Smellie13

As the title already indicates, "Iris Shot" is a very multi-faceted iris scent, it impresses with a changeable progression from carotene iris to powdery almond scent to winter cream.
So "Iris Shot" starts with a wonderfully dry and carrotlike iris note. Cardamom and pepper add a certain spicy-powdery note. This reminds me in a weakened form of the top note of "Iris Torréfié", but is really much more subtle here.

Soon something biscuit-smelling in my nose is added, from which a nice almond note emerges more and more.

Still, I would not have primarily classified the fragrance as gourmand. Maybe that's because I smell more bitter almond than almond and this note reminds me of benzaldehyde, which has that characteristic marzipan smell. This chemical-synthetic note automatically brings a certain feeling of distance to me rather than that I would like to bite into it. But the term "Gourmand Light", which Sumi chose, is probably a good one.
I associate this almond aldehyde note with autumn. I find that on sunny autumn days sometimes this kind of scent is in the air, if you can 'do anything with it

As mentioned by Addicta, the name Almond Shot would be equally appropriate at this stage of the fragrance. Iris is more of an accessory in the sense of a cool, powdery background, but in my opinion she doesn't really give up her sceptre. It already remains an iris scent

Out of my head I thought that the fragrance was similar to "L'Instant Magic". In a direct comparison, the two are actually not that far apart, but "L'Instant Magic" is definitely sweeter and a little more lovely.
"Iris Shot" also has a certain sweetness, but for me it is rather subtle. When I try to attribute the sweetness, it is not sugar sweetness, nor honey sweetness, but has something slightly milky-sweet, perhaps like condensed milk. Whereby one probably associates extremely sticky sweetness with condensed milk, but that's not what I mean, only the direction.

Towards the base, I perceive "Iris Shot" more and more as a cream scent, and indeed it is a thick, oily cream as one applies on icy cold winter days to protect the skin. Here a possible similarity to "Poudre d'Iris" came to my mind. But "Poudre d'Iris" is "louder", more simply knitted and a bit more bitter due to the Angelica.

Also "Calaluna" could be related, but unfortunately I do not have it here to compare. But I think that this milky sweetness could be similar.

And I don't know if it's too bold to compare with the great "Armani Privé - Nuances"!? I see a similarity because of these very finely tuned melodic nuances, which also run through the whole fragrance in "Iris Shot". Whereby I have saved the Armani rather as a fragrance for the warmer season and I would definitely wear "Iris Shot" in cooler temperatures.

I cannot perceive the cedar mentioned, the scent has nothing woody for me. However, a certain freshness through vetiver is noticeable in the base for me, I think that this contributes to the impression of "winter freshness cream".

So you see, because of the numerous scents that came to my mind as supposedly similar, "Iris Shot" is not a completely new scent experience. But for me as a big iris fan it leaves nothing to be desired. It offers both a certain elegance and at the same time it has a comfortable factor.
Nothing is too much from my point of view, it is not too sweet, not too spicy and not too cool either, as is the case with some iris scents.
On the other hand, there is not too little, in the sense that the fragrance could become boring.
So "Iris Shot" uses a rather wide keyboard and I think that the notes are hit just right and are very harmoniously interwoven, especially in the base. And although it's not a hardcore cuddly scent, I associate it, as I said before, with cosy autumn and winter time.

Durability and sillage are good and for me completely sufficient. The bottle doesn't really appeal to me from the picture. But as I fall more and more in love with the fragrance, I can imagine that it will move in with me. Then I'll be surprised to see if I'll like it even better in the flesh.

Who of us doesn't know this: we sniff through countless samples, excited and expectant, many of them we find beautiful, but don't touch us further, some of them are already known and similar ones may already be part of the collection, and only a few (thank heaven from the wallet) fascinate us, let us use up the sample within the shortest time, constantly sniffing at the wrist and a feeling of longing arises when it is sprayed empty.

Besides fragrances another passion of mine is jewellery. Jewellery in beautiful colours, great design, noble processing and above all glitter and sparkle make my heart beat faster when I scan the display of a jeweller
Even there, it only takes a fraction of a second to spot a special piece and to be flashed by it.

If Jardin de Macarons would be a jewel, it would be for me a red-violet, finely faceted sparkling gemstone, maybe a pendant, simply set in white gold or platinum.
The fragrance has a modern composition and its high-quality components are extremely finely woven together.

