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S(ample) of the Day: Iris Silver Mist

post #1 of 23
10/4/09 at 9:11am
Thread Starter 
I've got a riddle for all you basenoters: Tell me what notes Le Labo Rose 31 and Iris Silver Mist have in common...

Iris Silver Mist - Serge Lutens (1994)
This actually smelled like oatmeal cookies and orris root for 5 minutes before descending into bug spray. Oh, I had it in my head that I was going to love this - Borneo 1834 is such a great fragrance, and I just figured... sadly, I got my comeuppance on this one. The veil of bug spray does come apart every once in a while to reveal a wonderfully spicy orrisy/iris note. Sillage is good and longevity is very high - I smelled it this morning (26 hours after 1 spray to the chest), and it was quite nice.

Thanks,

Zachary
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post #2 of 23
10/4/09 at 9:45am
Hey Zach, are you referring to the carrot accord they share? I'm not a big fan of Iris Silver Mist, I agree with you in that it smells very synthetic - boy we are going to get slaughtered by the BN cognescenti.
For me, it has that humid opacity that is present in so many Lutens fragrances, Gris Clair instantly comes to mind. It's like the feeling of getting out of the shower and not being able to get completely dry, no matter how fluffy and absorbent one's towel is.
If A la Nuit is Death by Jasmine then ISM must be Embalmed by Iris.
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post #3 of 23
10/4/09 at 11:47am
Borneo 1834 is vile. Iris Silver Mist is heavenly. "Bug spray" is such a lame way to describe something. Spend enough time reading around the internet and you'll pretty much find someone, somewhere calling every fragrance ever spoken of "bug spray". At least say which brand of bug spray you venerable poets.
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post #4 of 23
10/4/09 at 12:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zachary View Post

I've got a riddle for all you basenoters: Tell me what notes Le Labo Rose 31 and Iris Silver Mist have in common...

Off the top of my head, I'd say at least cedar and Iso-E Super and I'd also say peppercorns and incense.

I love it, btw!
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post #5 of 23
10/4/09 at 12:51pm
Thread Starter 
Nwatts,

So nice of you to tell me what I'm smelling. Care to tell me what I'm thinking about you right now?

When I say "bug spray", what I smell is the harsh, chemical aroma of the aerosol propellant. It pushes the other aromas to the side so that the fragrance has no 'center'. I find it in both ISM and Le Labo 'Rose 31', and I'm trying to figure out what those two fragrances have in common so I can pin it down. Your comments are not very helpful in that regard, but I suppose you were never taught manners.

And personally, I *adore* Borneo 1834.

Thanks,

Zachary
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post #6 of 23
10/4/09 at 1:19pm
Just sampled Iris Silver Mist after much anticipation. . and i was disappointed. I'm not sure why i envisioned a clean crisp iris scent. lol. The reviews were clear that it was rooty.

It started with fresh grated carrots righ out of the earth, and the soiled root smell took centerstage. It was interesting to experience, but nothing that i would ever dream of wanting to smell like.
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post #7 of 23
10/4/09 at 1:20pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nwatts88 View Post

Borneo 1834 is vile. Iris Silver Mist is heavenly. "Bug spray" is such a lame way to describe something. Spend enough time reading around the internet and you'll pretty much find someone, somewhere calling every fragrance ever spoken of "bug spray". At least say which brand of bug spray you venerable poets.

I agree someone should mention the brand of the bug spray. The one I use smells awful
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post #8 of 23
10/4/09 at 1:22pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Uppercut View Post

Just sampled Iris Silver Mist after much anticipation. . and i was disappointed. I'm not sure why i envisioned a clean crisp iris scent. lol. The reviews were clear that it was rooty.

It started with fresh grated carrots righ out of the earth, and the soiled root smell took centerstage. It was interesting to experience, but nothing that i would ever dream of wanting to smell like.

Did you scrub it off? I assure you it gets very mellow without being sweet.
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post #9 of 23
10/4/09 at 1:38pm
Personally, I'd love to know which bug spray smells like the bottle of ISM that I treasure and will always own one of!

But, I'm assuming this is a generic term for harsh, vile smelling insecticide. Phooey. And just when I thought I could buy a Lutens-esque magical balm from Cabela's
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post #10 of 23
10/4/09 at 3:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zachary View Post

Nwatts,

So nice of you to tell me what I'm smelling. Care to tell me what I'm thinking about you right now?

