Miller Harris Fleurs de Sel, and a four star way to pre-empt 'post-perfume purchase cognitive dissonance'

Guerande salt marshes~ Source: definingfrance.com

I did the unthinkable the other day. I bought a nearly full bottle of perfume on the Facebook Fragrance/Sale/Swap/Split UK site. A woman was offloading her entire collection - or so it seemed - at very reasonable prices, and I quickly joined in the buying frenzy that ensued within a short while of her post going up. "MH Fleurs de Sel please if still available". My fingers tapped out the order as though with a life of their own. The very next day the bottle arrived, mine for £25 all in. Mint condition, with just 2ml or less missing.

I was very, very shocked at this impulsive behaviour. As regular readers know, I have absolutely no need of any more perfume, given my 60? strong bottle collection, countless decants, and innumerable samples. And while I do hanker after a few things: more/back ups of DSH Foxy and House of Cherry Bomb Immortal Beloved, for example, plus samples of Chanel 1957 and that new rose Hiram Green people are raving about - Lustre, that's the one - it is a big old leap from hankering to actually acquiring any of the stuff.

UPDATE: I have broken off writing this post to go and order samples of Lustre and Slowdive from the Hiram Green website! And was also bidding on eBay on a BNIB bottle of 1957 that is running at £75 at the moment, so I have accepted that while it is still a bargain at that price it is too much to pay, and way more juice than I need, so have bowed out of that particular fray...

Source: notino.co.uk

But back to my 48ml of Fleurs de Sel. I wasn't lemming after this scent - not remotely. I only have a dim recollection of how it smelt, though I do remember it as haunting in a flinty, grassy, salty way, as well as being splendidly evocative of the Brittany coastline with its wild, wind-whipped vegetation, spiky thistles underfoot as you tread on hot sand. Well, hot in the summer, maybe. You may recall how I am quietly obsessed with this particular hair gunk from Label M, which sadly makes my locks greasy, but has the most wonderful scent imaginable, far superior to many non-functional fragrances.

I blogged about the Label M mousse here, and note that I incorporated a mini-review of Fleurs de Sel into my post, along with one of The Different Company's Sel de Vetiver, of which the hair goo also reminded me:

"First up was MILLER HARRIS - FLEURS DE SEL:

Notes: rosemary, thyme, clary sage, angelica, iris, rose, narcissus, leather, amber, oakmoss and vetiver

This is very piquant and aromatic and an excellent rendition of the wild grasses in the sand dunes  and the beach. It is grainy in texture and a bit salty too, as though someone had gone for a swim and then rolled around immediately afterwards in a carpet of marram grass, sea rocket, holly and spurge. Maybe even the odd sprig of mouse ear hawkweed.

So notwithstanding its strongly vegetal focus, I think FdS is a very successful olfactory interpretation of the Breton coast which was its inspiration."

Well, well, I appear to have appreciated how Fleurs de Sel captures the Breton seascape way back then, even though this is the furthest thing from the style of scent I usually go for - vanilla-forward orientals and sultry white flower florals being my go-to genres for the most part.

Source: frenchfoodintheus.org

And in that split second when I perused the Facebook seller's list and typed my request to buy her bottle of Fleurs de Sel, a switch must have flicked in my brain and reconnected me to that beautiful rocky wilderness, even though I have never in fact been there. I have been to Brittany, mind, to interview a company that made cling film, but saw very little of the area. I just looked up where the factory was - in Pontivy - which is about as far inland as it is possible to go. Now that I have the house in France I am perhaps more drawn to perfumes inspired by anywhere in the 'hexagon', as the French refer to their country.

On a whim, I googled Batz-sur-Mer, the childhood home of perfumer Lyn Harris, which provided the inspiration for Fleurs de Sel. And lo and behold - it isn't in Brittany after all, but a bit south and round the coast in the Pays-de-la-Loire region, specifically the Loire-Atlantique department. Maybe there has been a deliberate spot of geographical fudging, as Brittany is so close, and more people would have heard of that area than its sister region. I have also pegged the salt marshes that provided the aromatic trigger to the scent's creation as those of the Guerande peninsula, also in the Loire-Atlantique (Pays-de-la-Loire). Frontier quibbler, moi? Oh, and I so wanted to put 'Quimper quibbler', but Quimper, being about as inland as Pontivy, doesn't come into it.;)

UPDATE: further research has uncovered the fact that the Loire-Atlantique department was spun off from Brittany in 1941, but was part of 'Old Brittany'. Apparently there is a big kerfuffle about it all that is still raging on, with many of the locals eager to be reintegrated into Brittany. More on the controversy here:

Batz-sur-Mer ~ Source: Tripadvisor

So anyway, the bottle arrived, and the perfume was just as I remembered it: bright, granular, herby, salty and earthy. I am pleased to be adding a bottle by Miller Harris to my collection - I have had one or two in the past - including Fleurs de Bois, for sure - but must have sold or lost them. Obviously I would not dream of suggesting I might have actually used them up!