From the description alone, I probably wouldn't have paid much attention to him. Iris and violet are already among my favourite notes, but I often find currants bulky in the sense of herbal-medicinal to sweaty and plum I associated so far rather with a warm gourmand, often liqueur-like fragrance.

Jardin de Macarons literally starts with a fragrance explosion. The top note is unique and truly adorable. Wet-pasty iris opens up a space in which a small universe gradually takes shape. Each component moves into its place and forms the cornerstones of this red-violet jewel

The currant smells ripe and pleasantly sweet and could perhaps even be Heidel/Blaubeere as already described. The plum always throws in small full-bodied fragrance sprinkles.

Iris and violet take their familiar places, dry, tart and powdery, they form the body and the heart of the fragrance

Not mentioned, but in my opinion present is a fresh clean musk note. From the design it reminds me of "The Muse", i.e. extreme musk. Please stop snap breathing immediately, because we are only dealing with a homeopathic dose of it. This synthetic note blends in wonderfully and gives the raw gemstone its cut and radiant luster.

I can hardly sniff patchouli, it probably brings the ethereal crystal fragrance to the ground without being earthy.

Cotton candy spins very delicate threads, so it is by no means clumsy or very sweet, but brings in a playful nuance.

Palo Santo pervades from the beginning with a slightly smoky warm component.

These small inclusions and discolorations make the fragrance crystal unique and distinguish it from a simple glass stone.

On the surface, Jardin de Macarons is thus a clean, fruity, powdery fragrance, carried by modern, straightforward elegance.
At the same time, however, all non-fruit components are also present throughout, stretching this stable scent crystal, and depending on the light (air) incidence, 'sometimes one, 'sometimes the other component flashes up more.
Durability and sillage are satisfactory. I really like the bottle from the pictures. Jardin de Macarons is definitely on my wishlist and will soon shine in my collection.

In the course of our first year of life, we begin to detach ourselves from the originally symbiotic closeness to our caregiver in the smallest of steps, by making short explorations into the initially nearer and then increasingly farther surroundings.
After these excursions into our environment we return to the "safe haven". We make physical or at least eye contact with our reference person and can relax in the familiar surroundings and process what we have experienced.

This interplay of what I call 'comfort and stretch zone continues throughout our lives
Without constantly breaking new ground and facing new challenges, no development takes place and without a familiar and safe comfort zone there is no relaxation.

What does this have to do with "My Muse"?

The thought came to my mind that in my olfactory socialisation and my "olfactory behaviour" there is also this interplay between the familiar and the comfortable on the one hand and the new, sometimes demanding on the other hand.

Starting with vanilla scents, followed by sweet rose scents, I gradually ventured into scent areas that were quite experimental for me. So also scents have found their way into my collection, which do not fit every day, for which I have to be in a special mood and which demand my attention for a long time.

Probably this is also an explanation for the fact that after some satisfied time with my fine collection I always look for something new. Driven to the extreme, this striving for the unknown can sometimes even result in a blind purchase.
So there are fragrances that challenge me in a certain way (positively) and those that bring me more to myself.

"My Muse" clearly meets the criteria of a "safe haven of scent" for me, you can guess it.
He was described in the thoroughly benevolent statements as "unagitated, colourless, tensionless and already known". JAAA, that's exactly how he is and that's exactly right in this case.
Nothing foreign irritates my nose here, no tension between competing components demands my attention and there is no disturbance that wants to be circumnavigated before I get to the fragrance.
The fragrance drops anchor directly in the bay of my inner peace and muse, leads to arriving at myself, to simply being and feeling good.
Although I too immediately had the feeling of familiarity, I can't think of a direct scent twin. So it is probably more a hint of a familiar feeling than the certainty of dealing with the familiar.

"My Muse" starts with a minimal dose of aldehydes, just enough to give me an orientation in the sense of "huhu, here I am".
Immediately afterwards, an enveloping cocoon of fragrance envelops me. Delicately interwoven are discreet blossoms of slightly sweet and fruity roses. Violet and jasmine, which are listed in the pyramid, I would not have named, but they are already present in the fragrance tissue. The violet is by no means dry-dusty or nostalgic and the jasmine is absolutely not Indolic or smelly. I would have rather tipped for iris and a small lily of the valley. Whatever exactly the flowers are still there, it means that it is not a clear rose scent or an opulent floral scent.

