economical reasons. Yes, there are perhaps some reasons, but they are not the only one. If I read Jean-Claude Ellena's book on perfumery, I sense his philosophical mind, he is earnest about creating. Let us then listen to the perfumer himself and Frederic Malle, without any prejudice and scepticism. I don't smell 'Après l'Ondée' of Guerlain at all in this perfume. The impressionistic scent of 'Après l'Ondée' evokes totally different images, the scent profile is totally different and the ingredients. 'Après l'Ondée' is a melancholical scent, this one is sensual and lingering (or as Frederic Malle said 'whispering').

Heaven can't indeed wait. It's already here. Not many people like this, and it seems to be primarily because it wasn't what they were wanting in terms of olfactive expression; many wanted a rich buttery iris but instead got put-off by carrot seeds and the super dry clove. They also seem to be Malle purists that have a bone to pick due to the sale to Estee Lauder and the brand's change of creative direction - which, I do too, to be honest, but I try to be as open minded as possible. The brand is ~25 years old and was sold to a conglomerate: change was inevitable and guaranteed, whether sold or not. Bemoan it, or roll with it and hope for the best. I'm the latter, though EL is not giving me much reason to be. Anyway, onto the perfume, which weirdly for a Malle doesn't quite fit the brief - perhaps part of the criticisms people are levying against it. This is less about iris than it is the rest of it. The opening of ambrette and carrot seeds and fleshy tree fruit is wonderful, a warming orange glow of light. This is Ellena and what he does best, especially when given a lot of latitude by a brand/director. The ambrette and carrot is very rich and photorealistic but, in keeping with JCE's signature style, they have a weightlessness, light filled, and breezy texture to them. Like two separate air particles existing in a cloud it's impossible to see where one starts and the other ends. The orange light begins to dim to reveal a new foreground that maybe many - most? - did not see coming, which is very dry and hot cloves, dried potpourri-like iris, powdered vanilla, and sandy musks. The orange glow at the start has warmed everything up to be almost hot to the touch. But, before you go thinking this is going to be a warming winter spiced latte type scent, this is Ellena, remember. There is absolutely nothing thick, cloying, sweet, looming or large about any of these heart and base notes. The dryness of it allows Elena to stay true to his unique and exquisite style of keeping proceedings weightless and light filled - and he does it so well here. HCW seems to hover over the top of my skin rather than sit on it. I feel like I'm glowing, like the orange light that was cast on me from the start is now making me radiate with a burnished glow. It's powerful without being loud, large without taking up a lot of room, confident without being arrogant, relaxed but focused. It is so effortlessly elegant and luxurious without, at any point, feeling like it's too much or calling a lot of attention. This is absolutely superb, and one of the best things Ellena has made in the last couple of decades.

A new fragrance by our mastermind JCE. Heaven Can Wait 'til another day, but I could not wait to smell this! I'd like to add that my favorite band, Iron Maiden, has a song named 'Heaven Can Wait,' so this fragrance is even more sentimental for me. I am glad that I've managed to get my hands on it a bit earlier than expected... but I had to wait and wear it for a couple of days before I write this review... Since I've already spent about 5 milliliters, I am now 'authorized' to write. It's indeed a great addition to the Frederic Malle line as it's completely unique and new. Not just to the FM line, but I've never smelled something like this before. It's a warm, spicy, woody, and fruity (maybe a bit chypre) scent. It is addictive as hell (or heaven?). The opening is warm, spicy, and woody. You can instantly tell that it's an iris fragrance, but not as potent as Iris Poudre. It's very interesting to me to smell JCE's take on warm spices... usually, it's not something you'd expect from him. You can get some hints of Play-Doh in the background, yes, I know... it's funny. But still, it reminds me of Play-Doh. Musk and vanilla will give you some sandalwoody hints, even though it's not there... the base might be similar to Dans Tes Bras musky base if you have to point your finger at some FM release. It's the smell that you can sense on your tongue too... brilliant and addictive. You can find some peach and plum in the background, but it's rather there to give you fruity/sweet vibes. The drydown is woody, musky, slightly dusty with some vetiver to support it. Projection is solid, aura is beautiful, and it will last for about 12-14 hours on my skin. It's not a beast mode fragrance, but it should not be! Not meant to be. Not designed to be. The beast belongs to Hell, not to Heaven - right? I've already received a couple of compliments for HCW, and one of those was after 7 hours of wearing it, so it's definitely THERE and PRESENT. My wife approved of this one too, which is great. Isn't it? It is indeed a skin-like, warm, lovely, and heavenly smell. Well worth the hype, in my opinion! It's more artistic than a crowd-pleaser type of scent. I'd put this in the same group as Une Fleur De Cassie, Dans Tes Bras, and Iris Poudre. Art! Art! Art! Your private heaven! This is most likely my favorite JCE's release. But time will tell...

