From another (s)Century #1: Sisley Eau du Soir

Sisley Eau du Soir has an interesting story. Count Hubert d’Ornano created the scent as a gift for his wife, countess Isabelle d’Ornano, who after nine years of being it’s exclusive wearer, decided to release the fragrance to the public. That’s why their names are in the bottle.

Now if the “count” title didn’t tip you off, don’t go running yelling at your significant other about how they should give you better presents just yet. Hubert d’Ornano was the founder of Sisley Cosmetics, and the d’Ornanos are billionaires. That explains a lot. It’s the truest case of what to gift someone who has everything. Also might explain why the perfume actually smells expensive.

From another (s)Century is a series of reviews of vintage fragrances. The perfumes in this series were launched or designed before the year 2000.

Sisley Eau du Soir was created in 1990, my year of birth. Seemed fitting that this was the one to start off this series. Eau du Soir is a Chypre Floral fragrance. Chypre fragrances are characterised by their woody base; bergamot, patchouli, oak moss are very common notes in them. They’re present in Sisley Eau du Soir, but I don’t consider it, at all, a woody fragrance. The notes are the following:

  • Top notes: Mandarin, Grapefruit, Pepper;
  • Middle notes: Syringa, Jasmine, Rose, Ylang-Ylang, Lily of the Valley, Iris, Juniper, Clove, Genever Clove
  • Base notes: Musk, Amber, Oak moss, Patchouli, Cistus

Upon first spray I can indeed smell a lot of green and wood. There’s some acidity, some bitterness – the opening is very earthy to me, fresh and masculine, but the dry down doesn’t take long and that’s when this perfume really starts to triumph. Beneath the wood there’s a aldehydic layer over a powdery, musky base. I can also detect a hint of amber that warms and sweetens the sharpness of the woody notes.

The end result is a soapy, layered, clean smelling fragrance that is still deep and mature, but without being dark or heavy – you can still wear this during a sunny Summer day.

Review Sisley Eau du Soir
This is a vintage fragrance but not a vintage bottle. I’ve recently purchased it in a coffret with a body lotion.

Summing it up, it’s a fresh green shell that envelops a warm powdery heart, and that remains true with every time I’ve used it, but honestly, I think this perfume never smelled exactly the same twice. Yes, the essence is the same, but there are so many nuances to it that every time is a bit different. Sometimes it’s less earthy, sometimes it smells so much of patchouli, other times it’s almost sweet. Maybe it’s my skin chemistry, maybe it’s my nose, but this is the most complex scent I have ever tried.

To me, it’s meant for a woman, but it’s not feminine. And it’s the farthest thing from childish you’ll ever get. There’s nothing shy about this fragrance, but it’s also not loud. It’s powerful without being intrusive. I agree with a few reviewers I’ve seen that mention that this is a scent a confident woman wears. A scent for someone who has their sh*t together. It smells like it’s saying “Hi, how are you? I’m wealthy, thank very much”.

I would say sillage is medium range. Like the perfume’s personality, it’s there, it’s present, but it’s not in your face. For lasting power, I’d say it holds well for 7 hours before starting to fade. I can still sense it after 9 hours, but it’s a very fainted, warmer version of the fragrance.

Try it before you buy it. I’m a fan, but it’s certainly a vintage fragrance, and I’ve seen this happen way too often to not warn you that it might be something you associate with smelling like an older woman, or how people usually say it, “smelling like grandma”. I don’t have qualms with it, my grandmother always smells fantastic.

You may also like

3 Comments

  1. Great review! I love reading about fragrances and your Sisley Eau de Soir post has left me wanting to smell this fragrance asap. I love green fragrances with powdery accents and this one also has iris as a middle note, one of my favorite notes. I´m pretty certain I will love it because I´m very much into vintage fragrances, like Chanel Nº 19.

    1. Just went to look for Infusion D’Iris, Hermes Caleche and and Chanel Nº 19 at a perfume store but had none of them, much to my frustration! I might have to blind purchase them. Chanel Nº19 will be hard to find, though. Where do you usually get yours?

      1. What a shame you were not able to test them out! It´s pretty easy to find Chanel Nº19 over here, either in big department stores and also at small perfume stores. Not so easy to find it online though, I just checked and it´s available at Druni and Douglas, but I´m not sure if they deliver to Portugal. I hope you can finally test them somewhere!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *