Iris de Syracuse Boucheron for women and men

#617 in my "Tour de Fragrance"

Got this as a decant from FragranceLine. It's hard to craft a scent with iris and heliotrope that will make me unhappy and I do love this fragrance. It's soapy, fruity, powdery, emphasis on blue florals, perfect office scent, date scent, formal wear, probably not casual. Can't imagine anyone not finding this attractive. It definitely leans feminine, but not so far that I would never wear it, though I would probably layer it with a woody/leather scent like TF Tuscan Leather. I'd definitely be happy to smell this on a woman and I have one in mind to buy this for.

Instead of lipstick, I smell iris soap. There are better lipsticks. pass this

I love lipstick fragrances that lean powdery and I love a powdery iris note. This to me is the closest fragrance that I have gotten to that smells like Lipstick On. If you love LO but don’t want to pay $200+ for a used bottle I highly recommend trying this first.

What a beauty!! 😍 Blind bought it with high expectations and it really delivered. Soft, feminine, creamy, powdery iris fragrance. LOVE❣️

Strange opening with carroty iris and cosmetic (lipstick-y) smell, but with slight harsh spicy notes which are not match with the whole vibe of the fragrance. It’s not sweet at all, for me it’s just a powdery musky iris with waxy undertones. It’s okay, I’ll pass.

UPD: the dry down is actually super nice. So it’s just an opening, that is too harsh for me.

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I tried it Today for the first time and the beginning was too peppery, but now, it's so Wonderful powdery fresh. I'm in love again 😃. I wanted to buy Narciso poudree, but now I don't Know. I like both 😔

Feminine, powdery, soft vanilla Iris. Very linear, but great quality. I bought mine years ago, at a much higher price point but this can be bought very reasonably now. Easy reach, easy wear.

Soft powdery floral feminine Iris with soft musk drydown. Very nice, but too feminine for me.

Scent: 7 / Sillage: 7 / Longevity: 7

Unfortunately way to powdery. Don't know how can the top accord in Prada's L'Homme be powdery because that Prada isn't powdery at all compared to Iris De Syraccuse. Prada's L'Homme Iris is sharp, sweet and bright and in hear there's really a ton of powder before you smell anything else. Definitely try on skin before buying. At the end it was to cloying for her so I had to abandon any hope for this fragrance :P.

Already bought a bottle but fortunately my wife tried it on her skin that evening and i canceled the order... Let's just say it's much better on paper than on skin. As i said way to powdery and it never tones down.

Scent: 6
Performance 8

Masterpiece. I am speechless. Purchased full bottle.

Am I crazy for thinking this is a green/citrusy powdery floral scent?

Only when I compared it to Lumière d’Iris Veronique Gabai did I know how wrong I was! is unmistakeably citrusy floral from neroli, while Iris de Syracuse is a softer and sweeter floral (heliotrope + vanilla). The iris + musk duo creates the powdery atmosphere.

Just beautifull! Soapy, cold but airy and soft Iris. And very longlasting.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!!!!!
I’m just surprised that no one has mentioned that this is very identical to PRADA CANDY in the dry down, which is my all time favourite perfume!

Very long lasting :)

You have to love iris to appreciate this scent. Powdery iris fragrance, with some fruitiness and creamy heliotrope in the back. Feminine leaning for sure.

Very strong iris notes. I see no carrot seeds in the composition, but smells earthy. Then it transforms into something softer, milder, more tender. And disappears. So I am spraying again. The carousel goes in rounds: iris, earthy, soft, nothing. Beautiful packaging though. I would prefer ro leave it as a dream. Sometimes its not worth it.

