Mx.
Eris Parfums (2017)

This is a big, creamy-but-aromatic sandalwood oriental built in the mold of something like Samsara (without the plasticky white flowers), Santal Noble (minus the coffee), or Cadjmere (without the fuzziness), and it smells as good at the end as it does in the first hour. Although Mx is not a gourmand fragrance, there is something about the topnotes that smells incredibly moreish, like a delicate Indian saffron-and-rose-petal pudding dusted in coconut. The saffron is very soft and orangey, and I also smell a lot of cocoa powder, its faint bitterness interacting nicely with the creamier notes. The oily, dark Ethiopian frankincense smells almost anisic, or licorice-like, more like myrrh than frankincense.

Given that the whole idea behind Mx is its gender fluidity, the sweet, creamy components of the perfume are immediately balanced out by a brusque, more aromatic side. This comes in the form of Australian sandalwood, its sturdy, dry character emphasized by a musky cedarwood. Australian sandalwood can be sour and piney, but not here – in Mx, it is merely handsome in a rough-hewn way, the perfect counterbalance to the creamy orange and spice. Some aspects of this creamy-aromatic dichotomy remind me very much of Cadjmere by Parfumerie Generale, but Mx is far more complex.

There are no flowers here, nothing powdery or dated: simply that ancient lure of the dry and creamy push-pull of sandalwood. If men are handsome and women are pretty, then we might call Mx good-looking and leave it at that. Gender-wise, there is truly nothing here to tug it in one direction or the other.

A second sandalwood phase occurs when the vetiver moves in, characterized by a grassy, hazelnut texture that’s (again) both dry and creamy. There’s a beguiling Petit Beurre accord here too, wheaten and buttery, the sort of thing that makes me feel that a perfume is nutritious somehow. That pale gold wheat-nut-grain texturization is reminiscent of other milky sandalwoods such as Bois Farine (L’Artisan Parfumeur) and Castaña (Cloon Keen Atelier). In my opinion, there cannot be enough perfumes in the world that do exactly this. I feel nourished just by wearing it.

Eris Parfums calls this perfume “a luscious woody animalic for all genders” and I agree with everything but the animalic part. It is a warm, inviting perfume, but the castoreum in the base just adds body to the leathery notes supplied by the birch tar. There is no dirtiness, no civet, no musk notes. It is more a woody gourmand than animalic; a touch more cinnamon or clove, for example, would push Mx into Musc Ravageur territory (itself a rich doughnut oriental rather than a true musk). The smoky, woody, leathery base disturbed me at first, because it had a faint “steel wire” aspect to it that I associate with the powerful (sandblasting) woody-leathery aromachemicals used in so many niche fragrances. But with subsequent testing, I realized that my nose is so over-exposed to these woody ambers that my brain sometimes shortcuts to them even when natural materials are used (cedar, birch tar, certain amber accords).

In short, Mx is durable and long-lasting; but it genuinely doesn’t seem to get there on the back of those chemical power tools Luca Turin talks about. Its warmth and expansiveness is all hard-earned, achieved thanks to a properly designed beginning, middle, and end. It might seem redundant to mention that, except to people who’ve smelled enough niche to know that (a) ain’t nothing new under the sun, and (b) solid construction is not a given. Mx is fantastic work and well worth investing in if you love rugged sandalwood orientals and can’t hack the white florals or ylang in Samsara.

IsoESuperman pretty much nails it. A very pleasant opening. I get a soft smoky scent with a slightly soapy aspect, so yes, clean smelling is the vibe with a faint sandalwood and castoreum note at the end and genuinely, that is pretty much it. I don't get cacao, but I didn't get that from Mxxx on my skin, though I could smell it on a blotter.

The longevity is, for me, pretty poor and has more or less faded after four hours.

Nice, but not full bottle worthy, IMO.

Mx is a very pleasant, floral sandalwood and cedarwood scent. Kinda like a softer, more floral Oud Wood. Has some smoky, animalic notes under all the sweet, woody notes.

Very unisex and has a sweet and clean vibe that makes it modern.

Projection is just average but longevity lasts all workday. It maintains the woody sweetness throughout.

This opens with peppery incense & woods, quickly joined by the sweeter note of benzoin. lt's very soft, & as it dries down it becomes slightly smoky & powdery, with a salty, savoury note in the heart. I get no ginger, only the merest hint of castoreum, & five hours in it's barely there.
IsoESuperman's review is spot on: this is definitely unisex & pleasant, but it's nothing new, & the best that can be said is that it's inoffensive & subtle enough to be work-appropriate. The same accord has been done much better in fragrances like Labdanum 18 & Bois d'Armenie.

*According to Barbara Herman, this is pronounced "mix".

What I mainly get from Mx. is a modern blend of sheer, soft woody notes (conifers, sandal) and a birch/orris vibe, similar to that airy "incense" accord in Fazzolari's Feu Secret, but less compelling. I like that aspect of the opening, but the rest falls flat for me.

In the context of 2018 and with the skill and imagination of Antonie Lie in mind, I personally found this mundane, as well as disappointing. It's not tragically repetitive nor is it off-putting, but it does smell pedestrian and like a riff on any number of synth-sandalwood fragrances, most of which I enjoy more than this. Don't get me wrong, I particularly like that synth-sandal note/accord/whatever it is - perhaps some blend of cashmeran and other woody stuff. It's the same type of lactic, slightly sweet sandal note as I detect in Oud Malaki, SJP Stash, Pal Zileri Sartoriale, the revamped 2017 version of Santal Noble, etc. It dominates the composition for me.

The note listing gives the impression of a complex spiced, woody, potentially smoky/animalic oriental - but all I get is a pale, smoothed out, synth woody scent. No vetiver, no cacao, and certainly no saffron or castoreum.

It smells good enough, but there is little here to distinguish it from so many others in this family. Mx. is my first try from the house and I really wanted to like it, and for whatever reason, tried hard to make that happen. I went through 3 samples from LuckyScent, dabbed one, atomized the second two - all led me to the same conclusion.

The perfumer said:

"Mx. is a subtle mix of rich ingredients I love, without floral notes or diluted musks. It's not a clean, neutral, unisex fragrance, but a lush, romantic, inviting scent for everyone - whatever their gender."

I think the brief was met in the sense that something for either gender to wear was no doubt created, but as far as my tastes go, this actually is clean and neutral, and far from the lush animalic purr that Herman and Lie were aiming for.

I'm still looking forward to trying more from Eris, but less so than before I tried Mx.