Hiris (1999)
by Hermès

Hiris is a beautiful treatment of iris, a highly distinctive, yet versatile note. Some irises are doughy, others are metallic and screechy. Hiris opens with a bit of its characteristic earthy, rootiness, which is immediately tempered by the interesting use of the carrot note. Ever-so-slightly metallic and sharp, it softens quickly and becomes warmer and slightly powdery. As others have noted, it is never overly-sweet or feminine. It can easily be worn by women or men.

I do not understand why this got one star in the "Perfumes: The Guide". It reminds me of the soapyness I smell in Hermes Caleche and Eau d'Hermes. It is really in line with the traditional Hermes scents. It even starts with a fabulous blast of nutty, rooty orris. In fact, I wish this initial stage would last longer. After the rooty part faded, the fragrance was a bit more of a high-frequency white floral (freesia, maybe, I am not sure). Then, late in the drydown, it was light and soapy. This fragrance stayed light and refreshing all day, even though it has several seemingly different faces.

Hiris is not for me. I much much prefer other fine scents by Hermes. I'm just not into smelling like veg. This one might work better on a man.

Here's one where I entirely concur with Turin/Sanchez. This is a disgusting mess on my skin, sour, thin and reeking of decomposing vegetables. An utter disappointment from a house I adore for Eau d'Hermes, Eau d'Orange Verte and Terre d'Hermes.

I actually have a miniature of this and found it very nice. It the best female scent along with Ferragamo. I've worn it a couple of times and left 10% of it coz i couldn't bear finishing it was the bigger bottles were not easy to find. I've had compliments on this from both male and female(mostly) friends. For that matter, i would agree that this scent is really not gender-specific. The sweetness is not over done like in the case of CK's contradtion and eternity for women in my opinion. Very nice mix of floral essence. I am looking forward to getting a larger bottle. I believe it works well because the scent emphasis is not very specifically floral-sweetness. Some woodish dryness adds to prevent it from smelling powdery or soapy which i sense from many strong floral female frags and some male ones even.

Hermès Hiris is a beautiful take on iris, mediated by Olivia Giacobetti, and even though a lot of lists call it a feminine, I think it is really very gender neutral. The remarkable thing about it is the "carrot" note in it. It used to be, in days of perfumery yore, that carrot was a note used to supplement and complement the orris root's characteristic dark, earthy smell. Coriander, carnation, almond wood, cedar, and honey notes seem to be the best support for the carrot flower accord in this. It's one of the most inventive orris scents out there, and yet it also strongly evokes a classic tone from days gone by.

The pyramid:

Top note: Coriander, Carrots, Ambrette
Middle note: Neroli, Rose, Orris, Hay
Base note: Cedarwood, Almond tree, Vanilla, Honey