ERIS PARFUMS
MA BETE
2016
PERFUMER
Antoine Lie
aldehydes
neroli
nutmeg
cypriol
jasmine sambac
styrax
animalic notes
patchouli
cedarwood
‘Ma Bete (My Beast) caresses you with the suggestiveness of perfumed fur. A collision of the floral and the animal, Mâ Bete combines a regal Tunisian Neroli with spices and a 50 percent overdose of Antoine Lie’s own animalic cocktail.’ – Eris
‘Ma Bête is a fierce beast with raunchy elegance.’ – Antoine Lie
Ma Bete stands for ‘My Beast’ and it has a ‘raunchy elegance’ as perfumer Antoine Lie states. And it’s lovely.
To me this is not a dark or overly challenging fragrance, although I know people who think it’s so animalic that’s it’s hard to wear. Ma Bete strongly recalls vintage women’s designer scents with an acidic (some would say pissy and sweaty) floral opening and a furry underbelly.
Neroli and jasmine are listed in particular and this wears like a higher frequency, almost citrussy take on something akin to my vintage Guerlain Mitsouko or to Roja Parfums Diaghilev. Even the way it grows sweet in a mossy and mushy way reminds me of vintage fragrances in my collection.
Green, sharp, soapy and jasmine in the first moments, reminding me of my vintage Miss Dior EDT. It’s animalic, but because it comes across more retro to me, I see more of a connection to high class opulence than I do to ‘raunchy’.
Ma Bete also reminded me a lot of a the style of some ‘newer’ Francesca Bianchi releases such as Libertine Neroli, Luxe Calme Volupte & Unspoken Musk. Whereas those are my favorites from Bianchi’s work, Antoine Lie definitely still manages to balance out the composition more and I think the ‘pissy’ quality is toned way down when it dries down.
That furry animalic, musky undercurrent rears it head after the opening more and more, but I never find it overly challenging. There’s enough sweetness and it sits close enough to the skin to not pose a challenge.
Definitely a big thumbs. I like this even more than Mxxx. and it could give the (total opposite) Delta Of Venus a run for its money as well.