When I say "bug spray", what I smell is the harsh, chemical aroma of the aerosol propellant. It pushes the other aromas to the side so that the fragrance has no 'center'. I find it in both ISM and Le Labo 'Rose 31', and I'm trying to figure out what those two fragrances have in common so I can pin it down. Your comments are not very helpful in that regard, but I suppose you were never taught manners.

And personally, I *adore* Borneo 1834.

Thanks,

Zachary

Just blaming something as "bug spray" is not really in good manners too.

If you want to be taken seriously, you must say it with propriety and respectfully rather than throwing insults on the fragrance or anything else. Otherwise, most people who read it will just think your opinion comes from an ignorant layman (i'm not saying that you are, and i can imagine you aren't). Please, dont take it as an insult, i'm just saying what u may sound like to many people. And it may cause some others agressive posts from other members too, so a little of self-reflection would be good.
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post #11 of 23
10/4/09 at 3:40pm
Bug spray, at least in the U.S., is a pretty good descriptor. I don't know of any chocolate/ patchouli or vanilla/ sandalwood scented bug sprays - they smell pretty much the same - bad.

I think it's okay to not like a fragrance and say so. Why do people get so upset when someone says something negative about a fragrance they like? It's an opinion. What smells vile (not a great example of describing a scent either) to someone is someone else's HG.
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post #12 of 23
10/4/09 at 4:01pm
I don't smell ISM as bug spray, but I know one can feel a little out of place when hating a popular fragrance on Basenotes. My mother hates the smell of ISM on me; says I smell like an old clothes trunk.

I do smell a certain spicy note I can't identify in ISM, though; one I notice in warm weather, especially. Not sure what it is though.
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post #13 of 23
10/4/09 at 9:07pm
Thread Starter 
Look,

I may be newer to the world of fragrance, but I'm not new in the world of smelling things and putting words to it. I kind of do it professionally. When I say something smells like 'bug spray', it's not being dismissive of a scent. It's not just because I don't like it. What I'm saying is that ISM (and Rose 31) both smell like the acrid/propellanty aroma of bug spray. Neither of the people who are arguing with me about what I'm smelling actually talk about the note itself - have I perhaps probed a sore point with either of you? Is it alright for me to not like ISM, or smell what I'm smelling?

Getting things back on topic a bit... carrots sort of smell like parsnips in that they both have that odd rooty mentholated aroma. Carrots hide it behind a candy sweetness, but parsnips don't. If ISM has a carrot topnote, it might be that, but it doesn't explain Rose 31 (which, IIRC) doesn't have either.

Thanks,

Zachary
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post #14 of 23
10/4/09 at 9:38pm
I think I have smelled scents that smell like bug spray, myself. Usually it's camphor, that gives off that vibe.

However, I don't smell this in Iris Silver Mist or Rose 31.

When I first smelled iris, at the beginning of my time here at BN, I didn't like it at all. It took me about a year or so, to do a complete 180 on that and now I adore it. Give it time Zachary. If you don't like it now, that's ok. Put it away. Maybe you'll appreciate it (and it will stop smelling like bug spray) later. Maybe not. But it's worth a try.

Plus there are so many other fragrances to choose from, in the meantime.

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post #15 of 23
10/4/09 at 9:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zachary View Post

I've got a riddle for all you basenoters: Tell me what notes Le Labo Rose 31 and Iris Silver Mist have in common...

Iris Silver Mist - Serge Lutens (1994)
This actually smelled like oatmeal cookies and orris root for 5 minutes before descending into bug spray. Oh, I had it in my head that I was going to love this - Borneo 1834 is such a great fragrance, and I just figured... sadly, I got my comeuppance on this one. The veil of bug spray does come apart every once in a while to reveal a wonderfully spicy orrisy/iris note. Sillage is good and longevity is very high - I smelled it this morning (26 hours after 1 spray to the chest), and it was quite nice.

