Iris Harmonique

I have a decant of this, gifted from the lovely man who sold me the unfortunate disaster of my last review, and I adore it. It is such a deep and yummy Iris scent, an elevated powder to a beautiful degree. It's right up my alley, everything I would possibly want out of a feminine powder; it is an iris which has been drawn into a deep, earthy sultriness. There's something kind of aquatic but chlorine-y during it's development, likely from the immortelle... Interesting, very unique iris creation that I'm totally taken by. The oud and leathers add the perfect level of 'masc' quality to it that doesn't take it too deep into a painful and irritating powder. It's really beautifully balanced. I'm disappointed that I can't source a full bottle of this because I'd love to make it a frequent wear. Another unfortunate case of a discontinued gem. Really feel it could be a signature scent, particularly of its effortlessly, casually chic and sensual nature. I spritzed just a bit on my wrist before bed but now I'm sat up hungrily sniffing my wrist like bear sniffing at a beehive, and my stomach is rumbling...

An IRIS-GOURMAND MASTERPIECE! Seriously, this is truly spectacular and honestly different. I have always lamented and bemoaned the fact that Givenchy has lost is directional DNA (no, not contemporary but directional) as a LEADER of the fashion pack. But this entire range of L'ARTELIER is what made me fall in love again with GIVENCHY. It is sophisticated, daringly different, uncompromisingly new and unconventional and just very good. Iris has been done in many ways now (almost as many as Ouds) but trust me when I say, you have not smelled Iris ever like this before: a fusion of creamy coconut indulgent iris, enhanced and intensified by the neroli, that comes across as cinnamon. I swear that in the beginning it smells like the brown rice I cooked the other day with anise and cinnamon. Just so beguilingly beautiful, gourmand, rich and warm. Angelica and Immortelle make for an interesting green, bitter twist. Dry down is a warm, suede, warm oudh wood. TRULY EPIC! This is like taking DIOR Homme to the Olympics. Who wins? 10/10

This is a soft feminine powdery perfume that projects good the first hour leaving a nice scent trail then fades to a skin scent. Most notes don’t show up on my skin. It is soft flowers and powder only. In 80 degree heat the powdery note gets extremely strong so I would not wear this in summer when the 120 degree heat causes this to choke me. Like this scent but I’m limited to wearing it when weather is cooler below 85 degrees, winter and early spring only.

As a frustrated but sincere fan of this line of Givenchys, and a devoted iris-lover: this is either a paradoxically annoying masterpiece, or an amazingly accomplished failure. I can't decide which. ARGH! SO TORN!! How to pick apart this contradictory verdict? It shares the joys and the pitfalls of many of the others in this series (I own and love Gaiac Mystique, owned and sold on Encens Divin, and own and am pondering the point of Bois Martial). Like the rest, it's intensely classy and upmarket and beautifully done. Its central accord is authentic and true - and moreover it's wonderfully inflected with warmth and wit, in a way that so many other irises can't match. In fact its first moments are so magical I even wondered if it might displace Princess Madam Empress Iris Silver Mist of the Dynasty of Serge Lutens from her ruling place in my heart ... (spoiler: it didn't). Rooty yet refined, powdery yet not cloying, lipsticky without being too femme - just perfectly judged, all the way along that tricky balance beam of challenges which iris scents often pose for me. The sort-of-spiciness brought by gaiac, immortelle and angelica really sing, and the sweet gentleness of really classy coconut makes it so comfortable, without ever seeming cheap or beach-y. It's arguably unisex and not even all that expensive for something so lovely. AND YET. Again, like the others in the line, its performance doesn't match its intelligence or its style. It grows damnably faint after 2-3 h in, and even at its most assertive, it never does more than whisper diplomatically at you, rather than singing out loud. Now if your life and lifestyle allow for that sort of thing - if you can respray often, and don't mind subtlety - then the Harmonique will harmonise. It does everything you could demand of a modern, nuanced, totally admirable iris scent. But it's discreet to a fault. If you want anything more robust or even - whisper it! - more individual or challenging ... hmmm, not quite there. In a sense it's too classic and conventional - maybe even verging on anonymous? or even bland?? - for its own good. AND YET AND YET. From time to time it trails out another devastatingly, delicately seductive whiff and I'm sold again. Perhaps Harmonique will keep me on the fence forever Its silken charm is such that I might not even mind about that. With so many other iris scents in the vault, maybe I don't need this one after all (and I chased it for YEARS before bagging a decant) ... but it might nag away at the memory until I captured a bottle just to be sure. Forever ambivalent! I think something about Harmonique's harmony haunts my senses, in some evanescent, hard-to-pin down kind of way.

I've expected a cool iris scent and I've been surprised. It's warm, oriental scent, mix of herbs, iris and woods. It's extraordinary, I would say. Elegant, well balanced, subtle. However, it's too warm for me.