L’Hyver

[Minh Scent]

Jean Audran

Grey amber and elemi, white cypress, shadowed musk, guiac, labdanum, and black ti leaf.

First application on skin, I get the lovely labdanum with a light quality. However, the perfume darkens and I swear I get a licorice note (nope, not listed). From there, it morphs into a swirl of light musk. On me, a skin scent. A bit confusing, but pleasant.

[Myrrha]

Labdanum has always seemed like a darker scent to me but in this oil it is light and soft. I think the elemi is here to lighten things up because I can't really separate it out. I am not a fan of cypress but the "white cypress In this is soft and really beautiful. I can only detect it if I look for it, otherwise it blends into the scent. Emotionally L'hyver seems relaxing and a bit somber - not like an Ars Morendi oil but just in a grounding kind of way.

 

Overall, a very wearable soft musky laudanum scent. It does not have a lot of throw. I am very happy with this and will wear it often this winter and into the spring.

Edited December 29, 2016 by Myrrha

[zankoku_zen]

This one is so interesting to me. Underneath the cold layer of elemi and amber, I get a mix of black tea and labdanum that smells almost like aniseed but isn't. It's a warm, gooey sort of resinous blend with herbal touches. It makes me think of winter in the same ways that "coal candy" is really licorice. Medium throw and wear length.

 

For those of you that enjoy licorice, give this a whirl.

[Aviatrix]

I agree with the previous mentions of a licorice-like note, without it being licorice per se. The cypress is also fairly strong on me, and the tea is delightful and life-like. I am not sure what elemi smells like, so I can't comment on that, but the labdanum is surprisingly subdued on me, which is nice. Overall it makes me think of licorice tea, which I wasn't expecting at all, but quite enjoy.

 

The throw is medium on me.

[LiberAmoris]

L’Hyver is really mysterious and different. Every time I test it, I get a slightly different experience. If I sniff it in the bottle and look at the note list, I think I can smell each individual element. But it's so well-blended that once I put it on, it's tough to tease them apart. This dries down to a grey amber and black tea scent. Two hours later, this is a soft, musky skin scent, like a swipe of pale grey.

[Lambent]

L'Hyver is super atmospheric to me. I think it's the white cypress in this that gives it an almost menthol-like quality--like breathing in biting cold winter air. I do get that slight anise-like note others have mentioned mixed in with "grey" resinous smells. I'm not sure what labdanum smells like, but L'Hyver is both light and airy with substance. It's an enigmatic, cool-toned scent. I'd like to test it out in a diffuser some day.

[Lucchesa]

I was trying a couple scents yesterday, plus sending out a swap, dabbing on things I was decanting, and at one point I smelled my right wrist and thought, "What is that?  That is not good."  It was L'Hyver. There are two unfamiliar notes here for me, elemi (described on scent sites as terpenic - citrusy conifer with hints of turpentine) and guaiac (described as phenolic - smoky dry acrid), and I think one or both is not a happy partner with my skin.  I would say guiac except I enjoyed the guiac/labdanum combo in Studie Einer Ziege ().  I didn't have time to make detailed notes, but it was a harsh smell, and had mellowed away an hour later.  Given the above mentions of L'Hyver being different on different applications, I'm willing to try this again, as the amber-cypress-musk-labdanum-ti leaf combo sounds wonderful.  I'll edit if I get a different experience.  It smells lovely in the bottle...