SOTD: Miller Harris Fleurs de Bois

The sample box was bulging, so I poured it out, threw out the empties, and looked for something new to try among the vials that had been hiding in the bottom. I chose Miller Harris Fleurs de Bois, because I couldn't remember anything about it, including why I bought it.

Looking up the notes list cleared up that question: Galbanum, grass, lemon, green mandarine, rosemary, rose, jasmine, iris, oak moss, patchouli, sandalwood, vetiver, myrrh and birch. Yum. The only thing wrong with that list is the myrrh.

Unfortunately, myrrh is often enough to ruin any fragrance for me, and it comes dangerously close to ruining Fleurs de Bois. I love the sharp green, and the subtle, un-candy citrus. The herbal bite of the rosemary and patchouli. The flowers - though I'd like a little more distinction between the rose and jasmine. The powdery texture that I believe comes from the iris, and the darkness that probably comes from the oakmoss. And something, probably the wood, giving it depth and structure. I imagine it as a stack of translucent, floating silky layers.

But then there's the myrrh, popping up through the middle with a Nelson Muntz Ha ha!

I can't tell if I'm going to get past it. This could, for all I know, be the fragrance that teaches me to love myrrh, surrounding it, the way it does, with so many lovely notes. I'll know after a few more wearings.

Review Roundup: Fragrantica and The Scented Salamander and Basenotes and A Rose Beyond The Thames and +Q Perfume Blog.

Link Roundup: Miller Harris (interview).

Image: By Tcbaz. Wikimedia Commons.