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Apicius
Helpful Review 4
Classiness and Purism
If there is such a thing as a typical gentlemen's iris fragrance, it is L'Homme de Coeur. The whole fragrance does nothing more than to bring forward in the best possible way those wonderful powdery attributes that this particular note can provide to a perfume. And since this is a men's fragrance, there is enough lean spiciness and woodiness to give it a gender specific appearance.
The spectrum of men's iris fragrances is not big: Guerlain's Mouchoir de Monsieur, Prada's Infusion d'Homme and Dior Homme with their variants seem to be the well-known perfumes of that kind. They all impose their own character on the iris: the Prada fragrance puts the iris into a fresh environment suitable for office wear, Guerlain's approach turns out to be a light version of Jicky and distinctly reflects the style of that house, and Dior Homme with its slightly oriental style has brought the iris into the centre of a lipstick-like accord.
Among these, L'Homme de Coeur is the modest. It is discreet and therefore may be considered the classiest. L'Homme de Coeur has the most reminiscence with Dior's attempt. Both fragrances share this powdery dustiness that can remind you of old books with fox marks. But instead of being warm and cuddly, L'Homme de Coeur is lean and wiry, and the iris never turns into an oriental direction. It can be regarded as a fougère fragrance in the broadest sense.
L'Homme de Coeur cannot compete with the obvious freshness that the Prada Infusion fragrances include. You can label L'Homme de Coeur as a fresh scent as well, but then this kind of freshness comes from focussing on the iris itself rather than from other notes. Compared to the Prada freshness, L'Homme de Coeur is more noble and distinguished due to its purism.
Also in relation to the Guerlain fragrance, L'Homme de Coeur stands out for its purism and single note focus. Mouchoir de Monsieur is Guerlain at first, and only secondly, it is iris.
Divine's perfumers must be praised for their modesty. They withstood any attempt to twist the iris into one or the other direction. Their approach apparently was to bring out the best of iris, not to create something unique. In the end, the result is brilliant. I think L'Homme de Coeur is less demanding and much more wearable than the other iris fragrances with all their unique characters.
L'Homme de Coeur does not have lots of development, and the longevity is only a few hours. So, it is recommendable to have it at hand in a travel flacon. Iris is not everybody's cup of tea, but if you love this note, there is probably no classier men's iris perfume around.
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