I have been trying to get my hands on this for quite sometime now. Thought that for sure it would be a love for me. Even the juice color against the gold and white cap made it look extremely appealing that I would get hearts in my eyes every time I look at a photo. When I finally did manage to find a sample and a whole bottle to buy, to say I was DISAPPOINTED would be an UNDERSTATEMENT!
(Thanks god the sample fell into my hands before actually purchasing the whole bottle)
This made me finally understand what it means when people describe scents as dry pencil shavings! This is EXACTLY that, with a touch of pepper. It stays in that phase for a considerable amount of time before it transforms into an extremely intimate, soft, delicate, skin scent Iris with a tiny touch of sweetness from the heliotrope I guess.
Hits way below my expectations.
Absolutely ridiculous price for the complexity, projection and overall fragrance beauty. In fact, I think even if the price was reasonable, the scent itself is completely underwhelming that I probably still wont buy it.

Update: I gave my sample another try today 31st of December and it’s completely different than when I tried it in the summer. This time I get no pencil shavings and no pepper. Now I get what I was expecting it to be, a soft floral, powdery beauty and after about an hour wear I get wiffs of decadence by mar jacobs. It’s still way weaker than what I had hoped I would get for that price though.

yuck. I keep trying these iris scents and dislike them almost every time. this is yet another cold & rooty, damp cellar, joyless iris scent. if you’re like me and don’t like that carrot-y accord, then avoid this. for the record, the iris scents I’ve enjoyed are ADP Iris Nobile & Hermessence Iris Ukiyoe (which both have a lot more bright florals with iris playing a lead).

Charming airy vintage iris. Very nice.

This has been my favourite perfume for two years now. I just love the powdery iris and the subtle mix of secondary notes. It's a fresh floral scent, but it's neither too obvious nor too sweet. It's also very evocative; spritzing it on instantly transports me to a summer day in a shaded garden overlooking the Mediterranean, just as the name suggests, and lifts my mood.

The sillage is not that strong, but it's surprisingly long-lasting.

My second fragrance from Boucheron, and I must say house is underrated. Iris de Syracuse opens with blast of Iris accompanied by some fresh citrusy/fruity notes. Dries down to a papery iris, like a piece of clean white paper on a sheet of fresh clean white linen lol, all that in a very good way. Very light and soft when sprayed, but somehow this manages to project and last quite well. Overall an amazing scent. Old money clean girl aesthetics.

etoiledejasmine: My thoughts come very, very close to your excellent review!


Sometimes I think we confuse iris and orris. And with good reason. Fragrance companies list one when it is probably the other! The 'dry' and pencil or papery note at the beginning is ORRIS root - which some equate with carrots or dry powder as well. A very distinctive and love/hate note. I personally have and adore L'Heure Bleue, which is THE quintessential Orris fragrance, and find that once this is a love all other orris falls into place as enjoyable or horrible, depending on how well it is done. Infusion d'Iris is but a pretense at orris, IMHO. Mostly it is a Jovan musk style dry down with a short-lived, if pretty, orris opening. Nothing else under the sun will be L'Heure Bleue.... but orris helps!

Anyway, Iris de Syracuse is indeed a gorgeous fragrance. I enjoy the citrus, unsweetened opening, as well as the more musky, purple dry down with a gentle sweetness and lovely powder. I don't in any way think it should cost this much, but OH is it enjoyable. If lacking the expensive smelling orris, another purple fragrance that smells almost as good on me is a bargain in unpromising packaging. Twilight Mist from Body Fantasies delivers the goods with purple-musk at an astonishingly good sillage and strength. I say this not to diminish the distinctive quality of this orris-iris, but to encourage those who - like me - may have missed the boat on an affordable bottle of purple heaven! Purple is still to be had at wonderful prices, with even better sillage than here, dare I say it.

To sum up, Boucheron's Iris is a definite winner to this powder and orris lover!

There is so much to love about this!! From the dainty bottle and lovely tinge of purple to its very feminine scent, I absolutely love this! The iris note is the most prominent, giving the fragrance its signature powdery character. It's pretty expensive, yes, but undeniably worth it!

