I started to review L'Occitane's new Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc (the latest fragrance to join La Collection de Grasse) together with The Different Company's I Miss Violet, but that wasn't working out so well, so here is a quick review of just the Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc.
I'll start with the name, which should save time for at least some of you: if I was naming it, it would be called Iris Blanc Eau Fruitée or something like. This is a pleasant, clean but not quite detergent-ish iris with plenty of peach to go around (there are also notes of blackcurrant, citrus, iris, ylang-ylang, fig milk, cedar and white musk). It's sweetish, especially in the early stages when the fruit is still making a good showing (and the peach lasts longer than you might expect), but it's not terribly sweet or jammy. There is also plenty of iris, likewise clean, so it's powdery, not particularly earthy. There is, as usual, far more white musk than I'd like, but that seems to be the way things are going to be for the near future.
Verdict: a good starter iris, perhaps, or just a good iris for someone who likes their iris mild, clean and fruity. I found it nice enough if not really my style, but would add that the later stages do seem a bit flat. I'd wear it for a day before you buy it, especially given the price, which to my mind is crazy for this sort of fragrance — but then, I've thought that of the entire La Collection de Grasse, and for that matter I probably think that about at least half of the fragrances I try. So!
The quick poll: name a good starter iris fragrance, and then name the most difficult iris fragrance you know.
L'Occitane Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc is available in 75 ($78) ml Eau de Toilette and in matching body products.
Starter iris? Prada Infusion d’Iris. Just enough citrus, woods and incense to round out the iris, making for a gorgeous soft floral.
Difficult iris? Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist. Very vivid and intense, even scary at times.
Nice picks! I wonder if someone will come up with a more difficult iris than ISM…
Not a difficult one but definitely “scary” in the sense that it can eat you alive if you weren’t careful : La Vie Est Belle.
Ha, true!
I have “seen” many people consumed by this scent. It’s not good. I think of that old movie, “The Blob”. I know but I do.
Ditto on these picks!
These picks, totally. Adding Dior Homme to starter iris.
Ooh..Good question. One iris fragrance I find easy to wear is Ivoire Balmain – that’s the new one with the square bottle. It is fresh and clean, slightly soapy but a great introduction to iris for beginners.
Guerlain’s L’heure Bleue is tricky for me, but I adore it, though the difficulty I suspect is not in the iris. I love to be enlightened about that.
Two choices from the classics, thanks!
I find No19 Poudre a easy Iris, but No19 a little less approachable some days
Agree!
Hmm… no thanks, I’ll stick to my Acqua di Parma Iris Nobile (which to my mind is the perfect iris starter fragrance).
I still love the EdT, which they’ve long since stopped making.
The Different Co. Bois d’Iris is a good starter iris fume,and fairly easy to wear as well.I had difficulty appreciating the Xerjoff Irisss though.The pricetag on that one might have played a role as well!Dior Homme-the original-is a great starter as well.The Iris is really prominent and well-balanced in Homme.
Yes, the price tag on the Xerjoff is too upsetting to relax and enjoy the perfume 🙂
I’m apologizing beforehand for a totally inappropriate comment. The first time I saw the name Xerjoff, I switched the j and the x in my head when I read it, and now I can’t get them back to their original position.
Ha!
Iris starters; Hiris, Infusion d’Iris and both Bois d’Iris.
Most difficult: ISM and possibly Love les Carottes.
Interesting, I think of Hiris & Les Carottes as not all that far from each other!
I agree, but Carottes is a just that bit rootier which made me decide that some people might find it harder. Mind you some people will think of Hiris as too difficult to like.
Gotcha, makes sense.
I tried this about a month ago and will wait till the lotion hits the Sale or Solden as they are called in Belgium. I think it will be nice layering material.
I would agree. Most of this collection strikes me as better suited to body products than $78 EdT.
When I first got “acquainted” with l’Occitane they only made soaps and lotions and in a way I wish they had stuck to that. Their fragranced lotions are very nearly always lovely, but somehow their scents don’t translate well to “proper perfume”. At least not to me.
