I had a chance to work on Lieu de Reves this weekend and am pleased with the progress. I took out a sandalwood ingredient that was interacting with some of the ionones to cause an odd musty note that I didn’t like. I also took out a sweet musk and added a drier musk, added a soft white floral note, and increased heliotrope. The iris is coming forward more now, which I like. It’s powdery from the iris/orris/rose/heliotrope combo, but the woods and vetiver cut the powder and I’m finding it pretty. It may be ready for testers soon.
I finally tried Dior Homme on Friday (created by Olivier Polge in 2005). I think it’s beautiful, but I can understand why some guys would find it too powdery, sweet, or feminine. It sure is a pretty composition though, and it had tremendous lasting power on me. I love the gorgeous iris note and the soft vetiver and leather notes in the base (the leather notes were so subtle I’d love to know what it’d be like with some of these base notes a little bit stronger). I could see women wearing this very easily, but the lovely, soft woodsy base makes it unisex enough for some men to enjoy too. I think men are open to wearing floral notes these days, but the sweet and powdery aspect of Dior Homme may put some men off because powdery notes have more feminine associations. Another unisex iris scent I greatly admire is Divine L’Homme de Coeur, which a brighter, less sweet and powdery iris fragrance that might appeal to a wider audience of men; I’ve acquired a few samples of this one that I enjoy wearing.
