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pom4ik666 – :
Iris Silver Mist is a shock at first sniff, I admit. On my skin the perfume went through three very distinctive stages, none of which I liked. At first, strong and cold alcohol note embraces the smell of carrots. This is then followed by wet roots. These two stages were very realistic, as if I was watching a movie in 3D. The final stage for me was abstract oily green fogginess that was mere sourness. Whom is this for and what is the appropriate occasion? I’m speechless.
kiborg111 – :
On my skin this smells like freshly peeled carrots. Rooty, cold iris dominates this scent. Like others have mentioned this is probably one of the more aloof scents you will ever smell (De Profundis and Vierge de Fer by Lutens come close). Perfect for hot summer days, or to enhance feelings of melancholy and sadness, if you can get past the carrot aspect of this perfume. I couldn’t, I had to scrub it off, big dislike.
Сиам – :
Wow.
I’m not getting the carrot that everyone else smells, but at first spray: BOOZE! Specifically, scotch. Not a nice, warm, comforting Macallan 18 but more like a young Glenlivet: bracing, heady, and boozy. Fragrantlife below mentioned a similarity to Laphroaig; I haven’t tried that brand but with its earthy, peaty reputation I can definitely see where the comparison is coming from.
Chanel No 19 EDP is my signature and has always been my ‘get shit done’ fragrance, although there’s a feminine softness about it that honestly doesn’t really go as cold as I wanted. This *does*. This is Tilda Swinton as The White Witch in ‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.’ This is Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones. Icy. Calculating. Gives no f’s.
Iris Silver Mist is my new ‘boardroom bitch’ scent.
sergeygur – :
When I was a little child, my granny had a luxury French bar soap named Imperial Iris. She was hiding it carefully in a bottom drawer because it was a gift from her sister. Iris Silver Mist reminds me of this familiar scent significantly. It has got the same calming effect – its scent is soft, smooth & clean, a little bit woody/ balsamic, with majestically sweet, powdery & smoky iris in the middle of the whole composition. So uncomplicated, so charming & sophisticated – and still perfect.
slava-ignat1 – :
I love cold, aloof woodsy perfumes, but even with my limited fragrance education I can tell that this is probably the most distant thing I’ve ever smelled. Before I tested it, I imagined there would be an ozone-y rainy “mist” almost-mudlike smell backing up the iris. But nope!
Here’s what I get when smelled from a distance: carrots at first, then oily waxiness and lipstick, then vetiver iris musk. Sweet and rooty. The evolution is fascinating and delicious.
I like it wafting up from my wrist, but then if I bring my wrist to my nose, it’s too close – the galbanum and clove is so sour on my skin that it’s no longer sweet. Up close it almost reads as cinnamony or intensely minty. This intense focus – huffing my wrist – triggers a sinus headache, but this is just so fascinating! How different they are up close versus far away – I can’t stop doing it. I feel it does require some physical distance to render the full fragrance, like how a closeup of pointillist art is just a bunch of dots that doesn’t make much sense until you pull back to see the full picture.
It is absolutely educational.
shandoga – :
Love love love this perfume! Not a fan of the perfume industry, not even most niche ones; they’re too tame because they aspire to the holy grail of modern perfumery, of our modern society really: everyone wants a paradox, something that smells interesting but won’t make people look at you funny. This is just pure Iris root. I’ve worked with it so my only reference to earthy notes isn’t carrot. I really recommend getting some orris root powder (get it at herbalists/ witchcraft stores) and sniff that before buying this perfume. If you can appreciate the root then you’ll love this. It’s not cold to me at all, just very earthy and grounding and lovely. Yes it dries down to a soft powdery iris but if you want the entire orris root spectrum then you’ve got to take the bitter rootiness with the soft sweet powder. You think carrots aint refined enough for royalty? Just imagine this is the smell Marie Antoinette would have lived with everyday wearing those orris powdered wigs. I for one welcome my new Iris root overlords. Viva la Orris!!
lava_kurmanchuk – :
Wearing ISM is like wandering in mid-autumn rain of Berlin with nothing but a mint cigar and stone grey trench-coat, tender, metallic and cold.
