L'Eau d'Hiver

Powdery, snowy, icy, cloudy, chilly, with a gorgeous heliotrope and white musk accord. It's almost reminiscent to Creed's Himalaya - maintaining a similar vibe, with the photorealistic snowy aura that it brings about. While Himalaya recalls a sunny day on snowy, mountainous peaks, L'Eau d'Hiver conjures an image of a foggy, dreary winter day, with inches of snow and a grove of trees with icicles for leaves surrounding a gorgeous, frozen lake. You might think I'm implying that the fragrance is dull and boring, yet it's anything but - remember those childhood winter days where your neighborhood park was whitewashed with an angelic bed of snow, and even though it was still grey and snowy outside, you couldn't wait to immerse yourself in playing outside? That's what I'm reliving right now. I think Frederic Malle's perfumers, or more specifically, Jean-Claude Ellena, managed to capture the essence of snow by masterfully blending a cool yet creamy white musk with powdery iris and vanillic heliotrope, as well as add on the sub-arctic angelica plant to enhance the wintry feeling. Soft, subtle white florals lend a fresh yet soothing effect in the very background. The overall aroma is somehow cold yet warming, like playing in the snow knowing there's a cup of hot cocoa waiting for you when you're finished. It's quite evocative, if I'm being honest, and I can't stop making comparisons to my childhood in that sense. If I'm being honest, I don't really detect the bergamot, or the honey, but perhaps that's just the way the scent reads on my skin, or they're just used in an indistinguishable way that serves no other role than to support and enrich the primary accords. I will say this, though - if beastly performance is your preference, L'Eau d'Hiver might not be your cup of tea. Even on moderate days or nights, you won't be getting TOO much longevity from this fragrance - about 6-7 hours on the maximum, with 2-4 hours - which is not bad, but for those who prefer greater lasting power, I could see why it could be disappointing. I do confess, though, that a fragrance with such a scent profile need not possess 24 hours of performance - it's fine just the way it is. I'm impressed by the sillage, though - even though I personally stopped smelling it on myself about 2 hours in, someone told me they could detect what turned out to be my cologne as they were walking in from almost 10 feet away. That's insane to me, especially for a fresh cologne. Look, I now know and realize Frederic Malle's fragrance collection won't be satisfactory to everybody. Hell, that's why a single perfumer works on each fragrance - to create their own interpretation of the brand ethos in tandem with their personal manifesto on what perfumery means to them. It took me a while to recognize that, and if I'm being honest, I used to avoid Frederic Malle's fragrances for this very reason, but I have come to appreciate them, one by one, each time with an open mind, and though I might not like each one, I can understand the reasoning behind the decisions that were made during its creation. So no, not everybody will enjoy L'Eau d'Hiver. However, it's imperative to acknowledge the expert craft that went into creating the fragrance, and while not many will, because their personal distaste for the scent profile will prevent them from doing so (believe me, I freely admit that I've done this as well with other fragrances so it's completely understandable), I definitely can. So yes, I now have an obsession with L'Eau d'Hiver, and while I love how it evokes the feeling of a cold and austere yet nostalgic winter, this is a fragrance I will be wearing the absolute f*ck out of in the springtime. Spectacularly done by Jean-Claude Ellena.

L’Eau d’Hiver was released three years after the brand launched with its original lineup and is an early example for us of a creative direction that we learned we should intermittently expect from Malle over the life of the brand, that of getting compositions which are purely intellectual exercises - not a perfume for beauty or emotion. L’Eau d’Hiver is a true success in this regard, but it also means I have no idea where or when I’d want to wear it. Hedione, heliotrope, and dihydromyrcenol are massive vehicles propelled at full throttle in the opening of the perfume. To call it striking is an understatement. It is a near perfect evocation of a wintry blast going straight into your face. But, this is Ellena remember, so it’s not like getting hit in the face with a snowball, it’s very airy and breezy yet still thick and opaque like a blizzard wind or an icy fog. The heart is all about a cold and crystalline iris. Pleasantly floral but cold, crystalline but pillowy like freshly fallen snow, it’s an absolutely gorgeous iris note. The base accents the iris with touches of sweet floral honey and streamlined soapy musks that give me a feeling of washing my hands in cold soapy tap water. Interestingly for a floral, especially one created in the early 2000s, I think it works better on a typical man more than it would a typical woman. Of course, it’s unisex - I don’t really care about the gender orientation of perfumes, wear whatever you like - but what I mean to say is that it has the crispness and texture of a refreshing man’s cologne more than a plush woman’s perfume. Dior’s Homme by Olivier Polge, for example, released a couple of years after, is another iris forward perfume that manages to ride the unisex line so perfectly well that it’s more accurately described as genderless. L’Eau d’Hiver doesn’t present itself that way at all. In its crisp, airy, and very confident delivery is a firm personality, but I don’t know who or what it is. That’s probably why this perfume is a bit of a struggle for me, and likely why so many people were/are indifferent towards it. But, switching off the criteria to think about this perfume as a cosmetic or a work of art, and, rather, as I said at the beginning, an intellectual and technical exercise, I have to conclude it’s brilliant. Malle and Elena executed the mandate to exacting and precise results, and I cannot help but to be wowed by it.