This really reminds me of Atelier's Silver Iris. Very dry, papery Iris in the beginning that I don't like at all. It takes to long for that dry iris note to burn off before you get to the white musk which would save this perfume if the iris was taken out. I just don't like the Iris note here. My favorite Irises are Abel Pink Iris and Miller Harris Violet Ida and Oscar de la Renta E'sprit. This is sharp and very, very dry.

Oh yeah baby!!! That's the juice!

If you like iris, you would love this scent! Incredibly smooth iris with a bit of freshness thanks to the pear and later on the jasmine. It is less sweet and less direct than Dior Homme Intense, which makes its intentions well known from the start, but this scent is similarly beautiful and I would say more sophisticated, more airy and as a consequence would make for a better day scent than Dior Homme.

It's pricey, yes, but I would say deservedly so.

I went back and tried this one, after a few months, and I was glad that my view on it had shifted.
It's pleasant, it's irisey, but it's also quite citrusey, which for me takes the focus away from the iris too much for me.
I much would've preferred an upfront iris without so much citrus, and that is why, for me, it's not a scent I'm likely to pursue...

Extremely potent pencil-shaving / boilded carrot/ lipstick scent initially then mellowed out to a really subtle skin scent. It is sweeter and more "wearable" at this stage (some other reviewers refer to this as "candied iris", I agree, but again remember, it is an extremely faint, soft candied iris).

I don't find this comparable to Prada Infusion Iris in the slightest, instead, it reminds me of Iris des Champs by Houbigant, which also carries a very pencil-smelling DNA minus the sweetness element.

This takes awhile to settle after a very carroty opening but when it does it smells inexplicably delicious— like powdered babies with diamond encrusted angel wings eating very expensive candy, and it lasts forever. Side by side with something like Prada Infusion d’ Iris, Prada is very linear and dry while the vanilla and jasmine make Boucheron quite sweet after about 30 min or so. I’m liking pretty much every Iris I’m smelling lately and it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite notes. I have been on somewhat of an iris buying frenzy over the past couple months, so I certainly don’t need to be adding another to my collection, but I think this is unique enough to have alongside other irises and the price can’t be beat.

I see some comparing this to Dior Homme. I have a sample of the Intense, vintage Homme, and current. I do see the similarity for those wanting the old Homme, but Boucheron is way more sweet and less herbal/aromatic in dry down. Not at all similar to intense or current homme.

This fall I've been really enjoying this! The iris in it is so elegant and powdery. It has much more presence and character than Infusion d'Iris Prada and I can smell it for the better part of the day without reapplying. It is soothing without being melancholic and also very uplifting. The vanilla & sweet notes are sexy and inviting but in a very subtle, grown-up way. Great mix of playfulness and puttogetherness and utterly addictive! On the down side, it is costly and hard to find, and the 125ml size is not only too big to carry around, but also not that appealing to look at or handle.

Edit (September, 2023): Comparing it to other Iris scents, the closest comparison is to the other sweet ones, especially Shalimar Millesime Iris and the budget gem that is Avon Iris Fetiche. I find no similarities between Iris de Syracuse and the sandalwood dominant Gucci Tears of Iris, the leathery Crivelli Iris Malikhan, or the powdery iris reference Prada Infusion d'Iris.

Enchanting. I had an immediate emotional reaction to this. I saw Iris and figured, oh, this is a note I adore, I wager it’ll be nice. And I gasped. No, it is not powerful or anything of the sort. But it is utterly captivating.

I wish the price could be justified. It is very, very unlike anything I’ve ever smelled and yet frankly the longevity is immensely disappointing..

This smells like walking into a Coach store plus the powdery heliotrope of Tardes. Less sweet overall, it’s probably just my skin or my expectation that it would be sweeter. It’s still pretty though.

What a well-crafted fragrance. It opens with pepper and a slight bit of carrot-y iris (I can't smell any pear or orange, but I don't mind). A few minutes pass and the iris blooms sweetly, with a hint of powdery heliotrope to help it shine. Once the day is over and the iris has worn away, I can still smell a very faint yet sweet, musky patchouli. Truly beautiful and versatile, for I find it can be worn in any season.

