Iris Taizo is no. 14 in the Parfumerie Generale line. It launched in 2002 but was only made available on the Parfumerie Generale website recently. It has notes of cardamom, jinkoh wood, fig tree honey, and vanilla. Today Marlen and I are debating its merits…
He says: When I received my samples of the latest Parfumerie Generale creations, the scent that I just had to test first was Iris Taizo, a blend of woods, iris and cardamom. I wasn’t disappointed…
Last year, the swanky Parisian boutique Colette arranged for a trio of limited edition unisex fragrances pairing perfumers from Symrise with fashion designers; the result was called “Curated by Colette”. For the fashion design house As Four, perfumer Frank Voelkl created Three AsFour, a fragrance that has turned out to be one of my favorite finds from 2005. The notes are lime, bergamot, ginger, iris, sandalwood, cedar, musk and vetiver.
AsFour highlights a trio of fragrant roots…
With apologies to those who hate iris and so have been bored stiff by the iris-fest this week, here are a few more iris fragrances worth considering:
Frederic Malle Iris Poudre: Created by Pierre Bourdon, and featuring notes of bergamot, rosewood, ylang ylang, carnation, magnolia, jasmine, lily of the valley, violet, rose, aldehydes, iris, musk, amber, vanilla, sandalwood, and ebony. Iris Poudre starts as a sweet, velvety, and very lady-like floral blend…
L’Homme de Coeur was created for Divine by nose Yann Vasnier, and has notes of angelica, juniper berries, cypress, iris, vetiver, ambergris, and deer tongue.
One might well ask how many variations on cold, earthy iris a person could want or need. If the question had occurred to you after this week’s discussion of Hiris, Bois d’Iris, and Iris Silver Mist, you could of course skip this article, but it would be a shame to miss out on L’Homme de Coeur, which is a beautifully crafted fragrance and probably the least well known of the iris scents discussed so far this week.
L’Homme de Coeur starts with a burst of spicy aromatic notes, heavy on the juniper berry and cypress. It is very brisk and cool, and perfectly evocative of a crisp fall day spent tramping through the fields. Iris-based fragrances frequently have a serene, almost meditative cast, but L’Homme de Coeur feels very alive and rugged…
Iris Silver Mist was launched in 1994. It is one of the few Serge Lutens fragrances that is not attributed solely to nose Christopher Sheldrake; it was created by Maurice Roucel, either alone or in collaboration with Christopher Sheldrake. The notes are iris pallida root, galbanum, cedar, sandalwood, clove, vetiver, musk, benzoin, incense, and white amber.
Iris Silver Mist starts with damp, dirt-caked roots, spicy and peppery, with a touch of dry, mossy green…