This was my favorite sample I've tried from this house so far, and I don't think it can be beat. It transports me to being a kid... I lived with my grandparents without my parents for a while, so I developed a strong relationship with my grandma- basically following her around and watching her cook and clean and going shopping with her and listening to her stories. After she was done showering, brushing her teeth, putting on lotion, makeup and perfume and was ready for the day, she would come out of her room and smell EXACTLY like this. So to me, it's comforting and inspirational and nostalgic and while it reminds me of my grandma, it's not a scent I would say smells like an "old lady" - to be fair, I never saw my grandma as that old really, she has such a young energy! It's slightly powdery and soft...and the floral to me is like if you had been holding flowers in your hand for 30 minutes and then put them down and then smell your hands...light and fresh and soft, and maybe ever so slightly warm from holding them for so long. I am usually pretty sensitive to bergamot and hate the way it smells on me. While I've only worn this 4 or 5 times, so far it hasn't turned on me, and I hope it never does because I would be so sad. The only reason I'm thinking it may be worth it to buy a bottle is because of the memory I have tied to that smell, and it DOES seem to be super beautifully blended and not new too weak or strong but...it is pretty spendy.

Reviewing this one again because I am obsessed with my 1ml sample and devastated at the price of a full bottle. Its so complex, with each note having its own little moment. Very few perfumes come of this way to me, with each individual note standing out so beautifully. It also incorporates two notes I do not normally enjoy, pink pepper and iris, but they smell so different here. It opens with the freshness of pink pepper, but here the pink pepper seems more gentle than in other fragrances. JUST enough to add a little spiciness/freshness, more of a sensation than a scent. Followed by iris, but more fresh than other iris perfumes. Its muted here, no cloying baby wipe smell or similar complaints with iris. As it warms on my skin I smell the honey, musk, and heliotrope. It smells like an oat bath to me. Its soapy, and warm, and just a LITTLE sweet. So so so so cozy. Very much one of those scents that to me, smell like a hug from someone I love. To echo @amanda0727 below me, its classy and understated. Its a gorgeous smell, without being 'in your face' strong or sweet. I also wish I would have learned to appreciate scents like this sooner and not wasted so much time on perfumes that influencers recommended to me that their sole appeal is being loud and strong. L'Eau d'Hiver is artistry.

L'Eau d'Hiver is soft, mellow and beautiful. It made me fall in love with it, because it is way more than what you may initially think it is. It surprises you constantly. Initially you think it's fleeting, but in fact it stays on your skin and felt for longer than expected. You think it's sweet and flowery but in fact it has a lot of contrasting notes which make it leaning more mellow and calm. >> It sometimes smells like burned wood, the smell of a sweet distant fire, something very different from what the notes make you believe at first. Other times it reminds me of the smells of walking in the rain and jumping over puddles. The air is fresh but the rain also brings out earthy and flowery smells from the ground and sidewalks. According to the box it comes in, one of the inspirations was boiling water or steam, which actually makes sense smelling it. I would recommend wearing it for a day off, outside. I feel like it's best appreciated close to nature and on a day with lots of free time, not at an office. * I see a certain connection between L'Eau d'Hiver and Jean-Claude Ellena's Bois Farine for L'Artisan Parfumeur. They were both conceived by him in 2003, and both have this powdery air idea. Both are interesting and beautiful. 10/10