Dont talk about the price.
This scent is such a gorgeous, graceful,cozy iris candy perfume. Abit soapy but like a luxury soap in a good way, and very elegant. The sillage is not so good, but you can still feel it linger around you at least 5 hours. I can not say no to this.

This is showing the craftsmanship and the clever perfumery of Nathalie Lorson, its well blended around the iris note , the pear gives it freshness with the sweetness of vanilla, the patchouli is not prominent but it gives it its depth. I enjoy this scent after shower, relaxing and soothing. it is a love for me.

so unique can't even describe it

This is beautiful, it really is, but it's just too pleasant and proper for me.
I really cannot fault it at all, I really can't, but it's just too...too normal for me. No funk. No stank. Which might be great for you, but not for me!
The iris is wonderful in this, along side the heliotrope and the pear. I get a little bit of white floral in the background, too, but overall, what I get most is floral daintiness. This might be your thing, but it doesn't work for me...

Such a beautiful opening. Chalky, slightly waxy iris just the way I love it, sweetens quickly to spicy vanilla and sadly disappeared just as quickly. I've sprayed my whole 2 ml sample on me, including clothes and after 2 hours it's completely gone. I'm very disappointed. I wanted a full bottle of this beauty but with this staying power and none existing projection, I'll look elsewhere.

This is the perfect bedtime scent. If a Barefoot Dreams blanket had a smell, I imagine it would smell like this fragrance. This is a soft and embracing iris and powder fragrance. This is a skin scent but that is acceptable because this scent is for personal enjoyment.

This fragrance makes me want to take a shower, put on my silk pajamas and snuggle with my blanket while watching Bridgerton. Seriously, I need to finish watching season 2.

After much consideration, I just decided to purchase a full bottle of this beautiful fragrance. I wrote previously of the abysmal performance on my skin, thinking I couldn't possibly justify spending the money on a full bottle, but when months pass and you wistfully look back at what "might have been", sometimes you just need to throw caution to the wind and surrender, as is the case in any great love affair!! 😉
I have been on a spree the past week or so and have picked up a few new irises. This is the one I am looking forward to receiving the most!
EDIT - 3/31/22 My bottle arrived today. The packaging is gorgeous, as is the scent. For 5 minutes. Then she's gone. Even over spraying doesn't help. Praying that sitting for a while and weather will help. I'm also starting to think I may be anosmic to some white musks. I am so sad!!
EDIT 6/18/2022 - not sure if my nose has become more sensitive, but when I treat it almost like a body spray, it last longer and people who get near me have given compliments. Now the Iris Nobile is no more and I'm nursing the remainder of my bottle, I'd have to say that this will become my favorite iris in my collection. Good thing it comes in a generous sized bottle, because I do need to over spray in order to get the full experience!

This is a truly beautiful Iris fragrance!! Iris de Syracuse, where have you been all my life??
I have a few Iris dominant perfumes in my collection and this, along with Xerjoff’s Ibitira, are my top 2 favorites.
Iris de Syracuse is blended to perfection, the opening is so incredibly beautiful! Fruity, floral and sweet but in such a classy way!! I absolutely love it.
As it settles, a fresh and slightly sweet iris comes out and stays there for several hours. In the dry down, it is vanilla and musks but fluffy and cozy. It’s just perfect!
Great longevity on my skin, though sillage and projection are intimate. I am head over heels for this one!!
This is an Iris forward perfume so if Iris isn’t your thing, stay away from it.
Sample first is my advice as this isn’t for everyone...

It has that delicious pencil/crayon iris characteristic initially but quickly evolves to a floral generic iris fragrance. I do not mean in a bad way, but it is quite close to Infusion d’Iris so if you already have Infusion it would be redundant having Iris de Syracuse.
Lovely, office friendly, great to wear before going to sleep or at home to lift your spirit.
Longevity and projection are not the best; it is a fragrance one wears just for oneself. And with the price point of it, it is possible to get others as good as fragrances with better longevity and silage - something to be considered.

