Reviews of L'Eau Trois by Diptyque

Most of the older Diptyques smell like ancient medicinal salves made out of crushing various barks, spices, and unguents down into a fiery yellow paste and applied to an open wound (Eau Lente, L’ Eau). L’ Eau Trois flips the trope a little, taking it outside to the sunburnt hillsides of Greece or Southern France where the healer combs up tufts of wild rosemary, pine needles, and mastic from the maquis, and uses his cocaine fingernail to dig out sticky yellow globules of myrrh and pine sap from ancient, shrubby trees bent over with age and wind, before singeing it all over a fire so that greenery takes on a burnt, bitter flavor, and mashing it all down to a paste in a pestle and mortar.

Smoky, wild, and herbaceous, L’Eau Trois this is myrrh at its most confrontational. It smells of incense, yes, but also of bitter greenery that will either kill you or cure you if ingested. Less like a perfume than something born of the bowels of the earth.

My absolute favorite from Diptyque.

This is an olibanum resinoid overdose with a healthy helping of myrrh, and the smell of not only pine sap but of pine needles both fresh and the desiccated fallen ones on the forest floor. My nose detects the rosemary, myrtle and caraway that add dimension; all great complements to the olibanum and myrrh.

It is the olfactory embodiment of crepuscule in the woods, solemn, sacred, and divine. A stirring creation.

Many speculate of the name of this fragrance, that means "Water Three" in English. There's no real mystery here, though: it is simply the third fragrance that Diptyque issued. I tried it ~2yrs ago on the skin after a visit in a Diptyque store in Paris, and remained so impressed that I kept it on my wishlist for all that time, even if my precise memory faded out a bit. So, when I spotted a great deal and ordered it recently, it was a half blind buy and I was a bit nervous.

Opens with a blast of spiced aromatic/balsamic notes (an impression of rosemary/oregano given by myrrh and spices I guess). Then the spices tone down a bit to leave the front stage for the myrrh to shine, but are still very present (probably caraway and/or cumin, possibly some cloves and/or allspice), and at that stage, it vaguely reminds me of Goutal Ambre Fetiche.
The myrrh will dance during the whole drydown, back and forth, with a very dry dusty (non-smoky) olibanum resinoids note (with a blackpepper facet, but not a sharp blackpepper like in Bois d'Encens) and the ladbanum that will envelop the whole creation with its resinous greeness. While I have an issue with SL Ambre Sultan's bay leaf note, I love it in Guerlain Bois Mysterieux. Same for the oregano/rosemary note, that I struggle with in Amouage Interlude, but love in PM Or Black. Here, it's all an interplay, perfectly tailored, and I love it! Performance is nothing exceptional, nor nothing to complain about, as expected for an EDT.

Like a previous reviewer stated, the quest for the perfect incense will never end. That said, for me, it might have with this one (and Tauer Incense Extreme). On par with Trudon Mortel in terms of style and quality (but Diptyque has slightly better performance).
To note that this one has been issued ~30 years before the trend of incense-centered fragrance was started by CdG...
Whaaaat a journey! Masterpiece by Serge Kalouguine.

Highly recommended (but liking aromatics and spices is a must to enjoy this one).
Colder days, 25+, unisex

A balsamic pomander at take-off paves the way to a frankincense flavoured with rosemary and cistus, very pleasant.

Cool, herbal opening with oregano, myrtle, pine, rosemary and camphor. In the past when I've worn this, the slightly too herbal opening would transition to a lovely, holy grail pine straw and sap scent with a quietly smoky resinous base. L'Eau Trois made it on to my wishlist as the perfect scent of sun heating pinestraw on a hot summer day - a nostalgic trip to my childhood in Georgia.

Trying it again after a long haitus, I've found that there's much more of a metallic note and the oregano is dominant. It's not wearably herbal, just reminiscent of pizza sauce. I've changed medications and diets, so maybe L'Eau Trois no longer favors my skin chemistry. Such a shame, but perhaps it's a good thing to no longer pine after a discontinued gem.

