Le Feu d'Issey

Le Feu, a little ball of fire has been my all times favourite since it was launched at the end of 90s, the only scent that I can truly call signature as it just feels so 'me', like second skin. It also led me to this forum as I tried to find it again a few months ago. Just before it was discontinued, I stocked up a few bottles with lotion and shower gel that had lasted for several years. And recently, I was lucky enough to purchase almost new 75 ml again. I had also no idea its so highly rated. For me it has always been the smell that feels like coming home. Especially coming home for Christmas that is always the most beautiful time in our family. Le Feu always felt like having hot milk with honey made on bonfire in the middle of wild forest in crisp December night. There was an instant attraction when we met. When I spritzed it on my wrist, it was just complete recognition from first spicy burst until sinking under my skin with all this milky woodiness. I was in my early 20s and yet found it very non-demanding, perfect to wear any time, day or night, snowy winter or hot summer. I have met all my favourites this way, not through suggestions, ad campaigns, reading about their compositions, interesting history, legends etc. But it has to be love from the first sniff. Sometimes there has been the aspect of 'foreign' or 'sexy' or 'mysterious' that makes the fragrance enchanting. Le Feu, however, was the most naturally uncomplicated homey scent. Something that I wear for myself rather than for anyone else, the one that I put on when feeling lonely, the one that calms my mood before going to bed. Yes, even today, I spritz it on when stressed rather than for a night out. In a way, there is no need to un-code what are the notes in something so wonderful and unique. At first it reminded me spices and woods, the gingerbread and fresh spruce, although neither of these is listed as I now know. Perhaps because my skin chemistry has changed slightly over years, today its more about milk and honey with delicate spices. This scent is also alive, it changes and and breaths with you. It has never turned sharp or complicated on my skin. Always, slightly sweet in caring motherly way wrapping me into something delicious and warm. I think the fact that its discontinued has made it so intriguing as a scent for many perfume lovers and therefore gets a little overanalysed and even mystified. Imo, Le Feu so ingenious creation because its incredibly organic and emotional. Even simple in a way. It feels like your own experiences, like different experiences, moments of happiness and someone you've met before... And not at the fancy perfume counter, but in real life, while hiking in the forest, sitting in front of the fireplace with your loved ones, eating the cake your mum baked and sent over, waiting for Xmas morning. It smells like life itself, like the best days of your life.

[950] Le Feu d'Issey is one of the few perfumes that can truly be described as unique. A much-lauded, now difficult-to-find avant-garde scent from a pioneering fashion house, it is unlike anything I have smelled before. I have long wanted to smell LFI thanks to Luca Turin's glowing review, and found an unopened sample on eBay recently. LFI can best be summed-up as a loud, kitchen-sink-y woody floriental, but this simplistic description does it a disservice. It is a huge, baroque artwork that somehow achieves cohesion, and curiously is also in keeping with Jacques Cavallier's bold style. I didn't like it immediately - it is a polarising, challenging scent, of its era yet utterly futuristic. In fact, I don't think I'd wear LFI, but it is undeniably excellent. There is a lot going on here. LFI opens with dark woody notes complemented by peppery spice. The coriander is very prominent - a polarising note, but one I quite like. It also works really well here. Some syrupy white florals bolstered by lactonic coconut follow, paving the way to the milky rose at the heart of this scent. I completely understand Luca Turin's Vitamin B tablet comment - at one point during the opening, the resemblance is uncanny. It becomes very lactonic as it develops, but not in a distasteful way. The other notes temper the milky whiteness, and it serves to add a creamy smoothness to the intense woody notes. There is a gourmand edge here thanks to the milk note and sweetness that follows. The caramel seamlessly segues to the sweet amber base. The rich, resinous amber base comes to the fore as it dries down. It remains sweet and lactonic here, and feels strangely buttery. It is balanced beautifully by the rich woody notes that persist throughout. It fades to a dry, resinous woody-amber skin scent. Sillage is strong and longevity is long-lasting. It is a feminine-leaning autumn/winter scent. I can't get over the cohesion of this composition despite its complexity. The plethora of seemingly discordant notes is rendered somehow smooth and seamless. It doesn't matter that this is a difficult scent to wear - LFI is olfactory art. The yin to the sheer, minimal yang of L'Eau d'Issey. To quote one of my favourite old TV shows, it is both wonderful and strange. 5/5.

