Myriad, the latest creation from Louis Vuitton, came as something of a surprise and made its place in the Les Extraits collection. At 550 euros RRP in Germany, this fragrance is not only the latest, but also the most expensive fragrance in Louis Vuitton's line-up alongside the limited edition and hard-to-find "Pud Oud", so the only question now is - is it any good?
Let's start one after the other - with the opening.
Myriad develops surprisingly little on my skin, instead you get to feel everything this fragrance has to offer right from the start, and in full strength - real, beautiful and deep dark rose, mixed with clean oud and a portion of musk to round it off. It's not just rose I detect here - there's a whole load of floral notes poking through too, even if it's not listed as such. Feminine? Possibly, but not really. Instead, it's an incredibly well-rounded package, right from the start. Neither the rose nor the oud is overwhelming, and in direct comparison to the strong, heavy and sophisticated Ombre Nomade, this one is much lighter, friendlier, even rounder and much friendlier in the overall package. Like Fleur du Desert, but less powdery. Like Les Sables Roses, but with a much more noticeable oud note. Like Ombre Nomade, but more pleasant, softer, airier.
This overall picture is only confirmed in the drydown. In the meantime, at least during the test in the Saudi Arabian sun, when leaving the Louis Vuitton store, various notes come through. Overall, the feeling is very rosy, slightly floral, somewhat sweet, and in the very background you can also smell the oud, which, in contrast to Ombre Nomade, is clearly restrained, but still has enough presence to be recognized as such. And while I smell the fragrance over and over again as I write, I ask myself whether it is feminine or masculine - obviously a true, genuine unisex fragrance, which is probably labeled as "too feminine" by some men and "too masculine" by some women. A little courage and self-confidence is probably a basic requirement when wearing it, but it suits both.
As with Louis Vuitton, the packaging and service are great. The packaging is beautiful to look at and the bottle is also impressive. The lid is quite unique and while I personally don't think the shape of the bottle is that great, I can still say that the overall package is very nice to look at. The biggest criticism - the color of the fragrance is different from the picture, and also from the display pieces in the Louis Vuitton stores, which were filled with water and food coloring and do not contain the actual fragrance. The color of the real fragrance is much less vibrant. Not the end of the world, but still a shame.
For those who couldn't figure it out before - for me, this fragrance is a mixture of three different Louis Vuitton fragrances. Ombre Nomade, Les Sables Roses and Fleur du Desert. Each of these three fragrances contributes somewhere to creating this scent. Everyone's cup of tea? Certainly not. For me, I have to say quite clearly that I find this fragrance incredibly beautiful - so beautiful that it could and probably will replace Ombre Nomade, which has been at number 1 on my wish list for about 2 years now. The quality of the creation is, as usual with Louis Vuitton, simply master class, and this is where it gets painful: the price.
Louis Vuitton has never been cheap and while the "normal" collection is already expensive, the whole thing becomes even more painful if you are interested in the oriental collection, but it doesn't stop there. If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of finding one of the Les Extrait fragrances great, you will have to pay almost twice as much as for the regular collection, and if you also find the Myriad great, you will be horrified to discover that at 550 euros, it is another 60 euros more expensive than the "regular" fragrances in the already exclusive Les Extraits collection. For the fact that it basically just smells like a mixture of existing fragrances in the Louis Vuitton lineup, this pricing policy is really painful.
It is and remains a well-known dilemma - do I think the fragrance is so great that I have to have it? Can I afford it? Do I want to afford it and support this price policy? Am I perhaps simply thinking too much and should I just enjoy great fragrances? Questions upon questions... the answer? It's going to the top of my wish list for now, I can think about it later. The sample is enough for now, it's potent enough anyway.
Assam oud
French Rosa centifolia
Saffron
Ambrette
White musk
Bulgarian rose
Cocoa
Moss
Dimo808
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