-Sour mess.
-Sickly sweet scent served with a sprinkle of pencil shavings.
-Weird waxy, crayon vibes in dry-down. (-)

Boucheron's Iris de Syracuse is simply BEAUTIFUL!

The opening combination of pear, pepper and orange is brisk and gives me happy thoughts of warm breezes, sunshine and fat fluffy clouds in an azure blue sky. The Iris defines this soft gorgeous scent while jasmine wafts softly in the background and heliotrope lends its powdery goodness. There's just enough vanilla rich sweetness and musk so that I don't even notice the patchouli.

Just soft, sweet, powdery richness that blooms and wafts with movement. I spray this right where my forearms meet biceps and the humidity keeps this wafting for hours! This beauty is perfect for hot pre-summer days like today. It kept me feeling cool, relaxed and shrouded in a softly fragrant bubble all day. Longevity and arm's length sillage are better than expected. Weather and body heat probably plays an important role in both.

I've been on a powdery fragrance kick lately and have sampled: Prada's Infusion D'Iris; Gucci's Alchemist's Garden, Tears of Iris; Tocca's Violet, Dusita's SplendIris, Ellen Tracey's Bronze (citrus, powdery goodness) as well as something called Bruma by somebody or other, all in the last couple weeks. Boucheron's Iris de Syracuse will be the first full bottle of the lot, with Gucci's, Tears of Iris, and the citrus scented Bronze. I liked Prada's soapy, Infusion D'Iris well enough; that is before Syracuse came along and stole the show. IDS has a deeper, more mellow vibe, thanks to the vanilla. I'll probably try the orange or other Infusion scents by Prada just for some variety before I complete the powder-centric
portion of my growing collection.

This is a perfume of incomparable beauty when sprayed on especially if soft, powdery iris is your thing. But it has the worst silage and projection I have ever encountered, with the exception of Sweet Morphine by Ex Nihilo. The longevity is quite poor as well, becoming the faintest of skin scents in under an hour. It may linger a little longer but not without putting your nose next to your skin. This would be a great love if the performance was even slightly better.
I was sure a full bottle was in my future but opted to purchase a travel sized decanted spray from Fragrancenet first given the cost. It's possible I may purchase another in that size, but the gorgeous bottle can't make up for the poor performance on my skin.

Like the reviewer below me, I also found that comparing the two in my arsenal, Iris de Syracuse is comparatively much closer to Prada Candy (sans the caramel/buttery sugariness), rather than Prada Infusion d'Iris. Infusion d'Iris' characteristic rich lady powderiness is too hot and stuffy, near "steely" in its starchy poise, whereas Candy has that It's-Not-That-Serious limp and languidness in its form that is much softer and sweeter in its delivery. If you find Infusion d'Iris too hot for summertime wear, this may fit the bill rather well as it's a sheerer and a touch sweeter, ultra-feminine powdery iris that does the job of what Infusion does without the stiff character.

I love this fragrance, classy, clean, feminine. It smells like a women that is always well put together and rich. This is my favourite spring fragrance, it's just phenomenal. It smells a little bit like Candy from Prada but less sweet and more sophisticated. It doesn't have much power, but the bottle is big, I can respray it throughout the day.

A very pretty, feminine, blue-flowery, powdery scent. Unfortunately, lacking in both power and projection. Nothing too memorable or addictive, but easy to wear for every day.

Very beautiful iris fragrance. Opens with a nice buttery iris with some light citrus. It quickly blends into a compelling semi-powdery iris, a faint woody accord, a dash of jasmine, and some vanillic undertones. It's definitely feminine but as a male I really like to wear this one when lounging at home. It's not necessarily as powdery as one might think. It's more of a floral-powder hybrid if you will. There's also something which smells like almond milk, a bit lactic in nature, which could be the heliotrope. I'm not that knowledgeable on these notes but it's all blended nicely by Lorson. After that, it becomes a linear dusty, powdery blue floral. Performance is okay, nothing really crazy going on here. Perhaps one to try out for real iris fans.

