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tan77 – :
“Soothing and comforting… blissful white heaven in a bottle.”
Helmut Lang EdP is a 2014 fragrance from the original Austrian brand by a creator of the same name. The brand is known for descontructivist and minimalist approach towards fashion and aesthetics, and the creator Lang went to New York City to establish its brand. After some time, he left his own brand and it was eventually acquired by Tokyo company Link Theory Holdings, and is still currently based in New York City.
This fragrance is a reformulation of the original fragrance from 2000 in cooperation with Proctor & Gamble, back when the brand was not yet acquired by Link Theory Holdings. It was conceived by Maurice Roucel, a legendary figure in the perfumery world, and it became a cult classic especially after being discontinued upon brand acquisition.
Since the debut of the reformulation, many have noticed subtle differences in the scent, and claim that the 2014 fragrance has been tailored to be more unisex, in contrast of the original one that was geared more towards female wearers. I didn’t have the chance to truly test the original formulation, but as far as the reformulation goes, it’s a perfectly unisex scent. One common comparison I often see is how this fragrance resemble Roucel’s other more popular creation: Musc Ravageur by Frederic Malle. I can see the parallels between the two because of the lavender-sandalwood note; however, to me they are two essentially different fragrances, where MR is a musky tamed beast, whereas HL is a lush and heartwarming kitty.
Among many fragrances I tried when I went to NYC the first time in Dec 2015, Helmut Lang was one of the very few that stuck to my mind upon first sniff. Unlike most ‘clean’ scents, HL sets itself apart with a subtle mix of patchouli, vanilla and sandalwood; and absence of white musk that plagues many of such fragrances. This renders the scent more creamy, fuller and heady without the synthetic feel; in fact, it’s even addictive! But more importantly, it’s the epitome of a comfort scent, one that puts the wearer at ease both physically and mentally.
Upon second try after purchasing a full bottle from Die kleine Theatiner Parfümerie in Munich, I got imaginatively transported back to NYC and remembered what I felt when I first tried it. I get wafts of heliotrope and lavender, the latter being a key component in aromatherapy and a popular ingredient for bed sprays. Combined with vanilla, sandalwood and bits of patchouli, and I get pure comfort in perfume form, an image of clean and pure white bedsheets and linen.
This perfume is perfect for slightly cooler weathers, preferably spring or autumn (although I think that thematically spring would be perfect). It’s one of the best office daily-wear type of perfume I’ve come across, and even for wearing before going to bed.
I stumbled upon this scent in a city, bought a full bottle two years later in a different city in another continent… and yet, my love for it hasn’t changed one bit. Beautiful fragrance all in all.
edit:
I tested my bottle on paper the other day. It’s bizarre; on paper, I get this mildly urinous note and I have no idea why. On my skin, this note is nowhere to be found.
ilyachka – :
Helmut Lang Eau de Parfum 2014
This scent is the embodiment of the quintessential Sunday. You’re at home, the weather’s perfect, you’ve slipped into your quality cotton sheets, you too are wearing cotton. Skin-to-skin, leisurely caresses, kisses. Breathe in hope, something lost, nostalgia, sex. Helmut Lang smells like comfort, sensuality, and an unspoken air of being up to no good. You’re feeling blissfully lazy and at ease, and you do whatever and however you please.
You close your eyes, and you somehow drift… fields of purple lavender washes over you…lulling you into a lucid state. The lavender is clean, powdery, and along with heliotrope, diffuses a dreamy film of whites and beige. The effect is of sand, powder, paper and a lasting texture to the touch. A subtle green, herbal kick adds to the lavender, and that is rosemary. It awakens your memory, of the past, of the present, it brings your mind places. So does the musk. A skin-like, lived in musk is evermore present. Dirty/clean, new and old, oh the dichotomy, the duality it brings. You’ve definitely been to places, to people, with what remains of the Helmut Lang on your skin. Patchouli, sandalwood, musk suggest as to the night before, the passion and the aftermath. The after-sex. Your skin the day after has never smelled so good with jasmine, neroli, heliotrope, and lavender breathing life as your body’s heat intensifies in your daily activities. Helmut Lang settles into you just like second-skin. It meshes with your low-cut white blouse, or that unbuttoned white shirt, it becomes you for the day, and you become it.
