Perfume Pen Pals: Hermes Iris Ukiyoe (Part One)



Katie,

I wore Hermès Iris Ukiyoé yesterday and I didn't hesitate to wear it again today. It's like going on a great date and calling the next morning with an invitation to breakfast. Except I'd never do that, lest I come across as pushy. But perfumes don't judge, and so I fearlessly put on Iris Ukiyoé before breakfast this morning.

It has a little of the sea-air-on-a-cloudy-day character of Andrée Putman Préparation Parfumée (minus the driftwood), but it's greener, a soft green not unlike Comme des Garçons Calamus. But it's prettier than both of those, so pretty and peaceful it almost makes me want to cry. But I won't cry because that would betray the true character of Iris Ukiyoé, which is unsentimental. It's sane and its beauty lies in its sanity, its restraint.


Devastating unsentimental restraint: just try not to cry. That most of Jean-Claude Ellena's perfumes don't announce themselves to a room, don't tell offensive jokes after a few too many cocktails and somehow end up breaking the dining-room chair, seems to agitate many perfume nerds. But there's pleasure to be had in sanity, KP, and as unexciting as this sounds (I won't even bother press-releasing it), I think Iris Ukiyoé is the iris for me. Now that that's settled, what's your favorite Ellena? I don't remember you mentioning his perfumes very much. Are they unexciting to you? Is it because so many of them are determinedly unisex? Or sexless, even? (Original formulation of Rose Poivrée aside, of course.) Am I overlooking something or are Katie Puckrik and Jean-Claude Ellena merely ships that pass in the night? Would you ever consider breakfast with Jean-Claude? Dan
Fumies -- please pipe up with your favorite Ellenas while I ponder mine. Read the Pen Pals on Hermès Iris Ukiyoé (Part Two) here.

15 comments:

  1. Huh.
    It's a bit difficult, I appreciate what he does and like it but I seem to require my perfumes to make my presence more known than what usually Mr. Ellena does. So I don't really wear many of his creations.
    My favourites are Angeliques sous la Pluie and L'Eau d'Ambre.

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  2. There must be some synchronicity thing going here - I just did a post on iris! And have yet to try this one.

    People seem to associate Ellena with 'watery', 'transparent', 'gauzy' 'fleeting' and other horror adjectives, but I'd like to point out that he gave an unsuspecting world the thermonuclear tuberose known as First, too.

    Days happen when my perfumes can't get complex, complicated or ornate enough...(Cue, stage left: anything Amouage, and not a few Lutens), and there are days when I simply can't be b-o-t-h-e-r-e-d with complications. (I generate too many on my own! ;) )

    For those days, I haul out my favorite Ellenas...my Thè Verte Extrème, my Jardin Sur Le Nil. They're happy, summery, and don't try to commit unspeakable acts on my nose every five seconds. I don't have to think about them - they just...are.

    Some days, that's perfectly simple - and perfectly enough!

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  3. Hi Dan,

    Thank you for the great review, I guess this one will be part of my gift box:)

    About JCE, my all time favorite is Bois Farine, followed closely by Ambre Narguile.

    Well, that brings me back to the Hermessences dilemma: I'm thinking about Vanille Galante and Brin de Reglisse (or Osmanthe Yunnan). Poivre Samarcande may be too masculine, and I'm not very thrilled by Rose Ikebana, Vetiver Tonka or Paprika Brasil. What do you think? Anyway, I guess I will wait for the reviews on the rest of the line to make up my mind:)

    Hugs,

    S.

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  4. I love Ellena's work. Most of his creations appeal to me at least in some way. I absolutely adore Osmanthe Yunnan though. I am very curious to hear about Katie's favorite Ellenas (if any).

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  5. My favourite Ellena is Vanille Galante, which you were wearing the other day and found a bit sweet as I recall, whereas I find it saltier. This would be closely followed by TDC Bergamote - gotta love a scent with ginger AND rhubarb. The jam would be pretty good too!

    And I do like the new Iris too - I am forever trumpeting the merits of sane, restrained, understated, subtly nuanced and just plain bland. Anyone reading is welcome to send all their run of the mill rejects to me! Just hold the ones with a popcorn note.

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  6. Eau D'Hiver, hands down. (I keep name-checking it a lot lately here...)

    Bulgari's The Verte, Bois D'Iris runners-up.

    For everyday throw and go: Sisley Eau de Campagne.

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  7. Sabrina, I don't think we'll get around to all of those (I tend to be a little long-winded), but like Poivre Samarcande, Brin de Reglisse's lavender and licorice leans masculine. You might love Osmanthe Yunnan, which smells like a blend of Ellena's Osmanthus for The Different Company and his Bulgari's The Vert. It's lovely.

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  8. Thank you for the update, Dan!

    It seems I will end up choosing Ambre Narguile, Vanille Galante, Iris Ukiyoe and Osmanthe Yunnan then. But I'm still not sure about this last one... there is something in Bvlgari The Vert that makes me smell like a wet dog:)

    Hugs,

    S.

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  9. Ines -- you've articulated perfectly my feelings on the Ellena style. I require a bit more obviousness in my perfume. The "un-Ellena" L'eau d'Ambre is a fave of mine, too.


    tarleisio -- thanks for the tip-off to your blog and iris post. I'm intrigued by the sound of one iris you discussed, Miller Harris Terre d'Iris, with its "titanium ovaries", as you put it.

    Re Ellena's style shift from brocade to chiffon perfumes, I am impressed by how emphatic the difference is between "before" and "after."

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  10. Sabrina -- Dan has recently jotted to me that he found Paprika Basil "the dud of the bunch", which seems to confirm your "not very thrilled" feeling about it.

    Re Bulgari The Vert: tea notes in a perfume give me a bit of trouble. If they're stronger than a whisper, they make me feel like I want to gag. Fortunately, Osmanthe Yunan's tea stays in the whisper range.


    Stefush -- I KNEW Eau D'Hiver was going to get a loyal shout-out from you.

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  11. olfactoriastravels -- JC Ellenas TDC work piques my interest, but I can't say I've gone whole hog and worn it for any length of time. I'm currently honing on a couple of Ellenas I enjoy...to be revealed in the next Perfume Pen Pals.


    Vanessa -- you crack me up. "Multiple servings of run-of-the-mill, please - hold the popcorn!"

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  12. I love me some Judy Collins. I almost typed Joan Collins. Different.

    ps totally referenced you in a YouTube video today.

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  13. Maggie -- I was up till all hours last night watching vid after vid on YouTube of early Judy Collins and Joni Mitchell. Magic magic magic.

    More details, please, on your YouTube ref!

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  14. I love that stuff. I grew up on the funniest mix of music and women with rich voices just make me so warm and fuzzy.

    My sister and I did a haul video in which she bought L'Imperatrice. I completely butcher the pronounciation, then insist you would know how to say it. Lol

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMfPljEpy3w

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  15. Hi Katie,

    Interesting to know that you have problems with tea notes as well, and since you said the tea in Osmanthe Yunnan doesn't belong to the sickening ones group, I guess I finally chose my four Hermessences... Thank you for helping!

    Hugs,

    S.

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