See Prices

More

We may earn a commission when you buy from links on our site, including the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.

Iris de Nuit Heeley

7.3 / 10 235 Ratings

A perfume by Heeley for women and men. The release year is unknown. The scent is floral-powdery. It is still in production.
Pronunciation Compare

More

We may earn a commission when you buy from links on our site, including the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.

Main accords

Floral

Powdery

Woody

Fresh

Green

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Ambrette

Angelica seed

Heart Notes

Violet

Italian iris absolute

Carrot seed

Base Notes

Ambergris

White cedar

Perfumer

James Heeley

Ratings

Scent

7.3235 Ratings

Longevity

6.9185 Ratings

Sillage

5.9173 Ratings

Bottle

7.3156 Ratings

Value for money

6.635 Ratings

Submitted by Andi136 · last update on 12/12/2025.

Source-backed & verified

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Nirmal

Iris de Syracuse

Orris Tattoo/29

Infusion d'Homme Eau de Toilette

Iris silver mist

Iris Goddess

Reviews

19 in-depth fragrance descriptions

04/25/2013

10Scent 7.5Longevity 5Sillage

FloraMilena
47 Reviews

FloraMilena

Helpful Review 9

SUBLIME BEAUTY

IRIS DE NUIT by James Heeley

Mystical, Magical, Enchantingly beautiful. This distinctly unusual wraith-like scent drifts up with a swirling haze of cool, shadowy Iris and powdery Violets. Misty tendrils of sweet herbal-green angelica and sensually rich ambrette seed are woven seamlessly through this composition and linger throughout its duration; giving a tremendous feeling of openness, spaciousness, and an elusively fine, airy splendor between the pull of the celestially transcendent crystalline angelica and the earthy voluptuous carnality of the musk mallow. The juxtaposition of these two notes is uniquely brilliant in this perfume.

An interesting dewy-moist vegetal of carrot seeds is very subdued and serves to maintain the otherworldly beauty of the Iris firmly to the very end of the dry down, gradually increasing the feeling of wetness as the Violet completely recedes and the majestic Iris proclaims her dominion. A breathtakingly clean cedar serenely grounds the entire composition with quietly somber grandeur, while smoothly consistent amber provides an invitingly warm and intimate sort of tender coziness to the entire work.

This is a truly magical scent impression of fireflies hovering in the misty twilight, with elves and fairies and other nocturnal creatures stirring in the gathering dusk. It is the scent of night itself awakening in a tranquil forest just as the air turns cool at lakeside.

This to me is stunningly exquisite, unbelievably refined, and just profoundly beautiful. The balance here between masculine and feminine, between spiritual and corporeal, between dryness budding into moisture, between that perfect moment of light closing into darkness is so perfectly balanced that it is… sublime.

On my skin and to my nose, this is Iris perfection.

09/21/2012

9Scent 7.5Longevity 5Sillage

Ysbrand
84 Reviews

Ysbrand

Very helpful Review 5

Wild violets and squeaking bats

Once we found a bat in the attic. Somehow he got trapped. I was very excited because i love all animals, specially the strange ones. It was tiny. The bones of the translucid pink wings were so thin and perfect, the eyes were as tiny as the tip of a needle, as they were its teeth, and the fur was the softest thing i have ever touched, so soft it would make cats and rabbits feel rough. I held him carefully, while he complained and then released him into the night. The smoothness of the bat and the happiness of its finding are very similar to the sensations i get from Iris de Nuit.

Iris de Nuit is an iris fragance as it is a violet fragance. Violet and iris are so intimately mingled that you don´t know where iris starts or violet ends, a little bit what happens in Serge Lutens´ Bas de Soie with other iris and in this case hyacinth. So far, it was love at first sniff. Iris and violet are one of this blue/purple tinged notes that make me sigh in rapture every time i find them in a perfume.

Iris de Nuit starts very green and flowery. A chilly musky violet and some bitterness from the angelica and the carrot seeds. It truly has a night quality, or better, twilight, when the sunlight is almost gone and you start feeling the air getting fresher, and you go for a cardigan. Iris is earth caked, with nuances of turnip and carrot, enhanced by the last one´s seed.

This dusky violet/iris heart last very long on the skin. Violet doesn´t smell too sweet or prim, but on the contrary is wild and sultry, the dirty iris contrubutes an outdoor feeling. I am bewitched by the transparence of this perfume; the drydown is a warm ambery iris similar to Dior Homme, very refined and elegant, and a bit soapy. We could say the iris starts a bit dirty and ends neat and clean. The dominant violet is reduced to a whisper.

Heeley is becoming a favourite house. I get in here what i want from violet and orris without the distraction of other misleading notes. Some might find it too simple and introverted, but to me is perfect.

12/05/2013

10Scent 10Longevity 10Sillage

Tessa
83 Reviews

Tessa

Helpful Review 5

My Iris Forever.

After Iris Nobile who has a weak developpment and, after purchasing Cuir Pleine Fleur, I trusted Heeley's ability to create a well rounded scent out of the iris and I was not wrong. This is one of my favorite perfumes. All the power of this flower is treasured in the violet colored liquid that may warm up your days. Worth every penny.

07/31/2025

ClaireV
969 Reviews

ClaireV

Helpful Review 3

Sublime pastoral violet-iris

Pairing a fresh, carroty iris to a greenish violet, this fragrance manages to evoke both a rain-soaked English garden and the clean lines of the Chrysler building. It's also one of those rare fragrances that clearly emits a color like other fragrances emit a sound or an image. Its wistful tone reminds me somewhat of Après L'Ondee. But although it shares some of its faintly anisic, herbal qualities, Iris de Nuit feels very much of this century - modern, streamlined, bound to this earth - not cut adrift in a permanent fugue state.

Iris de Nuit is a clean, transparent fragrance, but the ambrette seed adds a vegetal, muskiness that blurs the sharp edges of the violets and iris until it takes on a slightly fur-like texture. Angelica root imparts the green, mouth-sucking astringency of green rhubarb stalks, less of a smell than a crisp, herbal taste I can read with the back of my tongue. In the base, there is a slight herbal saltiness from ambergris and a haunting woodiness.

But it's difficult to dissect such haunting loveliness. Every note in this fragrance knits in so tightly with the others that one gets just an overall impression of a series of overlapping tints and tones duck-egg blue fading into violet and then night blue, like being inside a cubist's art installation or just standing on a dusty road somewhere watching darkness fall.

09/13/2023

9.5Scent

OdorAeternus
27 Reviews

OdorAeternus

3

King of Iris, violet powdery fragrance.

This fragrance is highly highly sophisticated. One of the best Iris powdery scents I've ever tried. The combination of notes used here is really smart and to me the best possible combination to make an Iris-Violet-Powdery fragrance. The violet gives a soft leathery feeling. The Violet and iris are extremely well balanced with Ambrette, and carrot seeds. Both of these notes are very interesting, and to me add a layer of elegance and sophistication to the skin. And finally, the angelica here gives a fresh, nice, clean earthiness to the combination. To me, this is really a masterpiece.

More reviews