A hint of powdery cinnamon, almonds and a fine resin note give a discreetly spicy oriental topping. The whole thing is underlaid with a creamy vanilla and musk rug.

This wonderful fragrance immediately unfolds its full aroma and does not change much in the course of time. Nevertheless, I never get bored with it, which is perhaps due to the fact that 'sometimes one note, sometimes another note comes to the fore a bit more, without being impertinent.
I can simply fall into this fragrance and let my soul dangle. However, it is not a cuddly scent in the classic sense, which is better enjoyed alone on the sofa at home. For me it is a creamy, elegant scent that I can perform well and thus take a piece of "safe haven" with me when I face the demands of everyday life.

Durability and sillage are very ok for me. I can perceive the scent for hours and hours myself.
The flacon is valuable with a finely dosable sprayer. It is slightly gold-iridescent and semi opaque and not as khaki green as the pictures suggest

I got to test "My Muse" some time ago in the form of a sample from a dear perfuma. Since then, I've been putting out my feelers for it, but it doesn't seem to be so easy to obtain in Europe.
Thanks to a perfume here, which obviously also offers other amado fragrances at a very fair price in the souk, I finally found what I was looking for and am now the happy owner of a bottle including a "mobile safe fragrance harbour".

...I couldn't resist the promising invitation of Iris lipstick in a blood-red dress and ventured in blindly.
I was curious about the company of the cocoa and the tuberose, which is sometimes too pompous for me, also made me a bit anxious.
And yet, I couldn't resist...

Right out front, I fell in love ❤

As soon as I come into contact with the fragrance, it draws me under its spell, it is love at first sniff, so to speak. Every risk was worth it
As is often the case with fragrances that I find completely successful and fascinating, and this one is clearly one of them, I find it rather difficult to describe them in individual elements or sequences. The harmonious overall impression prevails. Like when we fall in love, we can perhaps say that it is his eyes or her hair that fascinates us so much, but falling in love is not sufficiently explained by that.

The fragrance starts off cautiously powdery-fruity, a cheeky little fruit gleams from behind a wafer-thin peppery-spicy veil.

This shyness only lasts for a short moment, very soon the wraps fall and the fragrance presents itself in all its facets. I wouldn't speak of a process in which individual fragrances take over from one another, but rather of weaving all components into a seductive red scent dress

Flowery things are added, but very discreetly, nothing pushes itself into the foreground, no rose and fortunately not the tuberose. On the contrary, the tuberose surprises me with a wonderful sun cream note, sun-kissed skin flashes out and radiates the warmth of the day.

Little by little, a dry cocoa nuance comes to the fore, as if the tip of the tongue is licking a blob of dessert from the lips, without ever drifting into the kitschy-sweet-sticky.

Other soft notes like amber and probably sandalwood (I can't make it out directly) join in and let this rendezvous fade away cuddly.

And how is it with the iris?
The iris gives the fragrance a fine powdery texture from the outset, which is increasingly complemented by a creamy texture as it progresses.

And how's that lipstick thing?
Especially on fabric, the fragrance also shows that dry, almost mineral lipstick-like note that I like so much and am always hungry for. She gives Prends-moi (take me)
in the projection again and again a special playful touch. Nevertheless I would rather speak of a general make-up instead of a lipstick scent.

In any case, the aura radiates something very noble and elegant and yes, indeed seductive as well.

I ordered the 50ml bottle, which has a funny diamond-shaped base. It consists of beautiful heavy red glass and a valuable stubble. The spray is very fine and easy to dose.
The durability is really persistent with many hours, the Sillage as already mentioned rather discreet. It's not a blatant "look at all of them", but an exclusive luxurious togetherness, which you get here.

I must say that the scent surprised me very positively. It's not that I didn't have any hope because of the favourite notes mentioned, but too often I've been disappointed by promising pyramids and the Isabey fragrances tested so far haven't left a big impression on me. So I approached it with a restrained hope.
What I experienced after the first spray has really flashed me and I will definitely follow the invitation "Prends-moi -take me" very often and gladly. I think, it will be my companion for warm summer evenings this year.

