House of Cherry Bomb Iris Oud Review (Alexis Karl and Maria McElroy) 2019 + Eternal Elegance Draw

January 4, 2020January 4, 2020

Already into 2020 and perfumers are still rolling out new releases!!! It becomes nigh impossible to keep up. Some of them turn out to be devastatingly lovely: such is the case with artisanal House of Cherry Bomb perfumers Alexis Karl and Maria McElroy, who have just released Iris Oud. I received a sample vial from these two fascinating women a week or so ago, popped it open and anointed myself with pleasure.

Maria McElroy and Alexis Karl courtesy of the perfumers

Both Alexis and Maria possess a unique creative bent, each with a different personal style. Alexis has a more torch-y persona which borders on avant-garde-Goth-meets-femme-fatale; Maria inhabits classic glamour in caftans, vintage-inspired ensembles and the guise of geisha. They seem to share a fondness for the sweeter aspect of scent, if their fragrances reveal anything to my nose – and I’ve made it my business to smell each one over the years. Some I’ve ‘bought blind’ without remorse.

Eva Green as Vanessa Ives via blackbook

Iris Oud is a fairytale fragrance which takes place in a sylvan setting, two compelling reasons which ensorcell me. When I wear it I am Eva Green as Vanessa Ives in the gothic series Penny Dreadful. Miss Ives is darkly enthralling and possesses a low sonorous voice, patrician bone structure and impeccable taste. Her garments (at least, until the third season) are usually crafted of velvet or lace and are form-fitting in rich tenebrous baroque hues which ooze luxury and whisper of secrets, perhaps sewn into the hem of her wardrobe.

via Showtime ©

Surrounding an alabaster complexion, ghostly pale – her aureole of long black hair embodies her duality: at times severely arranged to infer her self-discipline and no-nonsense character – or wildly wanton, displaying an unslaked wellspring of myriad willful lusts threatening to overcome that self and societally-imposed control. Practical and mystical in the same breath, she grants her allegiance begrudgingly and only after ample proof is given. Vanessa is intellectual, stubborn and sensual with a knifelike edge which cuts deep. Small wonder that the forest appeals, since she is Nature’s creature regardless of her urbane appearance. She is equally at ease in the ballroom as encircled by wolves or snakes; it’s all of a piece to her. Vanessa Ives is a reader of the cards, a conduit and keeper of secrets darker than the gates of hell and no less sinister.

Iris Oud plays directly into Vanessa’s neurasthenic expressive hands: ladylike in its Victorian violet and iris inference and graced with vanilla, its propriety appears intact and faultless. Why, just look at me – I’m a harmless fey floral..or am I? Arabian jasmine murmurs of hidden desire, briny ambergris, keen appetites of animalic variety. Oud accord – is it spiritual or worldly? Honeyed beeswax notes reveal a louche voluptuary attendant under tightly corseted black bombazine. Tendrils of wood and moss are plaited throughout, be they moist under bare or silk-shod foot – shadowy, powdery, mythical. Is Iris Oud a floral/chypre/fougère? Does it matter? One cannot deny the eternal elegance of Iris Oud, whether you experience its classical beauty as carnal or demure. Never underestimate a Victorian woman. Or the power of narrative.

Notes: iris, oud, violet, woods, jasmine, ambergris, vanilla, beeswax, moss

Sample of Iris Oud generously provided by perfumers Alexis Karl and Maria McElroy – many thanks! My nose is my own…

~ Ida Meister, Senior Editor and Natural Perfumery Editor

Thanks to the kindness of House of Cherry Bomb, we have a 2 ml sample of Iris Oud (you can purchase it here) for one registered reader in the USA. You must register here or your comment will not count. To be eligible, please let us know what you enjoyed most about Ida’s review of Iris Oud. Draw closes 1/7/2019

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