Penhaligon’s Iris Prima Review

Penhaligon’s Iris Prima bottle, photo by Rachel K. Ng

Ballet and perfumery are two great arts with much in common. Both use time as a tool for the choreographer and perfumer alike to engrave his or her ideas on three-dimensional space. Both use the body to bring to life their ideas: through the dancer’s form in motion and through fragrance enacting itself on human skin. For ballet and olfaction, the Cartesian mind/body split transforms to something more nuanced and multi-dimensional. Duration functions to catch the baseline being of time, its fundamental beat, even as it is being segmented into top, mid, and base. As we wear a fragrance, these montages of materials create fantasies and illusions made of concrete combinations that the olfactive system reassembles in the mind, much as choreography creates motion out of discrete steps. A master illusionist in today’s world of olfaction, perfumer Alberto Morillas, looked to ballet for inspiration in the sadly discontinued gem Penhaligon’s Iris Prima.

Perfumer Alberto Morillas and ballet dancers Laurretta Summerscales and Nathan Young, collage by Rachel K. Ng

Morillas created Penhaligon’s Iris Prima, a fragrance dedicated to the atmosphere of the ballet theatre, with English National ballet soloists Laurretta Summerscales and Nathan Young. Always curious about interdisciplinary projects, I was delighted to find an unopened bottle in excellent condition. The personal journey this fragrance unearthed in my mind tugged on threads of memories I thought I’d forgotten and sent frissons of joy through my day. Penhaligon’s Iris Prima debuts with the open space of the theatre, transporting me instantly to the parquet sprung floors, wooden barres, and sun-filled windows of my childhood dance studio. Bergamot’s complex woody, citrus, and floral layers help create the sunlit lift of space and possibility. A delicate combination of pink pepper and something resembling the rosin crystals, used for grip on ballet slippers and the repetiteur’s piano, rises from the floor as dancers begin their work. Both pink pepper and rosin have a citrusy scent with faintly aromatic edges leaning toward pine that works like a gritty and cool terpenic wood varnish.

Penhaligon’s Iris Prima launch at Saks Fifth Avenue in NYC -2013, photo supplied by their PR firm to Michelyn in 2013

The heart of Penhaligon’s Iris Prima is an airy pas de deux between a textural iris and petaly jasmine sambac. The sillage is as whisper-soft as silk tulle in diaphanous drape, bringing to mind the famous Romantic era white acts of Wilis and Sylphs. Soft powdery iris is a seamless partnering with musky and petaly jasmine sambac. Ionone hints of talc and powder give rise to powerful memories of breathing through make-up-dusted air while performing on stage. The duo is soon joined by a dulcet suede accord, perfectly capturing the beige-pink color of ballet slippers and worn toe shoes. The fantasy here belongs to the grand ballets of supernatural settings, long ghostly tutus, and swan-like movements of Marie Taglioni, the first ballerina to truly dance on pointe.

Ballet, collage by Rachel K. Ng via Unsplash

The dry down of Penhaligon’s Iris Prima surrounds me for the rest of the day, wafting reminders of warm suede heated by movement and powder-puff tutus. Soft touches of sandalwood, vanilla and vetiver weave the corps de materials together in their dance while benzoin provides hints of varnished parquet floors and floral tenderness. The generosity and wisdom of English National Ballet dancers’ embodied experiences combined with Alberto Morillas’s mastery of olfactive skills have created an exquisite gem in Penhaligon’s Iris Prima.

Notes: bergamot, pink pepper, resin, iris absolute, jasmine sambac, suede, vanilla, benzoin, vetiver, sandalwood

Disclaimer: Bottle my own. Opinions my own.

~ Rachel K. Ng, Editor

Penhaligon’s Iris Prima bottle, photo by Rachel K. Ng

Thanks to the generosity of Editor Rachel K. Ng, we have 5 ml decant of Penhaligon’s Iris Prima for one registered reader in the USA. You must register or your entry will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what sparks your interest based on Rachel’s review. Draw closes 4/24/2025

This wonderful fragrance was first spotted by Editor-in-Chief Michelyn Camen who attended the launch at Saks in NYC here and elaborated upon here.

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4 comments

April 21, 2025 at 2:49 pm
jamscents says:
This is a lovely review of Penhaligon’s Iris Prima! It sounds like Alberto Morillas captured the delicate and refined essence of ballet beautifully with the powdery iris and soft leather notes. The reviewer’s description of it evoking old paper and a hint of sweetness is quite intriguing. It’s a shame that the suede and vetiver fade quickly on their skin, as that seems like it would add a unique dimension to the fragrance. Overall, it appears to be an elegant and inoffensive floral scent, perfect for those who appreciate a subtle yet sophisticated perfume. From US.
April 21, 2025 at 2:51 pm
itsme89 says:
What a beautiful description of Iris Prima! Alberto Morillas truly has a gift for creating such evocative scents. The way the reviewer connects the fragrance to the world of ballet is fascinating – I can almost imagine the soft rustle of tutus and the delicate aroma of stage makeup. It’s interesting to hear about the interplay between the powdery iris and the subtle leather. While it’s a shame some notes didn’t last as long for the reviewer, it still sounds like a very elegant and graceful fragrance. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!” From the US.
April 21, 2025 at 2:57 pm
Bloomfields says:
Thank you for the fantastic review of Penhaligon’s Iris Prima by Alberto Morillas. It sounds like such an intriguing and unique scent, capturing the essence of ballet beautifully. I always enjoy reading reviews on Cafleurebon. Thanks for the chance in the giveaway!
From US
April 21, 2025 at 4:49 pm
aditu says:
How generous of Rachel Ng to share a decant of her personal bottle, of a discontinued fragrance that clearly is so personally evocative for her. I was captivated by the idea of the opening notes conjuring memories of the treated wooden floors of the ballet studio mixed with the light airiness of the space. And then the light subtle elements of the florals dancing together with the suede/ballet shoe influences and the powdery waft of tutus and stage makeup. A delightful description that truly carries me in the story and imagery that the scent inspires for her. I am in MA.