A beautiful, strange smell but totally unwearable as a personal fragrance. I was entranced with it when I smelled it at the SF Diptyque and bought a bottle but now spray it around the room trying to use it up. Extremely dusty, musty and gray ashy thing similar to a Versailles Pour Homme stripped of its Frenchness. Problem is that it doesn't project or have substantial enough base notes to go anywhere. It lingers close to the skin and lasts a surprising while, but at length it is just too creepy to live with on the body.

I'm in love for Diptyque L'Eau Trois since this naif fragrance plays a powerful evocative effect on me, conjuring me actually (at least for a part of its run) the unique (medicinal-laundry-soapy) aroma you can catch in the Hotel's wiped rooms and along the lobbies (so many feelings and flashbacks about the holidays with family back in my childhood). The typically (classically) soapy-neutral chypre aroma is by soon indeed aldehydic-hesperidic and angular-medicinal, aromatic and herbal, spicy-resinous and slighly soapy. There is an harsh-dry grass (or toasted tobacco) like bitter undertone (a sort of licorice-raw brown sugar feel probably provided by oregano-rosemary in their wonderful connection with laurel, myrtle oil, resins and thyme) which I feel on skin and that cuts (as a bitter breaking point) the main "toiletries-like" mild-aromatic-soapy vibe. I detect by soon aromatic lavender, bergamot, aldehydes, fir resins, cinnamon-cloves, something camphoraceous, oakmoss, jasmine and a sort of subtle animalic presence joined with a waxy-resinous-balmy backbone (with vague conjurations about scents a la Cabochard by Gres, Bogue MAAI, Creed Acier Alluminium and Vero Profumo Mito). All the evolution towards the mossy-resinous-waxy soapiness is escorted by an almost balsamic feel, an heady spicy jasmine and by a constant bitter undertone. The dry down is classically hesperidic-chypre, mossy, minty and divinely retro. Persistent on my skin. High class on skin.

Genre: Leather

Well, it's not run-of-the-mill, that's for sure! I get tart citrus and celery in the aromatic opening, soon underpinned by dry woods (perhaps cedar) and a distinct resinous conifer note. There's also a lot of rosemary in this blend, and this gives the herbal accord a decidedly culinary twist.

Unfortunately, I must be seriously anosmic to something in this fragrance, since the next thing I know it's disappeared on me. In fact, I almost have to disqualify myself from reviewing L'Eau Trois since I catch so little of it. A very faint celery note lingers on my skin for an hour or so, and that's as much as I get.

Eau Trois opens with a bold, metallic-camphor ultra-spicy accord of cinnamon, cloves, aldehydes, thick aromatic woods, some flowers I can not detect further (perhaps jasmine, lavender), earthy-stale notes like tree moss and an overall dark, dense, animalic and almost indolic feel. Which together with the aldehydes and the camphor-spicy vibe creates a severe, carnal, overwhelming "old dirty chypre" mood. Benzoin, olibanum, a roasty, smoky incense note, a hint of liquorice and resinous, heavy pine tree notes complete the composition. Much balsamic and medicinal with a palpable "doom" all around, threatening and naughty. A bit outdated to be honest, but fascinating - just for the record, I almost never consider scents "outdated", as actually most of the fragrances I use and enjoy are vintage: by "outdated" I simply mean you instantly recognize this was made several years ago, to please a certain target of people which today does not exist anymore, and sadly, it basically has not much to appeal other targets. Still, it's fascinating for the same reason - it's a trip into your old aunt's closet. After a while it emerges more clearly the olibanum-incense accord, resinous, dusty, grey and dense, with several nuances, from medicinal to edible, much spicy too. The complexity of the incense-spicy-balsamic accord reminds me of Casbah by Piguet, just more realistic. Overall a bit cloying and as I said, but interesting and worth a try.

7/10

Holy grail material.