7,5/10

Right after spraying, this is a buttery orris. It has a thick sandalwood / pencil shaving-like feel. I didn't smell the pepper, it's not sharp at all. Then after 10-15 minutes the sweetness of the heliotrope comes forward. The iris never disappears, it's the most prominent note, but this is not the cold iris that I am used to. It's sweetened, silky, more floral than powdery thanks to the added jasmin.
Either the lasting power is not too long, or my nose gets used to the scent. I get very very light wafts after 6 hours. Stays close to the skin all throughout its life on the skin. Great for the office.

Edit: I take back the absence of pepper. I do feel some spice in the opening, a little tingle of the pepper under the nose. But it doesn't stay too long.

Quite a linear oris/iris, it doesn’t really develop or evolve into anything more complex on the skin, but for moments when all you want is a comforting lipstick vibe with reasonable longevity, this is it.
Iris de Syracuse has reasonable projection with every arm movement releasing a delicious waft of powdery iris for the wearer to enjoy throughout the day. A perfect office scent which will not offend anyone and yet will garner compliments (I noticed far more from women than men).
I found this reasonably priced on fragrance net but I admit I wouldn’t pay the full retail price for it.
Would I call this a challenging masterpiece or classic, probably wouldn’t go that far but I will say I love it, I love being enveloped in its soft beauty and I will wear it frequently.
In my opinion - recommended.

I recently read a review where someone layered this with something else but I cannot remember who wrote it or what the other fragrance was, only that it sounded like a great idea to me at the time.

Fragrance 8 out of 10
Value (discounted on line) 7 out of 10
Projection 7 out of 10
Complexity 2 out of 10
Uniqueness 2 out of 10
Longevity 9 out of 10.

Today I got a sample of Iris Boucheron. Very nice I must say. A bit dark Iris, Adult, with attitude but at the same time playful and chic. A parfume made for colder weather and perfect in wintertime in my opinion. I get the mix of Iris, Heliotrope, Musk and Pepper. Pepper on my skin gets fresh and I like peppernotes alot. I react a bit allergic to the Patchouli so I sneeze alot wearing this one.

Pls tell me is there any similarity between it and Salvatore Ferragamo - Viola Essenziale?

Earthy, yet ethereal Orris, which opens dry and sharp. I get the Iris (in the form of Orris) right away, only a tinge of pepper for oomph. The Mandarin and Pear are barely there, maybe just enough to lend a little bright sweetness to the Orris, but they certainly don't say much. The Orris here is of nice quality- but used with a little too much restraint. I keep wanting a little more from this perfume. However, I love the pairing with Heliotrope; its powdery almond is the perfect complement to orris. The base seems primarily of the synthetic and versatile "white musk". All in all, Iris de Syracuse is a harmonious and perfectly balanced Orris.

My main complaint about this scent is that is seems to have the performance of a light Eau de Toilette, rather than an Eau de Parfum. I had to apply a goof half ml, and to the crook of my arm, to get any satisfaction out of it. Modest sprays to dry areas such as the back of the hand yield little noticeable scent.

The polite nature of this perfume makes it very appealing to those who want a fine perfume that is quiet and understated. It is very professional, and would do well as an office scent, or for the mother of the groom at a wedding.

Hoping they release a parfum version!

The opening is one of the most beautiful and realistic iris I've smelled to date. It's waxy and creamy, the way I like my iris. It last for about 20 mins, before the heliotrope comes full forward. They share the stage in th heart, until heliotrope takes front and center and iris takes a backseat, as a powdery background. Sillage is very soft, it's a subdued scent, you need to put your nose against your skin or clothes. It's very nice, but I do wish the opening stayed forever; THAT is the iris I've been looking for. Skipping this one.

