Iris d`Argent Keiko Mecheri for women and men

Keiko Mecheri IRIS D’ARGENT is such a rich, resiny, feminine iris perfume. There are no earthy notes here such as I detect in KM IRIS POURPRE, which is definitely closer to HIRIS, although the latter is more of an iris-carrot tops perfume, it seems to me... I would situate IRIS D’ARGENT, in contrast, closer to FERRE edp and Aqua di Parma IRIS NOBILE.

I was mystified by the characterization of this composition as more masculine than IRIS POURPRE and so decided to perform a side-by-side test, which merely confirmed my contrariness. (-: To my nose, IRIS D’ARGENT is clean and shiny and silvery and very perfumey, while IRIS POURPRE is darker and includes roots to which a bit of soil is still clinging and has a more pronounced chypre-like facet. These creations both smell splendid, but they are very different, featuring as they seem to very different parts of the iris plant.

I prefer IRIS D’ARGENT (lighter, with more iris flowers and no other plant parts) to IRIS POURPRE (darker, with more orris root and a somewhat vegetal aspect), and would love to add a bottle of the former to my collection. Both of these compelling creations are must-sniffs for iris aficionados!

This is definitely an *interpretation* of iris, rather than an honest representation of the flower. It is one of the colder takes on iris, particularly compared with Keiko Mecheri's own Iris Pourpre, which is all sweet and sunny, and PG's Iris Oriental, which is sweet and spicy.

There are three things in particular that make this an interesting and quite unusual interpretation of iris, in my opinion. One is that I get none of the usual iris powder. The second thing is that, whatever amber is adding to the scent, it is not warming it up, or not enough to feel like amber. And finally, the citruses (if they are there at all) are not crisp and zesty, but rather more reminiscent of cucumber; no bite at all.

When I stopped telling myself what the notes are supposed to be and look for them in their more familiar form, I started to enjoy this fragrance. But in the end, it is too unconventional for me to commit to a full bottle - which, if anything, is a compliment to Iris d'Argent :)

I used the last of my sample of this last night to test it out in Baltimore's Summer humidity. While this has Acqua di Parma Iris Nobile and Jacques Fath Irissime to compete with, I did get compliments, a decent sillage and about 6-7 hours of noticeable longevity. Now this has to beat Hiris...

UPDATE: Well, this isn't as "perfumey" as Hiris and I'm finding that it's not as "cold" as Hiris, either. But it's very much a beautiful composition. There's something about it that makes me feel comfortable when I sampled it.