When I was younger, I would spend my summers on my grandparents' Texas ranch. The midday heat was something else. Dry, sparse rugged vegetation, sunbaked brown dirt. L'Eau Trois reminds me so much of my experiences then exploring.
The first 30 minutes are nothing but bitterly dry resins, herbs, and dirt. I am instantly taken back. It is the smell of that dry Texas outdoors I loved. Slowly the frankincense resin oil (I get tons--almost to the point of pure EO) and smouldering myrrh makes its appearance (and main appearance) giving the fragrance added substance. This smell holds for the duration of the scent.

L'Eau Trois is at once centering, calm, masculine, conforming, and dry. I've never smelled anything like it. In fact, it's slowly replaced my Yatagan and Timbutku for what I tend to naturally grab to wear daily because it's so comfortable. Not to mention L'Eau Trois has also become my favorite incense scent out of all (well, tied with MdM)--this makes Avignon seem dainty.

Longevity is superb--I can even smell this after a shower.

Lovers of dry, dusty, incense smells need to sample this.

L' Eau Trois is one of my absolute favorite myrrh/frankinsence/herbal scents, I've worn it for years. What I adore about it, is the wonderful warm ambery drydown, it has moderate sillage and great staying power, I smell it 12 hours later on skin.
It is quite unisex to my nose, and at times I mix it with L' Artisan's Patchouli Patch if I want a more sexy edgy vibe.

I've to apologize with anyone who loves L'Eau Trois but I don't get it. To me it's (almost) all about rosemary, pine and oregano with a tenacious citrusy note. Myrrh and frankincense are sort of restrained and toned down to my humble nose. Surely unique but I don't like it (I beg you pardon).

When after about half an hour the celery accord that Vibert mentions emerged on my skin I was reminded of Yatagan. So much so in fact that a couple of days later I sprayed L'Eau Trois on one arm and Yatagan on the other. Like the temperature scales Celsius and Fahrenheit they have a cross-over point and it is here that the celery note appears. They then proceed in parallel for about 20 minutes before diverging again. Quite bizarre!The myrrh and myrtle give L'Eau Trois a medicinal note that is partially hidden by the herbs. There is also a faint animalic note, which once again reminds me of Yatagan.

Some English Benedictines gather round a campfire at night, they've been pruning for winter and have tidied the rockroses, cut back the bay and rosemary and other edgings of the path in the herb garden, and are rightly pleased with their work, but an enthusiastic younger brother keeps ruining everything by chucking on too much incense. Still they look upon him with love and kindliness, choking mildly, so goodwill is maintained.

Searching for a myrrh fragrance, I was recommended Dyptique's L'Eau Trois.It's really unfortunate that Dyptique has discontinued some of its best fragrances recently. I've only tried two of them - Opone, a great rose-saffron fragrance, and now L'Eau Trois, my holy grail myrrh fragrance. If they're any indication of the quality of this line, the fragrance world has indeed lost something special.It would be wrong to classify L'Eau Trois as purely an incense fragrance. Myrrh is always the starring note, but this is a fragrance that is atypical of incense fragrance accords. Dyptique mentions Northern Greece is its description of this fragrance, and sure enough, it reminds me more of garrigue fragrances such as Fleurs de Sel and Eau d'Empire more than the likes of Avignon or most orientals.The top notes arrive dry, woody, and almost medicinal; myrrh, as ever, to the fore. Thyme and rosemary are prominent, among the notes I can identify, and there is a salty tang in the top that L'Eau Trois shares with Fleurs de Sel.I'm beginning to suspect thyme is the note that partially creates or at least modifies the "salty" quality I detect in both fragrances.Through the heart oregano makes itself known, adding a slightly culinary twist, modified by what my nose perceives as pine, lavender and something civet-like ( which I don't see listed in either the official notes or any reviews, but I definitely smell something animalic here ).Slowly the vegetal elements fade out one by one, leaving a warm, smoky ghost of myrrh on my skin.Though this is EdT strength, it has EdC sillage. This is a quiet skin scent if ever there was one, and six sprays gives me decent but quite subtle sillage. Conversely, longevity is excellent, lasting well over twenty-four hours on me.It would be interesting to see what a parfum extrait version of this would be like, though I'd be happy just to see the EdT back on the shelves again. I recently received a bottle of this from a fellow Basenoter, and I'm already eyeing the few sites that still sell it for back-up bottles.To fans of myrrh and fans of garrigue-style fragrances, as well as fans of unusual fragrances in general, I highly recommend this.

