Mxxx. Eris Parfums 2019

Mxxx. is said to contain high doses of ambergris and hyraceum, both from natural resources. One would expect a certain level of animalic funk, but there is no sign of that at all. However, there is this unmistakable fresh-warm ambergris glow. Contrary to ambergris in synthetic form, which can be all too linear or even deteriorating over time, this just keeps evolving and getting better by the hour.

To get to this sweet ambergris glow, one will have to sit through a few meaningless stages. The opening may be somewhat interesting with its chocolate-tobacco notes, but these soon fade into a bland greyness of saffron, ginger and a faint resin. Pale and hollow is how I described it in my testing notes. It appears it is a true waiting game for the ambergris to take an active role. By the time it has finally warmed up, things stay in a more comfortable state of cocoa-powdered patina. If there is any hyraceum in here, it does a good job staying hidden.

Mxxx. is not Antoine Lie's best work with ambergris. It feels nice in the end, but a little uninspiring overall. For an unforgettable ambergris experience from Lie's hand, I would recommend Ambre Suprême instead.

Madison, a college freshman at NYU, is stuck going to dinner with her recently-divorced uncle Gary. She's not thrilled about it since it's a Friday night and she'd rather be hanging out with her friends, but it's a free meal at what sounds like a nice restaurant. She's going to try and catch up with her friends after at a party, because this cute boy Zach from her Sociology class will be there, and she wants to flirt with him, and hopefully Katey doesn't get there before her because she knows she has the same idea. She sprays on a hefty dose of Demeter Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Kisses, layering it over a short spray of Demeter Vanilla Cake Batter.

Gary is a childless divorced pharmaceutical rep who's re-entering the dating scene. He's in his early fifties, and twenty years of marriage has caused him to sag a little around the middle. He hasn't quite started losing his hair yet, but he checks obsessively every day. He makes good money, so he bought some new clothes that he thinks make him look a little younger. He's an easy mark for attractive salespeople, and was convinced to get a couple new colognes at Bergdorf Goodman. He went right to the more expensive brands, the kind with stuff like oud, hyrax, and ambergris, which he thought smelled really sexy and deep at the store.

He's taking his niece out for dinner, not that he really wants to but he does every now and then as a favor to his sister, and he's developed a bit of a crush on this one hostess at Vanities, the new Evan Kiley bistro in Tribeca, so it's an excuse to make a reservation there. He's trying to think of what to say to make it clear, but in a casual, tossed off and not forced way, that Madison is his niece and not his date, because the hostess might think it was creepy that a guy his age was out with a 19 year old girl. He puts a spritz of one of his new colognes on his wrists and puts on some of his new clothes.

On the subway to the restaurant, he begins to think maybe his new cologne smells like poop.

By the time he gets there he thinks that maybe he has too much on, and gets a little paranoid that others can smell it far away. But it was really expensive so it must be nice, right? Maybe he's overreacting. Luckily he's there a good ten minutes early, so he tells the hostess he's waiting for his niece (whew! that was easy!) while he gets a drink at the bar. Some cocktail with Bourbon and Canton's Ginger Liqueur. It's very sweet.

When Madison gets to the restaurant, she sees her Uncle Gary wearing a shirt that seems way too young for him over at the bar. He's nice but it's a little creepy. "I hope no thinks I'm his date" she worries to herself. She gives him a hug and thinks he smells a little like sweet poop. It's not quite off-putting but it's weird.

Jeremy is a 28 year old actor in NYC, but he makes good tips as a waiter at Vanities, that new Evan Kiley place in Tribeca, and as one of the more experienced waiters in the initial hirings he got the cushy weekend high-tip shifts. He's really good at his job, always professional, never drinks or gets high before a shift, naturally very attentive to the customers in his section and even other people's sections. He'll move up to Maitre D' eventually. He's waiting in the wings while Becca, the hostess, seats a middle-aged guy who's been in a couple times before. He's got a young girl with him, and he wonders if she's an escort. Good if that's the case, since last time he was in he was alone, eating at the bar, and it seemed like he might have been ogling Becca a little. Yeah, Becca's attractive - she and Jeremy even made out one night, after a long bout of after-shift drinking, but then she fell asleep on his couch and they didn't do anything and they just laughed about it the next day, and even though they never did that again they became good friends and he keeps an eye out for her at work, especially when creepy middle aged guys hit on her.

After Becca seats them she flashes him the signal that they asked for tap, not sparkling. He tries to remember the guy's name as he fills the carafe, since he's a return customer - Greg, maybe? - he checks the reservation app before he goes over - GARY! That's right. He was close. "G" names. There are some notes on him in the app. Allergic to walnuts.

"Hi, welcome back!" he says, as he leans over the table to fill their glasses.

And somewhere, in the negative space he entered between them, the air was charged with Hershey's Kisses, ginger liqueur breath, and... diapers?

And in that space, in Jeremy the Actor's nostrils, Mxxx by Eris was born.

Mxxx

The reviews below mine do a great job of summing up the notes. But, let's talk about the vibe. Very sensual, warm, loving, slightly dirty, slightly spicy incense, but a very human creation. Seriously hands down one the best fragrances I've come across on my perfume journey.

I only have tried the sample and the sprayer sort of sucks so the juice comes out all squirty like. You guys know what I'm talking about. So the fragrance sits a little lower on the skin, smoldering. However, she sings when it heats up. You get this cocoa and salty ambergris wafting as you move about. Truly a mesmerizing scent and that's with a sucky sprayer!! However, still get the Eris sample set bc the whole line is STUNNING with a capital G. They give you $45 off your purchase of a full bottle, hard to turn that down. Great prices on Eris frags you guys.

The issue I'm having is getting Mx or Mxxx. I love them both. Mx feels like I would wear it more, and Mxxx feels deeply personal. We shall see.

Truly great work from Barbara and Antoine on this collaboration.

Was expecting Mxxx. to be an animalistic beast with an interesting chocolate twist. I wasn't disappointed - it is that, but unfortunately performance is weak. After an interesting spicy opening, the cocoa makes its appearance and is quite pleasant. As it dries down, the animalic notes appear with the cocoa mellowed and hanging subtly in the background. It also quickly retreated to a skin scent with surprising longevity. It's just barely noticeable and quite an intimate fragrance. Mxxx. would probably do better in summer (I'm testing in winter) but too weak for me to consider further.

For me, it has kind of a tobacco beginning (not like Tobaccovanille type, but like dried brown tobacco leaves, ready for usage), that is mixed with notes of vanilla, incense, patchouli and a bit of animalic. The chocolate/cocoa note is in here too, it reminds me of the chocolate from Ore by Slumberhouse - a dry and dusty one. At the drydown I get a nice sweet patchouli with wood. The composition is rich and interesting, a certain curtsy towards the gourmand genre, but with pinpoint references in the classics (and again I'm not talking about Tobaccovanille here:)).