As a confessing lipstick scent lover (what a word ;-) I of course like to write a few words about this new treasure right away.

I am always thinking about what exactly makes this ominous lipstick accord that smells so wonderfully waxy-powdery and mineral-dry.
Unfortunately I have not yet come to an answer in this regard, probably it is the interaction of several fragrances!?
In any case, it is exactly the same smell that gets into your nose when you (put on) some lipsticks, regardless of whether there is something fruity or gourmand around it.

Interestingly, in "Seduction Collection - Iris Crush" this is stored the other way round. The new lipstick collection by Jimmy Choo was perfumed with this scent, here it's "perfume before lipstick".

Right up front: the flacon is an absolute dream. It is made of heavy, facet-cut glass, a solid "gold" plate and a really heavy, high-quality "gold" stubble. The sprayer works well, you can dose with it quite accurately.

Now for the fragrance:
The "nose-apparent" similarity to "Replica - Lipstick On" has already been mentioned in the statements. I have applied the fragrances in parallel and can clearly confirm this impression. They start with the exact same lipstick note, whereas "Replica - Lipstick On" is a little sweeter at the beginning. In both cases I can clearly perceive heliotrope in the top note, the Replica also differs in an existing small fruity nuance; this only sets in later with Jimmy Choo. From the olfactory consistency I perceive the "Seduction Collection - Iris Crush" a bit finer and deeper, maybe more serious, the Replica tends to be more powdery and playful. But the differences are actually quite minimal at this point.

A big shortcoming of all lipstick scents tested so far is, to our regret, the relatively short durability of this special note.
When I apply a fragrance and this lipstick accord blows into my nose, I automatically start to wait how long this note will be noticeable. So far it has unfortunately always disappeared quite quickly.

Also "Replica - Lipstick On" belongs to this category. After about half an hour it develops more and more in the direction of a cuddly powdery iris scent. This is quite nice, but only reminds of the top note in gentle aftershocks.

In the statements it was already mentioned that the lipstick chord on "Seduction Collection - Iris Crush" fortunately lasts for a long time. So I went to the test with great hope and cheerfulness.

After about 1 hour, I first had the impression that the lipstick aspect is also getting more and more into the background. It follows with both fragrances a gentle gliding over into two each very nice fragrances, which are still quite similar to each other. The Jimmy Choo, too, develops a slightly fruity nuance in the course of the fragrance, which then even comes out more clearly than with the replica. While this fruity note has something cherryy about it for me in the Replica, it gets slightly buried in the Jimmy Choo. I hardly notice this fruity note in the projection, it is more present when sniffing directly on the skin.

"Replica - Lipstick On" is perhaps a ticking warmer, more airy, powdery and cuddly and sweeter in comparison. Heliotrope remains more present at the Jimmy Choo. In the base I can smell the patchouli more out of the replica, which gives it a slightly spicy and earthy nuance. The astonishing similarity between the two fragrances remains, however,

When I sniff directly at the applied spot of the "Seduction Collection - Iris Crush", I can actually still clearly perceive the original lipstick scent after several hours (!) - yay, a real novelty!
Unfortunately, in the projection this reaches me only very gently. Here it surprisingly reminds me a bit of "Panthea Iris". They share a certain synthetic touch, which I don't find unpleasant. I will test this against, if I can verify it, often the memory is deceiving

During the parallel testing of "Seduction Collection - Iris Crush" and "Replica - Lipstick On" the image of two waves of scent came to my mind. They start at the same place, oscillate for a long time with very similar frequency and amplitude, sometimes the scent waves overlap, then they glide gently apart again without moving too far away from each other.

All in all, the Jimmy Choo is already clearly ahead in terms of intensity and duration of the lipstick note. The replica develops rather into a general powdery-cuddly sweet make-up scent.

The silage and hours of shelf life are very satisfactory for both fragrances.

Conclusion:
I vary strongly between: I'm not sure if you really "need" both fragrances in view of the described similarities and at the same time the "Seduction Collection - Iris Crush" is already clearly ahead of me. It is a bit more valuable overall and holds the record for the durability of the lipstick accord of all lipstick scents I have tested so far.

And since "Replica - Lipstick On" seems to be out of production anyway, its fans now find a wonderful, unfortunately also a bit more expensive alternative with "Seduction Collection - Iris Crush".