Totally unique. Have never, ever smelled a perfume like this, ever. Dry, dry dry! Grassy to the core at first spritz. Green, green, green. For once a perfume's description does it justice. This is herbal, herbal, herbal! Yes I have to repeat things in echo like a monster truck rally announcer. That's what this is doing to me. I absolutely hate the smell but man do I think it's genuine genius. No faking here. Thumbs up with an open mind. Try it you might like it!

L'Eau Trois is superb. Admittedly it is not to everyone's taste – it is very dry with distinctive herbal notes. There is no citrus in the opening, which is unusual. There are no florals to soften this scent. It is uncompromising, and yet beautiful in its confident, natural aura. Resin appears even at the opening, giving me the impression that I'm savoring the lingering taste of a shot-glass of retsina. Herbs appear: they are well blended, dry and aromatic. Thyme leads the charge, but it is much better handled here than in MPG's over-the-top Baïme. Hints of pine lurk at the edge and add to the interest. I love dry scents, and this is one of the driest I know. It is in the Mediterranean style (others that come to mind are Eau D'Hadrien and Borsari's Aqua Classico) and I find it brilliant!

This scent is subtle, cool, and completely dry - no sweetness at all, but that's not what it's about. At first I thought it smelled just like fallen leaves on a cool day, and it does smell like that. I just smelled CB I Hate Perfume Musk Reinvented, though, and L'Eau Trois resembles it closely. So if Musk Reinvented is musky, then L'Eau Trois is musky.

There's a strong herbal / incense opening to L'Eau Trois–resinous, even bitter. It's quite a dramatic opening–actually, it's quite a dramatic scent. I don't get any BO emanations from it–and, yes, it does seem like an excellent herb rub–bay leaf, rosemary, and thyme. (This may not be gourmand but it certainly is Epicurean.) This herb / incense / myrrh mixture basically is the scent for the duration of the fragrance. Like many Diptyques, it doesn't change much. It is very dry–it is bitter and resinous and herbal and aromatic, and there's not the tiniest bit of sweet or flower or fruit in it. There is really not much more to say about this fragrance except that I happen to love it–there is something very centered and idyllic about it–rawly natural and compelling…but I imagine that it might not be to everyone's liking. Too bad…they don't know what they're missing.

i just dont understand the american noses,they like to wear frags that in europe are so cheap and popular and they dont like a treasure of originality like this,personally i find it that this frag is simply enchanting,misterious,gothic,in few words irresistible

L'eau trois might in fact reveal some sharp, almost animal–like notes, but the spicy aspects, especially oregano and thyme to me do not resemble to a pet's cage but to a kitchen in the Provence, where a delicious lamb shoulder is being prepared. You feel like coming out of the kitchen, not of the bathroom with it.

I have a suspicion - people from the US often are just unable to appreciate scents that are somewhat unusual, strong, or oriental - I think some of them have a strong dislike for pachouli, myrrh, incense and similar scents, which they identify - who knows why - whit bodlily odors. Could it have something to do with an exaggerated tendency to so-called hygiene, which is misinterpreted as the neutralization every trace of natural odor? That said, I think this perfume is excellent, even if not suited for all tastes. It starts as a fresh and aromatic herb mixture, which rapidly evovles to a pungent scent of resin, and finally takes on a scent of incense - but not the one you burn in sticks, the arabic one you buy in form of resinous grains - I think this is the myrrh coming out. Warm, oriental but sober, spiritual, well suited for autum and winter. More male perfume, probably, although I as a woman really love it.