It's striking to me how few reviews there are for this perfume, perhaps I imagined this, conjured up a massive (if cultish) following in my head for this perfume but I honestly thought this was a best seller from the brand...hmmmm... anyway... Mxxx is the ultimate nuzzling in, comfort blanket of a perfume I've ever smelled. I first sampled it a few years ago and got around to popping it on again the otherday and while a massively enjoyable experience as it is...I'm not sure I can tell you why? such is the unknowable nature of this perfume. It smells like the refined essence of why we're into this damn stuff in the first place. I can't really smell a pethora of notes or clever transitions or collections of accords but does that make this one dimensional? No. I don't believe it does. Linear? well maybe but also,.no. It feels deliberately constructed in one sense but with the seeming absence of the hand of a creator in the other, a beautiful mistake, yet nature doesn't make mistakes right? I can smell, sandalwood, musks and that aloof yet familiar animal fixative, 'skin' warmth of ambergris, which has the strange quality of going on and then going in, seemingly deep into your skin, if I was a twat I might say 'permeating your soul' or some hokey, corny BS like that.... but actually it kinda does. A contradictory and defiant perfume then, one which has to be smelled. I feel it's a base heavy perfume I can only percieve a little scratch of top notes and then everything mid and base just seemlessly flows into one another. I feel this is a love letter to enthuiasts, something which has this inate appeal to any human nose but I think typically your average Muggle might struggle to 'get' this as a perfume but will be as drawn to it's loveliness as anyone else. It doesn't smell like Guerlain's iconic Jicky but in spirit & style I believe it to be a fairly good comparison. I love Mxxx, but it lacks a focal point for me, something I can really get behind. If it was a bit more animalic in an outragous sense like another perfume to which this could be compared Affinessence... something...name escapes me...errrrr... the Ambergris one... ??? But then again it might lose some of it's mystique and refinement. It's such an enigma I can't even make up my mind. Try it though, you won't regret it.
I've always loved the idea of gourmands but I often find them too sweet, sickly and overbearing. I was close to writing off gourmands completely until I smelled this.
This was just a random blind by from a sample set with no expectations. On strip I just got some gentle animalic notes and not too much else and put it to the side. Decided to spray it on skin and give it a full go, and I'm delighted to discover how wonderful this is on skin.
The opening hits you briefly with a strong dose of warm nutmeg and spices, that admittedly I'd have loved to get more than a couple of seconds of as I keep wanting to reapply, and then after a few seconds the spices settle and you are finally met with a wall of strong clean waxy ambergris and cacao that comes together to smell like a high-end chocolaterie. There is no cheap sugary sweetness to it at all. Just a warm cacao with a vanilla blanket. Underneath all of this is an animalic base that never becomes stinky or dirty. The hyraceum just adds this warm hug to the overall experience creating a close and comforting feel, and giving it a wonderful character to the body of the fragrance. It has synthetic castoreum, but definitely in very low amounts and hard to detect. It's a very well balanced experience.
It's not a punchy fragrance by any means though. It settles down quickly into a skin scent so you'll definitely need a few sprays to get it to the point it will jump out at you as you wear it, as one spritz on the skin may leave you hungry for more.
If you like warmer scents but not too big on scents that creep into the gourmand territory I still think it's worth looking into as you may surprise yourself.
Eris Perfumes Mx is the slithering, unsettling echo of an intrusive thought, a fixation, a compulsion that thrums beneath your skin and stirs unease and intrigue in equal measure. Hypnotizing tendrils of saffron, a musky murmur of something primal, something unnerving. Velvety sandalwood, a plushness of warmth, of comfort, but something's not quite right. A shivery nip of ginger, a prick of pepper, sharp, sudden, jolting you awake, reminding you that you’re not yourself. The mirror wavers, reflects the eyes of a stranger you don't recognize, a smile playing on lips that aren't yours. Secretive, intimate, and sheer, this is the perfume of a whisper that clings to you, the memory of actions you can't explain, of choices you didn't make. Are they yours, these yearnings, or have you become a fascination, a vessel for the uninvited, a maddening allure let loose from the dark?
EDIT: After I'd written all of this based on a very strong recollection that it brought up for me, I realized I wrote all of this slithery gorgeous malevolence about a perfume that celebrates freeing oneself from gender binaries... and that if one didn't know me, this review could be taken as me as someone who is freaked out or grossed out about that. Or something equally as unfortunate that I would hate to have ascribed to me. Nooooooo! Please don't think that it's not that at all. I love the concept, the execution, and the inspiration for this perfume! This particular review was prompted by how the fragrance reminded me of what was happening in Lois Duncan's YA thriller Stranger With My Face, wherein a teenager realizes that her jealous twin sister has been astral projecting into her body at night and making her do terrible things!
This is a warm, comforting, enveloping scent. Gourmand leaning but not too much so.
It is spicy, resinous and incensey.
It is smooth and creamy and consuming. The cacao isn't too bitter and adds just enough sweetness.
The ambergris is just stunning. Salty, smooth waxy perfection. It's a tincture of 7% natural and ethically sourced ambergris. No synthetics here. I believe the Hyraceum is also authentic and ethically sourced.
The animalics are very well balanced considering the mix of ambergris, hyraceum and castoreum.
The opening is just incredible with a blast of warm creamy spices and ambergris.
Once settled, it is smokey, smooth and creamy, with spices dancing in and out through warm skin, fur, and vanilla.
क्या आपने इस सुगंध को आज़माया है?
अपना अनुभव साझा करें और दूसरों को शानदार सुगंध खोजने में मदद करें
This is one of the greatest things I've ever smelled.
Incense and woods ✔️ Spices and salty musks ✔️ Subtle light powdered vanilla and cacao ✔️
I could bath myself in Mxxx. This can be worn in any season, which is a huge bonus. The high temp elevates the ambergris and the amber and patchouli come forward. Never cloying, sits close to the skin but wafts around when you move making it very sensual in that way.
Truly great work from Barbara and Antoine on this collaboration.