Classy, quiet iris, an unsurprising offering when you look at Nathalie Lorsen's back catalogue. She does softly understated elegance so beautifully, even her "sexy" perfumes are pretty gentle, which is not to say this isn't sexy. It is.

This opens with pear and heliotrope to my nose, not getting pepper at all. The iris and almond are very cleverly balanced, both are present and complimentary, nothing out of kilter here. The dry down is almost but not quite gourmand, a touch smoky almost thanks to the musk (which is vaguely reminiscent of a Francis Kurkdjian musk but I can't place which one yet). This is like having an exquisitely delicate friand with a cup of Earl Grey by the harbour in a quiet downtown cafe in the midst of a busy city, wear when you need some peace.

wow the opening is a realistic iris with pepper. or as realistic as i've smelled. it almost smells like paper a bit. a little bit later i get some heliotrope and maybe a hint of orange. after awhile the pepper and orange fade and i am left with a really beautiful powdery iris and heliotrope. instant love, this is the kind of iris i've been looking for... and now i want a bottle.

this is absolutely gorgeous. elegant, and refined. very feminine . too feminine for the unisex category IMHO. just lovely. pity i cant afford the asking price.
if anyone has a bottle they dont want i would be only too happy to take it off their hands. for swap or whatever. PM me.
p.s. i live in australia.

Update. Upon dry down I can detect the unisex vibe which puts me off a little. I totally like pure femininity in a fragrance. Not young or girly or candy floss, just not the masculine notes.

I'm speechless. You are a bottle of prestige Iris de Syracuse.

The best part of this superb iris scent is the opening. After 1 hour it settles very close to the skin so the projection is not great. It feels unisex and safe for all. Very smooth soft musky and powdery iris for warm weather, daytime. Longevity is nomoderate. 

Dominant notes are iris, musk. Jasmine and vanilla are very mild. And there is also intensive heliotrope note.

This is a fragrance of bon vivant. A life, enjoying good things, - good food, good drinks, good clothes, good fragrances, good vacations in Italy... Iris de Syracuse is a good life bottled.
The fragrance starts as a smell of fresh carrots with sugar, but quite fast it turns into powdery elegant iris. Not too sweet, not too powdery, not carroty, rather musky, a little earthy, slightly sweet iris. I really enjoy wearing this sensual and soft fragrance. The staying power is very good, projection is medium.

6/10

The top notes are a luxurious full bloom iris, a bit buttery, with a bit of a metallic undertone, This isnt a warm young Iris, but a more mature one..it develops throughout, this is definitely a perfume built around the Iris..not sure I detect much pepper, but there is some..then the heliotrope appears quite early in the composition, softening the Iris, but it never turns into a powdery mess..then the scent softens, I smell the mandarin orange, and this is a pretty nice phase...I honestly don't smell any patchouli,but I detect a bit of musks..I wouldn't call the dry down generic, but it is warmer, more rounded., a bit floral, very very nice..Iris de Syracuse is a beautiful creation, niche quality , and price too..I wish they came in smaller bottles though..I don't think this is very casual, I don't see myself wearing this very often, but certainly a great addition to my collection...I was lucky to find it in a private sale, as this is far from affordable. Now the top notes might be a bit unisex, but overall this is more a feminine creation.

Oh what a masterpiece !
Just enough musk to control the sometimes overpowdery association between iris and heliotrope. A majestic fine & floral iris, lasting and lasting again.
A must have for lovers of blue florals.

Top notes are really weird, maybe due to pepper. Later it starts to develop some sweeter and rounder notes, but still, it is not my cup of tea.

Iris de Syracuse pays homage to Syracuse, in Sicily, not that located in New York. It was founded by the Greeks and considered the most important city in Greece. Its port brought power and wealth.
Inside the Boucheron La Collection represents the importance of the place, which was port of trade between the eastern and western parts of the Roman and Byzantine Empire. The stone hunters found, on their slopes, a velvety iris as bright as the Amethyst.

