Ma Bête Eris Parfums 2016

when i first tried this, way back a few years ago now, i honestly thought this kind of stank. i couldn't really identify anything from it besides the overall feeling that i didn't want it on my skin, and thus tried to wash it off and forget about it completely. trying it now, however, (curiosity will kill me eventually) i can at least pull it apart and identify / appreciate what i'm smelling, be that down to a wider appreciation of fragrances in general, the passing of time, some weird post-covid trickery; who knows.

i actually enjoy this now quite a lot. a waxy neroli with sparkly aldehydes open on first spray (the aldehydes in particular i find actually last quite a long while into the development of the perfume) that are almost immediately brought into orbit around a dusty, beautiful jasmine, dried and almost leathery in nature. i don't really pick up on anything animalic, per se, but i rarely ever do in so-called 'animalic perfumes'. this brings to mind instead a sort of faded glamour more than anything; a sparkling high that illuminates dust-filled, boarded off rooms that once held the grandest of soirees. you would find this perfume in a bottle there.

the base settles more into a spiced, peppery, even a little incense or stale cigarette-smoke-like musk, retaining the leathery nature found in the mid. without the light of the aldehydes (smelled from a distance they're still there - but close to skin they disappear) it becomes subsumed in a deep brown, grey and black darkness. now it does actually remind me of a vintage perfume i'm sure i tried in the past, but i cannot put a name to it. overall i'm glad i returned to this to try it. not entirely sure it's a love, yet, but it's a strong like for sure.