Essential Parfums Velvet Iris Eau de Parfum

Fragrance Family:
Dry Woods (Fresh Green)

Notes:
Turmeric Leaf, Pink Pepper, Buchu Leaf, Iris Concrete, Galbanum Resinoid, Lentiscus, Saffiano (IFF) Leather-Suede Accord, Labdanum Resin, Creamy Woods, Sandalwood

Concentration:
Eau de Parfum (17%)

Occasion:
Not a feather-light iris, but one with heft, weight, and body. Leathery and verdant, more woody than it is floral. A deep and sensual signature-worthy fragrance.

Perfumer’s Inspiration:
"The whole composition revolves around the idea of iris, around iris concrete. Galbanum, a fairly resinous green note works very well as a top note with iris. Lentisque also builds on this green note, but will be a little more vegetal than galbanum and will continue in the heart note. Turmeric adds a spicy top note [and] buchu will add a fairly lively fruity top note at the start, and then a base note that will be woody, a little leathery notably with labdanum - giving a sensual base note.

If I had to define Velvet Iris in three words, I'd say: velvety, carnal, and majestic. You have to come up with something very signature, where the iris note is very present, but at the same time stands out from everything that's been done in the past. The way I've treated the velvety side of Velvet Iris ... gives the composition a leathery yet gentle effect" (Dominique Ropion)

Made in France

The velvet in this fragrance’s name gives the key to its character and composition. Its perfumer, Dominique Ropion, alters our expectations of the note without disrupting all that we love about iris fragrances,from its green-tint and distinct earthy powderiness; altogether paradoxically fresh, dry, and creamy. Ropion works the iris note by following its natural inclinations, building an iris scent with all of its affinities in mind. It's the complementary notes that Ropion chooses, unexpectedly, that bring us joy.

My nose centres on the sandalwood in the heart of this fragrance, which becomes a surface for the dry facets of iris to take hold, sapped further with the dusty note of turmeric. And then a leatheriness takes hold, textured like suede but strong like leather, it reinforces the velvety feeling that surrounds the fragrance, furthered with the supple qualities of labdanum. Its green notes, almost a sign of iris nostalgia for the 1970s greats, assumes a new sort of verdancy with the addition of lentiscus, or what the Greeks know as mastic. It imparts a citrusy pine note that is fresh yet unyielding, while buchu emphasises all the fruit that otherwise exists in impression.

All of this is to say that Velvet Iris is a brilliant iris. A tactile fragrance, at once familiar and defiant, it captures iris not as a static floral, but as a living surface: green, rooty, and then golden and warm. Ropion’s skill lies in drawing out the synesthetic nature of iris, like skin warmed by light.