I try not to complain about the weather, especially since it has been a mild winter in Seattle, but I can’t help it. I grow tired of winter quickly. After the holidays, I’m like “OK, that was fun. Is it spring yet?” I don’t think I was meant to live this north. Everyday I walk by one of my favorite French cafes. The patio is vacant, chairs and tables are pushed against the brick walls of the cafe. Moss grows between the brick. The sky is gray and the same streetlight has been out for over a month. It’s depressing. But, when I walk by I remember how much I love that place in the summer. A few times a week in the summer, I will go there late in the afternoon, get a table for two on the patio for a book and me. But I usually ending up people watching behind dark shades. I typically order a pastis. When I walk by this place in the dead of winter, I can taste the anise. I can smell it, an olfactory memory of sunshine and warmth. My olfactory memories remind me of Etro Anice.
Anice opens as black licorice, a bold and waxy black licorice. A few minutes later it becomes a refreshing pastis. And then it becomes lighter and cooler, like a the ice cube in the glass. It’s a chilled anise. There’s an addition of a sheer white musk and delicate iris. There’s a faint backdrop of chilled green herbs. It dries down to a vaporous white musk and vanilla.
Etro Anice is a very light and sheer EDT – an olfactory equivalent of a whisper.
Notes listed include: star anise, Brazilian rosewood, anise, bergamot, caraway, iris, jasmine, dill, vanilla, musk, German cumin, and amber. Launched 2004.
Give Anice a try if you like anise/licorice/absinthe scents. Or if you like perfumes like Smell Bent Dead of Winter, Lolita Lempicka, Annick Goutal Mandragore, aroma M Geisha Green, 1000 Flowers Reglisse Noir, Caron Eau de Reglisse and/or Ava Luxe Absinthe. Anise is unisex. I prefer it for “day” wear since it’s light. It’s also nice in the summer because it has an unexpected “coolness”.
Projection and longevity are below average. It’s an EDT but it wears more like a cologne.
The 3.4 oz EDT retails for $145 at Etro boutiques.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – Pastis and white musk. It’s simple and probably too sheer for many people, but I love it. I love anything that is a reminder that winter will pass.
Want more reviews? Try…
Perfume Posse – Guide to anise perfumes
Fragrantica – Member reviews
I’m not sure if I like anise. I think I do. And this sounds amazing.
Larie recently posted..Dior Spring 2014: Pastels for Nails (Of Course)
Hubs hates black licorice but loves these aperitifs, go figure. He also complains about scents like Lolita Lempicka but says that this one smells “amazing”. I think the sheerness with the white musk keep it from being candied.
Hint – Sometimes you can find these Etro perfumes on online discount sites 🙂 And I tend to like many of these Etro scents. The Sandalo is awesome.
I moved to the PNW from Denver. You know the place that boasts of 360 days of sun. We lived in Portland for about 10 years before moving on to Seattle. The first summer there I didn’t see the sun once. It didn’t even come out after the 4th of July. It was one of ‘those’ summers.
I swear every morning I woke up to a sky that looked like a gray wool blanket rather than blue gem. I cried every day. It wasn’t helped much when people I met there remarked about how happy I must be to have moved from a hell hole like Denver to ‘perfect’ Portland. (Yes someone actually referred to Denver in that fashion). But you have no sun!!! People you are going to turn into the Morlocks for god’s sake! Well I started grad school and worked part time and life moved on. And I learned to like Portland and have some very close friends there.
I start to go nuts about mid-February. I start spraying my ADP Iris Nobile-big white flower and my Lolita Lempicka and SSS Velvet Rose now and then. No 19 is still too cold for now. I burn my Voluspa Lilac and Soilel Candles. I cook citrus-Meyer lemon pudding cake, bread pudding, blood orange honey cornmeal cake, Key lime pie. I make limonecello and preserved lemons for the summer and pull out my summer berries from the freezer for pies and cobblers and ice cream. I look forward to day light savings time. I think about Hawaii and going to Tucson or Mexico. Or maybe even making an extra trip back to Denver.
I love that fragrance is so evocative. Wear your fume and have an absinthe. Enjoy its color and think sun.
Um, people in Portland that diss Denver only diss it because they don’t realize there is a lack of sunshine because their head is stuck so far up their own asses…
I moved here in ’08 and have learned to save up and travel in Feb or I will go insane. I also try to not make any life decisions from Jan-March here because of my rotten mood and outlook on life. I try to wait until April.
The first 2 winters were very difficult for me as it was June and 50 degrees. It just never seemed to end. I moved here in July and I had a job interview. All of my clothes were coming via movers. I had beat the clothes to WA. I only had you know, regular July clothes shoved in a suitcase. The day of my interview, it was 49 degrees…it sucked. It was the first week of July.
Like right now, I try to find solace in those little pleasures like you mentioned. I need spring florals, green scents. I just made a pie with frozen blackberries we picked. These things really do help. We’ll get through it.
*Oh, that Voluspa Lilac have gotten me through some dark winter days. No exaggeration.
Hi Victoria, I like this one, too. I also like Dead of Winter and Reglisse Noire. I’m not sure why I like licorice scents so much – I rarely choose to eat it. This trio is different enough from each other to own all of them, though I don’t have Anice…yet. Like you, I find the Anice summery – light and musky. I find the Dead of Winter to be sweet heliotrope licorice. And Reglisse Noire is the most unusual in my mind – peppery, ozonic, herbal licorice with a dash of vanilla, but def not too sweet. Thanks for the review – I’m looking forward to warmer weather as well – no rain here, but wind-blown bare branches and grayish skies are depressing me.
I think I really like licorice in perfume. I emptied a bottle of Dead of Winter, which is perfect for spring/winter. It’s a good mix of sweet and floral.
I agree that Reglisse Noire is unusual but it’s completely wearable. It’s weird in a great way.
We’re going to get through this winter thing!
[…] In comparison to other licorice scents. 1000 Flowers’ is not as sharp as many, nor is it as bitter and herbal (Caron Eau de Reglisse) But, at the same time it’s not as sweet or like candy (Smell Bent Dead of Winter). And it’s not as cool as many (Etro Anice). […]