Well, the top notes are rather harsh, though after initial 30 min of dry down Iris Silver Mist gradually stabilizes toward an earthy, woody scent with a barely there hint of sweetness.
Imagery: the last bard of this century wandered in the asphalt forest, and he thought about foliage, antler and dreams, before it all went down.
This is all smoke and mirror, a type of elegance subtle and reserved, a delicate balance between something poignant, something remote.
Edit: after been playing with the ISM for about a year, I’d say mind the warm weather, it has a tendency to turn ‘cute and sweet’ near the base notes in those midsummer nights…em…
olga60606 – :
Rootiest, most carroty iris I’ve tried yet. Metallic edge. Not something I’d wear, but an interesting sniff!
mesgen – :
honestly this is so pungent and horrid for me. my skin chemistry hates this concoction. the iris here is so sharp, metallic, it induces nausea within me from the get go. on the skin it doesn’t settle, instead it intensifies. it’s extremely acrid with a touch of SL incense that turns it peppery. people say this is a unicorn scent and perhaps it is, the scent of unicorn piss.
ktysx – :
To spray Iris Silver Mist on flesh is to be lost in a place familiar but beyond time and space. Slapped by a frigid green gale and blinded by a silvery light one’s moorings are irrevocably lost. Standing alone on a gray, dusty, parched desert that stretches to infinity no matter where one looks, desolation the only companion. Then, when one loses almost all hope – the very air tingles. Every sense struggles towards this gentle unknown until we glimpse a shimmer on the horizon. Our soul strains towards it as the shimmer tiptoes towards us and we smell, taste and feel the sweet silver mist that it has become. Our eyes well up with tears, our heart soars and our soul melts into blissful redemption. This is not about Iris, it is about being touched by the Divine.
bwr767Unlogrere – :
SL managed to ruin the iris, which I adore. Goes on bitter, herbal, medicinal, in the dry down the iris takes over but it is a fake, synthetic, dry, plastic, chemical iris. Yuk. I will stick with my Santa Maria Novella Iris, the best IMO.
rezisto – :
This smells a lot like planting bulbs on a cold, damp morning, before the sun is really up. It also improves a lot from that initial point, becomes a little sweeter, a little less earthy, more wearable. I think it’s gorgeous, it’s not the perfume I’d wear out to lunch with a bunch of my lady friends – it’s more like reading angry poetry than going to a chick flick, to address some of the ideas below… when you smell it, you have to think about, hmmm what’s that, and what’s that? It’s a painting or a poem, and you have to be into that kind of thing. But, smelling lots of iris over last year, I would say that for me,it’s the King of iris perfumes, not that I’m the one to say, but this really is a treatment of orris root that speaks about it’s origins, a little pocket of richness tucked into the Earth.
coluntopor – :
I have to be honest reading through all these reviews for high priced “sophisticated” perfumes I dont quite understand what it’s even supposed to mean. As far as I’m concerned a good perfume is supposed to smell nice and pleasant yet many praise these expensive designer perfumes even though they describe them as “harsh”, “difficult to pull off” and “not for everyone” etc. This makes me think it’s truly more about perception and bias than actual objective opinion on a scent. Lets say you wouldn’t know what that perfume is or it was a no name product would you really rate it the same? I dont think so. Also what woman(or man) really wants or needs to smell like leather and musk unless you are wearing something out of that material? If you want to then wear a leather jacket or smth. Not trying to sound negative but the person itself isn’t supposed to give off strong material smells that they dont have on them. Makes no sense. It should be flowers, fruits, sweets etc what smells nice which is the whole point..
xxilliyaxx – :
I like to call it my “Hermann” fragrance, alluding to ELDO’s recent launch and its premise: that a perfume can be your alter ego. The softness, persistence and quiet, steady developement of ISM are nothing short of genius and very much in tone with its character. It doesn’t say “notice me”, “I’m desirable” or even “I’m edgy” at any point. It’s not sweet at all, not easily likeable, not flirty. Instead it gives you a silent look that you can’t forget, if that makes any sense given the fact that it is invisible. A perfume for those days when you don’t feel like putting on Perfume, capital P, and instead choose to wear an extension of yourself.
qvverty88 – :
Carrots. That’s all I could smell before I put the blotter back hurriedly. A powerful, realistic carrot.
