Without a doubt, I am getting used to iris. Is this the new patchouli? I recently went through a ton of patchouli-based compositions to get a handle on the note, with documented reviews on YouTube. But anything with iris in it I avoided. If my perfume-sampling friends would offer iris perfumes, I would shake my head from east to west. Reviewers on YouTube would start in about iris, and I would click “next.” A hint of powder smells in the mall, and I would turn the opposite way.

If you’re going to get into perfume, I aptly told myself, I need to search and seek out the reason iris is constantly used. Here is my beginning journey into iris. Francesca is not responsible for starting it, but for only allowing me to take another higher step and get closer to understanding how special this ingredient is.

Among the reviews for this perfume, there are frequent references to its animalic notes, but you are OK to not really listen to those notes. They are barely present; it is stated in perfume marketing perfectly. It’s totally the taming of the wild beast by the vixen in the form of powders.  Yes, I like powder now, and it’s because of people like Francesca pushing the envelope this direction. It is one of the best complements to strong, dark, mean scents. Why did we take so long to get here? Because designers dropped the ball in order to please uneducated audiences, and we had to wait for a band of I-am-going-to-move-this-thing-forward-anyway-without-abandon-and-see-what-I-can-do people.  Francesca is one of those people.

I easily see past marketing, but it is dangerous to be so provocative when it’s unfair a lot of people will be turned away before even smelling Under My Skin. If you can get past the names and seduction, the juice is absolutely divine. Sorry, I just had my marketing hat on for a bit.  

Off of the top, I get the leather and balsams with the pepper. I would swear there is a huge saffron note, but this I am guessing is the ambergris. Grapefruit and lavender don’t stand out on their own but add to a seductive vibe that is clearly meant by the title of this fragrance. Coming into the heart, the full sniff becomes like a condensed version of Baccarat Rouge extrait version accord, which itself is already condensed. This smells like an airy ozonic narcotic accord on steroids. Real ambergris and orris butter are obvious in here, and it is lovely against the masculine leather.

Make no mistake: this is a powder bomb. With the ozonic thing going on, this stabilizes into something I personally don’t mind. I’m starting to see this accord being used very heavily, which is a little disturbing. Yes, it is the most mass-pleasing realm of synthetic, but it reminds me of staying in hotels. The drydown is straight-up vanilla, santal, and powder. It’s freaking sweet and good, like the fluffiest, flakiest croissant ever. I never got any of the tree moss notes. Under My Skin is making me think I am loving orris butter, and it’s made even more beautiful with rich animalic synthetics behind it.