Hyde

Oh my! I wasn t expecting liking it, buy it seems I alreafy love it. Front the 1st sniff, I had yhe same mouthwatering feeling that I got when sampling Andy Tauer Une rose chyprée: delicious mandarine and lime layered by balsam and vanilla. Later, the smoke comes up very strongly, but I don get any kind of bbq or campfire vibe. Isntead, some incense burning, a herbal and balsamic one, like things we use to burn in santerias. And later, oh gosh, I got what I want where Une rose chyprée could have stopped: this retro balsamic and vanila drydown, lightly poudrée and woody and sexy. I don t get leather, it s more fine balsams ( My vocabulary is poor on that matters). I will definetly buy a full bittle (or even two). This is retro yet modern, strong for a natrual perfume. I understand the hype behins hyde, now. Actually, this is not perfume, but sorcelery in bottle. EDIT (after a bottle bought and some full wearings): So many polarizing reviews here and I understand why. Hyde starts full on birch tar, which why is results of keywords such as bonfire, smoked meat, bacon, sausages, etc. For me, its start is right away mouthwatering citrus, nut it only takes seconds. Right after, this beginning is similar to smoked moose leather: like a First Nation's mocassin smell (sublimely heavy). Then, it starts to get a little powdery, maybe the cassie. A little "feminine", with some associations to make-up smell. To conclude, vanilla, moss and labdanum get louder, and is incredibly rich, smooth and similar to vintage amber. It's quite a hyde as said below. In a Facebook live, Hiram Green said that he conceived Hyde as a perfume to "nightlife, loud music...". I cannot disagree more from the perception that I have: Hyde for me smells nature, and it is almost spiritual. Attention. This is a powerhouse: it lasts more than 15 days on fabric and at least 24 hours on skin (but thankfully after shower you won't smell it no longer). It's not by chance that Hyde is Winner of the Artisan Awards at The Art & Olfaction Awards 2019.

There's absolutely no need to hide Mr Hyde. Thought I might as well start off, on the funny side today. Anyways, my first reaction to this fragrance wasn't anythiing to write home about. I picked up a sample from one of the fancy shops downtown, got home and tried. Needless to say, I had my hopes up high, which sadly ended in some sort of anticlimactic experience. I did find it utterly medicinal and very, very malty. The birch tar was there, but not to the extent that I would have wanted. Disgruntled with the whole experience, and straight it went to some dark corner of one of my cupboards. I did however decide to give it another go, having smelled it on a passer-by in the mall and asked him what he was wearing. Dear oh dear, how wrong I had been, beacause now the fragrance opened up in all its glory. This time around the birch tar was heavier, the malt subdued and there was something utterly warm and cozy about it. It's funny how some fragrances can give you that kind of autumney feeling, sitting on the porch, with that blanket nicely swept around you, the smell of burning leaves, with a warm malty vibe and some heavenly touch of vanila in the dry down. Needless to say, I purchased a full bottle shortly thereafter and it has become one of my most treasured fragrances. Does it perform well? That should be the least of your concern. It stays on my skin for 12+ hours, with an armlengths projection for 5-6 hours before turning to a skin scent. It does have a very good sillage as well, and there is no need for more than three sprays. Besides, my experience tells me, that one of the best ways to go nose blind, is to overspray. Not only is it a waste of perfume, but a waste of money as well, and believe you me since I have learned the hard way. The beastier the fragrance, the less you will need to spray.

While many smoky fragrances aim to illustrate bonfires, campfires, and like, Hyde begins as a haunting charred edifice, post-conflagration, lingering smoke rising from its remains. I imagine that the edifice was built for this very purpose: for immolation of a physical symbol that no longer serves a purpose. Perhaps it could even represent a past self. It does feel monolithic, and that's what I love about it. Hiram, while harnessing the power of birch tar, allowed it to be just a bit more ominous here, and I love Hyde for this reason. His addition of cassie absolute is what really sends me, however. It's one of my absolute favorite floral botanical materials, from Acacia farnesiana, famously used in the sublime Une Fleur de Cassie from Frederic Malle. Unlike its cousin the mimosa (Acacia dealbata), cassie has a dense, cinnamic, clove-like, honeyed, violet-leaf-powder feel, and its underpinned with an undeniable feral pungency. With its inclusion in Hyde, the heart is on the verge of smoky floral, but leans more floral smoke. This lends a bit of levity and allure, keeping Hyde from being a complete tale from the dark side. As it subsides, Hyde recalls aspects of a classic Cuir de Russie at its edges, a milder smoke, a lighter haze. The edifice has transformed into a sweeter memory of the way life used to be, before the fire, and now its remains have imbued everything. A malted resin is the ghost, just a little sticky and ashy, a sweeter sensation, but the tar and the char hold fast from beyond. The acrid blast of its opening, while so pleasurable to my own peculiar nose, may have some wince and be unwilling to stay for its evolution, but there will be surely those who will be in rapture over its evocative, savory and flowery smolder.

Leather metamorphosis. Shapeshifter, skin-walker, changeling. What is happening before my nose...? Bitter, oily, sour, and juicy bergamot burst open but it is an incongruous juxtaposition to the shocking birch tar smoke and immortelle-leaning cassie floral heart engulfing the air around you like a forest fire. The leap from the top to the heart - it doesn’t make sense; it shouldn’t work. Yet somehow for that reason, it does work, like a completely unexpected metamorphosis. Observe from a safe distance. The birch tar smokes like an apocalyptic fire, and the cassie flower brings an oppressive suffocation of the lungs with a heavy, sun scorched, anisic, red earth. Hyde concludes with a melted, smokey, and sticky labdanum and a blackened, unsweetened vanilla - it smells of charred earth and resins, heavy, dense, but also expansive - like standing over a near-black abyss. If it isn’t already obvious from my description, this perfume is big, loud, and incredibly diffusive, so wear it conservatively until you see how it works for you. From a big distance, which is easy for Hyde to achieve, the overall effect is smokey leather just as the brand states. But it’s up close - which it will be for you, the wearer - where you realize this is leather in disguise. There is much more happening behind the leather mask, something of mythical proportions. It took me a while to come to grips with Hyde. At one point it was almost a sure “no” from me, even as someone who has a huge weakness for leather perfumes, but with time and additional wear I became more and more comfortable with this berserker. Not safe, not easy, not comfortable, but very stunning.

Wow - just wow. Even when Hiram Green's fragrances are not quite right for me, I'm blown away by what masterpieces they are. Hyde is a gloriously tarry, birchy, leathery work of genius. Truly a natural perfume, Hyde does not have the lingering smokey aromachemical (I have no idea what it's called) that many other 'smoky' fragrances have at the moment. Instead it has a very pure, birch-driven, smoked but not smoky aroma. It's stunning. Earthy and dry. This is like a campfire and at first you smell the tarry birch and it's quite intense, then slowly it mellows and it's just like a dying campfire in the dark of a mellow summer's evening, you can smell the wild grasses drying around you, you can almost hear them rustling in the slight breeze and smell the faintest hint of clover blossoms in the meadow. This is such an evocative beautiful fragrance. It makes me feel nostalgic not only for things that I remember, but nostalgic for things I have never even experienced. Truly a journey. I started out thinking that this eau de parfum was not for me. Then I thought, but wow, this is stunning. Then I thought how wonderful it would be to be wrapped up in the strong arms of a man wearing this fragrance! But now? You know, I think I actually might like to try to wear it, it's a raw scent and a strong one, it would be incredible on a man, but it has a really strong elegance that I think a woman could own beautifully.