PaulK – :
Spicy opening that’s somehow cool at the same time. I’m guessing the cool note is the violet. Cold earth, roots; a vegetal rather than powdery iris. This has the cold, almost mildewed dampness that I associate with some patchouli fragrances. As it dries down develops a lipstick/pressed powder quality. Ends as a soft musk that stays close to the skin. Brutal and almost unwearable but fascinating all the same. I can see why it’s so highly regarded. It’s definitely not something you wear to smell “pretty” but because it’s a unique, complex edifice of a fragrance.
demonzzzz – :
The fabled one. The mystery of the earth, the one and only perfume to wear when you go to your horses and gallop from earth to heaven. Yes it is a monument and I’m not capable of adding anything to what has been said already. Like with all great art, I ponder what went on between Roucel and Lutens, like what Botticelli did when he stood in front of his blank canvas. Strangely It is one of the few masterpiece perfumes that to me does not speak that loudly of its name; it is the earth and its purple evening gravity that I hear with this, not cold mist.
brain164 – :
WOW…. That’s the first thing I said when I smelled this beauty!
This is the spirit of winter in a bottle; no, not Xmas spirit, I’m talking the real spirit of winter, the one that lives in the heart of the immaculate mountains, surrounded by a procession of lightfooted snow nymphs with frozen lips.
This spirit is not cold hearted however, and after the first blast of chilly gust that precedes its arrival, it unfolds a warm welcoming heart. The ice melts, a beautiful purple grey iris emerges amidst delicate vetiver roots.
There is something heartbreaking in this fragrance, like a neverending swan song…yet, not gloomy or funereal.
Now, if only this winter spirit wouldn’t be so hard to see, so shy… I wish it would stick around longer, and stop being so elusive. Which makes me want more; ever since I saw it, I can’t think of anything else…
Iris Silver Mist…I love thee.
matiz – :
Iris Silver Mist by Serge Lutens smells like raw material, the iris plant freshly taken out of garden soil.
Denis185 – :
I finally had the chance to try this one last week, after a few years of merely hearing/reading about it.
It’s challenging, the way that art can be. If you could spray on a painting by Barnett Newman, or a photograph by Cindy Sherman, it would probably feel like wearing Iris Silver Mist. Because this Lutens elicits the same sort of questions that modern art does.
Is this a good fragrance? What is a “good” fragrance anyway? Is the perfumer pulling a joke on us here? Do I like this scent? Am I forcing myself to find it interesting so I can appear open-minded? How does this fragrance make me feel?
I wore Iris Silver Mist for an entire day and could not answer any of these questions.
Ripdelulp – :
The most beautiful perfumes, in my opinion, have some kind of unresolved conflict. As in Vol de Nuit, where we never learn the fate of the doomed pilot, Iris Silver Mist never fully reveals itself. The squealing, dissonant violin overture creates a violent canvas upon which Iris’s quivering, baritone crooning can only read as sinister. The sparse accompaniment of Vetiver and carnation give the impression of massive but undefined space, like dim, flickering light bulbs in a vast, pitch-dark warehouse. It meanders woefully and aimlessly as it fades to obscurity, but the feeling of dread lingers like the memory of a fever dream.
Iris Silver Mist is a serious work of art; the fact that it is wearable is merely a bonus. Monumental.
umka – :
I have had a decant of Iris Silver Mist in my possession for about 5 years, and I never tried it until now. I guess I was intimidated by these reviews and its exclusivity. It sounded so complex. Well I’ve discovered that it’s actually extremely simple.
