WHAT I SMELL: Iris Fauve glides on the skin with a smooth and silky bergamot that is quickly met with a cashmere and rather putty like iris. The perfume is creamy, weighted and it feels like “waving in the wind” silk gliding across the skin. There’s an interesting cinnamon note that provides just a hint of sparkling sweetness; it’s a really nice touch that gives it a special brightness that rides on top of the silkiness. After a bit, that cinnamon note begins to retreat and the perfume begins to flatten, but with a deep and rounded consistency. This perfume is pretty without being too feminine. Instead, there’s a wonderful masculine edge, most likely coming from the labdanum, that provides this unexpected beefiness for an iris perfume. As the perfume continues to develop the cinnamon seems to come forward once again, along with a mysterious myrhh. Iris Fauve is beautifully bewitching.
Top notes are bergamot, cinnamon and iris; middle notes are patchouli, haitian vetiver and cypriol oil or nagarmotha; base notes are myrrh, musk, labdanum and liatris.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Trading on the Silk Road. The combination of exotic flowers and spices make for a mysterious and exotic perfume.
THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE IRIS FAUVE: enchanting, fluid, enticing
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT IRIS FAUVE: CaFleureBon, Kafkasesque, AustralianPerfumeJunkies
BOTTOM LINE: Iris Fauve is an iris perfume that’s not cool to the touch. Instead, it’s a beautiful, spicy and exotic presentation of iris that feels modern, yet which stems from the old world. And who can resist those bottles and the gold flakes? Heaven.
- Bone Rating: 4 out of possible 5 bones
- Scent: Oriental
- Nose: Marie Salamagne
- Classification: Unisex
- Expense: $275 for 100 ml eau de parfum
WHAT I SMELL: Bois d’Iris is oh so inviting when it first goes on the skin. It’s like soft iris infused cashmere that’s lightly sweetened and tinged with sun. The perfume feels like a late spring morning where the dew of the evening before has just evaporated off the flowers and greenery of a beautiful garden. The iris is very contained, but nicely warmed with the lightest amber that helps to give the perfume a golden hue of radiance. After some time, the iris retreats to make way for a buzzing labdanum. Still golden, the perfume moves from floral to almost entirely wood. Eventually, the perfume moves to the powdery and it becomes slightly sweeter , but the sweetness is kept contained by a dried woody vetiver. Overall, a very easy wear.
WHAT I SMELL: Russkaya Kozha has a discordant and biting opening that quickly moves to a flattened wood tinged with leather and oud. There’s a sour edge and a pungent aspect, like worn leather pants that have absorbed the dirt and sweat from the wearer. The perfume is beefy without being weighted, but it does have presence. After a few minutes, the funky opening starts to sweeten and a wonderful radiating amber and benzoin ride above the now rough hewed sueded leather. There’s a slight booziness that meets the mix and what was a bit rough and tumble at the beginning is now confidently sophisticated. It also seems like there may be a light rose note buried under the leather, but I’m not seeing that listed as one of the notes. The perfume settles down into a warmed smoky leather that is masculine without being overt but is still clearly in charge. Instead, it projects confidence in a wonderful grandeur that is born from the majestic heart of Mother Russia.
The Scented Hound 