Hermessence Iris Ukiyoe

There are huge Jean Claude Ellena (JCE) fans out there; it’s a cult-following. Me, I respect his talent and will always sniff anything new he creates. But mostly I feel indebted to JCE because he forged ahead with his “tea accord” back in the early 90’s which I consider a personal favor the man did for me. However, I must admit that JCE’s sheer, linear style isn’t typically my thing; I’m a girl who loves orientals, florientals and chypres. Occasionally I am blown away by the sheer beauty of something in the simple soliflore category, and this happens constantly with almost everything from Annick Goutal, but I don’t typically seek out these sorts of fragrances. I have about a dozen favorites in this category, which I whip out during the summer months, and I wasn’t really looking for more.

Well, this year I’ve had a few of these sheer, linear, soliflore-type beauties sneak up on me and become part of my permanent collection. First there was Byredo La Tulipe, then il Profumo Blanche Jacinthe, then Annick Goutal Rose Splendide (but on me this one is pretty potent) and now there is Hermessence Iris Ukiyoe.I have always wanted to find a fragrance that smells like iris FLOWERS. Not the roots, rhizome, bulb, cold wet earth stuff, but the scent of iris flowers. Oh, don’t tell me the iris flower doesn’t have scent, it surely does, and in my garden back in New Jersey, I had several beautiful varieties of scented iris. I adore Acqua di Parma Iris Nobile in both edt and edp (very different scents) and so far I’ve found these to be the best abstract interpretations of the scent of iris flowers. The AdP iris scents are quite voluptuous and full bodied, these aren’t sheer little soliflores but both fall into the floriental category. DSH L’eau d’Iris is another iris floral worth checking out and this one falls more in line with the new Hermessence Iris Ukiyoe; so don’t miss out on that one.

Anyway, let me get to the point: Hermessence Iris Ukiyoe is beautiful, especially if you are looking for a linear, sheer scent that smells like iris flowers. Iris Ukiyoe is realistic, like a photograph, not a painting; it smells of irises, but also contains a soft vegetal quality, like freshly cut stems, that oozy cellular plant-like scent you get on your hands when trimming irises for a vase (Byredo La Tulipe is like this, so obviously I have a thing for stem juice). Once dried down, IU becomes a softly peppery aquatic scent, one that I wasn’t sure I’d like, but oh, how I do. I’m pleasantly surprised by IU’s longevity. Don’t get me wrong, this is a JCE creation, so it’s far from a sillage monster, but it wears nicely on me for about 3 hours and I don’t mind re-applying. It strikes me that this is a perfect scent for gardeners or for a person specifically looking for an iris floral scent. It’s a quirky smell, so if someone were not to recognize the scent of an iris flower, I imagine s/he might think it’s a little odd. I love it. Had Iris Ukiyoe appeared on shelves back in May I would have worn it lots and lots this past summer.

Donna Karan Iris

I’ve come to realize I love many perfumes from Donna Karan. Black Cashmere is one of the best spicy, woody orientals period. Chaos is another exceptional woody oriental. Gold is excellent, albeit not my thing, but I can still tell that if I liked the scent of lily I’d be all over this one. Wenge is a unique and wonderful woody fragrance. Labdanum is delicious. I even like Cashmere Mist edt and the newer Cashmere Mist Luxe edp. The only DK’s I don’t like are the troop of Be Delicious yucky-yucks. I imagined Donna Karan Iris would be great and ordered it the moment it was available at Neiman’s.

Well, I don’t think DK Iris is great. Here’s a little disclaimer though: I do not like the cold, rooty, damp irises like Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist or even Hermes Hiris. I like Hiris well enough, more than Iris Silver Mist, but never wear it. I like (don’t love) L’Artisan Iris Pallida but also never wear that. My favorite of the cold irises is probably Le Labo Iris 39. Le Labo’s iris has more going on in there to keep me interested. There’s an earthy interest, and some pepper, and a bit of what I imagine an iris flower would smell like. Prada’s Infusion d’Iris is decent, but it’s far too light for me, I hardly know it’s there after 12 minutes. Truly, my sort of iris is Acqua di Parma Iris Nobile (in both edp and edt). Most people say the AdP irises don’t even smell like iris at all – more like gardenia. I actually think the AdP Iris Nobiles smell like an iris flower – or what I imagine an iris flower smells like – but I can’t say I’ve ever come upon a fragrant iris in real life. So maybe I just don’t like iris scents in general. Nevertheless, I’m always in search of an iris that smells of iris flower and not solely orris which is the root/bulb of the iris plant. I thought Donna Karan might be my ticket into iris fan-dom. Well, it wasn’t.