When I was in college, I would often grab a bite at a cafe that served all-natural food. They had this delicious shake made with fresh carrot juice and vanilla ice milk. Throw in some mildewy clothes and a little incense, and voila! Iris Silver Mist. My college years in a bottle. Absolutely love it. Bought the cloche.
florErrorrids – :
A non perfume enthusiast probably wouldn’t enjoy this it is certainly not main stream. Ok so I see where some people get the carroty smell link with this one, it is pure orris root, not your usual floaty, comforting iris that many of us have come to know and love in more mainstream fragrances.It’s woodsy, aloof and cold all alone in the forest.I would certainly test before buying but I will keep on testing with this one in the comfort of my own home and try to appreciate it for what it is, there is beauty in there.
ALi – :
Iris Silver Mist and the impossible to find, vintage Iris Gris are the two great reference iris perfumes that all other iris perfumes should be judged against. All of these years later and nothing has come close to ISM’s feast for the orris lover. Nothing else serves up the scent of wealth and impeccable taste in such satisfying abundance. When I first started wearing it my nose focused on the cold, flinty, anise and clove accord that makes the opening so challenging to some. Like in the best of SL perfumes, the accord is an unexpected stroke of genius that makes more and more sense, smells more and more beautiful with each wear. After some time, I now see ISM set up like this: an overdose of iris materials with the cold, rooty, earthiness highlighted in the front and the leathery, musky, suede-like warmth highlighted in the rear. It evolves like a rhizome in the chilly soil of April to dug up, dried out and dusty at the end of August. And it all works so well because the concentration of iris is so rich that it shines through at every stage. This one is a masterpiece and a litmus test to determine whether or not you love iris perfumes.
paxan85 – :
I contacted SL directly and was informed that ALL Serge Lutens are unisex, so unlike some others, this one is correctly described as unisex.
Orris has always, along with natural ambergris and natural deer musk, been a substance thats smell I am obsessed with, like a cat with catnip. In my collection I have many types and grades of orris and many perfumes featuring orris so I just knew I was going to go crazy over this one.
Well, I really do love it at the beginning because it is a massive hit of violetty irones, and alpha, beta, and methyl ionones, and of course the hoard of natural iris pallida absolute. Even Iraval (iris nitrile) a synthetic that gives a violet note about as subtle as an atomic bomb being detonated. So when it comes to the opening intensity of the iris it’s all superlatives, nothing could be more, it’s all maxed out.
But then as time goes on the sillage draws in and stays really a lot closer than I would like it to be. I want people to smell the perfume I’m wearing but not everyone to have to get that close to me to smell it. Then on the dry down it does lose a lot of the violet as the vetiver, musk, sandalwood, spices and resins take over the show which for me, a true orris lover is sad, since I see my favorite part fading away and the base notes, which are perfectly agreeable, but just not orris, take center stage.
I have read people say it smells like raw carrots, which I hate, so I’m glad I don’t pick that up. I will agree that in the first half of its life with all the ionones, irone, and iris nitrile dominating it is a but cold and sharp, but it’s a bit of the crispness you think of when there is a cool mist in the air, like the name “Silver Iris Mist.” Then once the base notes make themselves known it warms up, the sun comes out and the mist is gone and by that time so is all the sillage, so if you want anyone you are not going to get cozy with at lunch to smell you, you had better put more on.
KYY – :
I think to most people, at least the ones not crazy about fragrances, Iris Silver Mist doesn’t smell like they expect perfume to smell. There are flowers but not. Some earthy woods, bordering on an edible rootiness. Non-human musks, dark, pristine, ethereal. Whereas Hiris by Hermès is all soap and powder, Iris Silver Mist takes you back to a nature that was before man and will be without him, looking back at his hubris. How, of all things, could THIS be an artificial product?
I bought it compulsively, painfully waited until I got home, ripped it out of the packaging and sprayed it all over myself. Lying on my bed, immersed in smell, I felt like the pale liquid in the shiny black atomizer was my lifeblood. I was already afraid I would run out of it.
The raving reviews, both positive and negative, are very appropriate. Iris Silver Mist provokes an emotional response. Those open to it’s strange beauty will experience rapture, the kind you feel when listening to a challenging expressionist piano piece or reading a book you didn’t read when you had to in school, just to find out how unexpectedly dark, scary it is – and strangely relevant to you. Like the work of art that Iris Silver Mist is, it really seems larger than life. A true Serge Lutens flower.
reha – :
Iris Silver Mist opens with a dank, moldy ashtray accord, very cool, and quite unpleasant. The heart is a strong carrot note- yes the reviews are correct, it’s bitter carrot skin…weird but true. Eventually ISM develops an industrial drain cleaner vibe. Overall, this is too unpleasant to be wearable. I don’t get the appeal.