Helmut Lang Eau de Parfum is full of blurred lines, of that bead of sweat running down the décolletage, the hint of something you thought you knew, of possibilities of what you want it to be. Helmut Lang is something that’s hard to explain, something that is wildly suggestive, and maybe a secret best left untold. Until that time, I wish for the ‘future me’ to rock Helmut Lang Eau de Parfum like a devil in disguise, to anywhere and everywhere, with confidence and composure.
Dearliace – :
It’s a well composed comfy scent with a classic edge to it. In dry down, I can easily detect vanilla, patchouli, and lavender.
On my skin, the amber-patchouli facet is more dominant, though I think it is musk that makes it blend well with my skin chemistry. It stays close to skin but seems to have good staying power. Interestingly, when I spray it on cloth, it smells a bit different and shows sharper classic edges.
It smells familiar in a likable way. Hence, I don’t consider it something particularly original. However, it is a well done perfume with quality ingredients. If interested in a nice warm comfy scent with a classic touch, you should give it a try.
tie925speagoessenda – :
Absolutely comforting scent. This has some similarity to Musc ravageur, but this is much more sophisticated. MR feels more brutal and edgy. My favourite of the two is Helmut Lang EDP for sure. I’m surprised to see that many people here think it is very long lasting. I only get shorter than average longevity, and MR lasts longer on me.
kop4onui – :
After a long time experience with this perfume I have found that its opening is the most daring and interesting part. Literally I smell the plastic beach ball of my childhood and of course I cannot find a more accurate idea connected with Lang’s “the outrider” world. Afterwards it evolves to more prosaic territories, a sort of sweet and slightly spicy oriental classic which makes it versatile, genderless and ageless. Do not expect to find a longevity or projection bomb, this is under control and you will not scare anyone while wearing it. As in Martin Parr’s picture series: “Life’s a beach”…
ibizzza – :
Pure and sheer platonic love. A true gem to cherish forever.
bu_gai – :
If Jicky and Mouchoir de Monsieur were German and not French, this is what Jicky would smell like, and Mouchoir de Monsieur would smell like the Eau de Cologne version. It has that perfect Guerlainish pitch and balance, but thankfully devoid of that awful fecal, bad breath-like civet; instead, something else–perhaps the lily and heliotrope–fleshes it out like animal and balsam notes do in the Guerlainade. Also reminds me of Floris’s Special No 89, but more Contental and less British. Move over Guerlain. Helmut Lang has given us the oriental fougere par excellence.
molot97 – :
This perfume has a Guerlain-esque air to it, on my skin. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why I am fond of it, and have stuck with it for many years. There is always a brief, slightly scary moment when I first spray it and it reminds me of aftershave, making me wonder if I did actually pick the fragrance I meant to choose. After that, all is well, and stays well for several hours.
The first note I can pick out after the aftershave is lavender, a rather Jicky-like lavender which is warm and sweet. Other notes slowly join in and it is harder to identify them individually, but they combine to make a sweetly herbal, or herbally sweet fragrance which lasts for two or three hours, gradually becoming more creamy.
This is the last stage that I can smell on my skin. It is clean and creamy, less sweet now, and seems a little airy, like laundry blowing on the line outside. I have to say that there is a definite hint of fabric softener for me, before the whole fragrance disappears completely, after about five hours.
Projection is minimal and it is an ideal perfume to wear when one wants to smell good but not to intrude on or distract from another situation. I often wear it for my piano lessons, as it is clean and comforting with the lavender, and it is almost gone by lunchtime, leaving me free to reapply or to change my perfume for the afternoon.
LEDI.RUV – :
I think this has become my signature scent. Helmut Lang edp just always seems suitable for any occasion. There’s an odd industrial/paint note that lasts for a minute or two in the opening that I can’t quite put my finger on, but after that it settles into a soft lavender and jasmine baby powder kind of thing that is really pleasant. It doesn’t seem to project very far, which is good for the office. Lasts around 6 hours on me.
My wife is a little ambivalent about this one, but she says it smells nice enough. Probably not a compliment getter, but I dig it a lot.
I’ve tried a ton of different designer and niche oddball stuff, and found a bunch of great fragrances, but at the end of the day I guess I just want to smell like a newborn baby in an artist’s loft.
1anel1 – :
This fragrance is swoon worthy. Love the top notes lying on a base of vanilla and cedar wood. The patchouli is just right and enhances all the other ingredients. This is a clean, fresh and cozy, but sexy scent that makes you want to cuddle up to the wearer. Just right for spring and fall, in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong, it is nice in the winter, but I think it would be outstanding in the spring and fall. The added warmth in the air and in your skin will only emphasize the notes of the fragrance. People will enjoy standing next to you and absolutely love hugging you. First word out of my mouth upon smelling it – “Beautiful.”
