Iris Shot

It begins with the sensation of cardamom, sesame seeds, and dough, with that unmistakable carrots-and-newly-minted-cash iris that I flip for (supported by carrot seed), lifted with an aldehyde accent. Soon thereafter, a roasted almond flour enters the scene, and I realize this is the kind of "gourmand" I can sink my teeth into, as this mingles with the powdery butteriness of orris. I find most gourmands to have a certain insistent vulgarity with the overuse of maltol, ethyl vanillin, and pyrazines, and while I imagine all three may be used here, Dominique Ropion is adept at restraint. This gives me the same sense of repose as that of Bois Farine. It may seem to be too much of an abstraction to some, but I personally find abstractions to be part of the fun of olfactory adventure. It need not always be a romance or action movie, but rather a Jean Renoir or Ingmar Bergman film. Also, it's worth mentioning that Ropion's use of ambroxan is proof positive that it is not necessarily the bogeyman of perfumery. It can actually be the magic key to resolving all in the composition through its last stages of development, and here, it fixes all the soft, nutty, buttery beauty down to a stirring skin scent.

Well, having finally wrapped my nose around this, I understand the hype. I avoided this for years as it contains so many notes I typically dislike (cardamom, aldehydes, vetiver... and I have a love-hate relationship with pink pepper and cederwood) but I was waiting to be served in a perfume store last week and this was sitting on the counter so I gave it a curious sniff. WOW!!! It really is the perfect musk scent that wraps around you like a silk veil. The iris and carrot seed are definitely the star here (cardamom too to an extent, but on my skin it's only prominent in the immediate opening, thank god) but the aldehydes, pink pepper and almond weave through the composition in subtle ways. This isn't overly soapy or spicy or even floral. As other reviewers have already noted, it's all very restrained. If I didn't already have stuff in my collection that fulfils a similar role I'd have been all over this - I can see myself buying it in the future though after finishing off some current bottles.

First impressions, when I first sprayed this knowing nothing of the notes I immediately got powdery lipstick citrus with a side of creamy saltwater taffy. It was just sweet enough and the "salty watery crispness" must have been the carrot seed. It didn't smell green like other carrot notes I've smelled. Then the cardamom emerged mingled with the iris and I've fallen in love. After reading the notes I still only get the iris, cardamom and carrot seed. It doesn't get overly sweet or monstrously projective. It smells like lipstick/cosmetic powder in the way drydown. Kinda waxy powery suptle suede. There is a soft woody base here. Blended to perfection and the longevity is stellar. 4 sprays this am and I'm still getting intimate wafts 14hrs later. This scent is gorgeous.

Very light, soft, slightly powdery musky iris. Aldehydes are soft, not very pungent, just enough to give it a bit of freshness in the opening. For comparison, the aldehydes in Iris Poudre by Frederic Malle are bit more noticeable. Middle is soft iris, iris-y leather, but barely noticeable. Almost no projection and average longevity. Overall, I enjoy the clean scent with a touch of iris, the name is not fitting. PS: THE most annoying bottle ever. The leather sleeve that is covered with, comes off or pulls up when spraying. Then the bottle shape is just a little too wide making it difficult to spray

Beautiful. Elegant, noble, sexy powdered iris/orris root. The aldehydes are very tender, not too soapy. The powder is light and feminine, not overpowering. There is a noticeable almond, but not a marzipan almond- just tasteful almond milk. I think "tasteful" is the one word that describes this perfume. To be honest there is much more of the carrot seeds, than the cardamom or pepper. You`d think it`s a spicy scent looking at the pyramid- but it`s not at all, the spices- and wood- are so far on the background you have to really look for them. This smells tasteful, elegant and expensive. Love.