Really, did not know they ever didn’t make fragrances! And I have no real quibble with making “body product like” fragrances so long as you don’t charge quite so much for them! They’re nicer than The Body Shop, but they charge SO much more.
You are right, about the price issue. They do those lotions so well, and I think they fail on the fragrances mostly.
I only started exploring iris about a year and a half ago, and I now have a bunch of iris loves. I think one of the most helpful purchases I made in the beginning was Yardley’s Iris, which is super cheap. After an initial blast of alcohol, this becomes a straight-up iris soliflore. Not sophisticated in the least, but it gave me a clear understanding of what the note is. Now I often use it to amp up the iris in other perfumes when I’m in the mood for more, but honestly I like it on its own as well.
I just tested Iris Poudre for the first time last week, and it didn’t work for me for some reason which I can’t recall.
Crabtree & Evelyn’s is another straight up soliflore (soliroot??) that’s reasonably priced. I don’t think I’ve tried the Yardley, but it’s probably cheaper.
Yes, “soliroot” !
I found the Crabtree and Evelyn to have a more floral, dusty potpourri-ish scent. Mind you, I bought every ding-dang iris sample I could get my hands on. I was swayed by the Yardley by someone on Fragantica (?) who mentioned a combo of that plus L’Heure Bleue equals vintage Apres L’Ondee. Or the opposite. All I know is I have a vat of Yardley’s Iris and a couple mls of the Guerlains waiting for me to confirm the discovery of the century.
Ah, thanks for the comparison! And best of luck with the Apres l’Ondee, of course.
I have Maître Parfumeur et Gantier Fleur d’Iris and think of it as a beginner iris. The price may be off putting for starters but the pure iris scent is rich, long lasting and reminds me of Paris. I really dislike the cheesy “gems” in the cap and for a nice high end company strike me as bad design, but the scents themselves are lovely.
Agree — the gem in my Eau Pour Le Jeune Homme is SO ugly!!
I haven’t found my starter iris yet, but in terms of a struggle, I found Iris Nazarena to be difficult to impossible to wear. Of course, I think I’m alone in that boat since it seems to be very well loved.
Well, maybe, but doubt many people in the market for a starter iris even tried that one!
With you on the Iris Nazarena! It was ashes and dirty hair on my skin :/ Everyone online loved it, and I took my sample on a weekend trip. My traveling buddy really disliked it. (I’m politely understating, there.) Keep trying! Iris is a tricky note for me. It was not instant love, but now I have several iris fragrances that I love.
SL Bas de Soie is pretty and easy to wear.
Thanks!
I do love Hermés Hiris, but I guess that is not a very easy Iris perfume..but it is very lovely 🙂
Prada’s Infusion d’Iris is pretty lovely again, but it turns very soapy on me :/
I am not sure if Hiris is easy or not. I find it easy. But it’s got a sharp opening…
It sure does..it is tricky…but the dry down is really lovely 🙂
I’m running through a batch of iris-y samples right now. I know, crazy, right!
Your comments on white musk in this L’Occitane made me think of Thirdman EAU MODERNE. I think it’s a fun mix of zingy and warm; but the Mrs thought it was no different than what the detergent aisle at the store smells like.
From my samples I think a great starter would be Heeley’s IRIS DE NUIT, or Divine’s L’HOMME DE COEUR.
I haven’t tried any of the ones listed so far as difficult, but I will say that I just *hated* Dior HOMME. I know that was a game-changer, and a reference iris, and all that. But it rubs me the wrong way. What are you gonna do?
Dior Homme was way too sweet and heavy for me, originally. Dior does such extensive reformulating and I don’t even know what it’s like now.
It’s far too sweet on me as well. I don’t get on with gourmands generally, unfortunately.
I actually didn’t like the dry down of DH or DHI. The iris was good though very fleeting.
I’m more tempted to buy the soap or shower gel than the perfume, which seems overpriced. I have a coffret of the original four scents and they’re more like splashes than perfumes.
And I am tempted by the hand cream, but want to try it and see just how peachy it is.
