First Impressions – Diptyque – L’Eau Papier – I’ve been out of the loop and offline recently, as I’ve been on jury duty for the past weeks. And sure enough, just my luck, this time, my name was drawn from the barrel, and I served on a trial. Anyway, with my civic responsibility now behind me, at least for a year, as that’s the exemption period in Queensland, it’s time to catch up with the perfume world and some new/newish releases. The last few weeks have likely seen hundreds of new perfumes released.
One of the newish releases is Diptyque’s L’Eau Papier, which I actually wore to court on a few occasions, though never during the trial itself. The scent of L’Eau Papier didn’t garner any attention as I bided my time in the Jury Assembly Room, but I did cop a few funny looks as I brought my wrist to my nose on numerous occasions to get a better idea of what I was smelling.
As it turns out, it’s the perfect discreet scent for jury duty. I can’t imagine it offending anyone. Indeed, it’s a perfume that can work well at any time of year for any occasion. Certainly, it also seems apt that I’m sampling L’Eau Papier during May/June when my whiter-than-white snowflake trees are in full bloom. Undoubtedly, this new creation throws up and conjures images of white. Specifically, it’s intended to evoke the scent of watercolour on paper and the smell of paper itself. If this is paper, then it’s translucent paper, parchment style, or tracing paper – clean and see-through.
The opening stage is marked by what Diptyque calls a rice/sesame accord. And it certainly does smell steamy and roasted, almost almond-like. This fuzzy cereal-like accord does a good job of capturing the grainy element of paper. But it does so in an abstract way.
The floral component comprises mimosa. It doesn’t feel too honeyed, overbearing, or even overly powdery. Rather, it’s straw-like, injecting just enough warmth to give L’Eau Papier an interesting, elegant balance. Perhaps the mimosa also bolsters the nutty almond aspect of the opening stages. The musk notes and light woods in the base evoke the images of clear white paper. Much to the chagrin of some (not to me, though), it’s never a literal interpretation of the actual smell of paper.
L’Eau Papier forms part of a recent “musky” trio that includes Fleur de Peau and Orpheon. I like all of them, and all three are different enough in their own right. The link is clear, though, in that they all give the impression of clear, pristine softness. My favourite is still the musky iris Fleur de Peau, which reminds me of a trip to Hong Kong (I wore it every day I was there) and not the courtroom. Still, L’Eau Papier gets a thumbs up from me. It’s well worth a try if you’re into musky scents. Fabrice Pellegrin composed the perfume.
Have you tried L’Eau Papier? What did you make of it?
Note: Bottle image from Fragrantica. All other images are my own.