Oh, just checked the notes of Fleurs de Bois - now discontinued - and it is classed as aromatic-citrus. I must be a closet herbal fan after all...For there's rosemary and grass in there!

Notes: galbanum, grass, Sicilian lemon, tangerine, rose, rosemary, iris, oakmoss, patchouli, sandalwood, vetiver

I have been wearing Fleurs de Sel for two days now, and it is as haunting as I remember - and as 'not-really-me-but-I-like-it'. Then, because it was so out of character for me to buy a whole bottle of something so vaguely remembered and so far from lemming status, I felt I needed extra validation for my - if not blind exactly, but definitely somewhat myopic - buy. I turned to Bois de Jasmin first of all, whose taste happens to be closely aligned with mine, such that many of my most loved perfumes historically have been ones she has awarded four or five stars. And blow me if she didn't give Fleurs de Sel four stars too...;)

In her review, Victoria writes:

"Fleurs de Sel is one of the best examples of Lyn Harris’s ability to marry a lush, nature-inspired quality with modern minimalism. The result is nuanced and elegant, with an interesting twist on the classical theme."

On a reviewer roll here, I dared to consult the original Perfumes The Guide book, and was delighted to see that Luca Turin gave Fleurs de Sel four stars as well! He calls it "this elegant, highly original herbaceous-marine composition", adding that it cannot have been easy to compose.

So I feel completely vindicated now.  I Did Not Need this perfume - and didn't even know I wanted it until a moment before I committed to buy - but it feels like a distinctive and special addition to my collection. Intimately bound up with my happy links to France. And as I have a friend in Nantes, the nearest city, maybe I will visit the Loire-Atlantique one day...

Source: ucipliban.org

Lostmarc'h L'Eau De L'Hermine Review - Love At First Nip!

Well, well...the other day I did that thing I vowed I wouldn't do any more, seasoned-and-semi-jaded-perfumista-with-a-fridge-full-of-flacons that I am - I bought a bottle of a particular scent after a single test spray. No waiting until I had at least drained my sample, no trying to squirrel away decants through swaps on Makeupalley, no checking out the listings on Wikisplits. No, straight for the jugular - as in hit the Paypal button - and in no time at all our chirpy postman with the surfer dude shades was knocking on the door with a parcel containing a verdantly well packaged bottle of Lostmarc'h l'eau de l'Hermine....

How did this happen? How did I manage to fall so hard and fast for a perfume from a range to which I have mostly tuned out up to now? Yes, I must admit to overlooking Lostmarc'h as a brand, partly because I am never sure where to put the apostrophe, and partly because I really didn't care for the bread puddingfest that is Lann-Ael, which is also difficult to spell. I know, it's Breton - hey, I have visited a cling film manufacturer in central Brittany on an industrial estate called "Kerguilloten", so I expect a few linguistic curved balls - but still.

The fact is, I received a sample of l'eau de l'Hermine as an extra in a swap this week. I have written a few cynical and fully jaded posts about swapping, in particular the high mileage dross that passes for "thoughtful extras" in so many of these transactions, but this particular extra from a relatively new swapper with just six tokens to her name pulled me up short.

It was a citrussy, musky scent in the same vein as Sonoma Scent Studio Opal (sandalwood, vanilla, musk, bergamot, ambrette) or Creative Scentualization Perfect Veil (lemon, bergamot, musk, vanilla, sandalwood), but it was lighter and more scintillating somehow. Maybe because it has neither vanilla nor sandalwood, though it is also a minimalist, bergamot-and-musk composition.

Bizarrely, the notes in l'eau de l'Hermine would never have reeled me in on their own, not being a fan of lavender, grapefruit OR heliotrope. And I do tend to sneer at peony a little, with it being such a ubiquitous note in Stella Flankers and fruity florals generally.

