Iris

I've bought it last month in Rome, and I've been told there that every SDMN perfume is unisex. As a man, I bought it, because I liked it, and I liked it more than many other offers labelled as unisex. I still believe that this perfume is more unisex, even though the floral components of violet and iris makes it to veer off to the cleaning supplies. You will then smell like a clean, washing powder. The first 15 minutes can basically smother you in the scent like a mothball. It is loud and strong, and the earthiness puts a hefty oomph to it. The linearity is clear as an edge of a Japanese knife. Then after about an hour or two it slowly dissipates, and lingers for good 4-5 hours. Your clothes will smell longer than on your skin, so beware of that. It is a clean and powdery summer scent, nice for en evening out or as an everyday perfume, just don't spray it on 10 minutes before you go to work, because then it may nauseate your colleagues. Overspraying this means abuse of your surroundings. Your pets will leave you and children may start to cry. It is that strong. nevertheless, to get to my initial point, it is an unisex perfume and not particularly feminine, and for males, layering this perfume or using it at right occasions may just work as a signal of power. In a training room or at the meeting, you will smell fresh and clean.

Im very pleased to say that I dont get the bitterness It is quite vegetal or herbally and I think its a lovely fragrance for a spring day. The violet is the star but there is some sweetness coming from somewhere. It might be rose or a herb. Yes, I get the orris root but it is used with great restraint. There is none of that heavy cold earthiness. I really dont like that. You have to handle orris root with great mastery for it to work on my skin. Moderate sillage and longevity on me. Very lovely indeed.

A glorious head-spinner of an iris, slightly green but also dark and rich. It only lasts about three hours on me and hardly projects at all, but smells incredible. I wouldn't call this a powdery or soapy fragrance--on me it's warm and deceptively complex. I suspect this gets overshadowed by other SMN scents (the scant reviews suggest so, anyway) which is a shame, because I find it stunning. Like falling into a purple sunrise.

The best iris fragrance that I own. I have the vintage/original bottle/formulation. It is strong, lasts, projects and is NOT powdery. It is a bold iris with some violet supporting it. I remember when I bought this at Santa Maria Novella in Florence and said "but irises don't have a scent." The clerk said, "Maybe not in America but here they are very fragrant. A field full of iris is a delicious scent."

Iris Santa Maria Novella (Gold Label bottle from 199x, skin test) Best Iris.