The reason I don’t wear it more in the winter is because I cannot find a body lotion or body cream to layer it over.
tubykeype – :
This smells like a modernized version of Chanel No. 5. They have the rose/jasmine/vanilla/animalic combo in common. I believe vanilla must be missing from the pyramid here, as it is the strongest note I smell. You would not expect this perfume to be sweet by looking at the notes listed above, but it is sweet. I also smell an animalic note that might be a leather accord or might even be ambergris. I smell all the floral notes listed, and they blend together very harmoniously. While it’s nice, I personally prefer Cuiron (2014). This is not unique and thought-provoking the way Cuiron is, and I view this EDP as more of a been-there-done-that type of crowd pleaser.
(Indeed I have found other sources listing vanilla as a note)
Blooleplast – :
This follows the line drawn by the first version very closely but there is a prominent flash of metal in the opening that never goes away. It’s a sharp note, woody/resin that was never there before and I can’t say I enjoy it as much. Perhaps it dries down to something closer to its past but I won’t wait to get there.
nikta139 – :
I believe the most fitting expression for this would be “classically clean”.
As I haven’t smelled the original, a comparison is not possible but it’s a floral musky clean and powdery perfume with a very finetuned mix of lavender, patchouli, sandalwood, heliotrope and orange blossom.
Strangely, it somehow reminds me of a perfume my mother used to wear ages ago, and since the only one I can recall her wearing is the Maurer & Wirtz 4711 original, that must be it – even though this seems more powerful and less feminine. Maybe it’s the patchouli/rose mix ? I haven’t smelled the 4711 for about 20 years though, so I can’t be certain.
All in all, a very fine quality perfume and with excellent longevity.
Dan501 – :
The great news about Helmut Lang re-launching their whole range of fragrances, surprised quite a lot of us in the fragrance-sphere. Everybody was happy and concerned at the same time to discover if they messed up with these mythical fragrances and with much of my surprise, I’ve to say they didn’t at all.
Current EDP is incredibly close to the original but, if I can dare, it feels almost better. It’s slightly stronger and more balanced on the sweetness and, after all these years, still feels unique enough to gain all of my support and endorsement. I’ve to say that I found the original musk a bit more nuanced as it felt clean but maintained a certain dirtiness typical to this ingredient whereas the current iteration feels overall woodier and cleaner. Still top-notch stuff in my book.
Rating: 9/10
kopee4ka90 – :
Helmut Lang EDP is truly a hybrid of Labdanum 18 and Musc Ravageur. It is Labdanum 18 with a splash of MR. If L18 does not have quite enough oomph for you and MR has too much – and you “almost” love either one of them – Helmut Lang could be just what you are looking for. It has Maurice Roucel written all over it.
It is soft and clean with a powdery fluffiness to it but also has a sexy musky edge. Very unisex.
This is the type of scent I really gravitate toward and if I didn’t already have a bottle of Labdanum and MR I would be ordering it right now. But since I have both it really feels a bit redundant. It really is THAT similar. And because I love the other two so much, this is also clearly a love for me.
ndj792bedyWelty – :
Synthetic yet cozy, the 2014 re-issue of EdP is soft, warm, and frankly, quite brilliant. It feels deceptively simple, but it’s clear that there’s a great deal of nuance. It strikes the perfect balance between powdery florals, semi-sweet musks, and balmy vanilla with just a touch of cinnamon. It’s like a creamier, more edible Labdanum 18 or a refined and less dramatic Musc Ravageur, yet it feels more accomplished than both through its seeming unfussiness. Furthermore, there’s an insinuation of a laundry motif created through the tiniest inclusion of soapy lavender that makes the scent feel abnormally clean—like a plush toy taken straight from the drier.
It sits close to the skin, but not so close as to be considered a skin scent, and I could see how it could potentially be over-sprayed. However, there’s nothing belligerent about it—no harshness to the synthetics whatsoever, and it somehow keeps from being cloying even when it feels like it should be. It’s pillowy and soft but it doesn’t feel juvenile.
Sadly, I never had the chance to smell the original, and I’m sure that some changes were made at some point (there’s an ebanol-style sandalwood lurking in the base), but this is pure, powdery comfort. It’s probably too pricey as it stands, but it does what it does so well that I imagine it won’t be hard to rationalize the price. Total comfort in a bottle.