Irisss

[1150] Irisss is my first Xerjoff scent, a sample of which I bought as it has often been recommended as one of the best iris scents. Iris is my favourite note of all, and I am on a quest to smell as many iris-dominant scents as I can. Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist is the gold standard as far as I'm concerned - a top-notch multifaceted iris - steely, rooty, powdery and shimmering. I've since tried a few other irises, mostly pretty decent, but Irisss is easily the best I've smelled since ISM. Irisss is also a cold, vegetal iris, but is more floral than ISM. However, it is very expensive. Apparently, Irisss is made with natural ingredients only, which explains the price. Orris is one of the most expensive materials in perfumery, and sadly, it means that there is no affordable iris anywhere near this quality (or that of ISM) that I can spray with abandon. However, given just how good this is, I'm tempted to buy a bottle. Irisss is iris-dominant from initial spray, earthy and rooty from the get-go. There is a good bit of orris root in here, and the carrot seeds enhance the rootiness to perfection. I get tart bergamot up top, adding some freshness to the grey powder. Clove-like carnation follows, adding its unmistakable sweet spice. Carnation marries beautifully with iris and violet, and its inclusion here is perfect. It doesn't overpower the iris; instead it plays second fiddle, complementing it to perfection. As it develops, violet emerges, a common bedfellow of iris, adding a more floral nuance to the cold, earthy iris note. It becomes somewhat candied, akin to Parma violets as it progresses. The soft spices linger. The musky base begins to develop early on. The other floral notes are subtle, relegated to the background, but they come to the fore as this scent develops. Clean jasmine adds body, but rose is most evident, powdery and sweet, giving a lipstick-y nuance to this scent, together with the iris. It becomes increasingly powdery here. Some soft woody notes creep in as it dries down, and the clean musk becomes more prominent as it fades. There is a balsamic nuance to the base, perhaps thanks to the incense. The powdery florals remain until final fade, with the iris remaining dominant throughout. Sillage is moderate and longevity is long-lasting. It is feminine-leaning in my opinion, but can easily be worn by all iris lovers. Iris to me is evocative of late winter giving way to early spring, which is the optimum time (in my opinion!) to wear iris scents. A deeply satisfying, high-quality iris scent, Irisss lives up to my high expectations. The price tag makes me hesitate, but I would love a full bottle. 4.5/5.

Sergio Momo of Xerjoff told me in person at a recent fragrance launching event in Hong Kong that the formulas for the Attars of the XJ17/17 line did not contain any kind of media (alcohol/Jojoba oil/base oil) to dilute the fragrance compound and the fragrances were 100% pure. I recalled he mentioned that Irisss Attar was made with mostly pure Iris butter with only very little of other ingredients. This is a review based on my full wear of the Attar version of Irisss yesterday. I applied three drops of the Attar on my wrist at around 5pm yesterday and I could still smell the soft musky balsamic deep dry down of the fragrance when I got up at 7am this morning. The fragrance opened with prominent scent of the powdery carrot seeds mixed with rich buttery earthy note of the Iris roots. The scent was quite heavy but not over bearing to my nose. It was actually very comforting and I could not keep my wrist off of my nose for the entire time. After about 45 minutes of initial application, faint floral notes started to emerge but the buttery warm Iris note remained the most prominent. Although the scent remained basically the same for another four hours, the floral and buttery earthy Iris notes just kept on rotating back and forth making the scent very complex and fascinating. I could not detect any of the warm Bergamot note until after the Iris note finally began to soften in the fifth hour. After another couple hours, the fragrance became slightly balsamic and musky and lingered on my skin until the next morning. I am not sure whether the Attar is made to smell the same as the EDP as I really could not detect any incense, Jasmine, Rose or Cedar notes as indicated in the notes description here in Fragrantica. IMHO, Irisss Attar is absolutely gorgeous and although it might be leaning a bit towards the feminine side, it is still very wearable for men who look for true elegant and luxurious scents.