Iris de Syracuse's fragrance was created by Nathalie Lorson and composed by the union of black pepper, mandarin and pear, at the top of the olfactory pyramid, making way for an iris absolute, which merges with notes of jasmine petals, almond blossom and heliotrope, in the heart, towards the base of patchouli and white musk, plus a touch of vanilla.

On the skin, Iris de Syracuse is the softest and most harmless among the six fragrances of the collection, unfortunately. As much as it brings the ingredient that has been called "the blue gold of perfumery", it leaves something to be desired in other aspects, mainly projection/sillage. As for the iris, it is hard not to draw a comparison with that smell of makeup, which became so widespread through the Dior Homme line. But here, we have a powdery and smoother iris, with floral personality throughout its evolution. There is a sweeter moment, thanks to the heliotrope, but nothing that is memorable. Finally, the musk imparts lightness and a silky side to the fragrance, which is clearly a floral-musky creation.

According to the company, the olfactory competitions would be Iris Ukiyoe (Hermès) and Iris Ganache (Guerlain).
Iris de Syracuse retains the standard quality of the collection, but does not deliver what we pay for. It is unisex and sophisticated but fits better on the female skin. It is the ideal type of perfume for those people who can not stand to "attack others with their scent" and also do not like to feel their own perfume over time.

On my skin, it exuded for about two hours, and then the magic dissipated, like a slight sigh. The longevity is not so short, yet it is far from good. A friend's advice: unlike Vanille de Zanzibar, who gains strength on the blotter, this one disappears in minutes. So, once in the store, remember to try it only on your skin.

The opening is really beautiful. One of the best irises I ever tried. But every hour I love it less and less and I don't like the drydown. It gets sweeter and sweeter and at the end it's just paste without definition.
It leaves a taste of disillusion, disenchantment, disappointment...

Elegant,sweet,ambery iris. Very nice at the beginning when the iris note is beautifully prominent and a bit too sweet in the base. Generally very nice. 7/10

My experience with Iris de Syracuse seems to reflect that of Littlegrassstraw. The opening is ever so lovely: a tenderly sweet woody iris, with a bit of starchy yet creamy, velvety texture. I don't perceive any earthy, metallic, carroty aspects of the iris. Iris de Syracuse at this stage, embodies the olfactory equivalent of an elegant pastel purple velvet gown.

Unfortunately, once it starts to dry down after roughly 2 hours, its magic begins to wear off. A sweet ambery accord pervades the creamy iris, turning it into a candy iris with a tiny suggestion of lipstick, which reminds me of a less ambery dry down of Jacques Fath Bel Ambre. It's still lovely, but in comparison to the graceful opening, it feels rather generic and déjà-vu.

The sillage is mostly close to the skin, and the longevity is around 8 hours.

I thoroughly enjoyed Iris de Syracuse, especially that its velvety sweet woody iris opening imparts a sophisticated yet approachable elegance. The transition to the candy ambery iris is also quite subtle, making it mostly linear, easy to appreciate and versatile as well.

However, because of the intense competition of many great iris fragrances, Iris de Syracuse, as lovely as it is, ultimately feels lack in personality and identity, a problem that impacts the whole range of Boucheron La Collection. Personally, I think there are other iris fragrances able to fulfilling a similar function as Iris de Syracuse, and with more personality and creativity as well. The high price and limited availability of Iris de Syracuse also don't help.

All in all, if you love iris and would like to get hands on each and every one possible, or if you happen to be on a quest for slightly starchy and creamy sweet iris, Iris de Syracuse would be quite enjoyable to sample, even though I suspect that there are better and more affordable alternatives somewhere else.

This has a really lovely starchy but very smooth iris, possibly mixed with a whisper of jasmine and a musk that works on my nose which is a rare case. However the base seems to be a very sweet ambery accord that feels too generic and dominating to me and which on my skin totally overwhelms the iris. Making it another gourmand iris.

Very silky, linear, and transparent iris scent. subtle and sophisticated.