Donna Karan Iris is just about as light as Prada’s Infusion d’Iris. In fact, I think I can smell more from the Prada. Maybe I’m anosmic? Is anyone getting much from DK Iris? I so wanted to love DK Iris since I think this house makes fabulous perfumes. Alas, DK Iris is not for me. It is quite sheer, light, and just barely a hint of a metallic, cool, iris floral. Sigh. For those who like Prada Infusion d'Iris, you ought to check out DK Iris because this could be your next sheer summery iris scent.

Divine eau de parfum: A Review

I’m not a white floral gal. Take for instance, Parfum de Nicolai Number One. Number One may be a gorgeous awarding winning fragrance but it just doesn’t make my heart skip a beat. Serge Lutens Nuit de Cellophane is the epitome of white floral perfection but it just bores me silly. But take your basic white floral notes and make them the centerpiece of an oriental or chypre and I’m all over it.

Divine eau de parfum, makes me swoon so hard I lose consciousness, my knees buckle and I’m typically distracted while wearing it. Divine eau de parfum could have been created by Dominique Ropion, who I’ve come to think of as a classicist, a rare breed of perfumer who still makes unabashedly full bodied and sultry fragrances. Of course, Ropion is not the perfumer for Divine, but I digress, I’m obsessed with him lately.

Divine is a tiny niche perfumery from France, started in Dinard, a seaside town in Brittany of all places. Dinard isn’t Grasse, and it’s a far cry from Paris, and it isn’t chic or trendy. Yvon Mouchel is the perfumer, who, as the story goes, owned his own perfume boutique before he decided to create the juice himself. The idea of this small perfumery, creating classically beautiful fragrances gives me the warm fuzzies. I’m a huge fan of the underdog, and Divine fits this description.

Divine eau de parfum is categorized as a chypre. When a chypre leans toward the sweet, I have a difficult time differentiating between it and a floral oriental. Divine eau parfum stands somewhere between floral oriental and chypre to my nose. Similar to Acqua di Parma’s Iris Nobile eau de parfum, which is also considered a chypre, but I would have guessed a floral oriental. Speaking of Iris Nobile edp (not edt), there are some strong similarities between it and Divine. Both are luscious full bodied white florals, heavy on the gardenia and tuberose, with fruity beginnings and spicy, mossy bases causing me to drool.

Divine’s list of notes are peach, coriander, gardenia, Indian tuberose, May rose, oak moss, musk, vanilla, and spices. There will be no mistaking, when you smell Divine, it’s very 1950s Hollywood glamour. Divine is real perfume, for a confident woman, who cares not that she’s wearing an in your face tuberose/gardenia chypre. If she’s going to wear perfume she’s damn well going to wear the good stuff.

Divine has won me over. I hope more people fall in love with Divine’s perfumes and I wish the company much success. It would please me to know that a small perfumery can make good old fashioned perfumes against all odds, without advertising and make it on their exceptional juice alone.

You can purchase directly from Divine's website from wherever you happen to live. In the US Divine is sold at Luckyscent.

PS: The image is Ellen Barkin. I love Ellen, she rocks.

Acqua di Parma Iris Nobile edp: A Review

Acqua di Parma launched Iris Nobile (edt) in 2004. Acqua di Parma then launched the parfum (edp) concentration of Iris Nobile in 2006.

This review is based upon the edp only. The original Iris Nobile edt is a beautiful, light, sweet, floral fragrance. Iris Nobile edp takes on a very different personality ~ it’s richer, denser and closer to a chypre than the edt.

Iris Nobile is not an iris fragrance for those that prefer the earthy, dirty, cold metallic iris fragrances like Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist, The Different Company Bois d’Iris or Hermes Hiris. Iris Nobile is sweet, floral and flirty.

Iris Nobile is described as a chypre but it’s definitely a modern chypre. There is only a slight similarity between this and older chypre classics like Miss Dior. If Iris Nobile contains oakmoss, musks and patchouli they are used conservatively. When I compare the edt to the parfum side-by-side there’s definitely a woodsier quality and a small amount of oakmoss-musk to lend the parfum a more substantial quality. I like this modern-style chypre, it’s abstract and interesting but also “fluffier” and lighter than traditional classic chypres.

Overall, Iris Nobile parfum starts off with a citrusy blast which then dries down to a beautiful floral heart that smells to me of iris and violets. There’s just a hint of woods and musk in the background. Perhaps it’s because I’m not familiar with sweet iris scents that I think of violets blended with the iris.

Acqua di Parma Iris Nobile parfum is drop-dead gorgeous. It is a breathtaking iris, floral fragrance which seems easily worn in any season and perfect for any occasion.
Notes are listed as: bergamot, tangerine, iris, star anise, ylang ylang, oakmoss, vanilla, amber crystals and patchouli.


Lasting power: Average 3-4 hours
Sillage: soft/medium – I applied four sprays today and those close to me (within 1 foot) can smell it.