Hiram Green No 2: Philtre and Tryst

The weather has turned glorious. Long may it last. But in any case am enjoying it as we have it. On a less chirpy note, this time of year means 1) potholes to the max – it’s no longer a good idea to traverse over the Common road unless you have a pickup truck or a big SUV with thick, heavy tyres and 2) it’s silage time. No matter how many springs I’ve been here I will not be able to smell silage having been spread on the fields and not go yuck. And apparently the local water company is now selling farmers ‘denatured’ sewage to spread on fields …

I got my Covid booster last week. At the same time I dropped the car for a wash and a major interior clean. This is the thing about having a labrador: you can vacuum the inside of your car all you want but the fur will still pop up in unusual places and it will stick in others in such ways as to defeat a regular vac (or a human being with a roll of packing tape). In any case, the car came home immaculate. I had a very woozy afternoon not napping but not doing much else post the jab. By the end of the week my arm no longer hurt.

And, sadly, on Saturday it was off to Sara’s (my fave bakery in the next town over) for her last day of operation. Brought flowers and a card (others had dropped boxes of chocs and cards, and more flowers) and bought some last bits for the weekend. Thankfully, once she’s had a rest, Sara will be doing special orders (like, for Xmas and bdays). I am reminded that during Covid she actually kept baking and offered a dropoff service so your croissant needs were still met. Big sigh.

So, onward. After a number of weeks the second iteration of HG samples. As I finish this post up I’m wearing Clinique Aromatics Elixir yet again because it makes me feel … centred? I mean a witches brew makes me feel centred? What does that say about me?

Today, it’s Tryst and Philtre.

Not to be repetitive but I have a lot of time for Hiram Green perfumes. Had nosy through Arcadia and Ultra here.

I own Slowdive and the now gone Dilettante.

But these. I’m afraid neither one floated my boat. But, that happens with every house. You can’t get along with every perfume.

Philtre. Notes include flower stems, cloves, rose, carnation, jasmine, resins, vanilla and black pepper. It’s about love potions. And after the samples arrived I realised I had bought this one before. Which is to say straight off it doesn’t sing on me.

I vaguely recall the commentary on Philtre when it was released related to it being at heart carnation – and I love carnation.

But, alas no. On me, this is pepper and clove rather than carnation. And it’s a bit too unctuous. Which maybe has to do with the Green-ade (ie, like a Caronade) that is heavy, honey-ish and very pongy. In other HGs, I enjoy the drydown. In this, along with the perfume itself, it was simply too much.

Tryst. Yes, I bought this for the name. It’s just too good. Notes include orange zest, green buds, neroli, orange flower and honeyed resins.

Tryst is pretty – but not as pretty as some of the other pretty perfumes I’ve sampled in the past few years. It’s more flower than fruit and I think it suffers because of that. Just a bit too sweet where it might benefit from being ever so slightly sharper.

And in this instance the pongy drydown emerges early and is a bit too much, IMHO.

In the end it is the HG I’ve tried which has the least oomph and presence. But, if orange flower is your jam it’s certainly worth a go. (Apologies for the huge bottle pic. I seem to be having trouble with some of the graphics I import these days.)

Pics: mine, pexels