No. 19 edt is my favorite iris, one of my favorite perfumes ever in fact, but I don’t really know if it’s easy….I know a lot of people don’t care for it. Personally I find Hiris to be challenging, it smells “tinny” to me. Iris Silver Mist is gorgeous but I only have a sample and I know I couldn’t wear it often; I have to be in the mood for it, like so many Serge Lutens perfumes.
Hiris is definitely metallic, so “get” the tinny.
I’d vote for Infusion d’Iris Absolue as a good starter iris… It’s similar to the original but, to me at least, easier to wear. Not sure if it counts as mainly iris but I’d say Dzongkha is a difficult one.
And I’m looking forward to your review of I Miss Violet!
Love the Absolue!
My beginner iris suggestion is Carner Barcelona D600. Lightly powdered iris, vanilla, vetiver, and subtle spices. Suitable for almost any occasion and office-friendly. I agree that ISM is probably the most difficult, but it gets a lot of love at my house.
And that one I have not even tried! Thanks.
Starter iris would be AdP Iris Nobile edp, or current Chanel No 19 edt. Most difficult iris? Cuir de Lancome.
I’d love to hear why you find Cuir de Lancôme difficult, AnnS. I’m surprised to see it here as I know it’s a real favorite for many NST readers. I blind bought it (I know, I know) and I tried it once and decided I’d set it aside. I’m not sure what about it didn’t appeal to me.
Also, do you prefer the current No 19 over the vintage? I only have the vintage, which I love, so I’d love to hear your take on the current formulation.
The reasons that I think Cuir de Lancome is a difficult iris is b/c there’s a lot going on with CdL besides just the iris part – the cold powder, the warm leather, etc. I get a lot of iris out of it, that being said, a few years ago, when I was first exploring iris, I don’t think I would have liked its austere yet plushy, cold yet warm formula. Historically I don’t like leather in fragrances unless it’s used very minimally and not at the fore. (I can’t stand Cuir de Russe, Lonestar Memories, etc.) The leather in CdL may put some people off, etc, and there is definitely some sort of “cold wet” accord in there that is very unusual. I finally got to smell CdL after I got a used bottle at the swapmeet, and it was immediate swooning adoration. I was ready for what it has to offer. I really, really like CdL now – to the point it’s on my HG list and I’m lemming for a backup bottle – it’s perhaps my fav iris of all. I’ve never really smelled anything else like it. But this just happened after years of sniffing, and I was very surprised how much iris I get out of it. But unless it’s a love at first sniff situation for someone, CdL may be challenging. I guess from what you are saying that you must think it’s a challenge too? Hey, if you ever want to swap your bottle…. 😉
I like both the current and vintage No 19 for different reasons. The current pulls a lot of vetiver for me, and is really linear to my nose. I think of it almost like a summer eau de cologne that I can just apply with abandon, and smell good for many hours. Its very fresh and clean. I get a lot of sweet cool iris in the opening, which is wonderful. The vintage is much more chypre and has that wonderfully warm oakmoss in the base that counterbalances the iris and white flowers, and elevates it to a more full fledged perfume IMHO. It is elegant in the extreme. I only have vintage extrait, and I think the oakmoss makes it very much a year round fragrance. It’s more 3-D than the current edt. I wear the current No 19 a lot mostly in the summer, and I consider it mostly an iris vetiver fragrance, and definitely unisex. Does that help?
Yes it does help! Thanks so much for your detailed reply. 🙂
Ann, this is for me also very interesting to read, as CdL was a blind buy as a beginning perfumista, and it was love at first sniff for me. However, I never ‘catalogued’ it as an Iris! Since falling so hard for HE, and subsequently loving Hiris, the Iris note has my undivided attention! So I will try and smell the iris in CdL. BTW I love no 19 as well, current version, but then I love vetiver, so that makes sense. I hope to smell vintage some day. Thank you again Ann.
As far as Robin’s question, being still a beginner I think (what determines that?), I wonder how Mon Parfum Cherie Par Camille qualifies, beginners Iris or a more difficult Iris.
MPCPC is definitely not beginners material!
Prada’s Infusion d’Iris strikes me as the best possible starter Iris.
