How I thought I didn’t care about iris perfumes
A long time ago, when I was a fletchling perfumista, I thought iris perfumes just weren’t for me. I don’t remember what it was I tried first, but somewhere at the beginning a decant of Iris Nobile found its way to me and I still remember how I was a bit underwhelmed.
I wonder to this day what exactly was I thinking. 🙂
Except for the fact that I love it, I think of it as a warm, mellow floral. Irisy, but also lightly sharp, a bit green and so very, very lovely.
Right from the start I get that warm, soft floral feel of iris underscored with warm notes. I can say they are the warm base notes (vanilla) as the whole thing reminds me a bit of an irisy dessert.
My mind thinks I smell jasmine and gardenia in it (as well as something menthol-like which seems to be anise) but once you look at the notes, it seems my nose is mixing up orange blossom for jasmine (wouldn’t be the first time).
Notes: iris petals, star anise, mandarin, bergamot, cedar flower, orange blossom, iris roots, vanilla and amber crystals.
I also discovered a strange thing while looking for the notes. I saw the citruses listed as the top notes and kept wondering how in the world I missed them while smelling and wearing this?! I mean, even though you expect them most of the times, I still thought I wouldn’t just fail to register them.
So I sprayed the perfume on a strip. Imagine my surprise when they all appeared there?! And lasted. It seems my skin kills off (eats) the citrusy notes in this perfume. And in my opinion, it is for the best. I love the way it smells on me.
Unfortunately though, I loved it a bit too much so now I have none.
Which wouldn’t be so bad if my search for notes hadn’t revealed the fact that what I had was probably the edt and not the edp now being sold (no chypre, patchouli notes in mine).
Does anyone know if the edt version of Iris Nobile still exists? The site doesn’t say so…
Tagged: Acqua di Parma, iris, Iris Nobile, iris perfume, Perfume review, perfume thoughts
All I am - a redhead 
An irisy dessert, you say? I like that description – and the orange blossom sounds quite pretty in this, too.
OK, skipping off now to write you a thank-you email for the drawing package that you sent me. I smelled beautiful today in Le Parfum de Therese … merci beaucoup!
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This is a very pretty perfume. 🙂 One that is also very easy to choose to wear when you’re in a hurry in the morning.
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Dear Ines, I didn’t know you thought of yourself as someone who doesn’t care for iris frags. You like iris nazarena and Hiris don’t you? It’s funny because I looooove iris, especially when it’s in a warmer perfume, but for me Iris Nobile never was about iris, neither edt no edp, but about jasmine. I tried it several times because I thought my nose must be off on that day, since it was called after the iris, but no, I always felt cheated for any iris experience with IN. So much so, that I couldn’t even think wether I might actually like it non the less 🙂
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Yes, I do. I like them both very much. But it somehow came a bit later in my perfume journey. In the beginning I was a bit dismissive of iris perfumes I am ashamed to admit. 🙂
Ok, so you smell the jasmine as well? That’s great news, I thought my nose was going crazy…
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I used to own Iris Nobile – no idea which version – but as Asali says, it was never about the iris, which I barely detected, and I ended up selling my bottle to a fumie friend in Switzerland. I think the turning point came when I overdosed in this and went into a meeting feeling very self-conscious of my humungous sillage. From memory, I think Luca Turin was impressed by the gardenia note in this one, so your nose is on the right track there!
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Vanessa, I have to admit, I wonder how you managed to overdose on Iris Nobile? And if you did, I would have loved to be present. 🙂
and I can’t believe what you said about Luca smelling gardenia in there. 😀 That makes me very happy (and I’ll have to check my book to read the whole review).I always think I imagine things if I smell something and it’s not on the list of notes.
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I tried Iris Nobile acouple of years ago (not sure which version) and wasn’t impressed at all as well as by one or two other perfumes from the brand – so I stopped testing any new perfumesfrom them. If I still have that sample I’ll test it again – just out of curiosity to see how it feels now.
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Undina, I actually wasn’t impressed by the rest of the line either. I only tried the rest because I really loved Iris Nobile so I thought there might be some other discoveries there.
I now need to make sure if the edt is still available somewhere and if it is, get a bottle for myself (if it wasn’t reformulated in the mean time, what I had was a few years old decant).
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I wore this in pre-perfumista days (the EDT, I think). I believe it is still available here in EDT, but I’ll have a look next time I’m at a shop. I haven’t revisited it in years, and now I’m curious too.
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Nat, I’ll check on my side if it’s available and if it isn’t, can I employ your purchasing and shipping services? 🙂
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