Reviews of L'Eau d'Hiver (2003)
by Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle

l'Eau d'Hiver--hmmm...paint...a mixture of artists' paint and the kind I have used to paint interior walls. So let me break it down a little. Some kind of aromatic wood scent, vanilla, some kind of bitter nut, maybe almond, pecan or walnut. There must also be something like linseed oil and a touch of turpentine. Ed'H is fairly dry and nutty, but some very faint sweetness and powder is developing as it dries.

Turin claimed this fragrance has an "almond water" quality. I can understand this interpretation--the nuttyness is definitely prominent, and it is amazing what other notes may be evoked by a simple almond. I read somewhere that some nuts contain cyanide. It is definitely of the poisonous family of cyanide chemicals, but in a very small amount. I wonder if that is what gives some nuts their astringent, bitter quality. This is the sensation I get when I smell Ed'H. I have just shelled an almond or a walnut, and the natural oils are newly released onto my hands and the meat of the nut. Then, when I taste it, it is sweet, bitter, dry and woody. That is what I smell in Ed'H.

This is a fascinating fragrance. I wonder if people really wear this as it seems more like a scent experience rather than a perfume. About an hour after application, it is very light, verging on a skin scent. It still smells nutty and dry with a hint of linseed oil, but it also has taken on a bit more of the powder I noticed earlier. I definitely want to smell this again, although I am disappointed by its longevity.

Vanilla, almonds and polymers. A little too synthetic with florals for my taste. Great sillage and longevity.

This does not smell like "eau chaude" (warm water) to me. It smells like cool or possibly lukewarm water. It's definitely watery, soft and transparent, but also fruity in a sort of synthetic, abstract, apricotty, osmanthus-like way. Maybe that's an impression created by the iris and heliotrope? The iris here is not dark, rooty and earthy, nor is it as cold and metallic as it sometimes can be, nor as powdery as it is in other incarnations. It's rather a cool, watery, unsweetened, soft, ethereal iris note. I'm not a fan of iris, it's just too cold and "unnatural" and aloof for me. Here it's considerably softened, with that fruity aspect, not an ice queen like Iris Silver Mist or a root pulled up from wet soil along with carrots like Hiris. Still, it has the same, to my nose synthetic, coolness that I find offputting. Fans of Osmanthe Yunnan might appreciate this fragrance, I think they are very similar sort of pretty and soft yet chic and resolutely artificial florals. Despite the scent being soft, I feel it's wearing me - and nagging me for not having spent hours creating a "natural" "effortless" makeup and ironed my expensively casual clothes... A "comfort scent" for Very Preppy People.

Love the clean Heliotrope note that comes in 15 minutes into the scent, this is a comfort scent which can be worn anytime.

Strongly reminds me of Johnson's No-More-Tears baby shampoo. Definitely not worth the money...

Extremely synthetic smelling. The top notes smell exactly like my new summer flip-flops - rubbery- plastic-y. Then it warms up and sweetens a bit. The middle notes rather pleasant, less synthetic, and the dry down is green, to my nose. It's interesting frag, but does me nothing emotionally, not "moving". I won't be able to wear not this one nor Lipstick Rose - another very synthetically smelling perfume of Malle. I'd say they are both for mannequins - why not? Plastic smell for plastic girl. I prefer something more naturally smelling.

Another Malle that has some interesting stuff going on in it, but just isn't something I could wear. Honey and musk are all over the place, but there's again that rotten flower note that gets involved and sadly ruins what is very interesting in its progression. Very much on the femme end of unisex. Definitely worth a try as it will leave an impression. Just not something I could wear.

This is a beautiful fragrance in its own right, but is for me much too soft and understated. It does have a "winter" smell if such a thing is possible. However, I think it is too timid in its composition. Whereas Musc roars, this one whimpers. I'm not saying it's not beautiful- just not for me.