Probe22 – :
I am quite stunned. This is orris root in all its glory. Forceful, earthy, carroty, wet, raw, musky, fresh. This is a garden, perceived from beneath the ground. Inside something sinister, something too gentle and innocent to exist is fighting to be born… and wins. This is an earthworm’s love letter to a stalk of iris. It is incredibly weird, it scared the hell out of me, and I fell in love with it.
bkwehxvayk – :
As part of an iris sample pack, I have Iris Silver Mist by Serge Lutens. It’s listed as a unisex fragrance, and I agree. It is a bracing, slightly metallic iris. It started out as a lightly powdery-dusty fragrance, with the barest hint of plastic, then morphed into the earthy-rooty-paleness that is iris. It is quite fresh, and as it developed it put on a clean cotton kind of vibe, a clean white musk layered on top of the earthy iris. While it started out bracing, it is quite mild and warm by the end.
This is a pleasant, clean but not astringent, iris-white musk. It reminds me of Nude by Bijan, for men, which is a very clean white musk and iris combination. Silver Mist may have more iris and less cotton musk; Nude has better sillage and longevity and I’m sure is less expensive, so it might be a good dupe for this fragrance.
stasvest – :
I knew the first time I smelled the wax sample of Iris Silver Mist that it was in the realm of Guerlain’s Djedi and Vero Profumo’s Onda…not mere perfumes, but scents that are meant to be pondered as they’re worn because of their otherworldliness.
I kept smelling the remnants of the ISM wax sample until I broke down and purchased a large decant from the Perfumed Court. The opening is as strange, brash and slightly medicinal as Serge Luten’s Borneo 1834. In the first few minutes ISM also reminded me of L’Artisans Bois Farine. However, where Bois Farine has a warm, doughy quality, ISM is as cool, sad and aloof as Guerlain’s Apres L’Ondee.
After the big opening, ISM quickly settles, surprisingly, into a quiet skin scent. At this point a vetiver note emerges that takes ISM into the cool, damp cellar territory that vintage Djedi is known for. In fact it begins to smell very much like vintage Djedi at this point in its developement. The difference is that where Djedi is all melancholy and forlorn, ISM has a cool sweetness that eventually stears it more toward the cool moist earth of a garden after a spring rain.
At first I was disappointed that the scent seemed to have very little sillage. However, I was awakened in the middle of the night as I turned in my sleep by a smell that was achingly beautiful. I came to consciousness enough to realize that my head was resting on my wrist and I was smelling the ISM that I had applied earlier in the evening. It had had morphed into something sweet, woody and slightly powdery. The development of this scent, from start to finish, takes many twists and surprising turns and the rewards are many if one is patient and open to all ISM has to offer.
Let me say this: don’t purchase this if you’re just looking for a perfume to smell good. ISM is not that kind of scent. However, as somber as ISM is there is still an underlying sexiness. This is not a perfume for girls or boys. This should be sampled before you buy a full bottle.
ganss.kostyan – :
Hmm, I was really surprised to see all the “Love” buttons being pressed for this one. But then, when I read the reviews it seemed like that “love” came with a bunch of pretty big caveats like “unwearable” and “difficult.” Even I have a hard time saying that I flat out dislike something with the the names of both Lutens and Roucel attached and which is at least very unique and interesting but I did not like it one little bit.
The opening was a scary muddle. I got no carrots but a metallic iris and then for the rest it smelled exactly like vintage lipstick. Photorealistic vintage lipstick and that was all.
But when I think back, it wasn’t all. In a way this was more than a perfume. It has a personality so strong it’s almost a living being. A pity it’s not a pleasant one.
