L'Ombre Dans L'Eau by Diptyque, 1983

This is a beautiful scent and one of he most delightful fresh compositions I know. Berries and rose, but above all the clear freshness of a lake in spring time. High-quality ingredients and miles apart from most contemporary synthetic candy-aquatics. Recommended.

LDL opens with a blast of harsh green-spicy cassis that reminds me of jalapeño peppers (which I despise). This nastiness subsides a bit to reveal what I can only describe as a cringe-worthy bloody/iodine-like metallic rose. Ultimately, LDL makes me grimace and shudder when I smell it (i.e., think of the involuntary facial expression and body spasm one gets immediately after taking a spoonful of cough syrup).

The opening and heart of this fragrance is lovely - semi-sweet blackberries with the green of the leaves and stems. However as it dries down there's something herbal/citrus/white musky in it which puts me off. It's a lovely fragrance though, a pretty and sophisticated fruity-floral. It strikes me that it would make a great present for a teenage girl or young women who likes mainstream fruity-florals - a great introduction to the world of niche fragrances

Tried for the longest time to like this one but in the end, I just couldn't go for it. The green-leafy violets meeting the rose topnotes were OK but the drydown was so flimsy that I could not smell anything. Thin and forgettable. 4/10

The fantastic top of L'Ombre dans L'Eau contains a zingy and thrilling blend of citrus and wild brambles. For a time, it gets better: damp soil, moss growing on trees, roots, a wild rose hidden in the greenery. Perfect. One of the best openings ever. I almost bought a bottle outright at this stage, but my better judgement prevailed and I waited for the base. Unfortunately, what emerged was not further earth, woods, and soily goodness, but a banal, sweet-synthetic floral green note. Out of the "Shadow" and into the "water" phase, I guess. Not rose...just that sweet shampoo-y floral note that perfumers apparently think represents "water," because I've smelled this in more than a few scents that purport to represent water/fresh gardens/rain. A waste of a bewitching opening. Neutral just because of the opening, which everyone should try to experience.

I feel pretty much the same as verycharlie - she described my experience to the T. The opening was a promising wild greenness, but this gloriousness lasted only 30 seconds before a sickening harsh burnt sweetness entered and sat down on the entire creation from there on out. I don't believe it was the angelica, as natural angelica has no sweetness, rather a marvelous cistus-like root quality. The only thing vaguely sweet mentioned was the blackcurrant, so I'm going with that. And a nasty note it is in this fragrance. I don't know that it's shrill, but it's so discordant sitting on top of all that earthy greenery, that I gave it two tries, and said "No more". I picked up the same note to a lesser degree in L'Artisan's Mon Numero 6, which is supposed to be an aquatic leafy green. It smells like this sweet note in L'Ombre. It's obvious I'm reacting to a chemical most aren't, but it doesn't matter. This is unwearable for me, a sickener, and a one-star.

A vivid slap of tomato leaf, behind which a hypersweet wet rose blooms. And theres a dollop of jam in there, too. I dont know about shadows on water - this is much bolder than that suggests: all saturated greens and postbox reds. Cleanly executed; powerful but without the dizzying effect of some strong scents. Linear, only softening over time, theres nothing else quite like it.

Regret the purchase. Its too green, too juicy, too tomato-ey. I know why people will like the refreshing and soothing nature of the fragrance, but I feel like being suffocated in vegetable and vines! (think of the water and vegetable juice after washing lettuce when making a salad!) There is a rose note there, a dark, truffly, earthy one. But yes, it is engulfed by the greeness of this fragrance. Good for Spring / Summer but I just can't the salad and vegetable connations!

I truly believe that 75% of Diptyque's 'fragrances' shouldn't be sprayed onto skin at all. They are much too strident close up and would be better employed as room smells. I make an exception with L'Ombre -- it's slightly more subdued making personal use enjoyable. I also usually steer clear of intensely green scents as a general rule. However, the combination here of the green and rose notes is blindingly beautiful.

Unisex??? Reminds me very much of Un Jardin en Mediterranee. Begins with a leafy fig-like blast; skip forward ten minutes and it's a rosier, more feminine, version of Jardin's Dry down. It's hard to call it unisex. But then again, I've heard Kouros and N* 5 be called unisex, ...why bother choosing carefully some obsolete terminology.