All Mighty Hiris

It's not only until I fell in love with Dior Homme that I realized I love iris. I never paid much attention to it before, and I thought the note always smelled like cardboard. Then I went through a phase when I could not get enough of it. I remember when L'Artisan Iris Padilla was hard to find, I got a decant of it and was so scared to use it for fear I would run out of it. Then I discovered Hermes Hiris, and I thought to myself, I have now discovered the perfect iris for me. Ironically, it's from 1999, and created by one of my favorite noses, Olivia Giacobetti. She made this before I discovered her, before I got obsessed with perfume and realized I loved almost everything by her. Hiris is the perfect description of a Gicaobetti creation - it's ethereal, it's sheer, it envelopes you like a chiffon scarf. For some reason, the visual I get for this scent when I am wearing it is of me walking the rainy streets of Paris, with the steely and cold air whipping my hair. Hiris has a cold iris note - it's a big blast in the beginning, but it softens on me, and the drydown is quite sweet: iris and florals and some aquatic honey something. On my shirt, it smells like a bouquet. (I imagine holding a floral bouquet while I look at the Seine) It's such an elegant scent, and that's why it works as a male scent, too - Dior Homme has more cedar and a lot more cardboard and just as loved by me. Hiris is one of my Top 10 scents of all time, and I hope to never be out of it for the rest of my life.