587888 – :
Thank you Nathalie, an inspiring Fragrantican, for the gift of this sample. I am overjoyed that it works so well on my skin. This is my first real iris experience and I am amazed that there is a perfume that captures the essence of a spring garden right down to the earthy roots, dirt and scent of flowers.
This smells like an early spring dusk in that betwixt hour where the sun has set but its’ not quite dark. The air is moody, and the world feels magical and other worldly. New plants are pushing up and you are spellbound with nature’s rhythms. On impulse you pull out a clump of new growth and shake the dirt from the roots. This sweet smell of nature and renewal is Iris Silver Mist. Its’ own transformation starts with the opening of wet soil, raw roots and a cool greenness. It evolves beautifully into a dreamy soft violet powder. I can see where it might remind some of a carrot smell in the beginning, but on my skin it doesn’t cross the threshold to vegetable. It stays in wild Wiccan root territory, It is so different, and such a master work that it will transport you to a new ethos where nature reigns. Roucel’s magnum opus.
Allison_fromAC – :
I’m slowly working my way through the perfumes of Serge Lutens – a journey thats going to take a lot of this year…so I’m buying samples and writing about them – to myself for future reference BUT today I tried Iris Silver Mist and have been blown away!! It opened with a blast of icy/warm metallic/woody sharpness and I get no carrot at all – just the smell of crushed cold Iris’s grown in a wet mossy beautiful wood – there’s a hint of violet and masses of powder which I adore and then after about half an hour it settles into a sweeter exquisite perfume reminiscent of days gone by when women were dressed to impress and wore proper lipstick and held handkerchiefs and not tissues and when they brought them out of their handbags there was a moment when the fragrance from the bag and the perfume she wore and the lipstick would float upwards and pervade the whole room…..Breathtaking!!!!
kyarosh1881 – :
I am more curious about this Iris scent than any I’ve tried before. That having been said, I suspect the problem most reviewers are having with ISM being unwearable is that the Orrisroot or iris butter isn’t natural. I’ve tried Irisss by Xerjoff and while it is more feminine it truly is the real thing. Especially given its price point. Make no mistake about it, Orris is more expensive than some Ouds. Nonetheless I want to try ISM but cannot find it anywhere but Palais Royal in Paris and I don’t frequent the Champs d’Elyses often! If anyone knows where I might find it please shoot me a line! I would love to be able to cut the iris fragrance I wear by 2/3 %.
Thanks.
C. Glenn.
Arralkiff – :
Being a great admirer of SL fragrances, I have wanted to try this icon for a long time. I finally got my chance due to the generousity of a fellow member. ISM is so impressive that I find myself at a loss for words. I don’t want to repeat others that it is “carrot” or cold or earthy, but, yes, it is. What I will say is that it gives me the same feeling as gardening does. I love to dig into soil, and place bulbs, then water them lovingly. Somehow, I feel more alive at that time.
Would I wear Iris Silver Mist? No. But I will from time to time go to my small decant and smell it. Now that it’s Winter, I’ll be needing my capsule of Spring planting.
Every single lover of perfume must experience Iris Silver Mist. It is that monumental. Like it or not.
husakvasyl – :
Iris Silver Mist is hands down my favorite iris soliflore perfume, I can’t even describe how incredibly beautiful this fragance is. At first sniff you are received by a blast of earthy carrot that I enjoy very much, it’s not so vegetal as mineral, like a turnip or carrot deep buried in frosty soil, then it goes through a lipstick stage very similar to the powdery iris of Dior Homme Intense that I find simply mesmerizing, the drydown consists on the addition of these two previous phases plus the warmth that the benzoin and incense radiate.
I don’t consider ISM a cold or unwearable scent, it has a certain aloofness but not a cold-hearted essence.
I would be more than happy if someone (wink wink) decides to honor me with such a present, I’ll certainly cherish it for many years to come:)
yrok63 – :
Well, isn’t Iris Silver Mist something to behold! There are countless reviews of this fragrance that talk about it’s genius, but conclude that it’s ultimately unwearable. I totally understand where this attitude comes from, although I don’t really agree. I think there are certainly occasions to suit this scent, as well as the idea of wearing it for one’s own pleasure.
