The Different Company Bois d’Iris
The Different Company’s Bois d’Iris was composed by Jean-Claude Ellena several years back, but I have only just recently gotten around to trying it.
It feels cool to me upon first spray, but as my skin warms it, a lovely aroma reminscent of dry Cascadian hops wafts across iris root. (It’s an Oregon thing. I’m pretty sure that you’re not allowed to call yourself an Oregon citizen if you don’t become a beer snob and/or make your own beer at least once. Unless, of course, you wear Birkenstocks year-round with socks - a much more demonstrative display of being a full-blooded Oregonian.) Lightly green and spicy, this layer gently lifts Bois d’Iris out of any lingering coolness. It also makes play with the floral elements of the scent, causing innocence to transform into a brightened awareness.
This fragrance is a deceptively simple one, and easy to slip into. I think it’s one of the more mellow fragrances I’ve tried lately. By mellow I don’t mean melancholy or lazy. Just… relaxed. There’s also something a little old-fashioned about it, too, and yet I perceive it as a youthful scent.
Not knowing how to introduce it, I’ll just say it reminds me of Damien Jurado’s song Tether. It’s got an old feel to it, and certainly is mellow, but it also displays how a simple approach can render an interesting, pleasing effect. Click the player below to hear a brief clip.
Samples of The Different Company scents can be obtained through Beautyhabit.com, who have a sampling program. Image of pin-up entitled “So Sweet,” by Zoe Mozert for Brown & Bigelow in 1950. Tether is a track off of Damien Jurado’s album Where Shall You Take Me?, and is available online through Djangos and Music Millennium.
January 2nd, 2006 at 3:57 pm
This sounds like something worth trying.Is it anything like F.Malle’s Iris Poudre?I also love the picture you posted with this review!Just gorgeous.
January 2nd, 2006 at 4:14 pm
There is maybe only the teensy weensiest implication of powder and sweetness in this one, and I feel it’s rather weightless and transparent - and I mean “weightless and transparent” as a compliment.
January 2nd, 2006 at 7:56 pm
Definitely one of the easiest to wear scents out there. You could wear it with socks and Birkenstocks or you could wear it with what the pinup lady is wearing and it will be fine. Such a great scent!
January 2nd, 2006 at 7:57 pm
One of my all time favorites, K, and now I’ve got to try some Cascadian hops, maybe (?) Not going to make my own beer, though :-)
January 3rd, 2006 at 2:37 am
If I was in Oregon, I would definetively go for the beer making, no birkenstocks for sure….
Thank you for your review and for “transparancy as quality”: This reminds me in Roudnitska’s brilliance criterion for a good perfume. Maybe the one here is transparent and shining brilliantly like a diamond?
January 3rd, 2006 at 12:26 pm
Marina - easily worn no matter the dress, yup. The other day was jeans and layered tees, and it fit right in.
Robin - Cascade hops’ aroma changes after the brew is made, and tends to lend an implication of citrus amongst other things. I’m not sure how many beers outside of the Pacific NW are made with them, but one really popular one here that I believe is available nationally is Widmer’s Hefeweitzen. Or Rogue Brewery makes a number of different ales with them. The Amber is a fave at our house, as well as their Imperial IPA. They also make a chocolate stout with them. (And I adore their Hazelnut brown ale, but I particularly like it fresh from the tap. No Cascade hops though. It’s just an exceptionally good beer I thought I’d mention since I’m at it.)
Andy, well, perhaps predictably, I do both. Love my Birkies - I’m not an expert or anything, but I’m pretty sure that inner happiness has something to do with wearing orthopedically sensible shoes. Heh. Most days I’m either in Doc Marten boots or Birkenstocks. Not very fashionable, but always comfortable.
Maybe not transparent and shining like a diamond - more at the way the sunlight hits the ocean water that rolls over a beach at sunset. When people walk along the very edge of where sand meets surf, the reflected light across the stretched water makes it appear as if they are walking across a shimmering plane of water.
January 3rd, 2006 at 2:40 pm
I’m all for Sensible Shoes, but I draw the line at Birkies. :-)
You’ve inspired me to pull out my sample of Bois d’Iris. As you can imagine, I receive lots of iris samples, but I’m not a big iris fan. I hope someday to love this note.
January 3rd, 2006 at 7:21 pm
I tried SO HARD to love this one >sob
January 3rd, 2006 at 7:23 pm
I think I sent it to Patty to try. It needed a more deserving home.
January 3rd, 2006 at 7:55 pm
Iris, I think most folks draw the line at Birkies, heh. You know, I don’t know that this is the one to make you fall in love with that note. Not that I feel like I know which fragrance that would be anyhow, though, so what do I know?
March, it’s actually not really one that I like for myself either. But I admire it. Just not “me” is all. I think it’s always such a nice thing when folks pass scents along to people they feel will appreciate them more, and I have a hunch Patty will find it interesting for sure.
January 4th, 2006 at 4:38 am
K, I have only sampled the Bergamot from this line, and I noticed it can also be worn anytime, anyplace, with any style of clothing. Perhaps the house is going for universal wearability?
January 4th, 2006 at 11:08 am
Hm, possibly. I wonder if that doesn’t play into a larger philosophy of keep-it-simple, too, for that house.
January 4th, 2006 at 7:05 pm
I love Bois D’Iris! Woody and yummy and earthy smelling. I don’t reach for it often enough during the winter, the spring is a much better time to wear it!
January 5th, 2006 at 4:08 pm
I don’t get much of a woodiness out it, but I know exactly what you mean when you say earthiness. That quality of Bois d’Iris makes me think of digging holes in the yard and planting bulbs in the spring.