I’m familiar with Lyn Harris and her work with Miller Harris and Claus Porto. Her style is characterised by calm, nature-focused scents that are delivered with restraint. This approach won’t win her many admirers among those who prioritise performance/sillage above all else; perfumed peacocks need not apply. None of her compositions ever shouts.
I haven’t delved too deeply into her body of work with Perfumer H, though. After sampling her latest effort, Steam, I’ve now tried three of her Perfumer H creations. Before Steam, I had only sampled Dandelion and Rain Cloud. Based on this brief introduction to the house, I’m confident in stating that Perfumer H scents won’t be for those looking for loud, room-filling scents either. All three fragrances possess considered, quiet, and introspective qualities. Steam impressed me.
The first thing that came to mind when I saw the name “Steam” was the Peter Gabriel song from the 1990s. Remember it, and its weird film clip? I went to YouTube and looked it up. The video has not aged well. As for the song, it comes off as a rehash of one of his big hits, “Sledgehammer.” As I sprayed Steam, all thoughts of Peter Gabriel (I’m a fan of his, by the way, just not of “Steam”) vanished, and I found myself back in Lyn Harris territory, with another memory from the 1990s surfacing.
I immediately notice the birch tar – it’s smouldering, leathery, and smoky. However, it never becomes suffocating. There’s room to breathe here. It does indeed feel steamy and reminds me of a specific point in my life. I’ve been a city slicker for too long and haven’t been camping in years. As a child, I used to camp frequently. For school, we had an outdoors class as part of our curriculum, which saw us leave the comforts of home behind once a month.
Additionally, we’d have semester-ending, week-long camping excursions, which served as class “bonding” time. During these outings, we learned to pitch our own tents, prepare meals, boil billy tea, and develop environmental awareness and orientation skills. The kind of things you might learn in the Girl Guides or Boy Scouts. Most schools did it, too, of course. Nobody would mistake us for Bear Grylls, but it was a valuable learning experience for sheltered urbanites. Steam recalls memories of those days. As I spray, I picture a campsite in the woods, with a light fog shrouding the tree canopies, and the lingering scent of a spent campfire permeating the still morning air.
Green maté tea links with the leathery smoke. It’s herbal and crisp, and further enhances the cosy campground ambience. Juniper adds a green, resinous, and piney touch. I visualise colours of misty green, off-white, and grey. In keeping with Harris’s style, Steam possesses a vivid, leafy, ozonic cleansing quality. Each time I wore Steam, I kept detecting a distinct dried fruit note in the background. Initially, I thought it may have been the juniper or the mandarin, but it had a dewy, jammy character, and sure enough, there was plum in the pyramid. This note was subtle yet perceptible, contributing a hazy, light purple nuance to the profile.
Cedar and sandalwood complete the fragrance on a fittingly meditative tone. Lyn Harris certainly nailed the brief https://www.perfumerh.com/collections/steam. But, does Harris follow Gabriel and reference past works in her Steam? To some extent, yes. Steam brought to mind her aromatic works for Claus Porto, particularly the woody green Agua Porto. However, there’s far more leather and smoke in Steam. I’d broadly define it as an aromatic, smoky birch leather with a hint of tea. It offers the leather I was seeking in Akro’s Infuse. I also note some parallels with Carner Barcelona’s ozonic leather Revolución released last year. Overall, Steam is a lovely piece of work that lives up to the name and marketing. It has made me eager to explore more fragrances from Perfumer H.
Have you tried the house or Steam? Do you have any Perfumer H recommendations?
Note: Bottle image from Perfumer H. All other photos are my own—sample of Steam purchased by me.
Some more photos that recall Steam.