I think what stops people in their tracks is the potency of the chief note. Iris. When presented like this, it can be quite confronting! This iris note to me is part iris, part orris. It comes on quite waxy, with that lipstick smell, combined with a very earthy carrot top note and a little bite from some clove. But I think the more floral iris note balances out that rootiness really well. I think it’s worth urging one to bear with it through this opening, as that earthy, dusty, dry note is soon joined in the mids through to the dry down, by a wonderful combination of resins, incense and woods that take the edge off the orris & along with a well crafted vetiver and benzoin which are an essential part of making this scent what it is. Genius.
Not for everyone obviously, but I really think that it’s something every serious fragrance buff should at least sample. It’s projects quite nicely and has admirable staying power on my skin, which apparently for some reviewers, isn’t such a great thing, but it sure is to me!
Balanced, dry, aloof, confronting, refined and something of a landmark scent. Go on, don’t be afraid!
serega3484 – :
Sweet, powdery iris that progresses to be more dry and dusty. “Carroty” notes here, really turning me off. Love SL but this one is not for me.
fktrc57 – :
A cold misty iris root that is as everyone says like the smell of carrots. It’s powdery and woody with a earthy note.
Different and strange smelling to my nose.
aserhio77 – :
This review is based on a decant. On my skin and to my nose, this is pure iris root, which smells just like raw carrot. I don’t really get the other notes here. Projection is below average and longevity is moderate on my skin. For the same iris root scent, I prefer Dior Homme.
Objepaylype – :
I’m having an iris fest at the moment and have just tried Iris Poudre and 28 La Pausa..
Iris Silver Mist is sweeter than both of those, the commenter below is spot on – it’s definitely sweetly carroty. I like it – I like carrot juice! And it’s slightly woody, though ‘nutty’ describes it better for me, a sort of savoury hazelnut aroma. The vetiver and sandalwood are adding a velvety softness too.
It’s actually very pretty. It has the make-up vintage cosmetics note that iris always seems to have – a slight violet flower smell. There’s also a touch of sweet, slightly undercooked bread dough. And it’s quite moist/green in feel – something like wet grass..
I don’t find it funereal or sad, as others have described, it must be something to do with associations. Anyway to me it’s gentle
But I’d say it doesn’t have quite the elegant mystique of 28 La Pausa (a far more cool and elegant perfume). With just a little more violet this would remind me of James Heeley’s lovely Iris de Nuit. Iris Silver Mist is less fey and fairy-tale like than Iris de Nuit though.
The only thing I’d say is that the longevity isn’t amazing. I’m wearing 28 La Pausa on my other arm and that’s winning the sillage battle.
Very nice perfume, far more comfortable to wear than I was led to believe, just a little too light for the price perhaps
smy710speagoessenda – :
I managed to get hold of a decant after discovering perfume nerdery on the internet. So totally blown away by the magic of this and consequently all the Lutens that I actually made a pilgrimage to Paris from Australia largely motivated by simply needing to get to the Palais Royal…
This is a dry minerally cold earthy carrotty frag. Many fabulous descriptions here. An absolute must have because it is just extraordinary. Of any perfume I can think of it totally suits being with my horses (and not just the carrots!).
I can still remember the evocative reviews that I first read years ago.
seryoga0007 – :
after much hype and drama i finally experienced this and was surprised how immediately likable it is. all of the foreboding sinister etc adjectives didnt seem quite accurate rather mature earthy sober cool emotionally continent & unquestionably elegant come to mind. ISM is just barely sweet, effortlessly smooth and singular with that earthy carrot/lipstick vibe being central and prominent: an elemental study in iris. i suspect its an acquired taste. the real genius of this is like many other forms of art that they dont date and are not readily identifiable as being from a particular school, train of thought, trend, movement etc. rather a law a truth of and by themselves. a kind of anti-perfume, something almost revealed as opposed to created, like it was there all along. i started with a decant, graduated refillable black atomizer and now rung in with the bell jar. forever mine, ICONIC
oppozit – :
I love the smell of fresh, living iris flowers, and I can say that Iris Silver Mist