Arabic for "to smell the breeze", an Arabic spring festival on the banks of the Nile...
Florentine iris, known for its rarity and high price, is at the heart of this fragrance. Originally created in 1906, this rich, luxurious fragrance embodies the Edwardian era with its warm, floral, powdery character.
Luca Turin: " Rarely has a fragrance captivated me as instantly as Shem-el-Nessim, which takes a rounded melody that echoes that of literally earthbound iris (sadly come down in several mainstream releases in the last two years) and elevates it to the skies the use of a little lilac overtone and greens.The original Shem-el-Nessim appeared in 1906 and symbolized the celebrated femininity of the Edwardian era, a nod to Europe's emerging love of all things Oriental that would culminate in the Art Deco period.Named after an Arab spring festival held in Egypt on the Nile, it was advertised with dark-haired sexy beauties in salwar kameez, hair in a turban and the seven veils of Salome falling one by one in our fertile imagination.Rebirth is said to be one Revisiting the Flooriental genre à la L'Origan, or, to my mind, the triumph of Impressionist time-abolition in L'Heure Bleue - it could be said without hesitation that it is the finest rendition of heliotrope and iris to be introduced in the last decade! A distinctly pyramidal composition that dazzles with its sparse structure and delight in its lush feel, like a mink pack in winter. In the overture, all instruments murmur a soft, subdued melody denoting phase one (soft greens, flowers). Then the aria of marzipan-like heliotrope appears in all its glory, the leitmotif repeats itself for hours: luxurious, warm, inviting, powdery. The whole merges into an unctuous coda of orientalized elements in the base, almost amber: sandalwood, musk and vanilla, reinforcing the plush up to the apotheosis. I'm smitten!!"
