FREDERIC MALLE
L’EAU D’HIVER

2003

PERFUMER
Jean-Claude Ellena

Heliotrope
Iris
White Musk
Angelica
Honey
Bergamot
Jasmine
Hawthorn

‘A soothing whisper. A warm cloud of iris, hawthorn and heliotrope pervades a transparent sea of bergamot and hedione to make a paradoxical “eau chaude”; a subtle, intimate expression of personal comfort. A reconciliation of warmth and transparency.’ – Frederic Malle

I’d sampled L’Eau D’Hiver before, but presumably an older batch. My memory of it was one of a slightly green, hay-like scent profile.

The fragrance from this particular bottle feels a lot lighter and soapier. And that’s part of the reason why I was a bit underwhelmed this time around. It’s a nice and inoffensive scent, but it’s perhaps too modest, too subtle. I get a feminine leaning iris with only the slightest bit of sweetness from the heliotrope. Not much sticks out or stands out. It’s delicate; a faint scent cloud, almost like washing your hands with a milky, foamy handsoap and smelling them afterwards. It’s soft, a bit dewy, colorless and unfortunately, rather odorless from a distance within a short time.

The scent is pleasant as an opening, but I do miss something of a base to support it. I don’t really get the hay-like vibe this time, nor does the angelica’s green powdery quality come through as much. Really nice, but aside from wearing this at home in bed after a shower for example, I feel L’Eau D’Hiver is missing too much ‘oomph’ to be a fragrance that I’d reach for casually.