Monday, February 13, 2006

ASK MARLEN: Hermes Hiris for a Man?

Hi Marlen,

Tell me your impressions about Hiris and your opinion on a male wearing it. Of course I know one can wear anything one wants but do you think that Hiris would be clocked as a women's fragrance? It's a beautiful scent.

Thanks,
J

Hey J,

Hiris is one of my personal favorites, but it took me some time to get used to it. Once I fell in love with Bois Farine by L'Artisan, I began hunting for other "doughy" scents and re-visited Hiris. It was instant love. The iris butter, combined with only very subtle floral overtones makes this one quite easy for a man to wear, imho. As the scent progresses it warms on the skin leaving a faint trace of woods and iris root. Magnificent! Moreover, as this scent is not quite the average designer scent in terms of popularity, I would think the chances of someone sniffing you and exclaiming, "Get outta here! You're wearing women's perfume, you nasty Perv!" are quite low.

Offering advice would truly be like preaching to the choir, 'cause you said it best, "I know one can wear anything one wants."

Marlen

p.s. - there is also a body powder spray in the Hiris scent that is PHENOMENAL! Goes on as a liquid spray and changes to a powder on the skin and layers well with the scent.

16 comments:

marchlion said...

Okay, as a woman who loves and wears Hiris, I'm going on record here as saying it would smell like heaven on a man.

What the heck, off the top of my head, here are some other of my favorite frags I'd like to smell on men: Guerlain Jicky or Mitsouko; Bal a Versailles; Malle's En Passant or Carnal Flower; Chanel Cuir de Russie or Bois de Iles.

marlen said...

March - isn't it a stunner? And I wear everyone of those scents you listed (though haven't tried Carnal Flower yet)! I think we'd get along well!

Mark said...

I wear Jicky and love it. I've been trying to get my hands on a bottle of the rue Cambons, either or - it doesn't matter to me. But I just can't pay full retail for them. I've only ever smelled Hiris on a card in Hermes, but tomorrow I think I'll make a trip over there and smell it on my skin b/c now I'm really intrigued. And can I just say how much I LOVE this bottle? It's so classy yet still very playful and very egyptian.

marlen said...

Mark - I can't wait to hear your thoughts about Hiris! The gentelman who originally posted the question to me replied that after wearing if for only a few minutes he knew that the question was moot because of the beauty of the scent!

As for the Rue Cambons - try them at all costs. The Bois des Iles and Cuir Russie are two of my all-time favorite scents, hands-down!

Mark said...

do you have the cambons in the eau de toilette or the .5 oz. Parfum? The Chanel website is pretty much the only place I can even find them online and the bois des iles is only available in the parfum on there. does it come in a spray as well? I'm going on a hunt to try and sniff these in the Philadelphia area tomorrow, probably to no avail.

marlen said...

Mark - I've had the Cuir de Russie edt, and parfum and far preferred the parfum. I now have the .5 oz Bois des Iles parfum and have tried the edt. I like both but obviously prefer the parfum for the richness of the notes.

Mark said...

ugh, I was hoping you'd say the edt, haha. Another one for the dream list then.

Mark said...

Ok Marlen, on one hand we have Hermes Hiris and on the other hand we have Annick Goutal Mandragore.

I had a LOT of fun in Neiman Marcus today.

So...Hiris is nice. I was hoping to like it a lot more. Staying power for me is actually pretty good, it's been on my hand for about 7 hours now and is still doing fine. I still think I need to own it, of course. I'm starting to question though if the Iris note is a must have note for me. I like this fragrance b/c it seems pretty linear to me which I welcome sometimes. Scentiments has this for practically nothing on their website, so I must own it.

Now Mandragore is life changing for me. I almost bought it on the spot and then realized I didn't have $95 to spend, damn college student life. Know where a boy can get Mandragore at a good price?

Anonymous said...

Thaks Marlon for responding to my question as to whether a male could where Hiris. Minutes after spraying it on I knew it was right for me.

marlen said...

John - Thanks so much for reading and posting! I'm glad that you are enjoying this scent!

marchlion said...

Mark -- Mandragore was life-changing for me, too. Now lean in closely, I'm going to whisper in your ear: eBay. I bet even a college boy might be able to afford a bottle there. Plus *cough* decants *cough* of other luxury frags for sampling. Also, perfume is not a luxury. It is a necessity. Cut back on books or laundry.

marlen said...

March/Mark - I got a bottle for a great price at Basenotes.net Community Marketplace...And yes, Ebay is always a great choice...And I agree, I didn't care too much for Mandragore at first, but after wearing it liberally on a hot summer day, I was converted.

marchlion said...

Actually, Marlen, upon further reflection, I admit it's been awhile since I smelled a nice college boy, but my recollection is that they smelled pretty fine without any cologne whatsoever...

marlen said...

March - let me use that phrase again...you're preaching to the choir! LOL! : )

Mark said...

well, by the end of my first semester at college, I had my one roomate convert from BOD spray to Eau d'Hadrien and the other one from Curve to Geir Ness. Now my current roomate who bathed in Cool Water wants Erolfa. So, this college boy fragrance missionary is spreading the Gospel to ensure that more gorgeous college boys smell acceptable. But all in all, most of them smell awful. Even most of the ones who play for my team...

Now, I've not forayed into the worlds of decants yet, b/c maybe part of me wants a beautiful collection of bottles. And as far as Mandragore is concerned, I think it's (the mens 3.4) is one of the most perfect bottles ever. But I will check out eBay and the Marketplace, thank you.

And yes March, fragrance is far more important than food or books. The only thing I try to budget for anymore are my design magazine subscriptions and fragrance. And lately I've even been questioning some of the magazines. I'm trying to reason with myself - "Does and Interior Designer REALLY need Elle Decor?"

Magnifiscent said...

Created by Olivia Giacobetti to "fit" the visual image of anti-fashion collections created by Martin Margiela, Hiris has some qualities that can classify it as anti-perfume in some senses...
Being marketed as a feminine scent, it perfectly embodies a beauty that's ephebic but sexy, fluid but plastic, earthy but ethereal. That's why on a men it can work very well: because it doesn't speak of a laud canonical femininity, but whispers of a more sophysticated self consciousness of elegance and proud handsomeness.
The only thing I cannot forgive to Ms. Giacobetti is that faint hint of coconut that she seems to love so much and put almost everywhere (in premier figuier too) that mists up a bit the shining glaze of this gem!