Call me a JCE/Malle dickrider if you must!!!! but this is a lovely, elegant, little perfume and I mean what did people expect from Ellena at this point hey? His style is this minimal, simplistic, lightly spicy thing, I'm amazed at the fact he can keep churning out mildly deritive/self aware/carriacture of his own style stuff but somehow bring something new to the table, especially this genre, one he helped to define with L'eau d'hiver looming large in my memory and subseuently spawning stuff like Dior's Bois d'agent, this doesn't really smell like either of those but if you like them then be in store for a treat. So I was told this was heavy, heavy clove and not much else, by several, usually reliable sources, but what a load of old shite they were talking, yes there's a clove note but it's super balanced and understated. This is a nuanced and laid back approach to an orris/iris accord based perfume which I find almost impossible not to enjoy, I mean a potential critisism (if you really must?) could be that it's a bit, boring, beige, whatever, but I think it's pricisely the tone that they were trying to achieve and for me this is something of a safe but return to form for Malle after a couple of duff releases in Synthetic Jungle and the pretty apauling (albeit you might find a favourable review by me on here because I did quite like it at first, but do not any longer) Uncut Gem. I enjoy this. I'm sorry. I'm still impressed by JCE's work, it's not big and shiny rah rah look at me, Orris opulence which again a valid critique might be for this money and Malle Branding it should be, but I' throw back to that, a lack of understanding of the brand/brief and the perfumer here. Mark my words this is a grower, not a shower and time will tell on Heaven can wait.

First, I have to start with saying that as an “ elder” of this platform, I’m becoming quite fed up with reading pseudo reviews that mean nothing, a sport of bashing fragrances without smelling them, and so on. My suspicion is that all of these empty soulless reviews come from lovers of ambroxan. There I said it. Now, it’s always exciting to know there’s a new JCE perfume coming out. I tried this for about couple of weeks now, it’s Ana amazing balance of clove and Iris, flowers and slight airy fruity smoke, it’s light but ever so present. It one those clouds that are always around you in an eleven at way. And it changes, a lot. Every time I use it it does something different, reminiscent of something else, feeling, vibes and memories- which is the greatness of Jean Claude Elena. The opening is similar to another JCE one from The different company ‘ Bois D’iris” the pencil like Iris factor. But soon this one takes a more clove like flowery and dry fruit touch to it. The fruit is like smelling a peel of one becoming ripe, and not the fruit’s flesh. The clove take here is amazing. Elegant, comforting, and sophisticated. On me it stays all day with no reapplying. Simply beautiful. Price wise, each to his own with what people think is worth it for them.

Sure, it’s expensive – it’s a Frederic Malle – but I really wanted to try it so I bought the 10 ml. vial as a milestone-birthday present to myself. I’m glad I did, as this is fascinating, lovely and haunting. It starts out very powdery, to the point where I had the sensation of actual powder in my nose. Then it smooths out and the spices come forward and remain there through the calmer, warm drydown. I love JCE’s work, and you can tell from the spices (and the gentleness) here that this is the same artist who created Déclaration and Voyage d’Hermes, although this is very different from those classics. From some of the reviews I’ve read (or watched) I expected this to be very fleeting, but, to my surprise, it doesn’t perform a disappearing act on me at all and keeps me in a warm, sexy, spicy bubble for about 5 hours (which is enough for me; I get bored with perfumes that never know when to quit). Very beautiful and smart, and different from anything else I’ve got in my relatively small collection.

Cringeworthy sexual marketing aside, I've just tested this in the boutique and it's wonderful. On the card I don't get much, but on the skin, it's very complex and interesting. There's powdery iris, but the carrot seed and ambrette make for a unique blend, and the powderiness doesn't last long. After 20 minutes, a sort of metallic sheen becomes apparent. I'd say this perfume doesn't fit into a genre other than bearing the stylistic hallmarks of the great JC Ellena. I'm not sure this is for me, but I applaud the release of another beautiful, interesting and unique scent from FM. 2 hours in, and the vetiver and plum are much more apparent. I'm not generally a fan of vetiver dry-downs, but this one hasn't become pickley so that's a plus in my book. 3 hours in... well, it's fully transformed into the dry-down of Guerlain's Vetiver. Hmmmmm Update- Wearing it in public and within minutes people in the metro are muttring about how great it smells.

Since its launch, I’ve been wanting to try this perfume but never had the opportunity. Finally, I bought two samples of HCW, and I must say, it’s my favorite fragrance from the FM collection to date. It starts with a warm, powdery, and vegetal scent, but with a sweet twist thanks to the combination of carrot seeds and peach. After a while, the scent becomes more sensual, and the sweet vegetal notes mellow out. You’re left with a slightly fruity, powdery, and sweet scent that I absolutely love. HCW also has a “vintage” characteristic that isn’t overpowering. Considering performance is where most of the criticism comes from, it’s surprisingly good. It lasts 7-8 hours, and two to three sprays filled my room for about two to three hours. Even after spraying other samples, it still managed to overshadow them. I definitely plan to buy a bottle when I can.