I've had my bottle of Le Feu d'Issey for over 20 years and it still smells the same as it did 20 years ago (I have, admittedly, stored it in a cool and dark place, as I do with all my fragrances). I first came across it in one of those small, posh fragrance stores with a lot of unfamiliar (for me, at the time), expensive brands. I tried it on and loved it at first spray! It was very unusual but irresistible to my nose. I came back to it over and over, trying it on, but I never bought it because it was an expensive fragrance for me. However, the sales person noticed my love for this fragrance and, one day, she approached me and told me that they had one bottle of it left and that they had cut the price of that bottle quite significantly, seeing as it was the last one and they didn't plan to sell it anymore. She let me know that the sales of Le Feu d'Issey was very poor and very few people seemed to like it. I bought it immediately, and to this day I still remember the thrill I felt to be able to get this masterpiece of a fragrance for such an affordable price! For me, Le Feu d'Issey remains the one fragrance that consistently gives me compliments when I'm wearing it. I live in a country where people rarely comment on other people's fragrances, but Le Feu d'Issey has, over the years, given me dozens of compliments. It just works really well with my skin chemistry, I guess. On me, it smells of woods, milk, rose and coriander, but the bergamot is also really prominent on my skin, which gives it a tart freshness. The amber is also very prominent on me, which adds warmth and sweetness and a smooth quality. It's warm, creamy and complex and simply delicious-smelling. It was marketed towards women but it's definitely unisex to my nose. I've been a fragrance enthusiast and collector for well over 20 years and have hundreds of fragrances in my collection, but I don't have anything that smells even remotely similar to this. I love it and I would call it my signature scent if I could afford to wear it more frequently. To this day, it remains my favorite scent of all time.

This was my first ”grown up” scent. It’s a kinda strange story how I got it, but it was love at first sniff and was my “go to” fragrance for more than 5yrs. My dad could be a difficult person, any and all scented products had to be okayed by him before being used at home. I can’t remember what year, but I had started high school so early-mid 00s. He had accompanied me and my mom to the mall and went along with us into the cosmetics store. Me and my mom went and looked at whatever it was we needed and my dad wandered off, only to reappear when we stood at the cash register. Smiling from ear to ear he held that iconic minimalist, square, white box and said “Here! This is the perfume for you darling!”. I was really surprised to say the least and had no idea what it smelled like, but I knew my dad had good taste and who says no to a gift like that? It was truly the surprise that kept on giving. First off, I mean come on that bottle?! The ingenious design and rich ruby red color. The most precious bouncy ball ever made one could argue. The gentle but rich fresh smell finishing with that sudden pinch of pepper which in my opinion gave it a presence I’ve seldom smelled since. I can’t imagine the fragrance without that pepper note, the picture wouldn’t be complete. The pepper wasn’t harsh or overpowering, it was almost just a snappy reminder of the truly amazing bouquet of scents that made up Le Feu. For me, this was truly a fragrance for any occasion and suited any season. I wore this to school, I wore this out to nightclubs, to work, dates - you name it.. It was more a question of how much of it you wore and if you layered it with anything else. This scent is so hard to describe. It feels like a well kept secret. Easily described as “if you know, you know”. I would never have had the pleasure of wearing and loving Le Feu if it hadn’t been for my kooky dad and I’m so grateful for it. All of this reminiscing makes me want to rifle through the boxes in the back of my closet and pray that I still have the bottle.

A unique existence located at the junction of the three major fields of gourmet, oriental and wooden. It is the crystallization of exquisite perfumery skills and excellent concepts. And it is also one of the very few extraordinary works that are difficult to trace the family relationship and inheritance system. In my olfactory memory, if I want to find a relatively close relationship, the only "similar" for comparison are Etro Shaal Nur and Caron Parfum Sacre. Caron Parfum Sacre is not very similar, and By Kilian Sacred Wood is just a fragment or a moment of Le Feu d’Issey. Therefore, it must be admitted that Le Feu d’Issey has no precedent. Le Feu d'Issey contains various types of elements, and the perfumer perfectly blends and balances them, making Le Feu d'Issey a harmonious whole, extremely sophisticated, without obvious hierarchical tonal boundaries. This is a mass of fire, an eternal fire that embraces all things in the world and has life. It's not scorching hot. Unusually calm and comfortable. When the flower-shaped flame blooms, the coriander is slightly pungent, and the fragrance of fennel and spices needs to be used as a gap to enter, reaching the core, and the hot feeling hits. The sweet and warm white guaiac wood is moistened by lactose-free milk, and the faint floral fragrance is hidden under the fatty film. Slowly, the sandalwood swells like bread, as if baked by the sun, and then becomes more fluffy and soft. After the musk-vanilla undertones are exposed, without becoming sticky, Le Feu d’Issey gradually turns from dry to silky and light. It's a pity that the top Le Feu d'Issey was sold for two years and then discontinued, and it was unknown. After Le Feu d'Issey disappeared, there was a derivative Le Feu D'Issey Light, and Iseey Miyake failed to replicate the success of L'eau d'Issey after all. High and low, because Le Feu d'Issey is too advanced, it is difficult for the public to understand. A flash in the pan makes me extremely sad.