L'Air de Rien (2006)
by Miller Harris

I am pretty sure that “the air of nothing” can’t smell like that, unless this name was picked in order to shock at the first sniff. For an “air” it’s quite heavy and full of this sweet, vanilla-amber-musk blend, that can equally attract and knock you off. Up to the middle it seemed unable to work on my skin but the drydown is definitely worth the wait. I am not convinced that it can actually evolve into something great, but I have to admit, it rather faints into a pleasant sweet powder, comfortable and unoffensive. Nice on clothes too. Sadly, it never pleased me on sufficient levels to warrant a thumbs up.

It’s great. Very well made niche fragrance that is very simple and smells very natural – it doesn’t have any kind of artificial feel to it.
It puts out wonderful, gentle sillage which smell gives me an impression of very refined and subtle powder that was made from beads of sweat of some beautiful woman.

When I smell closer this scent, it has more of that balsamic structure to it with the combination of amber, musk and vanilla. It smells smooth and softly animalic.
This is one of those scents in which case for the one with experience it is very easy to recognize all of those notes that are listed – nothing more or less; they all are in there to be found very clearly.

It is mostly the story of that amber vanilla musk trio, but neroli is obviously there engaged to the top notes and, a small amount of oak moss gives it an earthy/woody tinge.
Minimalistic composition that is able to smell very expensive, very niche. This is suitable for both sexes although I think it leans towards feminine side after all.

By the way, I agree with Tigrushka on this having very much that used old flannel shirt vibe but, whereas she said it reminds her of male sweat, to me this has much more of an female sweat thing going on…

Absolutely fantastic perfume, this. Easy to wear on every occasion, just remember that you can’t spray this beauty too much on you, otherwise it will be quite ugly. That’s the way it is. (1-4 sprays)

I am a total fragrance novice, and have been sampling scents for only a few months. I ordered a sample of L'Air de Rien because I've liked what I've tried from Miller Harris and remembered the name as something I wanted to test. I didn't know it was made for Jane Birkin, and by the time the sample arrived, I didn't remember what notes had been listed for it, so I didn't really have any expectations. For some reason, the name maybe, I kind of expected something light and floral...
Instead, it is warm, musky amber, a hint of vanilla, rather powdery, but not in the overly-sweet way I don't like- just sweet enough. A few minutes later, an animalic note takes over that worked so well that it made me want to eat this fragrance. Just bite it and chew on it for a while. For most of the time it is on, it makes me think of dark, dusty woods (the oakmoss, maybe?), a bit of zoo, a musty library with old leather chairs, and maybe one of those worn men's shirts tigrushka refers to. I couldn't stop smelling it- I kept thinking, This is what *I* smell like, what I'm supposed to and have always wanted to smell like. It is quite long-lasting on me, as well.
Then I read about it online and I saw it was created for Jane Birkin. Funny, I feel like it was made for me. I hope she doesn't mind if I just keep thinking so. It also seems to be very responsive to personal chemistry- apparently, some people really hate this one, but I am happy to say that I am one of those that think it's amazing.

Everyone here seems to love it, so it just must not work on my skin. To me it smells like cheap patchouli and swamp moss. Dirty, but not in a sexy way like Muscs Koublai Khan. I don't get any of the lightness or sweetness.

Dirty, soft and sweet are the first words that come to my mind.

Wearing L'Air de Rien feels like wearing an old flannel shirt that has been worn by at least one generation of men in your family before you, a shirt that has been worn and washed, washed and worn, but still carries a hint of good honest male sweat. A shirt gone so soft it feels like a caress. on your skin

This is a very intimate scent, gentle and familiar, cosy and comfortable. I feel I'm home wearing it.

I adore this - so unusual a scent. Incense-y and hay like and very very sexy. Not just because of the Jane Birkin connection but if the London of the 1960s could have a smell, this is exactly what I would imagine it being like.