Iris in a beige lace underwear. It's a bit simple for me for this price range, but that doesn't mean it's not pretty. To use a comment for a different perfume that someone wrote: This is french tip nails and pink lipgloss. Favourite sweater with loose threads from wearing it too much. Casual, comfortable clothes while running errands. The usual order at favourite café. I loved this comment and to me, it perfectly suits this perfume. This is my "simple but favourite, no matter what anyone thinks". The opening was a bit screechy, but it bloomed very quickly into a rainy day mood booster. Think BDK Gris Charnel, but with pimento instead of cardamon. I get no plum and no cloves, but magnolia and veriver are a nice background that blends it l together smoothly. If you love one, you might like the other too.

Frederic Malle Heaven Can Wait (2023) - Iris Clove - #jeanclaudeellena reverts back to his mentor, Mr. Roudnitska, and reworks previous accords from his days as Hermes’ in-house perfumer. Starts with dry & rooty Iris meets Plum and Peach, a nod to Roudnitska’s signature accord with Dior, turned out to be furry & plum-skin than sweet peach popsicle. The heart is a mixture of warm & aromatic carnation-like Clove, All-spice, rooty Carrot seed and vegatal musk Ambrette. Beautifully balanced across the spices. Dry-down tones down the spices and gives way to white musks, Iris, and ambrette. If someone thinks it would have watercolor transparency, you would be disappointed, as this is full-bodied, nuanced and something I would expect from a vintage Dior. A masterful journey from start to finish.

Second-skin kind of scent; wears like a soft, enveloping blanket. It is light, airy, yet has this creamy/fluffy vibe to it. I do pick up on cloves quite a bit on the opening (which I'm a fan of, but I don't think it's for everyone), which lasts just around an hour before the fragrance settles into its slightly sweet, touch fruity and rooty, cashmere-like base. Wouldn't say its a "sexy" scent as the marketing brief would suggest, but I can see it as a fairly versatile, cozy kind of fragrance. Performance is decent...not a projection monster by any means but I do catch wafts of it throughout the day, it has decent staying power on the skin. RTP for the brand is killer, but I managed to snag a bottle up at half price...am happy with the purchase.

I have to preface this by saying I'm not usually a fan of strong fragrances since I live in a tropical and humid place. This is my first FM perfume, so I was initially pretty cautious with it. After using it a couple of times, my initial impression was, "Wow, this is pretty strong. I better not use it too often or too much, otherwise, I might clear a room." But now, after taking some time to get to know it better, I have to say, this is a very nice perfume. It smells of warm clove tobacco, and subjectively, it's a very nostalgic scent to me. It reminds me of people I know, and while I don't smoke, this fragrance brings to mind people I miss. I love it purely for subjective reasons.

This has gone from meh to a love for me. I didn’t get this at all first time wearing this. Only got the carrot seeds mixed with some powdery notes and it only lasted 3-4h. Now I can smell the different layers of this. It’s both warm and cold, powdery and spicy at the same time. In the dry down the spices leaves plenty of space to the fruits which gives it a more prominent sweetness (although it’s far from a sweet fragrance). I’m considering a full bottle of this.

Not sure about the hate on this. Smells sorta chai like at the start with the spices, then turns into an amazing clean powdery/play-doh scent. The spices develop over 2 hours then turns clean from there. It doesn’t project far, but lasts on me. Such an unusual transition, wasn’t sure who would want a fragrance with such a contrast of notes, then I realized I did. My first FM, it’s cheaper than the rest also which was a bonus.

Spicy Musk🔥 Definitely an autumn fragrance, getting you prepared for winter❄️The cloves and carrot seeds juice up the plums. It reminds me of a Ukrainian X-mas dessert, "uzhvar"😋 This is probably one of the first warm spicy fragrances I've tried that are still pungent without being cloying👏 Also I'd classify this as a gourmand and an aromatic carminative🫖 Zodiac Trio ⬆️Saggitarius ☀️Scorpio🌙Virgo

this is a polarizing but beautiful dry spice, you immediately get the cloves and carrot seed. as it dries down you get the iris and vetiver. I understand why people would not like this but if you give it a chance on skin and enjoy a dry powdery warmth it comes off as clean, subtle, and beuatiful. Definetely not worth the retail price but you can find it for decent value on discounters.

A beautiful fragrance. A warm embrace, truly. Sweet plum, iris, and musks with a whirl of spices. Delicately composed. It’s one of the best Malle has done in the past 10 years. This could be the younger, more timid sister of L’Eau d’Hiver. Different people, same father. JCE is a mastermind. Bought a travel size to test but this is easily full-bottle worthy.

this is a beautiful clove. I've been smelling my wrist all day after testing it and it dries down to be very clean. This scent is a master work. The art snobs went crazy in these comments. If you like musc ravaguer you'll like this. It smells like a christmas but sensual, warm and comforting. Nothing about this is animalic, its just absolutely wonderful.

I am surprised by heaven can wait. I thought it was going to be musk overload. A lot of people said it didn't last. Neither of these are true from my experience. I do have oily skin and I have noticed certain fragrances last longer than what most people say. This is almost identical to eyes closed by byredo. That's all I can say.