Notes: lavender, grapefruit, bergamot, neroli, peony, heliotrope, white musk

Yet the whole composition is so seamlessly blended that no one note asserts itself unduly. The citrus opening - with bergamot and neroli uppermost to my nose, tempered by the lavender which adds an offbeat herbal edge - is sparkling and bright. It positively tingles, like salt spray on your cheek. I visualise a rugged coastline, with the sun glinting on the waves as they crash on the rocks.

Then within seconds the clean and muzzy musk and heliotrope notes of the base nudge their way through, toning down the glittering citrus accord. And tucked in between the two is a bright and cheerful peony note that has made me rethink my attitude to the flower. After all, I do like Histoires de Parfums Vert Pivoine, though it does sound better in French.

So I was immediately smitten by l'eau de l'Hermine - a daytime Holy Grail Scent, near as dammit - or one of a select few (under 10, say)! I keep banging on on Bonkers about how much I like understated, muted scents, and this is right up there with the very best of the "quiet" genre, with a marked summer vibe. Marina of Perfumesmellingthings says she would like to "swim in it", and I completely agree. And certainly you do have to reapply l'eau de l'Hermine rather a lot, as it is fairly fleeting. But that's fine - you won't ever hear me complain about evanescence. Why, I have one of their albums!

The description of l'eau de l'Hermine on Luckyscent's website sums up its impressionistic style:

"The fragrances from Lostmarc’h are like watercolor sketches of Brittany – vivid, but with a certain delicacy, capturing the spirit and enchantment of the place with a few precise, perfectly placed strokes."

And there is another reason why l'eau de l'Hermine was calling my name, apart from the connection with Brittany and the cling film factory. It is to do with the dear little ermine featured on the bottle...

The ermine (Mustela erminea) is a member of the weasel family, which also includes the marten, the weasel proper, the polecat, ferret and mink: all of them deceptively cute looking furry creatures with a tendency to administer a nasty nip to any soft flesh they might find on their forays up trouser legs.

Now in winter the ermine's fur turns white, but the tip of its tail remains black. In the 14th century a pattern of white with black spots at recurring intervals was adopted in heraldry, most notably in the Breton coat of arms, featuring a design of "herminois plain" ("plain ermine").

My own convoluted link with ermines is through Max Rat, the small and rather bendy soft toy I take on my work trips. Bloody Frida has met him, and can vouch for his compact size and pliability. Additionally Max is trimmed with fur, which led me to coin the phrase: "The vermin with ermine".

So what's the allusion to water all about, you may wonder? If you let your mind wander a bit too freely, "The ermine's water" doesn't sound too fragrant on the face of it. I am guessing, but I think the "eau" may either just be short for "cologne" (as in the cologne associated with Brittany's animal emblem), OR it could also be a reference to the pool which, legend has it, one particularly pelt-proud ermine refused to cross.

"In Brittany, we usually say that Duchess Anne saw a ermine chased by hunters and this ermine stopped, refused to cross a pool and prefered to die. The duchess said that it was an act of bravery. The motto of the Duchy of Brittany is Potius mori quam foedari (Latin) / Kentoc'h mervet eget am zoatran (Breton), Rather dead than spoiled."

Mikael Bodlore-Penlaez

"Spoiled", as in "soiled", I take it - the animal's nice white fur might have got a bit bedraggled crossing that pool. Elsewhere I have seen this motto translated as "Death before dishonour", where the dishonour is (presumably) specifically linked to the act of getting dirty!

It is an interesting tale, especially when I think about the dishevelled state in which I opened the door to the postman bearing my perfume parcel! He always makes some wisecrack if he finds me dressed before lunchtime...



Yes, l'eau de l'Hermine has wormed its way into my affections like a ferret up a drainpipe. Let's hope some of the animal's high sartorial standards may rub off on me. And if not, I will be happy just to splash on copious amounts of the stuff and smell like the sunlit sea in Dinard...

UPDATE: As a rare bonus, Mr Bonkers likes it too! I was half way across the living room when he remarked: "That is almost acceptable from a distance", adding after a pause: "Yes, I'd say that is my No 1 least hated perfume so far."


Photo of Lostmarc'h store display from 2010.espadrillesetchampagne.com, photo of Breton coastline from pt.surf-forecast.com, photo of flag from crwflags.com, etching of ermine from lookandlearn.com, other photos my own.