Like Oaksbluff, I'd like to know which bugspray ISM resembles so I can buy all the cans off the shelf.... seriously, though ISM is supposed to be sinister and mean (read Turin's review in The Guide for the backstory). Even though it's an amazing piece of perfumery I balked when I last had the chance to buy a bell jar. I've got a nice decant and I just don't find myself in the mood to wear it often enough to justify a full bottle purchase, especially when there are other non-exports I enjoy wearing more frequently.
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post #16 of 23
10/4/09 at 9:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeperez23 View Post

When I first smelled iris, at the beginning of my time here at BN, I didn't like it at all. If you don't like it now, that's ok.

Thanks for the long draw from the peace pipe.
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post #17 of 23
10/4/09 at 10:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zachary View Post

Look,

I may be newer to the world of fragrance, but I'm not new in the world of smelling things and putting words to it. I kind of do it professionally. When I say something smells like 'bug spray', it's not being dismissive of a scent. It's not just because I don't like it. What I'm saying is that ISM (and Rose 31) both smell like the acrid/propellanty aroma of bug spray. Neither of the people who are arguing with me about what I'm smelling actually talk about the note itself - have I perhaps probed a sore point with either of you? Is it alright for me to not like ISM, or smell what I'm smelling?

Of course you should review what you're smelling, but perhaps you should wait until you've got a greater perfume-vocabulary so that you can describe what you really mean to say instead of using phrases that don't quite fit. I'm sure if you actually smelled any bug spray there wouldn't be the slightest similarity to ISM. Quite frankly I couldn't appreciate ISM the first time I smelled it - and two years later I still can't really get my head around it because it's both subtle yet very complex. I'm sure once you learn more about different fragrances you'll come back and experience ISM totally differently then you did today. In general a lot of the fragrances discussed on this site daily are some of the least accessible to the casual fragrance collector. If, when I was new to the hobby, I picked any one of my favorites today I probably wouldn't have enjoyed or understood it.
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post #18 of 23
10/4/09 at 10:34pm
I'm guilty of having used the term "insect repellant" to describe a frag in the past, I've also termed some dark vetivers as swampy. Who do I report to to receive my punishment?
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post #19 of 23
10/4/09 at 10:54pm
Actually, I think that bug spray is a pretty specific smell. And while it's not complimentary, neither is "urinous", which I've seen used a number of times.

I suppose that one could do a lot of research to determine the components of, say, Raid, and then to find out which ones have a distinctive odor, and then look for an opportunity to smell each one to try to figure out which one is the odor in question, and decide whether the bug spray odor is one dominant element or a combination of several elements, and learn how to spell and pronounce the chemicals in question....

But, well, bug spray still smells like bug spray, so isn't that an awful lot of work to research a scent that one doesn't really want to seek out anyway?

It's a fair bit of work even for nice scents. I now know that "smells like baby powder" means "smells like benzoin", but I still think that "smells like baby powder" is a meaningful phrase.

Crayfish
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post #20 of 23
10/5/09 at 12:05am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zachary View Post

What I'm saying is that ISM (and Rose 31) both smell like the acrid/propellanty aroma of bug spray.

Zachary

The reason you see so much reaction to your comment is that, for the life of me, you must be the first person in here to find an "acrid/propellanty" note in ISM. If you had said that about any other iris scent I personnaly wouldn't question your perception. But ISM? This is generally accepted as a very soft, rooty fragrance whose only edge is the carroty note not often promoted in the composition of iris scents. No one is questioning your judgement but to most of us sounds a bit like saying that AMen is bitter or citrusy.
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post #21 of 23
10/5/09 at 12:54am
Of all the Lutens I have tried, this is my least favorite. It just does not agree with my skin. After a few hours it calms down a bit and I can smell some sweetness, but right out of the sprayer it is carrot juice + ISO Super or something synthetic like that.

I like other perfumes that include iris, but this is iris overdose to me.

I am sorry gentlemen (and ladies), it is ok not to like a popular perfume. Some of my favorites get trashed on a daily basis, but they smell great on me
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post #22 of 23
10/5/09 at 1:46am
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I think this thread is not about an ISM being trashed but rather about if anyone else can smell the particular note Zachary didn't like.
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post #23 of 23
10/5/09 at 1:53am
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From Bois de Jasmin:
"Iris Silver Mist includes notes of iris, clove, cedarwood, sandalwood, vetiver, white amber, labdanum, musks, benzoin, incense."

As far as I can tell the only note that might fit the bill is incense.
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