Best Interlude Black Iris by Amouage Alternatives & Similar Perfumes

Perfumer: Christophe Raynaud

A moonlit leather made with velvety violet leaves and smooth cool orris, all studded with cardamom, dry cedar and spicy earthy cypriol.

In the Beso trio, Beso Negro ("kiss of the darkness") represents the sleepless nights of the busy holiday island: velvety darkness, golden lanterns, cooling sea breeze, stars, and sand.

There’s a tantalising friction in the smell of iris root. It’s austere, but tender. It can be powdery, but it also suggests leather. Depending on the context, it can read as feminine or masculine. Iris Ardent resolves this fabled material’s dissonance in a compelling eau de parfum that balances all of iris’ contradictions. The opening spikes of cypress and vetiver provide the scaffolding for cushiony amber and powdery iris. Juniper’s bright twang illuminates the darkness of incense and moss. Intellectual, but accessible.

‘All the soarings of my mind begin in my blood’

Rainer Maria Rilke

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A perfumed celebration of saints and superstitions, centred around a fierce fenugreek absolute note lavished with singed pyrazines, sacrificial myrrh and mournful molten honey poured over everything like amber rain.  Meadow blooms, sticky dark resins, pungent balms and ashen clouds of iris swirl like dramatic weather.

The floriental baroquesque parfum St. Paul's embodies an adoration and admiration to the spectacular era of Baroque. This style in architecture, music, art, sculpture demonstrates exalted movements, clear details, intense light and dark shadows, emotional exuberance, richness, extravaganza, which distinct baroque from other style. 

The English baroque represents iconic St. Paul's Cathedral, which dome has long dominated the London skyline. 

The perfume opens with the precious orange flower and jasmine absolutes with a hint of dried and juicy fruits, contrasting with the darker woody and balsamic base. 

‘O absent presence, Stella is not here’

The fifth and final instalment of the Revenants collection draws inspiration from the Elizabethan poet Sir Philip Sidney. In his Sonnet sequence ‘Astrophel and Stella’ Sidney develops and captures the essence of a haunting… the presence of one that is always felt but never seen.

‘Now I, wit-beaten long by hardest fate,

So dull am, that I cannot look into

The ground of this fierce love and lovely hate,

Then some good body tell me how I do,

Whose presence absence, absent presence is;

Blesst in my curse, and cursed in my bliss.’

January 1618 A Japanese Galleon, the Pacific Ocean

Following a diplomatic mission to the West, a galleon carrying a delegation of samurai charges through dark ocean currents. Loaded with a rare and precious cargo, the ship’s hull is redolent of sweet-smelling tropical woods, heady Spanish leather, frankincense, fine black pepper and other exotic ground spices—the intoxicating spirit of a singular, extraordinary voyage of discovery.

A good perfume to visit if your are in a search for perfect true sandalwood,  smoky and a touch dirty. Arquiste carefully selected the companions for its sandal in this formula: tea and osmanthus, coffee, myrrh and stryrax and others to give it a dark, sensual depth.

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GQ US on Nanban:

"This is my signature scent. I wear it all the time. And let me tell you: I’ve never worn something that has gotten so many compliments—no sunglasses, no sneakers, no full-body rubber suit. People actually turn their heads and ask me what I'm wearing. And then they jot down the product name. Arquiste’s masterpiece introduces itself with Malabar black pepper and Persian saffron, gives way to coffee, sandalwood, myrrh, and Spanish leather, and embraces you all day with a blanket of frankincense, balsam, and cade juniper."

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Financial Times' resident perfume writer Victoria Frolova on Nanban:

"... approach coffee notes creatively. Instead of mimicking nature, a perfumer instead might fashion a blend that hints at coffee’s pleasing bitterness and heady richness. Such is Arquiste’s Nanban (£160 for 100ml EDP). The composition uses a plush backdrop of woods to frame the smoky, spicy notes of myrrh and incense, with an accent of coffee to lend the composition a dark, delicious twist. It teases with its smoky, nutty warmth, but keeps its presence mellow behind layers of sandalwood and leather."

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“Hey Bitch! You smell fucking good.” In Perfume World, that’s what we call a result. Hey Bitch! raises eyebrows with its dissonance between buttery, blowsy orange blossom and tough, bitter leather. Tangy rhubarb at the top snaps its fingers in your face, before dissolving into a blur of suedey iris and milky sandalwood. The dance between bitter and sweet keeps you on your toes throughout, conjuring hints of…what? Photocopier ink? Coffee? For sure it conjures ambered black leather, Bitch!

Memories of the Golden Temple in India. A warm leather caress enhanced by a resinous hug of labdanum, further softened by Cashmeran. Incense adds a smoky spark, while patchouli and cypriol supply the earthiness.

Perfumer: Mylène Alran

Year: 1979
Place: Paris
Champagne in crystal flutes, jasmine vines and iris roots, limbs tangled and lipstick smudged, a poet and a muse, an ocean of violets in bloom. “Love is reciprocal torture,” breathed through a cloud of powder.

The wild and free spirit of a lost island captured in a fruity and sweet perfume with notes of icy pear, soft iris and creamy vanilla. Happy and juicy, Isla Bohemia slows its roll into a mellow base of sandalwood and musk.