Three extracts of Florentine iris constitutes the body of Equistrius (Parfum d’Empire), where silk is layered with velvet. It is a quiet richness, buttery and comforting - the scent is rounded and enveloping yet also fine and delicate, well-proportioned with additions of ambrette butter, sandalwood, and powder notes. Not a scent designed for projection, but more like the finest wine - consumed with reverence and attention. Utterly exquisite. Angel’s Dust is a rich homage to the bygone era of vintage boudoirs and face powders, heady and decadent with balsams and floral unguents. A rich iris extract blends with rose and mimosa to give the scent a floral force, supported with meltingly good tolu balsam, benzoin, vanilla, musks, and a sandalwood frame.
Iris Perle by Les Indemodables demonstrates the preciousness of the material, utilising the most expensive grade of iris root available - which was even deemed to expensive for Chanel. The formula is deeply classical yet refreshingly glacial in nature - a moody and grey-toned scent with additions of mimosa, jasmine, and ylang-ylang, freshened with the zing of clary sage. While Iris Cendre (Naomi Goodsir) simply sets these aristocratic notes alight, resulting in an iridescent flame. Creamy and vegetal iris butter is married to the nostalgic note of violet, which are strewn and cinders and ashes of labdanum, tobacco, and amber.
In Velvet Iris (Essential Parfums), legendary perfumer Dominique Ropion pairs the wood and velvet effects of iris with the pungent greens of galbanum, mastic, and buchu leaf. It altogether reimagines the textures of iris - first with the dusty orange heat of turmeric leaf, finding base on a fantasy saffiano suede accord and milky sandalwood. Finally, Encounters (Francesca Bianchi) is a 60/40 of iris and oud, as decadent iris butter melts on the surface of potent oud, sweetened with orange and grounded with balsamics. It is a moment of contact where East meets West, soft and mysterious, and utterly mesmerising.
