I have left this to the last of the Exclusifs to review, however, that does not mean that it would be the best of the six new launches. Only that it intrigued me long enough to keep coming back to it again and again.
Sometimes fragrances are just like that. At first, you might not like it very much and after many tries, and given lots of chances, you grow to like it or even fall in love with it. It may be the other way around. Love at first sight, but after a while, simply boredom, and little death.
28 was something old and something new. In the long line of iris perfumes, it was the newest luminary to be added to that list of perfumes constructed around this noble note. Yet, for all its newness on the market, it really was something old. I could say the lineage of this watery iris note started all the way from Apres L’ondee. That enigmatic fragrance, a little sad and grey, yet tinged with a touch of hope of new life. It truly was a masterpiece.
Thereon, fastforward, the next great piece I smelt was Hiris by Hermes, constructed, or rather painted by the genius Olivia Giacobetti, the note was simply like layered chiffon on the glidden body of the goddess Isis.
My latest love affair with the Iris fragrance was with the Homme by Dior. In such a traditionally feminine note, sprung an invention of utter understated elegance.
How does 28 compare? It is good to know that perfumery ideas continue to evolve and to be borrowed, and like so many of the other Exclusifs, 28 did just borrow an idea, abeit too closely, from Homme.
I did not really fall in love with it, merely was captivated with it at the start, and immediately, I said, “Ah! a female Homme de Dior!” The strong iris heart is evident with the powdered lavender, amber and powdered musky heart. Yet it was not strong and elegant like L’Homme. As I smelt on, it had the lively carrot notes of Hiris, a bit vegetal, warm and a bit steamy.
The second day, and then the third day, and then I started to tire of this. There is nothing original in its construction. There are no intricate little stories. Just predictable little elaborations, of themes I have long known before.
It is a sad little fragrance, grey like Apres but it had no little spark to make you happy once again. It is all doom and gloom, there are no highlights in the fragrance. It is beautiful yes, but it is boring as it is refined ad nauseam, it is featureless as it is subtle ad nauseam.
There goes the problem. Sometimes when you try to be too greedy, and start taking good things from everywhere, doesn't mean you get the best. Something new and something old, but that did not make something great.
Image from http://www.waple.net/bbs/data/gallery_color/sad_b.jpg
Sometimes fragrances are just like that. At first, you might not like it very much and after many tries, and given lots of chances, you grow to like it or even fall in love with it. It may be the other way around. Love at first sight, but after a while, simply boredom, and little death.
28 was something old and something new. In the long line of iris perfumes, it was the newest luminary to be added to that list of perfumes constructed around this noble note. Yet, for all its newness on the market, it really was something old. I could say the lineage of this watery iris note started all the way from Apres L’ondee. That enigmatic fragrance, a little sad and grey, yet tinged with a touch of hope of new life. It truly was a masterpiece.
Thereon, fastforward, the next great piece I smelt was Hiris by Hermes, constructed, or rather painted by the genius Olivia Giacobetti, the note was simply like layered chiffon on the glidden body of the goddess Isis.
My latest love affair with the Iris fragrance was with the Homme by Dior. In such a traditionally feminine note, sprung an invention of utter understated elegance.
How does 28 compare? It is good to know that perfumery ideas continue to evolve and to be borrowed, and like so many of the other Exclusifs, 28 did just borrow an idea, abeit too closely, from Homme.
I did not really fall in love with it, merely was captivated with it at the start, and immediately, I said, “Ah! a female Homme de Dior!” The strong iris heart is evident with the powdered lavender, amber and powdered musky heart. Yet it was not strong and elegant like L’Homme. As I smelt on, it had the lively carrot notes of Hiris, a bit vegetal, warm and a bit steamy.
The second day, and then the third day, and then I started to tire of this. There is nothing original in its construction. There are no intricate little stories. Just predictable little elaborations, of themes I have long known before.
It is a sad little fragrance, grey like Apres but it had no little spark to make you happy once again. It is all doom and gloom, there are no highlights in the fragrance. It is beautiful yes, but it is boring as it is refined ad nauseam, it is featureless as it is subtle ad nauseam.
There goes the problem. Sometimes when you try to be too greedy, and start taking good things from everywhere, doesn't mean you get the best. Something new and something old, but that did not make something great.
Image from http://www.waple.net/bbs/data/gallery_color/sad_b.jpg