To Allan R, the reviewer below me, I salute your dedication. I have to concur with many other reviewers - to me, the resemblance between Irisss and Iris Silver Mist by Serge Lutens is undeniable, with what I would call a 90% similarity. However, the lingering 10% difference is both clearly detectable to my nose and, I believe, quite significant - I don't think I would confuse the two if given two blind blotters. Iris Silver Mist uses every material within a certain scent database tagged with "Iris", which includes both natural extracts and various irone-based synthetics, including the carrot-like, metallic clanging Irival base. ISM is an expensive scent to make, and I've read that Lutens don't make much profit from the bell jars containing it. Irisss, as I understand, focuses more on using natural extract only, which is what takes it from expensive to ultra-expensive, at over half a grand. So, is Irisss worth it? Yes and no. I must take my hat off to Xerjoff and admit that Irisss is actually very slightly more enjoyable to me than Iris Silver Mist, though I dearly love both. However, it's not the natural iris that gives Irisss the edge to me, but rather the inclusion of other florals, soft musks and soaps which makes Irisss less cold, more approachable, and more crowd-pleasing. One has to learn to love ISM, while Irisss is cuddly from the start. The grand irony, of course, is that it's probably not the exclusive use of natural iris that makes Irisss so kind-tempered, and dumping a load of synthetic irones in it would probably have made it far cheaper without compromising it at all. In that respect, I'd have to say Irisss won't be worth >£600 to me, but I will whisper sweet nothings to my 2ml sample vial.

Irisss Xerjoff (Tester Box, 100ml., USD260) Irisss is an Iris fragrance in Floral-Woody-Musk Stucture form Jacques Flori, a great perfumer who create many good scents. I personally like his work. Irisss, to me.. as name suggest, use all element possible to hyper-accentuate The nature of Orris Butter, the source of this main fragrance. Orris Butter, smell like butter without laconic tone. And its naturally green. the hybrid substance in its own genre. Partially Woody / Partially Floral (Violet) / Partially Earthy. With a whip of Creamy/Powdery. I know when you read until this point. You probably venture Iris for a big while already and you could somewhat relate. Due to faces of Orris, Orris seems to have many direction. And it various from one to others, Interpretation of Iris. Orris is form-shifter, and highlighting Iris natural behavior is not easy. The point is, if you true to life Iris lover. Irisss might be a great place to actually intrigue the nature of Iris. I believe, in the mass niche market. They is no other brand that put as much as orris as this. Irisss, is not designed to be pleasant by others. Instead, accentuate the nature of Orris as much as possible. Competence and Precision. Irisss could be a great teacher for Iris fragrance. Allow me to suggest, Iris -by Santa Maria Novella. Another great iris, without any over-accentuate (not to be confuse with L’iris - the newer work, I love Irisss, for being just that.

As much as I've tried to resist, Irisss is my Holy Grail iris scent. I didn't even want to smell this because of the price tag, since looking at the notes gave me a premonition that this would likely be love for me. Simply put this is the nicest, smoothest, most beautiful iris/orris I have ever smelled. Yes its floral, but its so much more: creamy-waxy like lipstick, papery and a bit bready, dry smelling and a bit earthy with a soft muskiness. From the sillage I keep getting tiny wafts of something a bit sweet and just a touch animalic and warm--perhaps a soft impression of ylang ylang or maybe orange blossom mixed with iris. Why is this better than Serge Luten's Iris Silver Mist? For me, ISM beautiful but it is soooo cold and I get a bit too much carnation and vetiver for me to fall head over heals. Irisss is all about the iris, nothing ever overwhelms its staring ingredient. For those of you have ever wondered why the name is spelled the way it is, its because it's pronounced like Golum from Lord of the Rings would say it: preciousss = Irisss. ETA: after literally years of living off of decants I finally gave in and bought a full bottle and am so glad I did. Honestly now that I have it, it feels silly to have waited so long.