Warm, round and rich. Belle Ame is a spectacularly well executed perfume which for me is based around a gorgeous but not atypical iris/orris scent with a musky, vanillic bedfellow of tonka absolute which really chimes in more in the latter stages. Initially I found it more than mildly leathery, the ginger gives a pop of freshness in the opening and again works incredibly well with orris materials. There's a huge dollop of jus ne sais quoi in this, a mysterious quality which takes it away from being just another niche brand iris/orris of which there are many, very good ones, but many which have similar tropes, tricks and material combinations, despite what the note listing here might suggest, it's not another of those. Cacao for example is one of those tropes with orris perfumes and in all fairness it's here, but it doesn't feel played out. I actually felt it was so subtle as to be more like a particularly chocolate faceted benzoin. Also, despite all my patter about originality and uniqueness, my immediate association was with Dior Homme Parfum, this is clearly different in many ways and smells like an elevated more natural version of what is a superb perfume in the Dior, so it's definitely not a diss! It has been suggested to me that this is quite a misleading comparison (by parties who shall remain nameless) but it really isn't. So fuck you Dad!!!! This is the second part in Les Abstraits inital trio of releases and represents the beginning of the healing process after La Douleur exquise and it truly is a beautiful soul, and masterfully made perfume which just like the first release, doesn't give away all it's secrets right away. It's a very mature and measured approach which is in it for the long haul and to stand the test of time, rather than the temporal, 'look at me', instant gratification culture of perfume products. Again, Bravo Eugen and crew for making the world a better place by creating art that is worthy of discussion, praise and your money.