![\"Atelier](\"https:\/\/nstperfume.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/ir-s1.jpg\")
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Last month, I walked into my local Sephora, smelled Atelier Cologne’s<\/a> latest, Iris Rebelle, and had a travel spray packaged and paid for within about 5 minutes. Must have been fantastic stuff, you say? Well, it’s decent, but I wouldn’t go so far as fantastic. If I’d had a sample at home and spent some time with it, it wouldn’t even have made my buy list \u2014 which, by the way, is a looooong<\/em> list. There are an awful lot of perfumes I’d much rather own than Iris Rebelle. So why did I buy it?<\/p>\n The long digression, in which I surely repeat things I’ve said here earlier<\/span><\/strong>: My perfume buying habits have changed drastically over the years. In my pre-perfumista days, I generally had a fragrance I wore as a signature; at times, I might have owned two or even as many three fragrances at a time, but that’s it, and I usually returned to the same fragrances for periods of years. Over the years, the cast of characters included Diorissimo<\/a>, Jean Couturier Coriandre<\/a>, Chanel Cristalle<\/a>, Yves Saint Laurent Paris<\/a>, Prescriptives Calyx<\/a>, Aramis New West (remember that one?), Perfumer’s Workshop Tea Rose<\/a>, the original Halston, and probably others that aren’t coming to mind at the moment.<\/p>\n Then in 2003, I wandered into MakeupAlley’s fragrance board. By the end of the year, I had my first two niche purchases: Parfums de Nicola\u00ef Balle de Match<\/a> and Diptyque Philosykos<\/a>. I might have gone on happily with just those two, but I’d gotten the bug, so to speak, and I spent much of 2004 happily \u2014 too happily for my wallet \u2014 building my collection. Near the end of the year, I decided I’d better restrict myself to 2 new bottles a month, and in 2005, the same year I started Now Smell This, I stuck to 1 bottle a month. Despite that, by 2009, I had more perfume than I’ll ever manage to use up, and I started to take my budgeting more seriously. I brought in Donatella<\/a> to help me keep track of my purchases.<\/p>\n I did get my spending under control, but even then, I started to worry about the sheer number of mls<\/a> in my cabinet, and at some point, I can’t remember when, I decided I would no longer buy any bottles larger than 30 ml, and that I’d go for even smaller sizes when I could. Since small bottles weren’t yet as easy to come by as they are now, and since I won’t buy rollerballs, that had a big impact, as did the gradual shift to doing more of my general shopping online: like many others in the US, I stopped spending as much time in malls as I used to. That made an obvious dent in spur-of-the-moment buying. In 2013 and 2014, my expenditures were under $150 a year, and then in 2015, I bought nothing at all.<\/p>\n Buying no perfume at all for year was a lot easier than I thought it would be. In 2016, I did buy again, but everything I bought was 15 ml or under, and all of the scents were things I loved. Ditto with my three purchases for 2017: travel sprays of Bruno Fazzolari Lampblack<\/a>, Narciso by Narciso Rodriguez Eau de Parfum<\/a> and Dries Van Noten par Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Malle<\/a>.<\/p>\n So why did I kick off 2018 by buying a fragrance I had barely smelled and wasn’t at all sure I would love? Well, I was stressed, it was winter, I was in a store, it smelled acceptable, it was iris, the box (below right) was pretty, it was small, it was under $30. That’s a deadly combination.<\/p>\n So, Iris Rebelle<\/span><\/strong>: Atelier Cologne calls it an “inspired blend of fresh iris and lavender enriched with earthy gaiac wood”; other notes include bergamot, orange blossom, black pepper, rose, patchouli and white musk. It’s a pleasant, light, powdery fragrance, easy to wear, perhaps not all that rebellious unless you consider the rootier aspects of iris to be rebellious? It is<\/em> a bit carroty \u2014 far too carroty for some, to be sure, but nowhere near the levels of some of my favorites1<\/sup> \u2014 and the dry woods and white musk smooth over the pepper and the earthy elements, and lend a clean edge. It’s brighter and cleaner (and less fruity) than the brand’s Silver Iris<\/a>. There is lavender, but it’s the usual modern lavender fraction, not spiky at all and you won’t likely notice it unless you go looking for it. There is a wispy floral floating through the heart. It’s pretty unisex to my nose, and the lasting power is decent enough.<\/p>\n Verdict<\/span><\/strong>: It’s well done, and if I am not pleased with my purchase, it’s only because I already own so many iris fragrances I like far better: for a muted iris, I’d still be more likely to reach for Prada Infusion d’Iris<\/a>, and when I want carrots, I want Honor\u00e9 des Pr\u00e9s I Love Les Carottes<\/a>. (If you want turnips, of course you need Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist<\/a>, although for all I know they’ve reformulated the turnips right out.) Still, I’ll wear it, and the travel spray is convenient. If you don’t yet have a spring \/ summer weight iris, and you like carrots, do give it a shot.<\/p>\n Atelier Cologne Iris Rebelle is $26 for 10 ml, $85 for 30 ml, or $150 for 100 ml Cologne Absolue. It was developed by perfumer Ralf Schwieger<\/a>.<\/p>\n 1. One reviewer on Sephora notes that “Unfortunately I got a baby carrot smell when I smelled this”, only to be chastised by a later reviewer: “I don’t know why an adult with a nose would say this smells like carrots. It smells like irises.” So!<\/p>\n![\"Atelier](\"https:\/\/nstperfume.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/iris-rebe.jpg\")
<\/p>\nRelated...<\/h2>\n
5 perfumes: iris fragrances for spring<\/a><\/div><\/div>\nPossibly of interest<\/h2>\n