I know others have said ISM is challenging, but I find that I really like it, and it is much less challenging than some of those powdery numbers out there. Hiris was harder for me than ISM.
Oh, I love ISM too!
I don’t know if they are starter or not, but I enjoy Hiris and Iris Poudrée. Iris 39 from Le Labo was “challenging” for me – a screechy scrubber, in fact!
I am likewise *not* a fan of the Le Labo.
I think Iris Poudree could be a good starter iris, albeit at the high end of the price spectrum. It’s more violety-floral and not rooty. More reasonably priced, I’d also say Crabtree & Evelyn Iris is a nice one. Infusion d’Iris is what I would think of as a ‘training-wheels’ iris.
For a middle ground, if you like iris but maybe aren’t hardcore about it: Infusion d’Iris Absolue (which I prefer to the original), Atelier Cologne Silver Iris, Chanel No.19.
More difficult: ISM, Iris 39, Delrae Mythique
Ha — love “training wheels” iris!
I found all of the L’Occitane Grasse scents very light and agree that the full bottle price is high. Nonetheless, the prettily packaged set of all three scents in the collection at $30 would be a great present for a girl.
Chanel 28 la Pausa would be a good starter iris because the iris is both very apparent and yet one part of a beautiful and accessible perfume.
I don’t find iris perfumes intimidating. I just don’t get it. There are other notes and types of perfumes that smell sad, harsh, or overbearing to me, but not iris.
BTW, I passed the L’Occitane shop today and spritzed on Pivoine Flora, which they had on a little stand out front on the sidewalk. It’s in a cute, rosy rounded bottle (sort of an apple shape) and $55 for 2.5 oz. Very pretty scent.
And even that I think is too expensive. They all ought to be around $45 or $50, maybe. But of course I am cheap 🙂
I agree in so far as I find many iris scents very approachable and easy to like. La Pausa is one of the prettiest! ISM is not nearly so weird to me as it seems to be to others. Hiris might be an acquired taste as I have yet to acquire it 😀
I don’t remember which one I tried but L’Occitane is really tightfisted and will not give any samples (even when I said I brought my own dabber vial), i’ll probably end up getting a soap or shower gel when the price is right.
I did not see the review for Iris Bleu – is it that bad that you’re subliminally telling us not to bother 😉 [it could be my iPhone misbehaving but I don’t see a section on Iris Bleu].
To answer the poll, I agree that Prada Infusion d’Iris is a good starter iris and ISM is challenging for a newbie.
Hajusuuri – Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc is one scent, n
Whoops! Sent before I was ready. It’s one scent, not too. I had thought there were two as well!
Two, not too. I give up trying to type on the train!
Oy! so it’s my brain misbehaving and not my iPhone! Thank you 🙂
YES — all one thing. Which is too bad, they should have done an Iris Bleu with less fruit and way less white musk.
And adding…the name is supposedly because there are 2 kinds of iris, although in my humble opinion if you’re just going to add peach and white musk, that hardly matters 🙂
Really love the Zegna ‘Florentine Iris’ – wasn’t big on iris until I tried this one
That one was nicely done.
Starter iris fragrances? I think Equistrius by PdE or even more soft Hilde Soliani’s Il vs Iris. Both are beautiful.
I’d call Iris Poudre and Atelier Cologne’s Silver Iris (my SOTD) mid range, great iris scents.
ISM is my reference iris, and I really don’t find it wearable, but then I’m the oddball who finds Prada’s IdI just as tough to wear. There is a note in both that does not work for me. I love how this hobby/obsession has exposed me to so many new experiences, with lots found at NST 😀
I can’t remember why I did not love Equistrius. Have not tried the HS!
I’m with Hemlock above about Equistrius. That one is lovely, and I find Hiris very approachable too.
I am conflicted about ISM. Some days I think it makes the air come alive with sparkles of moonlight and other times it’s like I stuck my nose in a vase of filled with 2 week old water and a bunch of dead blooms languishing listlessly.
But then I’m crazy 🙂
I wish I’d kept notes the first time I smelled it. I know I was amazed, but can’t remember if I loved it.