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Post by Madeleine
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Hello perfumed Peeps!
I’ve loved the Frederic Malle range ever since it launched here in Sydney years ago but Jean Claude Ellena’s pared down aesthetic has never really been my cup of tea. It therefore took me some time to first appreciate and then fall in love with his masterpiece for the Malle line. And it’s been well worth the wait.
L’Eau d’Hiver by Jean Claude Ellena for Frederic Malle 2003
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Bergamot, heliotrope, jasmine, iris, honey, angelica, white musk.
The real beauty of this scent is its enigmatic quality. It manages to feel both cool and warm at the same time and the gentle unfolding of these polar opposites is what makes L’Eau d’Hiver so magical. There’s the slight cool tang of the bergamot in the opening underscored with the piquant pepperiness of angelica.
The addition of iris exacerbates the detached coolness and earthiness before the soft powderiness of heliotrope is joined by sweetness of honey. Even as the scent warms up, the angelica and iris continue to peek through the layers like soft droplets of snow or sparkling white ice.
Photo Stolen DeviantArt
L’Eau d’Hiver is somewhat of a mesmerising drug of a fragrance. Under its spell, I manage to detach from my normal frazzled self and become a calm, serene, contemplative being. It also makes me feel completely elegant. It is the olfactory equivalent of a white silk blouse, fluid and graceful and something that just makes you feel “put together”.
And as Dionne noted in her much more comprehensive APJ L’Eau d’Hiver review, despite its name, L’Eau d’Hiver works in all sorts of temperatures and seasons. I’ve been enjoying wearing it recently on temperate summer’s days.
Photo Stolen WikiMediaFurther reading: Chemist in the Bottle and Olfactoria’s Travels
Mecca Cosmetica starts at $124/3 x 10ml
Surrender to Chance has samples starting at $6/ml
Have you tried L’Eau D’Hiver? What are your I-just-feel-complete fragrances?
With much love till next time!
M x